Valiant Universe: Harbinger, Unity, Rai, A&A; current state & future prospects

[chaos X effect]

I haven't read Valiant-Sized, but I've heard that you can read it without knowing anything else.
But seriously dude, you should read Harbinger before Imperium.


The ongoing is technically done, but I'm getting the feeling that they're gonna move Q&W to mini-series only. But really.. it's always been like that. The 3 arcs that take place in the ongoing don't really connect to eachother very well.



Dark-Flux pretty much explained it to a "t." I just want to add that the title, Harbinger, refers to both Peter Stanchek and Harada.

Do I NEED to read Harbinger to understand Imperium or do I NEED to read Harbinger because it's just awesome? Because if it's the awesome reason, then I will probably read it eventually, but maybe just not yet.

[Knight of DC]

Do I NEED to read Harbinger to understand Imperium or do I NEED to read Harbinger because it's just awesome? Because if it's the awesome reason, then I will probably read it eventually, but maybe just not yet.

I don't think you're going to NEED to read Harbinger to understand Imperium. Valiant has done a pretty good job with their #1's (I understood Armor Hunters fine and I haven't read much of X-O before it). At minimum, read Harbinger: Omegas, the prelude mini-series (the tpb comes out a week or two before Imperium #1 launches). That is something I have to do myself.

Now, SHOULD you read Harbinger? Yes, because it has consistently been one of Valiant's best.

[chaos X effect]

I don't think you're going to NEED to read Harbinger to understand Imperium. Valiant has done a pretty good job with their #1's (I understood Armor Hunters fine and I haven't read much of X-O before it). At minimum, read Harbinger: Omegas, the prelude mini-series (the tpb comes out a week or two before Imperium #1 launches). That is something I have to do myself.

Now, SHOULD you read Harbinger? Yes, because it has consistently been one of Valiant's best.

Awesome. Thank you!

[Inhuman X]

I ended up buying the Harbinger 20 -25 collection covering the events after Harbinger Wars in Vegas and what looks like the end of the first series. Then I picked up the three Harbinger Omega issues. The scope of these books is huge but they managed to blend it all together well with the personal too. I need to read them again to catch everything. I feel ready for Imperium. I am starting to wonder if I am looking at the birth of the age of superheroes in their universe which feels much closer to our own. Its a bit grim, maturely done, and I am always questioning who to root for... lol. I loved it.

[Aomalle27]

All you really need to know is that there are two apex Harbinger ( people that use their mind to generate multiple superhuman powers, all others can only generate a single power) Pete Stanchek ( good guy) and Toyo Harada ( bad guy). * Technically there's a 3rd named Darpan, but he's a " simpleton" that doesn 't have the mental capacity to determine what powrrs to use on his own. He's currently a ward/ pawn of Harada.

[TheFerg714]

Do I NEED to read Harbinger to understand Imperium or do I NEED to read Harbinger because it's just awesome? Because if it's the awesome reason, then I will probably read it eventually, but maybe just not yet.

Well no one can say for certain whether you need to read Harbinger, but Valiant does have a really good track record for making #1's easily jump-on-able. You'll probably be fine without Harbinger but like Knight of DC said, you definitely SHOULD read it. And I'll agree with him again when he says to read Harbinger: Omegas, just to get a little back-story. Plus, it's only 3 issues.

Pete Stanchek ( good guy) and Toyo Harada ( bad guy).

Seriously? To be fair, once issue 25 rolled around it was pretty clear that Harada was a bad dude and Peter was doing good, but it's not as cut-and-dry as you're making it out to be. The moral ambiguity of the series is one of the most well-executed ideas in any comic I've ever read.

[TheFerg714]

doublepost.

[Aomalle27]

Well no one can say for certain whether you need to read Harbinger, but Valiant does have a really good track record for making #1's easily jump-on-able. You'll probably be fine without Harbinger but like Knight of DC said, you definitely SHOULD read it. And I'll agree with him again when he says to read Harbinger: Omegas, just to get a little back-story. Plus, it's only 3 issues.


Seriously? To be fair, once issue 25 rolled around it was pretty clear that Harada was a bad dude and Peter was doing good, but it's not as cut-and-dry as you're making it out to be. The moral ambiguity of the series is one of the most well-executed ideas in any comic I've ever read.

its not a commentary on the writing nor an in depth analysis; its merely a suggestion of what he/she needs to know going into Imperium. There are always a wide range of degrees of goodness and bad/evil. I would put Harada in a category of deniable evil. He thinks what he's doing is right and for " the greater good" but as we've seen from the beginning of Harbinger 2.0; hes more than willing to sacrafice individuals to further his agenda. We saw it with Pete's friend, then again during Harbinger Wars when he was nearly decimated by the Bloodshot Harada protcol ( he willingly betrayed his acolyte to save himself); etc. Now Peter, while not the typical Superman ideal of goodness, has definitely leaned more to the freewill aspect of fate, rather than the egomaniacal view of "father knows best", a flawed hero, but nonetheless a hero. But for the beginner, Pete=good, and Harada = bad.

[ekrolo2]

Hi, first-time commenter here and I want to check out the Unity series but I've got a question concerning its reading order. I know X-O Manowar's 4th volume ties into that story, but I haven't been able to find any appropriate reading order for the entire story online. Could any of you guys possibly help me out here?

[ksbord]

Hi, first-time commenter here and I want to check out the Unity series but I've got a question concerning its reading order. I know X-O Manowar's 4th volume ties into that story, but I haven't been able to find any appropriate reading order for the entire story online. Could any of you guys possibly help me out here?

The 4th volume of X-O lays the groundwork for the Unity story, and should be read in advance of starting Unity. It's not entirely necessary, but it shows how X-O's actions set the stage for the conflict. The 5th volume of X-O is part of the Unity story, with each X-O issue following up on the previous Unity issue but from X-O's side of things. So your suggested reading order is:

X-O vol. 4
Unity vol 1/X-O vol 5

Or by individual issue:
X-O Manowar #15
X-O Manowar #16
X-O Manowar #17
X-O Manowar #18
Unity #1
X-O Manowar #19
Unity #2
X-O Manowar #20
Unity #3
X-O Manowar #21
Unity #4
X-O Manowar #22

[ekrolo2]

The 4th volume of X-O lays the groundwork for the Unity story, and should be read in advance of starting Unity. It's not entirely necessary, but it shows how X-O's actions set the stage for the conflict. The 5th volume of X-O is part of the Unity story, with each X-O issue following up on the previous Unity issue but from X-O's side of things. So your suggested reading order is:

X-O vol. 4
Unity vol 1/X-O vol 5

Or by individual issue:
X-O Manowar #15
X-O Manowar #16
X-O Manowar #17
X-O Manowar #18
Unity #1
X-O Manowar #19
Unity #2
X-O Manowar #20
Unity #3
X-O Manowar #21
Unity #4
X-O Manowar #22

My thanks good sir

[ksbord]

I am starting to wonder if I am looking at the birth of the age of superheroes in their universe which feels much closer to our own.

That's a pretty astute statement. While we do see that there is a long history of extraordinary individuals (Geomancers, the Immortal Brothers, the Bleeding Monk) in the Valiant Universe, the recent events in Harbinger and after the Armor Hunters invasion have brought these things into the public consciousness.

[ksbord]

Just finished reading the Valiant Sized Quantum and Woody... Oh man, that was good stuff! Great stories and some lol comedy throughout! Loved the glimpses of the alternate Q&Ws on the alternate earths. Shadowman Quantum??

[Inhuman X]

Is it just Ninjak going to 40 pages per issue for the standard price or everything they publish?

[Knight of DC]

All you really need to know is that there are two apex Harbinger ( people that use their mind to generate multiple superhuman powers, all others can only generate a single power) Pete Stanchek ( good guy) and Toyo Harada ( bad guy). * Technically there's a 3rd named Darpan, but he's a " simpleton" that doesn 't have the mental capacity to determine what powrrs to use on his own. He's currently a ward/ pawn of Harada.

I keep forgetting about Darpan being the third. Feel like that's a Chekov's Gun Dysart's been waiting years to fire off.