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

[Knight of DC]

Looking over all the forums here at CBR I can't help but think that as a group we deserve the "happiest posters on site award" because most of us seem to love what Valiant is doing and aren't screaming bad to the heavens. Instead we are gleefully waiting for the next issue which is something I bet fans of other publisher's titles wish they could be doing right now instead of mourning over AXIS, the cinema focus destroying titles and characters with a hundred years of history, or dreading SW and convergence changes they know are coming... They are giving us what we want. Good comic books.

I think one of the factors has always been the sheer size of DC and Marvel. The larger the fanbases, the more divided the fanbase can get. Nothing wrong with that, everyone is entitled to an opinion and there's still plenty of good things at DC and Marvel. But Valiant can be a shared universe small enough that one doesn't have to spend literally hundreds a month to know everything. Not being divided into editorial "offices" (i.e. the Batman Office, the Avengers Office, the X-Men Office) probably helps keep the universe consistent, even with different tones from Harbinger to Quantum and Woody.

[Shinglepants]

Hey guys, a couple of weeks ago I came to this thread looking for a little advice on where to start with the Valiant Universe. Anyway, I ended up ordering the deluxe editions of Harbinger and Bloodshot (I figure that'll take me nicely up to Harbinger Wars) so thank you. Can't wait to get stuck into 'em and I'll probably hit XO Manowar and Archer & Armstrong next.

Looking over all the forums here at CBR I can't help but think that as a group we deserve the "happiest posters on site award" because most of us seem to love what Valiant is doing and aren't screaming bad to the heavens. Instead we are gleefully waiting for the next issue which is something I bet fans of other publisher's titles wish they could be doing right now instead of mourning over AXIS, the cinema focus destroying titles and characters with a hundred years of history, or dreading SW and convergence changes they know are coming... They are giving us what we want. Good comic books.

Marvel is my main love when it comes to comics. Sometimes on the Marvel board though I feel as though I'm drowning in a sea of negativity. You guys are scary happy in comparison.

[ksbord]

I enjoyed Harbinger: Omegas. I'll have to read up a little more on the characters, but I really enjoyed Harada. He seems pretty badass.

If going back and reading all of Harbinger isn't feasible, I'd suggest at least checking out the Harbinger Wars collected volume and maybe the last Harbinger tpb, Death of a Renegade. That last trade leds directly into Harbinger: Omegas.

Rai was...OK. There were parts that I thought were pretty cool, but I don't know if I'm going to stick with it. I'll give it another try or two.

I'd encourage you to stick with it if only for the possible opportunities that have already started about how the future world of 4001 has been impacted by the present day Valiant Universe. In the original Valiant, Rai #0 was an epic issue that bridged the entire history from 1992 to 4001, explaining lots of key points in-between. Quite unlike anything I had ever read in a comic before at the time. Not saying we'll see something like that in this iteration, but Kindt has already given us little tidbits in the series. But if it's not your jam, no one can fault you for passing.

The Valiant was really cool. I don't know much about the characters, but the issue is pretty friendly to a new reader like me. I am looking forward to the next issue.

That's great to hear, since being new reader friendly was one of the goals of the comic!

Unity is pretty cool. I enjoyed Ninjak poking fun at Faith in #13 with her use of "like." That wasn't the only thing that I liked, but it made me a fan on Ninjak, for sure. These issues were pretty new reader friendly. I will have to read up on some of the characters, but I am excited for the next issue.

I very much enjoyed X-O Manowar. Again - being new to Valiant, I don't know much of what's going on, but I thought this issue was easy to follow. I'll have to read up a little bit here, too, but I am looking forward to next week's issue.

You might want to consider starting with X-O #15-18, as they serve as a jumping on point for the X-O Manowar series, and also serves to set up the beginning of Unity. I posted a suggested reading order earlier in this thread on how to approach reading the first Unity arc that mixes in the appropriate issues of X-O... maybe take a look for that?

All in all, I think that Valiant is pretty fun and has recruited a new fan in me!

Excellent news... welcome to the party!

[ksbord]

Hey guys, a couple of weeks ago I came to this thread looking for a little advice on where to start with the Valiant Universe.

Can't recall what all we told you, but if you have the option, grab a copy of The Valiant #1 while you are waiting for your other editions to arrive. It will make a nice start!

Anyway, I ended up ordering the deluxe editions of Harbinger and Bloodshot (I figure that'll take me nicely up to Harbinger Wars) so thank you. Can't wait to get stuck into 'em and I'll probably hit XO Manowar and Archer & Armstrong next.

Not sure if you were aware or no, but both the Harbinger and Bloodshot editions you ordered actually contain those series issues of the Harbinger Wars event. So if you are looking to read HW as well I'd recommend just ordering the main HW trade, not the deluxe edition, or you'll be buying some of the same stuff again.

Marvel is my main love when it comes to comics. Sometimes on the Marvel board though I feel as though I'm drowning in a sea of negativity. You guys are scary happy in comparison.

Hmmmm... There's a slogan in there somewhere: Valiant Fans... scary happy!

[chaos X effect]

Thanks for the advice, guys! I'll look into the Unity stuff.

[Shadowras]

A good article about Valiant:
http://t.co/Mkj27vJEtM

[ksbord]

A good article about Valiant:
http://t.co/Mkj27vJEtM

Really enjoyed that... should be an excellent primer on Valiant History for all those new to the line.

[Knight of DC]

That's a fine article, although I really hope they expand their talent pool than from those who were feeling underutilized at DC/Marvel. Look at some up and comers, the indy scene is booming for good reason. Hire creators that aren't white, straight males. Again, I say that with all the love for what Kindt, Dysart, Venditti and Van Lente have been doing.

[Captain Craig]

Marvel is my main love when it comes to comics. Sometimes on the Marvel board though I feel as though I'm drowning in a sea of negativity. You guys are scary happy in comparison.

I'm of the opinion that's cause the Marvel board(maybe DC as well, I'm not in there as much) has a contingent of people too caught up in themselves and the real world to truly escape into fantasy fiction. They are continually griping about the % of diversity, ethnicity, race etc that it's tiring. I'm not convinced you could ever make that contingent of people happy. They'd always be "on" about something.

[Dark-Flux]

That's a fine article, although I really hope they expand their talent pool than from those who were feeling underutilized at DC/Marvel. Look at some up and comers, the indy scene is booming for good reason. Hire creators that aren't white, straight males. Again, I say that with all the love for what Kindt, Dysart, Venditti and Van Lente have been doing.

Speaking of which, id love it if Priest stuck around a little after Q2. Shadowman anybody? Or even Eternal Warrior could be interesting.

[Inhuman X]

A good article about Valiant: http://t.co/Mkj27vJEtM

I loved that article and thank you for sharing it. Dinesh Shamdasani seems like a superhero himself. He started as a kid in a far away land with a love for American comics and grew up to save his heroes from the flames of history and bring them back to the printed page. Not everyone could do that. Story even has an evil Jim Shooter. It is interesting to see the issues they are having in diversifying their creative staff but in spite of this they are very aware and happen to be doing one of the best jobs in the industry of presenting ethnically and gender diverse characters on page in a worthy fashion. Though for some reason, I found it left me curious too. Is Valiant making their comics available in Asia?

I'm of the opinion that's cause the Marvel board (maybe DC as well, I'm not in there as much) has a contingent of people too caught up in themselves and the real world to truly escape into fantasy fiction. They are continually griping about the % of diversity, ethnicity, race etc that it's tiring. I'm not convinced you could ever make that contingent of people happy. They'd always be "on" about something.

I wish this were not as true as it is and I don't know how to deal with it sometimes.

Speaking of which, id love it if Priest stuck around a little after Q2. Shadowman anybody? Or even Eternal Warrior could be interesting.

I always enjoyed supernatural comics and had been wondering about Valiant's take on the magic and the strange. Where is a good place to get started with Shadowman? I vaguely remember a TV show attempt about the character back in the days of syndication that seemed to present him as a Jazz musician working out of a bar.

[Dylan Davison]

I loved that article and thank you for sharing it. Dinesh Shamdasani seems like a superhero himself. He started as a kid in a far away land with a love for American comics and grew up to save his heroes from the flames of history and bring them back to the printed page. Not everyone could do that. Story even has an evil Jim Shooter. It is interesting to see the issues they are having in diversifying their creative staff but in spite of this they are very aware and happen to be doing one of the best jobs in the industry of presenting ethnically and gender diverse characters on page in a worthy fashion. Though for some reason, I found it left me curious too. Is Valiant making their comics available in Asia?



I wish this were not as true as it is and I don't know how to deal with it sometimes.



I always enjoyed supernatural comics and had been wondering about Valiant's take on the magic and the strange. Where is a good place to get started with Shadowman? I vaguely remember a TV show attempt about the character back in the days of syndication that seemed to present him as a Jazz musician working out of a bar.

His old (first) series is amazing. That's the Jack that was a Jazz star. They should make the new Shadowman a bit more like him. But unlike a lot of people here I loved the current shadowman stuff as well. The first series is great, the last few issues kinda were less then great, but I did not hate them. And the mini series after the series was alright as well.

I really, really, want/need a new shadowman series haha. We have not seen him in a bit, (we may see him in the valiant) and we are lacking. Shadowman was one of, if not the strongest character/series they had in the 90s. I don't want them to give up on him this time around haha.

[Agent 37]

I got my order with my first taste of Valiant today. I had some time on my hands, so I ended up reading a bunch, including all the Valiant titles. To recap, I got this stuff from Valiant...

Harbinger: Omegas
Rai #1-5
The Valiant #1
Unity #12 and #13
Valiant-Sized Quantum and Woody
X-O Manowar #30 and #31

I enjoyed Harbinger: Omegas. I'll have to read up a little more on the characters, but I really enjoyed Harada. He seems pretty badass.

Rai was...OK. There were parts that I thought were pretty cool, but I don't know if I'm going to stick with it. I'll give it another try or two.

The Valiant was really cool. I don't know much about the characters, but the issue is pretty friendly to a new reader like me. I am looking forward to the next issue.

Unity is pretty cool. I enjoyed Ninjak poking fun at Faith in #13 with her use of "like." That wasn't the only thing that I liked, but it made me a fan on Ninjak, for sure. These issues were pretty new reader friendly. I will have to read up on some of the characters, but I am excited for the next issue.

I loved Valiant Sized Quantum and Woody. Woody is hilarious. I'm looking forward to their mini-series that will be starting up.

I very much enjoyed X-O Manowar. Again - being new to Valiant, I don't know much of what's going on, but I thought this issue was easy to follow. I'll have to read up a little bit here, too, but I am looking forward to next week's issue.

All in all, I think that Valiant is pretty fun and has recruited a new fan in me!

Looking over all the forums here at CBR I can't help but think that as a group we deserve the "happiest posters on site award" because most of us seem to love what Valiant is doing and aren't screaming bad to the heavens. Instead we are gleefully waiting for the next issue which is something I bet fans of other publisher's titles wish they could be doing right now instead of mourning over AXIS, the cinema focus destroying titles and characters with a hundred years of history, or dreading SW and convergence changes they know are coming... They are giving us what we want. Good comic books.

I'm in the same boat as you two, being new in the valiant universe, and in the forum. When I first came onto this forum a while ago everyone was happy to make recommendations and some members even reached out and offered to help me by lining up back issues etc. , which I really appreciated. I've been really impressed with the accessibility of both the books and the forum members. It's a nice change of pace from the bigger publishers and their fan base (no offence to either.) I don't know if it's the years of history behind some of the big 2's characters, or the years of a fan relating to the characters through your own life experiences, but sometimes fans get very possessive of their heroes. I've been guilty of it lots of times. This mixed with story lines (and characters appearing in various books or plots contradicting each other), IMO often leads to an unhappy fan base. So far with my short stint with Valiant though, the Valiant Universe seems very coherent and on the same page and that's been very refreshing. The staff at Valiant really seem to have their finger on the pulse of what their fans want.

I'm still a fan of many of my favourite DC characters as they are what I've grown up on, but I've slowly dropped all but 2 books to make way for Valiant titles now in my monthly must-reads. Unity, Harbinger (when it was going) and X-O already are at the top of my pull-list and are the books I am the most excited to read each month! Imperium, Bloodshot Reborn and Ninjak will be right behind them once they come out as I expect awesome things from them as well!

P.s. Rai didn't float my boat either but to each their own. I've been reluctant to try out quantum and woody but most people seem to enjoy the book, so I may break down and give it a shot.

[ksbord]

I always enjoyed supernatural comics and had been wondering about Valiant's take on the magic and the strange. Where is a good place to get started with Shadowman? I vaguely remember a TV show attempt about the character back in the days of syndication that seemed to present him as a Jazz musician working out of a bar.

As PowerTorch stated, the original Valiant Shadowman, Jack Boniface, was a jazz saxophonist. Can't recall who created him, but the same creator tried again with the Ultraverse character Night Man, which is where the tv show you are thinking of comes from. Basically a carbon copy of Shadowman. The Acclaim version of Shadowman, Michael LeRoi, was a voodoo hitman... very different from the original. That's the Shadowman seen in the old N64/Dreamcast game.

The new Valiant's Shadowman returned back to Jack Boniface, though not a saxophonist. I think the intent was to make him more a supernatural based superhero. I liked the first arc. The second was ok, but I suspect problems with the creative team caused it to suffer. Issues 0 and 10 serve as origin for Shadowman and Master Darque, and are highly regarded as some of the best stuff Valiant had put at the time. The series then suffered from some random creative teams for a couple of issues with mixed results till Peter Milligan came on at issue #13. He introduced a new direction which ended with a mostly unpopular cliff hanger in the End Times miniseries last spring. The character has been in limbo ever since, though he may appear in The Valiant. Supposedly Milligan has a huge arc planned out, but I'm beginning to wonder if Valiant may have changed their minds about that direction. Jeff Lemire also made a comment that seemed to hint he might be writing Shadowman at some point, but that's speculation.

Meanwhile, the current miniseries The Death Defying Doctor Mirage centers on another "supernatural" Valiant character that was reintroduced during the second Shadowman arc. It continues some themes from Shadowman, and has received strong praise from critics. Definitely worth a look if supernatural is your thing!

[danmar85]

I'm of the opinion that's cause the Marvel board(maybe DC as well, I'm not in there as much) has a contingent of people too caught up in themselves and the real world to truly escape into fantasy fiction. They are continually griping about the % of diversity, ethnicity, race etc that it's tiring. I'm not convinced you could ever make that contingent of people happy. They'd always be "on" about something.

Hmm, I don't remember much (if any) mention of issues like that on either board. I could be wrong, but most of the negativity comes from what people feel is bad writing or art. I do agree that it is overly negative and the Marvel board is usually the worse offender. I'd consider DC moderately negative at most. It could also be because the Marvel board is by far the most active. The General Collected thread has the same general tone as this one does. Mostly friendly and upbeat.

Edit: Oh and inflated prices (mostly Marvel) and poor binding, but most would agree one those issues.

As far as issues like diversity, ethnicity, race and similar issues that relate to comics and how the medium is. I have no problem with the general argument. It should evolve, but it should be a natural occurrence.