Valiant Execs are 'On Their Own Path,' Won't Follow Marvel & DC

[CBR News]

Valiant's CEO, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief give CBR News an all-access look at how the publisher operates, and its ambitious plans for 2016.


Full article here.

[scribbleMind]

Lots of Ninjak love. I like how they've delved into his past with the undead monk and how it may have changed him, conceptually, but I'd be lying if I said I was impressed with what's on the page. I dropped it recently. It just wasn't doing it for me and the next arc sounds too simplistic to be exciting. Ninjak's supporting cast is a bit stale and exciting, full of proper government types. I think they really need to introduce a bigger variety of mainstays, as thus far Ninjak has been at his best bouncing back and forth off of Aric, Gilad, and Bloodshot.

[Prisoner 6655321]

This sort of thing sounds great, I wish Valiant made books I was even vaguely interested in. This isn't to say the books they make are bad, I don't think that's the case at all, they're just not the sorts of things I'm looking for in a shared universe.

[scout]

I'm of those new readers (2 years) to the Valiant Universe. I've found it very accessible as each title can stand on it's own. But if you want, and I do, you can get all 7-10 books a month and get a completer version of the shared universe. As I've completely dropped the Marvel line and DC is down to a handful, this is my go to company when I head to the comic store every Wednesday.

[Prisoner 6655321]

My thing is I really prefer kinda fringy books that don't necessarily feel like superhero books (but sometimes I like them too). If I was a wizard I'd make a universe with books like Injection, (classic Hellblazer), Saga and Sandman Mystery Theatre with the more superhero elements of the line looking more like LoSH, Hawkeye (I realize that's a big jump there), Powerman and Iron Fist while Valiant seems to have a more corporate / military feel for most of the books. That said, if Valiant looked anything like it does now when I was first getting into comics as a kid, I'd first in line to ride that train. From what I've seen and what little I've read it seems like a pretty good line but not one with the sorts of stories I'm looking for.

[Joshua]

I thought this was a great article. I've been a Valiant fan since the 90s. I really dig what they've done with the newer universe and newer vision of the characters. And like said above, they don't do a lot of books. It's easy to buy a copy of everything they do each month and enjoy them.

[scribbleMind]

Well, it's interesting really. Valiant has exactly 1 superhero. Most of the others work for the government except a few anti-establishment psychic "terrorist" group The Renegades, and Archer and Armstrong just kind of roam around and deal with crazy personal stuff, Dr. Mirage just wants to bring her hubby back to life. There aren't many vigilantes. If I were describe them X-O would be Sci-fi, Bloodshot would be in the same vein as terminator, Ninjak is espionage. Eternal Warrior fits the Superhero mold, I think, maybe Ivar Timewalker too but we never know exactly what he's up to when he's not dealing with personal stuff. Shadowman just kind of stumbles into crap because people want to use him, but may be among the more superheroy types. Archer and Armstrong is Comedy/Adventure. Imperium is Political Thriller/Horror. Anyway, there really aren't too many things in the Valiant Universe that I naturally associate with superheroes or superheroism, due largely to that lack of vigilantism. No one is actually out looking for trouble, unless they're part of a government force/faction and are paid to deal with trouble.

[Captain Craig]

Nice article! As an old and new fan I feel VALIANT has had more hits than misses thus far on their relaunch.

The only part that rang falsely to me was when talking about "relaunching titles every 2yrs".
Valiant has done this with Bloodshot and now Archer & Armstrong.
Bloodshot should've been an ongoing, continued from #26, Reborn being just a long arc. Now that Ray/BS is "reborn" the title makes little sense but if the title had just remained Bloodshot it wouldn't be an issue.

I understand they halted A&A in order to do Timewalker. At some point they are going to have to branch beyond their self imposed 9 titles a limit in order to NOT be like Marvel/DC and relaunching books cyclically.

[JasonTodd428]

Great article. I just started reading Valiant books recently and I have to say I'm really enjoying them thus far. They're quickly becoming my go to company instead of DC or Marvel because they seem to be a better fit for me these days. Marvel pushed me away permanently as soon as Secret Wars started and DC's Rebirth will cull the majority of my pull without really replacing those culled titles with anything I want to read outside of Bat related titles.

[vvrogers4]

You should give Bloodshot Reborn a try. Lemire is killing it. It definitely isn't something you'd expect from a shared superhero universe.

[JasonTodd428]

You should give Bloodshot Reborn a try. Lemire is killing it. It definitely isn't something you'd expect from a shared superhero universe.

I've been reading it and Lemire is definitely killing it on that book.

[Mr. Wind-Up Bird]

Bloodshot Reborn was my favorite series of last year. The Valiant and Book of Death were both very strong events and I like that you can follow the shared universe directly from event to event while the main books do their own thing. I also like Ninjak a whole lot. Imperium had a great opening arc but never has lived up to the potential shown there. All the nation building stuff is way more interesting to me than Divinity, the Vine, and Livewire which seem like tangents. However it is a very tightly written suspense book with very dense scripting so it does reward in that way. Wrath of the Eternal Warrior is great! I look forward to 4001 AD and A&A!

[Iluvitloud1976]

Great article! I think this has been the best incarnation of Valiant since the original run back in the early 90's. Great stuff indeed

[daningotham]

I've been reading Bloodshot and Rai and love them both. I'm excited for 4001 A.D.

[Alucard2099]

Valiant has made me proud to be a comic reader simply because it's come back has been so successful and they are not shoving titles down readers throat I wish them all the best.
I can understand why people dropped the titles but I'm enjoying evey title they have been puting out since the relaunch the only one that really bored me was when Shadowman's last story arc took place other than that I've enjoyed everything so far.