Valiant Comics

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This article is about the American comic book publisher. For the Hal Foster comic strip, see Prince Valiant. For the British adventure comic, see Valiant (comics).
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Valiant Comics
Type Comic publisher
Industry Comics
Founded 1989/2008
Founder(s) Jim Shooter
Bob Layton
Headquarters New York City
Key people Peter Cuneo, Chairman
Dinesh Shamdasani, CEO & Chief Creative Officer
Gavin Cuneo, CFO & Head of Strategic Development[1]
Warren Simons, Executive Editor
Parent Voyager Communications (1989-1994)
Acclaim Entertainment (1994-2004)
Valiant Entertainment (2008-present)
Website Valiantuniverse.com

Valiant Entertainment, Inc., commonly referred to as Valiant Comics, is an American company that publishes comic books based on the Valiant Universe of characters. The company was founded in 1989 by former Marvel Comics writer/editors Jim Shooter and Bob Layton. In 1994, Valiant's venture-capital investor, Triumph, sold the company to video game developer Acclaim Entertainment for $65 million. Acclaim shut down in 2004 and ceased activity in all divisions including comic book publishing.[2][3]

The company was restarted in 2005 as Valiant Entertainment by entrepreneurs Dinesh Shamdasani and Jason Kothari.[3] In 2011, former Marvel CEO and Vice Chairman, Peter Cuneo was brought on board as Valiant's Chairman and an investor in the company.[4] Valiant Entertainment launched its publishing division with four new ongoing titles as part of an initiative dubbed the "Summer of Valiant" in 2012[5] to great commercial success,[6] winning Publisher of the Year under 5% Market Share and being nominated for Book of the Year at the Diamond Gem Awards.[7]

Contents

History [edit]

Voyager Communications [edit]

In 1988, former editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics Jim Shooter, former manager of the Allman Brothers Band Steven J. Massarsky, and a group of investors attempted to purchase Marvel Entertainment. They submitted the second highest bid, with financier Ronald Perelman submitting the highest bid and acquiring Marvel. Shooter and Massarsky instead formed Voyager Communications in 1989 with significant venture capital financing from Triumph Capital.[1] Valiant recruited numerous writers and artists from Marvel, including Barry Windsor-Smith, creator of Wolverine's "Weapon X" storyline, and Bob Layton, a long-time writer of Iron Man. Valiant launched an interconnected line of superhero comics featuring a mixture of Western Publishing licensed characters and original creations.[citation needed]

Cover image of Harbinger #1 from Valiant Comics

In 1992, Valiant released its first set of original titles, including Harbinger, X-O Manowar, Rai, and Shadowman, followed by a major crossover event called Unity, during which Eternal Warrior and Archer & Armstrong were launched. Harbinger #1 was listed on the top ten List of Wizard Magazine for a then record eight consecutive months and was eventually named "Collectible of the Decade" while Rai #0 appeared on Wizard's top ten list for a new record nine consecutive months.[citation needed] In 1992, Valiant's Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter was given the Lifetime Achievement Award for co-creating the Valiant Universe in a ceremony that also honored Stan Lee for co-creating the Marvel Universe.[8]

Valiant also pioneered a number of marketing innovations, such as the zero "origin" issues, the gold logo program, coupons redeemable for original comic books, and chromium covers.[9] Following the "Unity" crossover, Valiant released Bloodshot, Ninjak, H.A.R.D. Corps, Second Life of Dr. Mirage, and Timewalker, among other titles.

Acclaim Comics [edit]

In 1994, Triumph Capital decided to exit their investment, and after extensive negotiations with a number of major entertainment firms including Paramount Pictures, Valiant was sold to video game developer and publisher Acclaim Entertainment.[1] Acclaim continued publishing Valiant comic books but focused on developing Valiant action adventure video games. From 1996 to 2002, Acclaim created a number of successful multi-platform-released Valiant video games, such as the Shadowman franchise and Iron Man/X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal, which featured Valiant's X-O Manowar alongside Marvel's Iron Man.[citation needed]

In 2003, Acclaim Entertainment's video game business was taking significant risks, including limited diversification. After losing a major sports video game license, Acclaim became financially insolvent and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2005.[1]

Valiant Entertainment [edit]

From left to right: Valiant Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani, Sales Manager Atom! Freeman, Marketing and Communications Manager Hunter Gorinson and Publisher Fred Pierce at Midtown Comics in Manhattan.

In 2005, a group of professionals led by Dinesh Shamdasani and Jason Kothari raised financing and acquired the rights to the Valiant Comics library from Acclaim Entertainment's estate, forming Valiant Entertainment (VE).[3] Legal battles for the rights to the Valiant Comics trademarks ensued immediately as a rival group, Valiant Intellectual Properties LLC (VIP), announced that they had made placeholder filings for several trademarks.[citation needed] Valiant Entertainment won and former Valiant Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter was hired to write new stories for hardcover reprints of classic Valiant Universe stories.[10]

In August 2011, former Marvel Comics CEO and Vice Chairman Peter Cuneo was brought on board as Valiant's Chairman and an investor in Valiant Entertainment, with Gavin Cuneo serving as CFO.[4]

Valiant Entertainment began publishing five new monthly comic books based on the Valiant Comics universe of characters in 2012,[11] beginning with X-O Manowar, which premiered May 2, 2012 by writer Robert Venditti and artist Cary Nord.[12] The following titles include Harbinger, launched in June 2012 by writer Joshua Dysart and artist Khari Evans; Bloodshot, launched in July 2012 by writer Duane Swierczynski and artist Manuel Garcia; Archer & Armstrong, launched in August 2012 by writer Fred Van Lente and artist Clayton Henry; and Shadowman, launched in November 2012 by writer Justin Jordan and artist Patrick Zircher.[13] Quantum & Woody, written by James Asmus and drawn by Tom Fowler, is set to launch in July 2013[14] while Eternal Warrior, written by Greg Pak and drawn by Trevor Hairsine, is set to launch in September 2013.[15]

Valiant Entertainment created the Pullbox program, which encourages readers to start a pullbox subscription with their comics store in order to obtain an exclusive version of the comic.[16] The company also published the entire first issue of X-O Manowar online for free.[17]

In January 2013, Valiant announced that Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder, Dinesh Shamdasani, was promoted to CEO & Chief Creative Officer.[18]

The launch of Valiant's publishing division was a commercial hit and the largest new publisher launch in over a decade.[6] The comics have also been a critical success, among a slew of awards and Top Ten lists Valiant won Publisher of the Year under 5% Market Share and was nominated for Book of the Year at the Diamond Gem Awards.[7]

Awards and recognition [edit]

  • The 1993 Diamond Gem Award for Best Cover was awarded to Joe Quesada for X-O Manowar #0.[19]
  • Archer & Armstrong: First Impressions and Harbinger: The Beginning were both named among The Ten Best Collected Editions of 2008 by Diamond Comics Distributors.[20]
  • 2012 Publisher of the Year by Diamond Comics Distributors in the Diamond GEM Awards.[7]
  • Best Publisher of 2012 by Comic Impact.[21]
  • Valiant was named The Most Effective Relaunch This Decade by ComicsAlliance in 2012.[22]
  • Comic Book Movie named the Valiant launch one of the Top 15 Comic Book Moments of 2012.[23]
  • Archer & Armstrong was nominated for Best New Comic Series 2012 by IGN.[24]
  • Harbinger was named among the Top 100 Comics of 2012 by Comic Book Resources.[25]
  • The A.V. Club named X-O Manowar the Best Revival of 2012.[26]
  • Comic Book Therapy named X-O Manowar one of the 12 Best Comics of 2012.[27]
  • Comic Impact named X-O Manowar Most Improved Book 2012, and series writer Robert Venditti Best New Writer 2012.[21]
  • Truthful Comics named X-O Manowar #7 to their list of the Top 10 Comics of 2012.[28]
  • Aric's battle against members of the Vine Members in X-O Manowar #5 was named among the Best New Comic Book Battles This Year: 2012 by Comic Vine, with an honorable mention given to Bloodshot and Chainsaw's battle.[29]

Nominations [edit]

  • X-O Manowar was given the 2012 Diamond GEM Award for Best Book of the Year over $3.00.[30]

Universes [edit]

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The Valiant Universe, drawn by Bernard Chang, inked by Bob Layton, Tom Ryder and various

The Valiant Universe is the fictional shared universe where all comic stories published by Valiant Comics take place.

Valiant Universe [edit]

In the beginning, the Valiant Universe was a reflection of Jim Shooter's vision for an ideal comic book universe: character-driven, strong continuity with emphasis on science fiction, long-reaching consequences and internal consistency.[original research?] Valiant was the first company to attempt to follow a real-world timeline, in which events in the comics occurred at a pace similar to their publication schedules.[original research?] The company writers adhered to real-world science as much as possible.[original research?] No matter how powerful the characters became, they were still affected by friction, Newton's Laws of Motion, Einstein's laws of relativity, etc.[citation needed]

While the Valiant Universe had its share of aliens, the writers never employed such popular science fiction conventions as universal translators or faster-than-light travel.[citation needed] All Valiant Universe superheroes had powers derived from psionic awareness, technology, or magic.[citation needed] Most Valiant heroes were not as moral as average comic book heroes, with many having more in common with 1940s pulp adventurers than traditional superheroes.[citation needed] Valiant Comics titles were set in a tight, carefully integrated fictional universe, where events in one title could have indirect effects on other titles.[citation needed] In several cases, major characters debuted in established titles before their own titles were launched.[citation needed]

The Valiant Universe was created by Solar as the result of his attempt to recreate his universe after he accidentally destroyed it.[31] Due to Solar's childhood memories of comic book heroes, a universe similar to his own emerged, now populated by various superhumans and alien races.[citation needed] It was eventually discovered that several times during the Valiant Universe's history, Earth was attacked by a race of spider-like aliens, who sought to use the human race as slave labor and food.[citation needed] Their efforts were indirectly responsible for the creation of several heroes, most notably X-O Manowar and Shadowman.[citation needed]

The early 1990s saw the rise of psionically empowered humans called Harbingers.[citation needed] They were led by Toyo Harada, a powerful psionic businessman with a Messiah complex. While on the surface he operated in a manner similar to Professor Xavier of the X-Men, he actually sought to use Harbingers to take over Earth, in order to "save the world from itself", with himself as leader.[citation needed] The history of the Valiant Universe's super-powered community was greatly influenced by Geomancers, humans who had the ability to psychically communicate with the Earth itself.[citation needed]

From the beginning, all Valiant Comics titles were divided into two groups:

  • Titles in the 20th century (the present)
  • Titles set in the 41st century (beginning with 4000 A.D.).

Heroes from the present were not aware of heroes in the future until the Unity crossover. Four heroes from the present - Solar, Gilad the Eternal Warrior and his two brothers, Ivar the Timewalker and Aram (Armstrong from Archer & Armstrong) - survived into the 41st century, but their experiences through the centuries had made them different from their contemporary counterparts.[volume & issue needed]

Website banner drawn by Anthony Castrillo from valiantentertainment.com

Following Jim Shooter's departure, the Valiant Universe changed under the creative direction of Bob Layton and Kevin VanHook. In 1994, Valiant trimmed their comics line while moving to a two-issues-per-month schedule for their more popular titles (Bloodshot, Harbinger, Ninjak, Shadowman, X-O Manowar etc.).[citation needed] Soon after, Acclaim Entertainment, who had bought Valiant several months before, restarted the comics line with new versions of the heroes which could be used as video game properties.[citation needed]

Armada and Windjammer divisions [edit]

In 1995, Valiant Comics created two new division imprints, Armada and Windjammer. Armada focused on the publisher's line to publish licensed properties.[citation needed] Properties licensed to the Armada imprint included a series of various original Magic: The Gathering comic books, based on the popular collectible card game.[citation needed]

Windjammer was established as Acclaim's creator-owned line, for comic book writers and artists to publish creator-owned material.[citation needed] Titles published under Windjammer included Neal Adams' creator owned Knighthawk, Samuree, Valeria the She-Bat, and Mike Grell's creator owned Starslayer and Bar Sinister.[citation needed]

Acclaim Universe [edit]

When Acclaim Entertainment bought Valiant Comics, the universe was completely restarted. In 1996, with all previous Valiant Universe titles canceled, Fabian Nicieza, a former editor and writer from Marvel Comics, was hired as senior vice-president and editor-in-chief and given the task of revamping Valiant Comics properties.[citation needed]

As editor, Nicieza oversaw the new version, dubbed VH2 by the company,[citation needed] which re-imagined all of the Valiant characters such as Shadowman, X-O Manowar and Ninjak, using the top comic book writers of the period including Warren Ellis, Mark Waid, Kurt Busiek and Garth Ennis.[citation needed] The line also introduced new titles such as Troublemakers, Trinity Angels and the hit comedy Quantum and Woody.[citation needed] The most successful titles during this period were the re-imagined Turok and Shadowman, which sold well.[citation needed] The characters were later developed into successful video game properties by Acclaim's parent company, Acclaim Entertainment.[citation needed]

Acclaim Comics met with initial success but by early 1999 most of the line had been cancelled.[citation needed] Acclaim Entertainment suffered huge losses on a number of video game titles and were cutting costs on their non-core businesses. Nicieza eventually left and staff levels were cut. The next year Acclaim attempted to merge the two universes with Unity 2000.[citation needed]

Jim Shooter's Valiant Universe [edit]

In 2000, during Acclaim's Unity 2000 crossover, writer Jim Shooter introduced yet another alternate universe, unofficially called VH-0 by fans.[citation needed] In essence, it was his vision of what the Valiant Universe would have been if he had stayed with the company.[citation needed] According to Jim Shooter's plot, at the end of the crossover the VH-0 universe was destroyed and most of its characters killed; VH-1 and VH-2 were fused together into a new universe.[citation needed]

Valiant Entertainment [edit]

In 2005, the rights to the Valiant and Acclaim original characters (such as Archer and Armstrong, Rai, Quantum and Woody etc.) were auctioned off and brought by Valiant Entertainment.[citation needed] The rights to the three licensed characters (Solar, Magnus and Turok) reverted to Classic Media (then-owner of the Gold Key Comics properties), which was brought out by DreamWorks in July 2012.[32]

Titles [edit]

Valiant Universe [edit]

Original Company logo

Valiant Entertainment [edit]

  • Archer & Armstrong
  • Bloodshot
  • Harbinger
  • Shadowman
  • X-O Manowar
  • Quantum & Woody
  • Eternal Warrior

Acclaim Comics [edit]

Characters [edit]

Main article: List of Valiant Comics characters

Trading cards [edit]

Main article: Valiant Comics trading cards

During the trading card boom of the early 90s, Valiant Comics, through licenses with the major trading card manufacturers, produced a number of trading card sets and promotional cards to highlight the comics and characters of the Valiant Universe. The major trading card sets include:

Title Year Producer No. of Basic cards No. of Chase cards
Unity card set 1992 Comic Images 90 6
Valiant Era series 1 1993 Upper Deck 120 20
Deathmate 1993 Upper Deck 110 16
Valiant Era series 2 1994 Upper Deck 140 27

[edit]

Valiant's first logo appeared on its licensed products, Nintendo and Wrestling comics, before appearing on its superhero line. The logo made its first appearance on a superhero comic in May 1991, on Magnus Robot Fighter #1 (but without a comic box). The logo first appeared in a comic box on in May 1991, on Solar #5 and Magnus #8.[citation needed]

After the sale to Acclaim Entertainment Inc. for $65 million, the logo was completely revamped. The compass logo was replaced by a large letter "V" that appeared above the wording "Valiant", which appeared in a new type face (the same went with both the Armada and Windjammer imprints).[citation needed]

To coincide with the Acclaim Comics relaunch in 1996, another completely revamped logo was created. This logo signified the synergy between Acclaim and Valiant, merging the letters "A" and "V" into one logo with the wording "Acclaim Comics Valiant Heroes".[citation needed] More recently, following the formation of Valiant Entertainment, the compass logo has reappeared along with a variation of the original type face.[citation needed]

On August 15, 2007 Valiant Entertainment hired corporate identity consultant Henry Steiner for a re-design of their logo which was used in all media. This logo made its debut on the Harbinger: The Beginning hardcover.[citation needed] In 2012, Valiant Entertainment unveiled its new logo, created by Rian Hughes, which is currently used in all media.[citation needed]

See also [edit]

Notes [edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Reiss, Robert (February 1, 20101). "How Marvel Became A Business Superhero". Forbes. [dead link]
  2. ^ Feldman, Curt (September 1, 2004). "Acclaim bankruptcy now official". Gamespot. 
  3. ^ a b c Carrie, Stephanie (May 16, 2012). "Valiant Comics: Two Students Did Not Want to See Their Favorite Comic Book Brand Die. So They Bought the Company". LA Weekly. 
  4. ^ a b Fleming, Mike, Jr. (June 2, 2011). "Valiant Relaunches Comic Imprint With Ex-Marvel CEO Peter Cuneo In Charge". Deadline Hollywood. 
  5. ^ Sunu, Steve (March 8, 2012). "'Summer of Valiant' Wraps With 'Archer & Armstrong'". Comic Book Resources.
  6. ^ a b Johnston, Rich (April 26, 2012). "X-O Manowar Hits Over 42,000 Pre Orders". Bleeding Cool. 
  7. ^ a b c Johnston, Rich (February 27, 2013). "Diamond Gem Awards 2012 Awarded – With A Couple Of Surprises". Bleeding Cool. 
  8. ^ Thomas, Michael (October 6, 2000). "JIM SHOOTER INTERVIEW: PART 1". Comic Book Resources. 
  9. ^ Smith, Zack (October 23, 2012). "Memories of Comic Book 'GIMMICKS' Resurface". Newsarama. 
  10. ^ "Jim Shooter Returns To Valiant Universe". Comic Book Resources. June 6, 2007
  11. ^ Esposito, Joey (December 7, 2009). "Your First Look at the New Valiant Comics". IGN. 
  12. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Venditti & Nord Relaunch 'X-O Manowar'". Comic Book Resources. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2012. 
  13. ^ Rosenberg, Scott A. (October 10, 2012). "A Valiant debut at the New York Comic Con". amNew York. pp. 12-13
  14. ^ Sunu, Steve (March 26, 2013). "EXCLUSIVE: Asmus & Fowler Resurrect 'Quantum and Woody'. Comic Book Resources.
  15. ^ Sunu, Steve (May 10, 2013). "EXCLUSIVE: Pak Launches "Eternal Warrior" Series For Valiant". Comic Book Resources.
  16. ^ Gerding, Stephen (22 February 2012). "VALIANT LAUNCHES PULLBOX VARIANT PROGRAM". Comic Book Resources. 
  17. ^ "Read Valiant's X-O MANOWAR #1 - the Whole Damn Thing". Newsarama. December 5, 2012. 
  18. ^ "Valiant Entertainment Appoints Dinesh Shamdasani to CEO, Jason Kothari to Vice Chairman". Valiant Entertainment. January 16, 2012. 
  19. ^ Jim, Jean (January 1, 2013). "Biography of Joe Quesada". Spiderwebart. 
  20. ^ "The Best Collected Editions of 2008". Scoop. January 15, 2009. 
  21. ^ a b Sheldon Lee (January 3, 2013). "Best of 2012 Winners". Comic Impact. 
  22. ^ Chris Sims (January 1, 2013). "ComicsAlliance Presents the Best Comics of 2012 (Master List)". ComicsAlliance. 
  23. ^ "The Top 15 Comic Book Moments of 2012". Comic Book Movie. December 18, 2012. 
  24. ^ Joey Esposito (December 7, 2012). "IGN: Best New Comic Series". IGN. 
  25. ^ Jennifer Cheng (December 31, 2012). "CBR’s Top 100 Comics of 2012". Comic Book Resouces. 
  26. ^ Agent Burgos (December 31, 2012). "The best superhero and mainstream comics of 2012". AV Club. 
  27. ^ Agent Burgos (December 31, 2012). "The Best 12 Comics Of 2012!". Comic Book Therapy. 
  28. ^ Manuel A. Carmona (December 25, 2012). "Top 10 comics of 2012". Truthful Comics. 
  29. ^ Gregg Katzman (December 31, 2012). "Best New Comic Book Battles This Year:2012". Comic Vine. 
  30. ^ Rich Johnston (January 23, 2013). "Diamond Announces Nominations For 2012 Gem Awards". Bleeding Cool. 
  31. ^ Solar: Man of the Atom (#0-10)
  32. ^ Verrier, Richard (July 23, 2012). "DreamWorks Animation buys 'Casper,' 'Lassie' parent Classic Media". Los Angeles Times.

References [edit]

External links [edit]

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