Valiant is not successful because...

Discuss the VALIANT comics, characters, and collecting.
PLEASE DO NOT REVEAL SPOILER INFORMATION IN YOUR TOPIC TITLE.

Moderators: Daniel Jackson, greg

Post Reply
User avatar
Sven the Returned
Nanite-powered posting
Nanite-powered posting
Posts: 1484
Joined: Wed May 22, 2013 3:37:54 am
Valiant fan since: 2013
Favorite character: Rai
Favorite title: X-O Manowar
Favorite writer: V-Diddy
Favorite artist: Clayton Crain
Valiant is not successful because...

Post by Sven the Returned »

I mean not as big a success as we hoped it would me even just as comic book company.

1. The market is inherently irrational, conservative and filled with Big 2 loyalists

2. The creative side and marketing was not good enough

3. Other reasons...

User avatar
WrathOfArmstrong
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 259
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2017 12:43:01 pm
Valiant fan since: April 2017
Favorite character: Aric
Favorite title: Wrath of Eternal Warrior
Favorite writer: Venditte
Favorite artist: Juan Jose Ryp
Re: Valiant is not successful because...

Post by WrathOfArmstrong »

Sven,

1. I think stores have more of a loyalty to the big two. It's like pulling teeth at my LCS to get the books I want (not just Valiant).

XO got more Valiant in the door, but NINJAK Vs, Faith Winter, were all not ordered and Eternity is on my pull, but not the shelf. It is disorganized, Valiant is lopped in with the indie titles where as DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, and Image all have clear sections that make it easy to see what is a shared universe. Valiants few titles could've made a single shelf display but provided a clearer picture that these were one thing.

When craft brews started showing up, those companies made an effort to get a guy on the road going to each store and making sure their produce was properly displayed and the owners realized what they had. I don't think Valiant ever canvased all the stores. and just FYI, within an hour of me are 5 LCS, and only 2 ever had VEI. The others I asked I got a, 'I think it's on a couple people's pulls but we don't shelve it.'

2. I'm not a fan of all the variants. I like to be able to complete, when that became impossible, I gave up and often ended up trade waiting. but I'm not sure what else they could've done better marketing against the big two. If anything, I think DMG buying them out has more to do with the Valiant line actually showing improvement. This is a huge investment and they see it as a way to make money--which means Valiant was close to making a leap. The way I'm taking it, DMG snuck in and took it away...

3. While I love the 4-issue trades, I think this became problematic for most of the stories. I know #1s sell, but I think longevity breeds interest as well. Look this title has gone on 50+ issues it must be good vs. I don't know anything about this but it is the first issue--let me give it at try.

User avatar
BugsySig
I could be talking poo-doo.
I could be talking poo-doo.
Posts: 9535
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2012 7:47:04 pm
Valiant fan since: 1992
Favorite character: Ivar, Timewalker
Favorite title: Harbinger/Timewalker
Favorite writer: Joshua Dysart/FVL
Favorite artist: Joe Quesada
Location: Central CT
Re: Valiant is not successful because...

Post by BugsySig »

Sounds like the same argument for why 3rd parties don’t find success.
Kurt Busiek wrote:Bull$#!t
Image

User avatar
Sven the Returned
Nanite-powered posting
Nanite-powered posting
Posts: 1484
Joined: Wed May 22, 2013 3:37:54 am
Valiant fan since: 2013
Favorite character: Rai
Favorite title: X-O Manowar
Favorite writer: V-Diddy
Favorite artist: Clayton Crain
Re: Valiant is not successful because...

Post by Sven the Returned »

BugsySig wrote:Sounds like the same argument for why 3rd parties don’t find success.
I bet indie comics have more media exposure compared to third parties also the stakes are so much lower.
Last edited by Sven the Returned on Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:32:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
superman-prime
scratch 1 for the coog guys
scratch 1 for the coog guys
Posts: 23252
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 3:27:32 am
Location: phx az (east valley)
Re: Valiant is not successful because...

Post by superman-prime »

craft beer also has the bonus of having big mark up where as the big brands do not have as much so its a added sale i think the big 2 have better sell though then a lot of indies that will end up on buck bins i ve found a lot of new valiant there, variants and all from recent releases each one tossed in there from the wall is 50c at least loss for a store and thats not good for the store in general the big 2 generally have a lot of people on pull lists so a few dozen out of 200 no huge loss but on a indy 6 of 10 wipes out a lot of margin

2 shop holders locally have told me this in the last few years

User avatar
TheFerg714
H.A.R.D.E.R. Corps, with Extra Resistance
H.A.R.D.E.R. Corps, with Extra Resistance
Posts: 1078
Joined: Sun Jul 20, 2014 10:25:48 pm
Valiant fan since: July 2014
Favorite character: Archer
Favorite title: Archer & Armstrong
Favorite writer: Joshua Dysart
Favorite artist: Juan Jose Ryp
Re: Valiant is not successful because...

Post by TheFerg714 »

Sven the Returned wrote:1. The market is inherently irrational, conservative and filled with Big 2 loyalists
This is probably the biggest and most obvious reason, and I honestly don't blame people for thinking that way. As much as I love Bloodshot and X-O, characters like Batman and Spider-Man will always be more important to me (and the rest of the world). Plus, if you're already invested in one or two major universes, adding a third one would seem pointless.
2. The creative side and marketing was not good enough
I suppose the marketing could have been better (although I don't know how), and the creative side I think faltered in 2016 a little, but no, I don't think this is the problem.
However, like most indies, distributors have no idea how to garner attention to something outside of the big 2. This was especially a problem for Valiant, seeing as a lot of it's draw was the connected universe. I've always thought that it's really stupid to just throw all the indies on the same rack. I mean I get it if it's a tiny shop, but bigger stores should really try a little harder to cut through the confusing mess of 50+ alphabetical titles all thrown on the same rack, that have nothing to do with eachother. I imagine if every single store had a little dedicated section to Valiant, they would be doing a lot better right now.
3. Other reasons...
No, I think that's pretty much it. Just the fact that Valiant was fighting a (very steep) uphill battle.


Post Reply