"...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plans"

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

Moderators: Daniel Jackson, greg

User avatar
greg
The admin around here must be getting old and soft.
The admin around here must be getting old and soft.
Posts: 22861
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 9:39:27 am
Valiant fan since: Rai #0
Favorite character: Depends on title
Favorite title: Depends on writer
Favorite writer: Depends on artist
Favorite artist: Depends on character
Location: Indoors
Contact:
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by greg »

Harbinger Wars 2 is (another) global event which is certain to have a significant impact on every character involved. Valiant is still more-or-less a real-time story universe (in addition to having stories in the long ago past and far forward future), so I would expect the Valiant stories to remain "real-time"... in other words, there is no reboot if you acknowledge that everything that happened 2012-2017 still happened, and that 2018-2019 are actually occurring in the universe at that point. Things could be very different, maybe heroes die, retire, leave the planet, whatever, but I can't imagine DMG Valiant saying that 2012-2017 didn't happen. What would be the point of undoing 2012-2017? You wouldn't replace it with a different 2012-2017 across all the titles... you just focus on whatever titles DMG wants to make important in 2018 and 2019. More this, less that... but I don't see 2012-2017 going anywhere.

User avatar
tanord
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 341
Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2004 9:33:23 pm
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by tanord »

Phoenix8008 wrote: 1. You "really think that they are going to do a company wide reboot". Based on what? Where did you read something or hear something that indicates this is a plan or even a possibility?

2. Who says that they're not selling enough to turn a profit though? Do you think they've been running the company at a loss for 5-6 years? I'd guess that they have been making a profit, because it's tough to stay in business without doing so. They've been pretty consistently at around/just under 1% of total market share for awhile. They've stayed fairly constant in the number of titles monthly. If what they've been doing hasn't been making them a profit enough to pay the bills, then how have they kept going? And if they have kept going this far while not making a profit (somehow), then why would they need to do something as extreme as a universal reboot in the hopes of making it better?

3. While not scientific, every time I remember the subject of a big reboot coming up on these boards, there's usually an easy majority of folks commenting that they'd be opposed to such a reboot. Since this site has long been home to the most hardcore of Valiant fans (being interested enough in the characters and stories to keep talking about them in this community for the many years when there were no comics being published), I'd say that's a fairly valid measuring stick showing that more would be opposed than would be supportive of such a reboot. If they're only selling 5-10 thousand copies per month, and you take away at least half of those, what makes you think enough people that weren't interested in Valiant before are suddenly going to fill that gap and all stay past the first few issues of a reboot to make it better/more profitable than it was?

Edit: I put up a poll to get more accurate info on support for a hypothetical reboot, instead of relying on the hearsay of my memory of past conversations.
1. I love Valiant just as any other board member here. The cbr article said that there was going to be a reset. That usually means lots of titles will receive a whole new number one again. Usually with the renumbering to a whole new number one there will be origins that are retold over again like the Ultimate Universe at Marvel. Origins are retold because origin stories sell. How many times did Marvel retell someone's origin? How many times did they reprint origin stories of their popular characters? How many times did DC reboot their universe? They just had the New 52 universe. And the New 52 Universe sold well at least initially. As a matter of fact, Batman #1 from New 52 was selling in the hundreds of dollars in the secondary market even though the print run was high.

2. How did DMG get into Valiant? Because Valiant needed the investment. If Valiant was selling a lot of copies and turning a profit they wouldn't need DMG money nor would they sign a deal where DMG had the option to buy them out outright after a certain time.

3. I'm sure that DMG appreciates the hardcore Valiant fans that stuck around but they want to broaden their fanbase to casuals. If you were to say that Valiant is moving toward being like the Marvel Universe, then I'm sure that DMG would gladly accept that reality. DMG is a business where they want the Valiant movies to sell like the Marvel movies. That's the whole point of DMG investing in Valiant to being with.

User avatar
jmatt
Mmm, I was drooling over Cooshie tonight.
Mmm, I was drooling over Cooshie tonight.
Posts: 11026
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2012 2:41:10 pm
Location: Lehigh Valley, PA!
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by jmatt »

greg wrote:... but I don't see 2012-2017 going anywhere.
Me neither. A hard reboot with retold origins is not in the cards, imo.

User avatar
Phoenix8008
I don't know about a power, but I keep hearing these weird tones from the radio
I don't know about a power, but I keep hearing these weird tones from the radio
Posts: 3257
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:49:54 am
Valiant fan since: 1992
Favorite character: Aric
Favorite title: Harbinger
Favorite writer: Joshua Dysart
Location: Florida, USA
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by Phoenix8008 »

tanord wrote:
Phoenix8008 wrote: 1. You "really think that they are going to do a company wide reboot". Based on what? Where did you read something or hear something that indicates this is a plan or even a possibility?

2. Who says that they're not selling enough to turn a profit though? Do you think they've been running the company at a loss for 5-6 years? I'd guess that they have been making a profit, because it's tough to stay in business without doing so. They've been pretty consistently at around/just under 1% of total market share for awhile. They've stayed fairly constant in the number of titles monthly. If what they've been doing hasn't been making them a profit enough to pay the bills, then how have they kept going? And if they have kept going this far while not making a profit (somehow), then why would they need to do something as extreme as a universal reboot in the hopes of making it better?

3. While not scientific, every time I remember the subject of a big reboot coming up on these boards, there's usually an easy majority of folks commenting that they'd be opposed to such a reboot. Since this site has long been home to the most hardcore of Valiant fans (being interested enough in the characters and stories to keep talking about them in this community for the many years when there were no comics being published), I'd say that's a fairly valid measuring stick showing that more would be opposed than would be supportive of such a reboot. If they're only selling 5-10 thousand copies per month, and you take away at least half of those, what makes you think enough people that weren't interested in Valiant before are suddenly going to fill that gap and all stay past the first few issues of a reboot to make it better/more profitable than it was?

Edit: I put up a poll to get more accurate info on support for a hypothetical reboot, instead of relying on the hearsay of my memory of past conversations.
1. I love Valiant just as any other board member here. The cbr article said that there was going to be a reset. That usually means lots of titles will receive a whole new number one again. Usually with the renumbering to a whole new number one there will be origins that are retold over again like the Ultimate Universe at Marvel. Origins are retold because origin stories sell. How many times did Marvel retell someone's origin? How many times did they reprint origin stories of their popular characters? How many times did DC reboot their universe? They just had the New 52 universe. And the New 52 Universe sold well at least initially. As a matter of fact, Batman #1 from New 52 was selling in the hundreds of dollars in the secondary market even though the print run was high.

2. How did DMG get into Valiant? Because Valiant needed the investment. If Valiant was selling a lot of copies and turning a profit they wouldn't need DMG money nor would they sign a deal where DMG had the option to buy them out outright after a certain time.

3. I'm sure that DMG appreciates the hardcore Valiant fans that stuck around but they want to broaden their fanbase to casuals. If you were to say that Valiant is moving toward being like the Marvel Universe, then I'm sure that DMG would gladly accept that reality. DMG is a business where they want the Valiant movies to sell like the Marvel movies. That's the whole point of DMG investing in Valiant to being with.
1. Okay, I see where you're coming from with that as your source. However, that quote was "At the end of Harbinger Wars 2, a good part of the universe will reset." That seems to point away from a total reset of the universe, since they specified only 'a good part of the universe'. I've already commented early what I thought this quote means. I'm just gonna copy/paste it to here for reference: "my takeaway from that statement about a 'reset' after HW2 probably means a big status quo change. I wouldn't be surprised to see a big change among all the psiot related titles. They also talked about new series spawning out of what happens in HW2 and this could be part of that. Reset doesn't have to mean reboot. It could just mean reshaping what's already there." #1 issues do sell more than others, you are correct. And often (with other companies) that has included retelling the origin, or making up a new origin in the cases of resetting whole universes. DC's Rebirth was pretty lucky I think. Marvel has been rebooting over and over again and just seems to be digging themselves into a deeper hole. If Marvel didn't have the MCU movies making them tons of money and drawing in some of the movie fans to buy their comics, they'd be in much bigger trouble I think. Which leads in nicely to...

2. DMG invested in Valiant to help them expand into movies/TV/other media platforms, not to help them keep the lights on for making more comics. Valiant needed the big bucks to jump into the movie business. They just thought things would move faster than they did. Remember, this DMG takeover didn't happen till a few months ago. Originally, we were told that they were trying to get the first Bloodshot movie into theaters in 2017! If that had happened, they would have made enough money (maybe) to buy out DMG's threatened takeover, or at least been able to find another investor to pay in the money to escape the DMG takeover clause that ended up happening.

3. I agree with everything you said in your #3. I'd say that Valiant has gained some casual fans over the years. Considering that the lowest sales for an issue are usually around 5K, lets guess that the hard core fans are around 4K of that. If they're selling 10K copies of some issues, that tells me around 6K is from other 'more casual' fans or newer readers. That's an improvement over VEI's earlier years where stable monthly numbers were between 5K and 7-8K. But that's been slow growth, showing the public a regular product with fairly consistent quality. Doing a universal reboot is pretty much a signal that something went wrong and the universe needs to be cleaned up or fixed. That's what a reboot usually means these days. I think that's why DC's Rebirth was better than most other reboots lately. It's reasoning for the reboot was very strongly tied into the meta-story of the event itself. It wasn't just a cheap excuse made up to cover for the need to do a reboot. Unlike Marvel's constant reinvention and throwing out a dictionary's worth of adjectives like 'All New', 'All Different', 'Marvel NOW', 'Marvel NOWER', 'Marvel Future NOW!'. They've been slinging *SQUEE* at the wall and hoping for something to stick.

In the end, I'm just 'old-school' I guess. It's just my opinion that a longer, unbroken continuity for a comic universe is better in the long run for the universe from a story perspective, and for the company as well. I really believe that a lot of Marvel's current 'issues' (pardon the pun) stem from symptoms of multiple personality syndrome after so many reboots in so short a time. I know #1's sell better. But if that's the only logic point being considered, then why not have everything be a #1 every month? Why? Because nobody could keep track of any order of what happened when and to whom. Nobody could know where a story started or finished. When everything is a 'good jumping on point', then nothing is a good place to jump in because you can't figure out what's happened to whom or why you should care. Let alone trying to be a comic book writer or artist contributing to a world that's just gonna get wiped away and not matter in a couple years.

These are my reasons for not wanting a universal reboot/relaunch that resets the continuity. If they keep the history and just happen to have lots of #1's at the same time, that's a bit different. I wouldn't like it (because I'd rather just see an ongoing keep going in general), but it wouldn't drive me away instantly.
-Phoenix8008 (a.k.a. Charticus!)
Viva la Valiant!
(moderator of r/Valiant subreddit)

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: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by WrathOfArmstrong »

Phoenix8008 wrote:
In the end, I'm just 'old-school' I guess. It's just my opinion that a longer, unbroken continuity for a comic universe is better in the long run for the universe from a story perspective, and for the company as well. I really believe that a lot of Marvel's current 'issues' (pardon the pun) stem from symptoms of multiple personality syndrome after so many reboots in so short a time. I know #1's sell better. But if that's the only logic point being considered, then why not have everything be a #1 every month? Why? Because nobody could keep track of any order of what happened when and to whom. Nobody could know where a story started or finished. When everything is a 'good jumping on point', then nothing is a good place to jump in because you can't figure out what's happened to whom or why you should care. Let alone trying to be a comic book writer or artist contributing to a world that's just gonna get wiped away and not matter in a couple years.
.
How would you feel if Valiant made an effort to produce standalone origin stories (4-6 issue minis, or standalone graphic novel) similar to the Sale/Loeb Color series for Marvel, where the main book can continue to progress but the new readers could be presented with a 'different' take on the origin or an important moment in the character's story?

Granted, I think the Sale/Loeb Color series benefits from the characters' decades of history, but something like Batman Year One remains a continual seller--required reading for Batman fans.

What I'm getting at... is there's probably another FLAMINGO story out there...

User avatar
TheeBaldMoose
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Posts: 2451
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2016 12:03:41 pm
Valiant fan since: ECCC April 2016
Favorite character: Bloodshot/Ninjak/Divinity
Favorite title: Divinity/BS Reborn/Britannia
Favorite writer: Kindt/Lemire/Roberts
Favorite artist: All of them, really
Location: Tacoma
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by TheeBaldMoose »

WrathOfArmstrong wrote:
Phoenix8008 wrote:
In the end, I'm just 'old-school' I guess. It's just my opinion that a longer, unbroken continuity for a comic universe is better in the long run for the universe from a story perspective, and for the company as well. I really believe that a lot of Marvel's current 'issues' (pardon the pun) stem from symptoms of multiple personality syndrome after so many reboots in so short a time. I know #1's sell better. But if that's the only logic point being considered, then why not have everything be a #1 every month? Why? Because nobody could keep track of any order of what happened when and to whom. Nobody could know where a story started or finished. When everything is a 'good jumping on point', then nothing is a good place to jump in because you can't figure out what's happened to whom or why you should care. Let alone trying to be a comic book writer or artist contributing to a world that's just gonna get wiped away and not matter in a couple years.
.
How would you feel if Valiant made an effort to produce standalone origin stories (4-6 issue minis, or standalone graphic novel) similar to the Sale/Loeb Color series for Marvel, where the main book can continue to progress but the new readers could be presented with a 'different' take on the origin or an important moment in the character's story?

Granted, I think the Sale/Loeb Color series benefits from the characters' decades of history, but something like Batman Year One remains a continual seller--required reading for Batman fans.

What I'm getting at... is there's probably another FLAMINGO story out there...
See, I could get behind that, simply because it's not an eraser of what has happened in the past, but an enricher of what has happened. Wanna show just how bad Bloodshot was when he first rounded up the psyot children? That story really wasn't explained, but it would explain some of his guilt and loyalty to those same kids in HW2. It would kind of be like a flash back, it would also enrich what we currently know, and give new readers insight into each character.

Wanna know why Armstrong is a lush? Easily 6 book story based on just that. Really though, that is how you could/should bring EW back into an ongoing book! Wanna know how War Mother actually came to be? What event caused her "birth" so to say? Maybe that right there is what you were trying to say, the "reason" they all came to be. Sure, Bloodshot is who he is, but why? Rai is the same way! I could see so many short mini's come out of that, and they all have #1 issues!

Every single character get's a mini, would that become obnoxious after, say 10 or so?
Moose

User avatar
kinggirlfriend
5318008
5318008
Posts: 568
Joined: Thu May 11, 2017 5:20:12 pm
Valiant fan since: 2016
Favorite character: Gilad
Favorite title: Wrath
Favorite writer: Venditti
Favorite artist: CAFU
Location: Southwest Desert
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by kinggirlfriend »

TheeBaldMoose wrote: See, I could get behind that, simply because it's not an eraser of what has happened in the past, but an enricher of what has happened. Wanna show just how bad Bloodshot was when he first rounded up the psyot children? That story really wasn't explained, but it would explain some of his guilt and loyalty to those same kids in HW2. It would kind of be like a flash back, it would also enrich what we currently know, and give new readers insight into each character.

Wanna know why Armstrong is a lush? Easily 6 book story based on just that. Really though, that is how you could/should bring EW back into an ongoing book! Wanna know how War Mother actually came to be? What event caused her "birth" so to say? Maybe that right there is what you were trying to say, the "reason" they all came to be. Sure, Bloodshot is who he is, but why? Rai is the same way! I could see so many short mini's come out of that, and they all have #1 issues!

Every single character get's a mini, would that become obnoxious after, say 10 or so?
I would totally be open to something like that. Like you said, as long as they aren't taking an eraser to what we've already seen then it would be ok.

User avatar
tanord
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 341
Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2004 9:33:23 pm
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by tanord »

Phoenix8008 wrote:
tanord wrote:
Phoenix8008 wrote: 1. You "really think that they are going to do a company wide reboot". Based on what? Where did you read something or hear something that indicates this is a plan or even a possibility?

2. Who says that they're not selling enough to turn a profit though? Do you think they've been running the company at a loss for 5-6 years? I'd guess that they have been making a profit, because it's tough to stay in business without doing so. They've been pretty consistently at around/just under 1% of total market share for awhile. They've stayed fairly constant in the number of titles monthly. If what they've been doing hasn't been making them a profit enough to pay the bills, then how have they kept going? And if they have kept going this far while not making a profit (somehow), then why would they need to do something as extreme as a universal reboot in the hopes of making it better?

3. While not scientific, every time I remember the subject of a big reboot coming up on these boards, there's usually an easy majority of folks commenting that they'd be opposed to such a reboot. Since this site has long been home to the most hardcore of Valiant fans (being interested enough in the characters and stories to keep talking about them in this community for the many years when there were no comics being published), I'd say that's a fairly valid measuring stick showing that more would be opposed than would be supportive of such a reboot. If they're only selling 5-10 thousand copies per month, and you take away at least half of those, what makes you think enough people that weren't interested in Valiant before are suddenly going to fill that gap and all stay past the first few issues of a reboot to make it better/more profitable than it was?

Edit: I put up a poll to get more accurate info on support for a hypothetical reboot, instead of relying on the hearsay of my memory of past conversations.
1. I love Valiant just as any other board member here. The cbr article said that there was going to be a reset. That usually means lots of titles will receive a whole new number one again. Usually with the renumbering to a whole new number one there will be origins that are retold over again like the Ultimate Universe at Marvel. Origins are retold because origin stories sell. How many times did Marvel retell someone's origin? How many times did they reprint origin stories of their popular characters? How many times did DC reboot their universe? They just had the New 52 universe. And the New 52 Universe sold well at least initially. As a matter of fact, Batman #1 from New 52 was selling in the hundreds of dollars in the secondary market even though the print run was high.

2. How did DMG get into Valiant? Because Valiant needed the investment. If Valiant was selling a lot of copies and turning a profit they wouldn't need DMG money nor would they sign a deal where DMG had the option to buy them out outright after a certain time.

3. I'm sure that DMG appreciates the hardcore Valiant fans that stuck around but they want to broaden their fanbase to casuals. If you were to say that Valiant is moving toward being like the Marvel Universe, then I'm sure that DMG would gladly accept that reality. DMG is a business where they want the Valiant movies to sell like the Marvel movies. That's the whole point of DMG investing in Valiant to being with.
1. Okay, I see where you're coming from with that as your source. However, that quote was "At the end of Harbinger Wars 2, a good part of the universe will reset." That seems to point away from a total reset of the universe, since they specified only 'a good part of the universe'. I've already commented early what I thought this quote means. I'm just gonna copy/paste it to here for reference: "my takeaway from that statement about a 'reset' after HW2 probably means a big status quo change. I wouldn't be surprised to see a big change among all the psiot related titles. They also talked about new series spawning out of what happens in HW2 and this could be part of that. Reset doesn't have to mean reboot. It could just mean reshaping what's already there." #1 issues do sell more than others, you are correct. And often (with other companies) that has included retelling the origin, or making up a new origin in the cases of resetting whole universes. DC's Rebirth was pretty lucky I think. Marvel has been rebooting over and over again and just seems to be digging themselves into a deeper hole. If Marvel didn't have the MCU movies making them tons of money and drawing in some of the movie fans to buy their comics, they'd be in much bigger trouble I think. Which leads in nicely to...

2. DMG invested in Valiant to help them expand into movies/TV/other media platforms, not to help them keep the lights on for making more comics. Valiant needed the big bucks to jump into the movie business. They just thought things would move faster than they did. Remember, this DMG takeover didn't happen till a few months ago. Originally, we were told that they were trying to get the first Bloodshot movie into theaters in 2017! If that had happened, they would have made enough money (maybe) to buy out DMG's threatened takeover, or at least been able to find another investor to pay in the money to escape the DMG takeover clause that ended up happening.

3. I agree with everything you said in your #3. I'd say that Valiant has gained some casual fans over the years. Considering that the lowest sales for an issue are usually around 5K, lets guess that the hard core fans are around 4K of that. If they're selling 10K copies of some issues, that tells me around 6K is from other 'more casual' fans or newer readers. That's an improvement over VEI's earlier years where stable monthly numbers were between 5K and 7-8K. But that's been slow growth, showing the public a regular product with fairly consistent quality. Doing a universal reboot is pretty much a signal that something went wrong and the universe needs to be cleaned up or fixed. That's what a reboot usually means these days. I think that's why DC's Rebirth was better than most other reboots lately. It's reasoning for the reboot was very strongly tied into the meta-story of the event itself. It wasn't just a cheap excuse made up to cover for the need to do a reboot. Unlike Marvel's constant reinvention and throwing out a dictionary's worth of adjectives like 'All New', 'All Different', 'Marvel NOW', 'Marvel NOWER', 'Marvel Future NOW!'. They've been slinging *SQUEE* at the wall and hoping for something to stick.

In the end, I'm just 'old-school' I guess. It's just my opinion that a longer, unbroken continuity for a comic universe is better in the long run for the universe from a story perspective, and for the company as well. I really believe that a lot of Marvel's current 'issues' (pardon the pun) stem from symptoms of multiple personality syndrome after so many reboots in so short a time. I know #1's sell better. But if that's the only logic point being considered, then why not have everything be a #1 every month? Why? Because nobody could keep track of any order of what happened when and to whom. Nobody could know where a story started or finished. When everything is a 'good jumping on point', then nothing is a good place to jump in because you can't figure out what's happened to whom or why you should care. Let alone trying to be a comic book writer or artist contributing to a world that's just gonna get wiped away and not matter in a couple years.

These are my reasons for not wanting a universal reboot/relaunch that resets the continuity. If they keep the history and just happen to have lots of #1's at the same time, that's a bit different. I wouldn't like it (because I'd rather just see an ongoing keep going in general), but it wouldn't drive me away instantly.

2. The Kothari family, who are a multi-million dollar family, purchased Valiant in a bid for a million dollars. The Valiant restart already started with a multi-million dollar family backing them. Then, the Cuneo brothers invested 10 million more dollars into Valiant. Valiant already had lots of start up money to play with. Paramount then bought the rights to Harbinger in a movie deal. Archer & Armstrong was also licensed for a movie. All this was done before DMG came into the picture. Valiant already was making foreways into the movie industry before DMG came along. You would think that if you started a company with millions of dollars from the Kothari family and then the Cuneo brothers inject another 10 million into the company plus Paramount purchasing the movie rights to Harbinger that Valiant is stacked with capital. Most new companies don't start out with that type of money. Something was happening where they were hemorrhaging money to the point that they were looking for new investment and luckily they found DMG to inject millions more into them.

3. Selling at 10K copies is rather low. The Valiant relaunch started with X-O Manowar in 2012 with around 37K copies sold. If they are selling 6-10K copies then that's a steep drop from 37K. Marvel's threshold is around 20K copies sold. If they can't reach that number then the comic is earmarked for cancellation. And with the 6-10K number of copies sold, you have to factor in the exhaustive incentive variants just to get to those numbers in order to survive.

Believe me, I also don't like reboots, but I'm also realistic. Comic book companies will only listen to their bosses. Most Marvel and DC fans don't like reboots as well, but did Marvel and DC listen to their fans? Nope. They rebooted their titles anyway.

User avatar
Phoenix8008
I don't know about a power, but I keep hearing these weird tones from the radio
I don't know about a power, but I keep hearing these weird tones from the radio
Posts: 3257
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:49:54 am
Valiant fan since: 1992
Favorite character: Aric
Favorite title: Harbinger
Favorite writer: Joshua Dysart
Location: Florida, USA
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by Phoenix8008 »

tanord wrote:
Phoenix8008 wrote:
tanord wrote:
Phoenix8008 wrote: 1. You "really think that they are going to do a company wide reboot". Based on what? Where did you read something or hear something that indicates this is a plan or even a possibility?

2. Who says that they're not selling enough to turn a profit though? Do you think they've been running the company at a loss for 5-6 years? I'd guess that they have been making a profit, because it's tough to stay in business without doing so. They've been pretty consistently at around/just under 1% of total market share for awhile. They've stayed fairly constant in the number of titles monthly. If what they've been doing hasn't been making them a profit enough to pay the bills, then how have they kept going? And if they have kept going this far while not making a profit (somehow), then why would they need to do something as extreme as a universal reboot in the hopes of making it better?

3. While not scientific, every time I remember the subject of a big reboot coming up on these boards, there's usually an easy majority of folks commenting that they'd be opposed to such a reboot. Since this site has long been home to the most hardcore of Valiant fans (being interested enough in the characters and stories to keep talking about them in this community for the many years when there were no comics being published), I'd say that's a fairly valid measuring stick showing that more would be opposed than would be supportive of such a reboot. If they're only selling 5-10 thousand copies per month, and you take away at least half of those, what makes you think enough people that weren't interested in Valiant before are suddenly going to fill that gap and all stay past the first few issues of a reboot to make it better/more profitable than it was?

Edit: I put up a poll to get more accurate info on support for a hypothetical reboot, instead of relying on the hearsay of my memory of past conversations.
1. I love Valiant just as any other board member here. The cbr article said that there was going to be a reset. That usually means lots of titles will receive a whole new number one again. Usually with the renumbering to a whole new number one there will be origins that are retold over again like the Ultimate Universe at Marvel. Origins are retold because origin stories sell. How many times did Marvel retell someone's origin? How many times did they reprint origin stories of their popular characters? How many times did DC reboot their universe? They just had the New 52 universe. And the New 52 Universe sold well at least initially. As a matter of fact, Batman #1 from New 52 was selling in the hundreds of dollars in the secondary market even though the print run was high.

2. How did DMG get into Valiant? Because Valiant needed the investment. If Valiant was selling a lot of copies and turning a profit they wouldn't need DMG money nor would they sign a deal where DMG had the option to buy them out outright after a certain time.

3. I'm sure that DMG appreciates the hardcore Valiant fans that stuck around but they want to broaden their fanbase to casuals. If you were to say that Valiant is moving toward being like the Marvel Universe, then I'm sure that DMG would gladly accept that reality. DMG is a business where they want the Valiant movies to sell like the Marvel movies. That's the whole point of DMG investing in Valiant to being with.
1. Okay, I see where you're coming from with that as your source. However, that quote was "At the end of Harbinger Wars 2, a good part of the universe will reset." That seems to point away from a total reset of the universe, since they specified only 'a good part of the universe'. I've already commented early what I thought this quote means. I'm just gonna copy/paste it to here for reference: "my takeaway from that statement about a 'reset' after HW2 probably means a big status quo change. I wouldn't be surprised to see a big change among all the psiot related titles. They also talked about new series spawning out of what happens in HW2 and this could be part of that. Reset doesn't have to mean reboot. It could just mean reshaping what's already there." #1 issues do sell more than others, you are correct. And often (with other companies) that has included retelling the origin, or making up a new origin in the cases of resetting whole universes. DC's Rebirth was pretty lucky I think. Marvel has been rebooting over and over again and just seems to be digging themselves into a deeper hole. If Marvel didn't have the MCU movies making them tons of money and drawing in some of the movie fans to buy their comics, they'd be in much bigger trouble I think. Which leads in nicely to...

2. DMG invested in Valiant to help them expand into movies/TV/other media platforms, not to help them keep the lights on for making more comics. Valiant needed the big bucks to jump into the movie business. They just thought things would move faster than they did. Remember, this DMG takeover didn't happen till a few months ago. Originally, we were told that they were trying to get the first Bloodshot movie into theaters in 2017! If that had happened, they would have made enough money (maybe) to buy out DMG's threatened takeover, or at least been able to find another investor to pay in the money to escape the DMG takeover clause that ended up happening.

3. I agree with everything you said in your #3. I'd say that Valiant has gained some casual fans over the years. Considering that the lowest sales for an issue are usually around 5K, lets guess that the hard core fans are around 4K of that. If they're selling 10K copies of some issues, that tells me around 6K is from other 'more casual' fans or newer readers. That's an improvement over VEI's earlier years where stable monthly numbers were between 5K and 7-8K. But that's been slow growth, showing the public a regular product with fairly consistent quality. Doing a universal reboot is pretty much a signal that something went wrong and the universe needs to be cleaned up or fixed. That's what a reboot usually means these days. I think that's why DC's Rebirth was better than most other reboots lately. It's reasoning for the reboot was very strongly tied into the meta-story of the event itself. It wasn't just a cheap excuse made up to cover for the need to do a reboot. Unlike Marvel's constant reinvention and throwing out a dictionary's worth of adjectives like 'All New', 'All Different', 'Marvel NOW', 'Marvel NOWER', 'Marvel Future NOW!'. They've been slinging *SQUEE* at the wall and hoping for something to stick.

In the end, I'm just 'old-school' I guess. It's just my opinion that a longer, unbroken continuity for a comic universe is better in the long run for the universe from a story perspective, and for the company as well. I really believe that a lot of Marvel's current 'issues' (pardon the pun) stem from symptoms of multiple personality syndrome after so many reboots in so short a time. I know #1's sell better. But if that's the only logic point being considered, then why not have everything be a #1 every month? Why? Because nobody could keep track of any order of what happened when and to whom. Nobody could know where a story started or finished. When everything is a 'good jumping on point', then nothing is a good place to jump in because you can't figure out what's happened to whom or why you should care. Let alone trying to be a comic book writer or artist contributing to a world that's just gonna get wiped away and not matter in a couple years.

These are my reasons for not wanting a universal reboot/relaunch that resets the continuity. If they keep the history and just happen to have lots of #1's at the same time, that's a bit different. I wouldn't like it (because I'd rather just see an ongoing keep going in general), but it wouldn't drive me away instantly.

2. The Kothari family, who are a multi-million dollar family, purchased Valiant in a bid for a million dollars. The Valiant restart already started with a multi-million dollar family backing them. Then, the Cuneo brothers invested 10 million more dollars into Valiant. Valiant already had lots of start up money to play with. Paramount then bought the rights to Harbinger in a movie deal. Archer & Armstrong was also licensed for a movie. All this was done before DMG came into the picture. Valiant already was making foreways into the movie industry before DMG came along. You would think that if you started a company with millions of dollars from the Kothari family and then the Cuneo brothers inject another 10 million into the company plus Paramount purchasing the movie rights to Harbinger that Valiant is stacked with capital. Most new companies don't start out with that type of money. Something was happening where they were hemorrhaging money to the point that they were looking for new investment and luckily they found DMG to inject millions more into them.

3. Selling at 10K copies is rather low. The Valiant relaunch started with X-O Manowar in 2012 with around 37K copies sold. If they are selling 6-10K copies then that's a steep drop from 37K. Marvel's threshold is around 20K copies sold. If they can't reach that number then the comic is earmarked for cancellation. And with the 6-10K number of copies sold, you have to factor in the exhaustive incentive variants just to get to those numbers in order to survive.

Believe me, I also don't like reboots, but I'm also realistic. Comic book companies will only listen to their bosses. Most Marvel and DC fans don't like reboots as well, but did Marvel and DC listen to their fans? Nope. They rebooted their titles anyway.
2. My point is that each of those later injections was for a defined purpose. Kothari helped them afford the lawsuits that took years to come away with the properties fully owned. The Cuneo's came in at the start and invested to help get the business up and running before they were ever printing any comics. They had to have office spaces, utilities, and then money to pay salaries to folks to get started on the books they would eventually print. Movie rights purchases were probably not massive amounts, and obviously Paramount didn't get any movies going since it went later to Sony. But even those would have been targeted towards achieving that goal of the movie, not just thrown into a slush fund that they'd be paying the electric bill out of. Same with DMG I'd guess. I'm sure some of the money went to the side of comic book creating, but if I was investing millions to get movies made, I'd want my millions to be spent on actually getting the movies made, not just used up in the regular day to day business.

3. Selling 10k copies a month is rather low... for Marvel or DC as you point out. Valiant can't have that same measuring stick. Per Comichron.com, here were the sales numbers for some specific issues of X-O:
1 - 42,708 (May 2012)
2 - 21,261
3 - 18,149
4 - 16,882
5 - 23,800
6 - 16,299
13 - 13,305 (May 2013)
25 - 12,493 (May 2014)
36 - 7,471 (May 2015)
46 - 6,016 (Apr 2016)

Every series starts with much bigger numbers for #1, then that cuts in half usually for issue #2 (there's your steep drop that happens to every title), then down some more over the first few months to settle into it's normal zone. Looks like X-O was solidly above 10k for the first few years. This is Valiants flagship title though. Others don't do quite as well. Here's March's sales numbers:
45 Shadowman (2018) #1 $3.99 Valiant 33,167
181 X-O Manowar #13 $3.99 Valiant 9,544
185 Bloodshot Salvation #7 $3.99 Valiant 9,008
195 Ninja-K #5 $3.99 Valiant 8,150
215 Quantum & Woody #4 $3.99 Valiant 7,144
229 Ninjak Vs. Vu #3 $3.99 Valiant 6,271
242 Secret Weapons Owens Story #0 $3.99 Valiant 5,544

So I'd guess Shadowman #2 will end up selling 15k-20k, then down some more for #3 and on. While the new X-O series is still around 10k for it's 13th issue. I'd say it's pretty stable there. This kinda thing is where I get my 6k-10k monthly numbers from. Not from the first issue of the first series that they company did when it first restarted 6 years ago.
Comic book companies will only listen to their bosses. Most Marvel and DC fans don't like reboots as well, but did Marvel and DC listen to their fans? Nope. They rebooted their titles anyway.
My point is that not listening to their fans seems to be what got Marvel into trouble and chased a lot of fans away. The fans who (used to) buy their comics. Those sales which paid the bills (Before they had the money from the movies to support them). Why be a fan of something you don't enjoy? I'm not a Marvel fan anymore. I used to be a rabid lover of all things "X". Maybe some company should try listening to their fans and see what happens? You've shown that you think Valiant isn't selling enough comics to be viable already. How many fans can they afford to chase away by doing something the majority of fans don't seem to want? They're free to do it if they wish of course. I can always go back to fondly remembering my loved Valiant comics when the company crashes and burns again.[/melodrama]
-Phoenix8008 (a.k.a. Charticus!)
Viva la Valiant!
(moderator of r/Valiant subreddit)

User avatar
Ryan
Clinkin' bottles with Aram
Clinkin' bottles with Aram
Posts: 2634
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2004 9:51:18 pm
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by Ryan »

Phoenix8008 wrote:
2. My point is that each of those later injections was for a defined purpose. Kothari helped them afford the lawsuits that took years to come away with the properties fully owned. The Cuneo's came in at the start and invested to help get the business up and running before they were ever printing any comics. They had to have office spaces, utilities, and then money to pay salaries to folks to get started on the books they would eventually print. Movie rights purchases were probably not massive amounts, and obviously Paramount didn't get any movies going since it went later to Sony. But even those would have been targeted towards achieving that goal of the movie, not just thrown into a slush fund that they'd be paying the electric bill out of. Same with DMG I'd guess. I'm sure some of the money went to the side of comic book creating, but if I was investing millions to get movies made, I'd want my millions to be spent on actually getting the movies made, not just used up in the regular day to day business.

3. Selling 10k copies a month is rather low... for Marvel or DC as you point out. Valiant can't have that same measuring stick. Per Comichron.com, here were the sales numbers for some specific issues of X-O:
1 - 42,708 (May 2012)
2 - 21,261
3 - 18,149
4 - 16,882
5 - 23,800
6 - 16,299
13 - 13,305 (May 2013)
25 - 12,493 (May 2014)
36 - 7,471 (May 2015)
46 - 6,016 (Apr 2016)

Every series starts with much bigger numbers for #1, then that cuts in half usually for issue #2 (there's your steep drop that happens to every title), then down some more over the first few months to settle into it's normal zone. Looks like X-O was solidly above 10k for the first few years. This is Valiants flagship title though. Others don't do quite as well. Here's March's sales numbers:
45 Shadowman (2018) #1 $3.99 Valiant 33,167
181 X-O Manowar #13 $3.99 Valiant 9,544
185 Bloodshot Salvation #7 $3.99 Valiant 9,008
195 Ninja-K #5 $3.99 Valiant 8,150
215 Quantum & Woody #4 $3.99 Valiant 7,144
229 Ninjak Vs. Vu #3 $3.99 Valiant 6,271
242 Secret Weapons Owens Story #0 $3.99 Valiant 5,544

So I'd guess Shadowman #2 will end up selling 15k-20k, then down some more for #3 and on. While the new X-O series is still around 10k for it's 13th issue. I'd say it's pretty stable there. This kinda thing is where I get my 6k-10k monthly numbers from. Not from the first issue of the first series that they company did when it first restarted 6 years ago.
April numbers
165 Shadowman 2 $3.99 Valiant 11,738
188 X-O Manowar 14 $3.99 Valiant 9,269
202 Bloodshot Salvation 8 $3.99 Valiant 8,171
209 Ninja-K 6 $3.99 Valiant 7,850
230 Quantum & Woody 5 $3.99 Valiant 6,488
243 Ninjak Vs. Vu 4 $3.99 Valiant 5,616

It does seem silly to be talking about a reboot when the comic line is so relatively young, but it's obvious something new has to be tried. It's certainly a tough time to be making superhero comics when Marvel is struggling and numbers across the board are steadily declining. Or it could be an opportunity for an upstart company to win over disenfranchised fans from other companies :hm:

Whether it's a full reboot, soft reboot, or just continuing with the same series, I would tell DMG to forget about current industry trends and study what worked from the original Valiant launch. Sure times and the industry have changed but there were some fundamental reasons why it worked so well for Valiant that time, and it wasn't all just Jim Shooter. Oh and enough already with the variant covers.

I like the idea in this thread about the Loeb/Sale style comics. Boil these characters back down to what works. X-O as a barbarian in his armor fighting aliens. Bloodshot as an action/espionage book about a guy who can control machines, move fast, and has a healing factor. Not indestructible and able to regrow his whole damn body. Shadowman as a New Orleans Batman with an interesting and realistic supporting cast, enough with the deadside nonsense.

:twocents:

User avatar
melcaylo
I make Valiant comics.
I make Valiant comics.
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2018 2:11:25 pm
Valiant fan since: 1992
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by melcaylo »

Hi, everyone!

Mel Caylo here, Valiant's Director of Marketing. Sorry that it has taken me so long to post on these boards. I hope to be stopping by more often, but please be patient with me if you are looking for a direct response. I'll absolutely try to do my best to get back to you in a timely manner.

I want to clarify what our Executive Editor, Joe Illidge, and I said in the CBR interview. It came off differently than what we meant. In fact, here is an explanation from Joe himself:

"Everything will still be canon with the Valiant Universe. HARBINGER WARS 2 will lead to a thematic shift for the world, and the new status quo will build on everything that has come before since 2012."

You are all still a hugely important part of what Valiant is and will be, and I hope you stick with us. We do care what you think! I know that it will be tough since many of the current team is all fairly new, but I think we've got a good group in place who are committed to crafting, producing, and promoting the best Valiant comics we can. And as we posited in the interview, DMG is here to help – they want us to continue to put out good books!

That being said, we are going to announce some new projects very, very soon. I hope you find them exciting! I sincerely thank you all for your passion for everything Valiant. It's why I have this job! 8-)
Mel Caylo
Director of Marketing
Valiant Entertainment

User avatar
greg
The admin around here must be getting old and soft.
The admin around here must be getting old and soft.
Posts: 22861
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 9:39:27 am
Valiant fan since: Rai #0
Favorite character: Depends on title
Favorite title: Depends on writer
Favorite writer: Depends on artist
Favorite artist: Depends on character
Location: Indoors
Contact:
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by greg »

:clap:

User avatar
FormerReader
I spoke with Dino and he said you can divulge all information to me.
I spoke with Dino and he said you can divulge all information to me.
Posts: 3754
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2011 10:15:58 pm
Location: Florida
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by FormerReader »

Thanks for the update Mel. It is good to hear directly from Valiant. While many us are disappointed with the turnover in the previous staff, we wish you the best going forward and I think the vast majority of us will continue to support Valiant and want to see you succeed.

User avatar
Sunlight on Snow
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Posts: 2230
Joined: Sat May 28, 2016 1:11:03 pm
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by Sunlight on Snow »

:high-five:

User avatar
kinggirlfriend
5318008
5318008
Posts: 568
Joined: Thu May 11, 2017 5:20:12 pm
Valiant fan since: 2016
Favorite character: Gilad
Favorite title: Wrath
Favorite writer: Venditti
Favorite artist: CAFU
Location: Southwest Desert
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by kinggirlfriend »

Thank you for the update! :D

Glad to hear things are moving forward and not resetting/relaunching/regurgitating! Very much looking forward to what you guys are going to announce!

And best of luck with everything! Regards.

User avatar
AnarchoMambo
Is it Dee-no or Die-no? Dunno.
Is it Dee-no or Die-no? Dunno.
Posts: 400
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2015 8:42:33 pm
Valiant fan since: 1993
Favorite character: Shadowman
Favorite title: Harbinger
Favorite writer: Jeff Lemire
Favorite artist: Trevor Hairsine
Location: Chicago, Il
"...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plans"

Post by AnarchoMambo »

Awesome, Mel! I for one cannot wait to hear details on the new projects. Welcome to Valiant, and thank you for making yourself available on these boards.

User avatar
grendeljd
innerSPACE does whatever I tell them
innerSPACE does whatever I tell them
Posts: 8132
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2012 6:51:43 am
Valiant fan since: 1991
Favorite character: Aric
Favorite title: Harbinger
Location: On the 7.5th floor of LesterCorp, headed through the back door to John Malkovich's brain.
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by grendeljd »

Great to hear from you here Mel! Welcome to the community - looking forward to hearing more about the future projects coming along.
I like to draw stuff... http://grendeljd.deviantart.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My wife likes to draw stuff too, and she is better than me! [I'm very proud of her]... https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sara-Dec ... ref=stream" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

User avatar
syzhang28
5318008
5318008
Posts: 587
Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2016 7:20:02 pm
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by syzhang28 »

melcaylo wrote:Hi, everyone!

Mel Caylo here, Valiant's Director of Marketing. Sorry that it has taken me so long to post on these boards. I hope to be stopping by more often, but please be patient with me if you are looking for a direct response. I'll absolutely try to do my best to get back to you in a timely manner.

I want to clarify what our Executive Editor, Joe Illidge, and I said in the CBR interview. It came off differently than what we meant. In fact, here is an explanation from Joe himself:

"Everything will still be canon with the Valiant Universe. HARBINGER WARS 2 will lead to a thematic shift for the world, and the new status quo will build on everything that has come before since 2012."

You are all still a hugely important part of what Valiant is and will be, and I hope you stick with us. We do care what you think! I know that it will be tough since many of the current team is all fairly new, but I think we've got a good group in place who are committed to crafting, producing, and promoting the best Valiant comics we can. And as we posited in the interview, DMG is here to help – they want us to continue to put out good books!

That being said, we are going to announce some new projects very, very soon. I hope you find them exciting! I sincerely thank you all for your passion for everything Valiant. It's why I have this job! 8-)
Thank you for stopping by Mel. Some questions for you:

a) Why did Adam Freeman leave so soon after being promoted?
b) Why have we seen a sharp decrease in the marketing of titles (Harbinger Wars 2 etc) and hype for Valiant in general since Dinesh was forced out?

User avatar
melcaylo
I make Valiant comics.
I make Valiant comics.
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2018 2:11:25 pm
Valiant fan since: 1992
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by melcaylo »

syzhang28 wrote:
melcaylo wrote:
Thank you for stopping by Mel. Some questions for you:

a) Why did Adam Freeman leave so soon after being promoted?
b) Why have we seen a sharp decrease in the marketing of titles (Harbinger Wars 2 etc) and hype for Valiant in general since Dinesh was forced out?
a) That is a question only Adam can answer.
b) I attribute that to the transition period during which I took over the PR and marketing duties and the learning curve in getting accustomed to what Valiant typically does promotion-wise. We've got some things cooking in the next few weeks that will hopefully make issue #1 a lot more prominent in the public eye.
Mel Caylo
Director of Marketing
Valiant Entertainment

User avatar
jmatt
Mmm, I was drooling over Cooshie tonight.
Mmm, I was drooling over Cooshie tonight.
Posts: 11026
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2012 2:41:10 pm
Location: Lehigh Valley, PA!
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by jmatt »

Thanks for chiming in, Mel! :thumb:

User avatar
geocarr
Those responsible for those remarks have been sacked.
Those responsible for those remarks have been sacked.
Posts: 4368
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 4:07:56 pm
Valiant fan since: 1992
Favorite character: Vincent the Goat!
Favorite title: All of them!
Location: Woods of Southeastern NC
Re:

Post by geocarr »

AnarchoMambo wrote:Awesome, Mel! I for one cannot wait to hear details on the new projects. Welcome to Valiant, and thank you for making yourself available on these boards.
+1
***Support your local farmers!***

SuperMage
Completely ruined the ending of Last Jedi: The Force Reloaded of the Green Gables 8 -- This Time, It's Really Really Personal (In Space).
Completely ruined the ending of Last Jedi: The Force Reloaded of the Green Gables 8 -- This Time, It's Really Really Personal (In Space).
Posts: 230
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2016 2:08:41 pm
Valiant fan since: 2013
Favorite character: Animalia
Favorite title: X-O Manowar
Location: Hollywood, Florida
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by SuperMage »

Thank you for the speedy response Mel. I know that you didn't need to post here or even make an account for an unofficial fan forum, but I'm glad that you've decided to join us. I can also see that you appear to have been lurking here for a while. :D Hopefully this is the start of a beautiful friendship between the new editorial and the fandom.

In recent months it's felt like the Valiant Universe is finally starting to hit its stride. Things have been falling back in place, existing characters have felt more fleshed out, and new villains have helped to fill Valiant's antagonist void. It's good to hear that the new editorial plans to maintain this momentum. I feel like a big part of that momentum is thanks to the both the return and expansion of the pillars of the Valiant Universe. Looking forward to the new Rai series you guys teased back at C2E2 Also liking the fact that you seem to be an Archer & Armstrong fan, judging from your avatar.

User avatar
depluto
[custom level vored]
[custom level vored]
Posts: 19504
Joined: Mon Jun 28, 2004 1:38:47 pm
Valiant fan since: Yes
Favorite character: Yes
Favorite title: Yes
Favorite writer: Yes
Location: Pluto Beach FL
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by depluto »

Thanks for checking in, Mel. This board is a longtime home for some of the OG Valiant fans ... many of us grabbed pre-Unity books new off the shelf back in the 1990s.

And all of us want you guys to be successful. Looking forward to the next steps.

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: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by TheFerg714 »

melcaylo wrote:Hi, everyone!

Mel Caylo here, Valiant's Director of Marketing. Sorry that it has taken me so long to post on these boards. I hope to be stopping by more often, but please be patient with me if you are looking for a direct response. I'll absolutely try to do my best to get back to you in a timely manner.

I want to clarify what our Executive Editor, Joe Illidge, and I said in the CBR interview. It came off differently than what we meant. In fact, here is an explanation from Joe himself:

"Everything will still be canon with the Valiant Universe. HARBINGER WARS 2 will lead to a thematic shift for the world, and the new status quo will build on everything that has come before since 2012."

You are all still a hugely important part of what Valiant is and will be, and I hope you stick with us. We do care what you think! I know that it will be tough since many of the current team is all fairly new, but I think we've got a good group in place who are committed to crafting, producing, and promoting the best Valiant comics we can. And as we posited in the interview, DMG is here to help – they want us to continue to put out good books!

That being said, we are going to announce some new projects very, very soon. I hope you find them exciting! I sincerely thank you all for your passion for everything Valiant. It's why I have this job! 8-)
I know some of us (including me) can come off as quite negative, but all we want are good books and to know that the creators care.

I really appreciate the responses and feel free to come join us here every once in a while! :clap:

jxm640
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 278
Joined: Thu Jul 04, 2013 4:50:49 pm
Valiant fan since: 1994
Favorite character: GIN-GR
Favorite title: Rai
Favorite writer: Matt Kindt
Favorite artist: Clayton Crain
Location: London
Re: "...Management Team Talks Post-Sale Changes, Future Plan

Post by jxm640 »

Thank you Mel for coming to the forum and interacting with us.

Hopefully this will be the start of a beautiful friendship.
This is what happens when you try to work...


Post Reply