Best stand alone issues

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markie7235
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Best stand alone issues

Post by markie7235 »

As I was looking through my collection the other day, I started thinking about which ones were my favorite comics for Valiant and why. Not really looking at overall plot arcs or series, but just issues I really liked that I felt stood on their own. Things I considered were art, story, setup of the issue, different strands put together, etc.

Just curious for others, if you had to pick a top 5 favorite single issues, what would yours be. Can be VH1, VEI, etc. Below are my favorite 5 single issues (in no particular order at this point):

-Eternal Warrior #4 (VH1): Okay, so let's get the obvious out of the way where this is the first official appearance of Bloodshot. Besides that, I really liked the main EW story within this issue. I always liked how the original EW issues had a mix of a story from the past and then something in the present. I really like the Eternal enemy story from ancient china in here that then extends to the present story. And yes, first bloodshot.

-Shadowman #5 (VEI vol 4): I liked the opening of this issue with Samedi's agent, as well as the first VEI appearance of Samedi in this issue. Also, I felt the way they worked in the introduction of Shan Fong as the new Mirage was cool, and really like the new Mirage. Never cared for the VH1 version, but this one stood well on her own. Was also a nice issue to bring in some new plot points and take a wind down from the action.

-Divinity #1: This is one of the hardest ones to pick a single issue on, because the entire Divinity series was so good, but just the way the character was introduced and the story told was so personal and cool. Also cool to see the intro of David Camp and how that first contact with Divinity would ultimately send him down a path of villainy as he became more disenfranchised with his new found god. Just a brilliant story

-Eternal Warrior #1 (VH1): This issue was more of an origin of Gilad than it was even a part of the first Unity story line. The back story was great, and provided one of the best insights into Gilad in terms of an origin, even more so than VEI stories I felt. The art work was good, and I loved that Frank Miller cover. This issue probably cemented Gilad/Eternal Warrior as one of my favorite Valiant characters of all time.

-Shadowman #8 (VH1): I really liked how they handled the introduction of Master Darque in this story. You never really see him fully, just keeping him in the shadows, but you definitely got a feeling for the evilness of the character and his total disregard for human life. The VEI version of Darque I feel is a much better portrayal of the character, but this first appearance issue of his always stuck with me as a favorite, and in many ways reminded me of one of my all time favorite comics, Amazing Spider-man #238, the first appearance of the Hobgoblin, where the threat of the new villain is there in the background, but never directly confronts our hero.

Honestly hard to only pick 5, so I decided to put 5 honorable mentions:
-Rai #0 (VH1) - I know many will say this should be an automatic top 5, and I agree it was one of the best single issues. Just didn't appeal to me the way the ones above did.

-X-O Manowar 1 (either VH1 or VEI vol 3) - introduction of a cool mainstay valiant character

-Book of Death #4 - I loved this story overall, but I really liked seeing Tamara take down Darque. This arc reminded me of VH1 EW #6 & 7

-Solar Man of the Atom #10 - I love EW if you can't tell, so the first appearance of Gilad and the Geomancer, plus the exciting conclusion of the Solar origin story that ultimately explains how the Valiant universe even came to exist in the first place

-Harbinger #1 (VH1) - Again, great book, it's a classic, and go back 1-2 decades and this was voted many times as the most definitive and defining book of the 90's in terms of importance. There's good reason why this book was so sought after back then and even now. Out of all the prices that fell when Valiant went under in the 90s, Harbinger #1 was not one of them. I mean it dipped some, but finding a copy for under $100 even when I acquired most of my VH1 issues in the early 2000's was still damn impossible. It took the concept of the X-men and flipped it on it's head in terms of "what if" the X-men and professor X were really the Villains. It was good then and it's still good now.

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Re: Best stand alone issues

Post by Juki »

:hm: With VEI I would have to put Divinity issue #1 first. With VH1 I would put Harbinger issue #1 first. Many other options to consider for both VEI and VH1 after those.

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Re: Best stand alone issues

Post by Summydad1 »

VH1- Rai 0 and Harbinger 1.
VEI- X-O Metal- Love it and it was the original metal.
Eternal Warrior 5 (Mack Variant) I chose this based on the cover. When I have all my rare slabs displayed this one catches my eye first every time. Beautiful art.
X-O 1 (2012) Icon and first VEI book.

Just my opinion.

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VEI- Divinity 1
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Re: Best stand alone issues

Post by kinggirlfriend »

VH1 - Eternal Warrior / A&A #8 Flipbook

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Re: Best stand alone issues

Post by ShadowTuga »

Any from Joshua's Dysart Harbinger second arc, just before Wars.

The Torque one, damn, so hard on the feels. But all of them are exquisite.

EDIT - And Bleeding Monk #0, OF *SQUEE* COURSE!
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Re: Best stand alone issues

Post by DirtbagSailor »

IF we are discussing single issue, stand alone stories.

Harbinger: Bleeding Monk #0

Book of Death: The Fall of Bloodshot #1

Book of Death: The Fall of Harbinger #1

Rai #0

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Re: Best stand alone issues

Post by possumgrease »

VEI Shadowman 0 or 10 have to been in the discussion.

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Re: Best stand alone issues

Post by agent_graves »

1.Shadowman #0
2.Shadowman #10
3.Divinity #1
4.Harbinger:Bleeding Monk #0
5.Divinity III:Stalinverse #4


Divinity #0
Book of Death:The Fall of Ninjak #1
Book of Death:The Fall of Harbinger #1
Imperium #7
Imperium #8
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Re: Best stand alone issues

Post by markie7235 »

Summydad1 wrote:VH1- Rai 0 and Harbinger 1.
VEI- X-O Metal- Love it and it was the original metal.
Eternal Warrior 5 (Mack Variant) I chose this based on the cover. When I have all my rare slabs displayed this one catches my eye first every time. Beautiful art.
X-O 1 (2012) Icon and first VEI book.

Just my opinion.

H.M. VH1- Solar 10
VEI- Divinity 1
Oh man, I know, I love that cover. I tried staying away from picking on cover art alone, because there's so many damn beautiful variant covers. I think if I was to pick my favorite issues based on variant cover, my top favorites (in order) would be:

1. Eternity 1 1:40 - That wrap around cover is so beautiful and love all the purples and blues that blend so nicely together
2. Shadowman 5 1:125 line vairant - I don't know why, but there's just something about this one that always pulls my eyes towards it when I look at my wall of comics
3. Eternal Warrior 5 1:50 (Mack) - Another just stunning piece where the purples blend so nicely in with the whites. And actually a really good issue also to introduce VEI to EW 4001 AD
4. Divinity 1 1:40 - Another of my favorite variant covers. Is there anything Divinity 1 doesn't do? Even the regular cover was awesome, and great story. One of the best all around books from VEI in my opinion
5. Harbinger 3 1:20 - Something about this cover I really like. Maybe because I really like the colors blue and purple, and this has that nice bright blue from Ion on it. Oh yeah, and first Livewire (and yes, I don't count the original VH1 Livewire, because the two characters couldn't be more different after the name).

I could probably keep going on variant cover art. There are some I don't care for, but many of the lower print copy variant cover pieces for Valiant I feel are really top notch. And that's the way it should be. If you're going to do the whole variant cover thing, then the most eye-catching pieces should go on the collector low print variants to reward the most ardent fans. Though in general, I'm not a huge fan of Variant covers. I understand what it does to help produce sales and revitalize the market, but in many ways I feel its creating artificial value, where older books became valuable based on content, rarity, and first appearances/major story plot alone. Now, first appearances don't mean much, and it's all about variant rarity, to the point of a real first appearance has to be the highest rarity variant to truly be a special issue. I love the great artwork that comes about because of it, just not sure how good it is for the market long term....Though it's been going like this for darn near a decade now, so I guess it's got staying power already

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Re: Best stand alone issues

Post by syzhang28 »

VH1
Eternal Warrior #1
Rai #0
Harbinger #1
Unity #0

VEI (I think we often forget how good the zero issues from VEI are)
X-O Manowar #1 (2012)
X-O Manowar #5
Harbinger #0
Harbinger Wars #2
Bleeding Monk #0
Shadowman #0
Archer & Armstrong #3
Unity #1
X-O Manowar #1 (2017)
Divinity #1
Armor Hunters #3
Goat #0

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Re: Best stand alone issues

Post by ilzuccone »

ShadowTuga wrote:Any from Joshua's Dysart Harbinger second arc, just before Wars.

The Torque one, damn, so hard on the feels. But all of them are exquisite.

EDIT - And Bleeding Monk #0, OF *SQUEE* COURSE!
came here to say it has to be a Dysart book. Home boy nows how to tell a story.

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Re: Best stand alone issues

Post by TheFerg714 »

It's really hard not to list just every #1 and 0 issue, and I have a real problem with separating single issues from their respective arcs, but here goes:

X-O Manowar #1 (Venditti)
Harbinger #1 (obviously, and literally any other issue from this run)
Bleeding Monk #0
Bloodshot #1 (underrated)
Archer & Armstrong #5 (just so funny all the way through and yet somehow emotionally satisfying as well)
Armstrong #0
Harbinger Wars #1
Shadowman #0
Shadowman #10
Unity #1
Armor Hunters #1
Rai #1
The Valiant #1
Imperium #1
Imperium #4
Divinity #1
Ninjak #3
Bloodshot Reborn #12 (possibly the best fight scene to come out of VEI)
Every 'Fall of' Issue
4001 A.D.- War Mother #1
Harbinger Renegade #5 (if nothing else, it was ballsy)
X-O Manowar #1 (Kindt)
Secret Weapons #1
Ninja-K #8 (yea, I said it)

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Re: Best stand alone issues

Post by Speedy »

Best modern Valiant Issue to read:

Book of Death: The Fall of Bloodshot



Art-wise The new XO-Manowar # 1 - art was just so impressive.

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Re: Best stand alone issues

Post by The Dirt Gang »

kinggirlfriend wrote:VH1 - Eternal Warrior / A&A #8 Flipbook
ShadowTuga wrote:Any from Joshua's Dysart Harbinger second arc, just before Wars.

The Torque one, damn, so hard on the feels. But all of them are exquisite.

EDIT - And Bleeding Monk #0, OF *SQUEE* COURSE!
markie7235 wrote: -Eternal Warrior #1 (VH1): This issue was more of an origin of Gilad than it was even a part of the first Unity story line. The back story was great, and provided one of the best insights into Gilad in terms of an origin, even more so than VEI stories I felt. The art work was good, and I loved that Frank Miller cover. This issue probably cemented Gilad/Eternal Warrior as one of my favorite Valiant characters of all time.

-Rai #0 (VH1) - I know many will say this should be an automatic top 5, and I agree it was one of the best single issues. Just didn't appeal to me the way the ones above did.

-Harbinger #1 (VH1) - Again, great book, it's a classic, and go back 1-2 decades and this was voted many times as the most definitive and defining book of the 90's in terms of importance. There's good reason why this book was so sought after back then and even now. Out of all the prices that fell when Valiant went under in the 90s, Harbinger #1 was not one of them. I mean it dipped some, but finding a copy for under $100 even when I acquired most of my VH1 issues in the early 2000's was still damn impossible. It took the concept of the X-men and flipped it on it's head in terms of "what if" the X-men and professor X were really the Villains. It was good then and it's still good now.
Definite +1 on these
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Re: Best stand alone issues

Post by markie7235 »

syzhang28 wrote:VH1
Eternal Warrior #1
Rai #0
Harbinger #1
Unity #0

VEI (I think we often forget how good the zero issues from VEI are)
X-O Manowar #1 (2012)
X-O Manowar #5
Harbinger #0
Harbinger Wars #2
Bleeding Monk #0
Shadowman #0
Archer & Armstrong #3
Unity #1
X-O Manowar #1 (2017)
Divinity #1
Armor Hunters #3
Goat #0
Unity #0 - Now here is an interesting book that I'm surprised doesn't get mentioned more often, and really should have been in my list. Honestly, in the importance of Valiant as a company (90's and now), I think you could easily argue this was the single most important single issue Valiant put out EVER. There are so many factors, from being the first #0 issue ever (if I recall correctly) by any company, the fact that it was a free give away to pull people in, and it launched what was one of the most ambitious and aggressive cross over events in comic book history (at least at the time of it's release).

More importantly, it really put Valiant on the map. People who never even heard of Valiant picked up the free copy, and suddenly became interested in Valiant. Then, for better or worse, investor's a-plenty took notice and began snatching up Valiant books. It was literally impossible (pre-ebay era) to find a copy of any pre-unity valiant issue if you hadn't snagged one up prior after Unity hit shelves. The success of Unity made anything and everything Valiant highly sought after.....until quality control failed and Acclaim took over.

Still, the importance of this one issue of pulling in new readers was critical to Valiant's success in the 90's, and for the VEI relaunch. It was a good book, though not as good as many of the pre-unity stories, but without it, many of the pre-unity books would probably have continued to go unnoticed. Which means without pulling in new fans, Valiant may have gone under sooner, and/or may not have had the fan base it did after they collapsed to support an interest in re-launching Valiant under the VEI banner.

So hard to say, but I think it's reasonable to argue without this one book, and the success of the original Unity event as a whole, we may never have had VEI today, or some of the more memorable characters and stories that came after. For these reasons, Unity #0 has always held a special place in my collection and memories of Valiant. Lol, I actually really regret not having it on my original list now, because it's hard to argue there's been any other issue more important to the history of Valiant as a company (not necessarily as a comic universe) than this issue. It laid the groundwork for everything both in the universe and the company's history that followed.


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