New Ninjak series by Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido

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Dallow Spicer1
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Re: New Ninjak series by Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido

Post by Dallow Spicer1 »

GammaJosh wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2020 7:41:48 pm Wow, I just don't understand how they could shake up such a perennial household name like Ninjak! Doesn't Valiant realize that hordes of die-hard Ninjak fans from all walks of life, all across the globe will descend on their offices with pitchforks and torches if they don't treat this, the gold standard of Batman and James Bond ripoffs, with the respect that it's poor-to-middling sales history demands?!?!

I don't know guys, I think if you wanted Valiant editorial to pander to your tastes you should have had a lot more kids and forced them to buy all the same comics you do. Clearly there's not enough of you to have a tantrum and get your way. What does Valiant have to lose by changing things up? Almost nothing. They have everything to gain by trying something different.

Pullido's art is not my exact cup of tea, but I betcha the layouts read as smooth as silk, and if Parker's scripts are any good this will be an enjoyable series.
Interesting take. Let’s review that against what this VEI have done so far. They’ve managed to consistently achieve LESS sales on all titles since Dinesh was ousted. They’ve chosen to disregard what an established audience wanted (built up by Dinesh) to chase this *mythical* new audience you speak of.

Name a single title on a title which has performed better than pre-DMG buyout? The sales have nose dived. Dinesh was building the company slowly and doing reasonably well by independent comic sales standards and the quality was excellent 90% of the time.

DMG/VEI have consistently tried different approaches and consistently produced worse results. Wouldn’t a more wise strategy be to build on what the existing audience likes? Maybe single one title out for ‘experimental’ stuff and see how that works out

I hope Ninjak is good, I can get past the art or maybe even get to like it but the story has to be good, continuity built upon and the tone of the character consistent to what we’ve known it to be. That hasn’t been the case with Bloodshot or XO and probably Savage by the look of the preview.

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Re: New Ninjak series by Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido

Post by BugsySig »

You can’t win with some of these board members...People want established writers instead of first timers handling their beloved characters, but then a firmly established Jeff Parker isn’t good enough or hasn’t done enough recently...

It’s a departure for sure from previous artists (and not my personal cup of tea), but so was the critically acclaimed Hawkeye series for Marvel with its streamlined approach. Maybe that’s what Ninjak needs to differentiate itself.

And you’re right, what DMG has been doing hasn’t been working...So why not try something different? And if you’re going to argue they’ve already gone away from more photorealistic art, OK, but this is much different than just “more cartoony” and from an established and accomplished artist.


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Dallow Spicer1
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Re: New Ninjak series by Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido

Post by Dallow Spicer1 »

BugsySig wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:11:25 am You can’t win with some of these board members...People want established writers instead of first timers handling their beloved characters, but then a firmly established Jeff Parker isn’t good enough or hasn’t done enough recently...

It’s a departure for sure from previous artists (and not my personal cup of tea), but so was the critically acclaimed Hawkeye series for Marvel with its streamlined approach. Maybe that’s what Ninjak needs to differentiate itself.

And you’re right, what DMG has been doing hasn’t been working...So why not try something different? And if you’re going to argue they’ve already gone away from more photorealistic art, OK, but this is much different than just “more cartoony” and from an established and accomplished artist.


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I think the reservation has been largely about the art style, I don’t know the writer but the pitch sounds good.

The Pulido art may well be a grower and hopefully it is.

But why move away from an established art style that it’s proven to get positive fan feedback in the past? The other attempts at being different have lost more readers than gained. Why not try and consolidate and go with what has been proven to work.

VEI under Dinesh tried to branch out in the art style with A&A and it wasn’t received well then either.

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Re: New Ninjak series by Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido

Post by Chiclo »

BugsySig wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:11:25 am You can’t win with some of these board members...People want established writers instead of first timers handling their beloved characters, but then a firmly established Jeff Parker isn’t good enough or hasn’t done enough recently...

It’s a departure for sure from previous artists (and not my personal cup of tea), but so was the critically acclaimed Hawkeye series for Marvel with its streamlined approach. Maybe that’s what Ninjak needs to differentiate itself.

And you’re right, what DMG has been doing hasn’t been working...So why not try something different? And if you’re going to argue they’ve already gone away from more photorealistic art, OK, but this is much different than just “more cartoony” and from an established and accomplished artist.


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I had not considered that they might be trying to copy Hawkeye. Maybe copying those titles with which the editors found success at other publishers will yield better results than the DMG people have seen in the last year or two.

Or maybe I just can’t quit Valiant, like a toxic ex-girlfriend that I keep going back to. But this time will be different. With sunglasses poorly hiding a black eye, I say “But Valiant loves me.”

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Re: New Ninjak series by Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido

Post by JonesyAZ »

geocarr wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 10:33:22 pm I'm willing to try it and will assume it will be good until proven otherwise.
THIS! While I do miss and love Dino and the old school VEI crew, I love the Valiant characters and have continued to purchase the new books. While I've read a LOT of hate on this site for the new books, i've been surprised at how much i'm still enjoying what Valiant is putting out. Yes, X-O #1 was a challenge, and yes, the stories aren't as thought provoking as old school VEI, but i'm happy as a consumer continuing to read new stories about my favorite comics universe. I won't judge this new NINJAK series until it is out and i've read it.
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Re: New Ninjak series by Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido

Post by TheFerg714 »

GammaJosh wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2020 7:41:48 pm What does Valiant have to lose by changing things up? Almost nothing.

Yes, because losing the entire hardcore fanbase that VEI carefully cultivated for 6 years is "almost nothing." Logic.
They have everything to gain by trying something different.
Doing "something different" isn't always a good thing. Sometimes I wish they would look back and see what made VEI so special, and maybe try to make that fanbase happy every once in a while.

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Re: New Ninjak series by Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido

Post by geocarr »

The art style is very different than what I normally experience in the books I read but the more I come back to the art teasers the more I think I will be okay with it and may even like it or gain an appreciation for it, IF the story is strong and delivers well which I believe Jeff Parker is completely capable of doing.
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Re: New Ninjak series by Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido

Post by nycjadie »

Maybe they are doing something different because there is a dearth of creators that will work with Valiant after cutting out the original creators of VEI. Creators tend to work with others that respect creators.

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Re: New Ninjak series by Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido

Post by Sunlight on Snow »

nycjadie wrote: Thu Jul 30, 2020 4:48:52 pm Maybe they are doing something different because there is a dearth of creators that will work with Valiant after cutting out the original creators of VEI. Creators tend to work with others that respect creators.
This....times a million.

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Re: New Ninjak series by Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido

Post by grendeljd »

Sunlight on Snow wrote: Fri Jul 31, 2020 4:35:50 am
nycjadie wrote: Thu Jul 30, 2020 4:48:52 pm Maybe they are doing something different because there is a dearth of creators that will work with Valiant after cutting out the original creators of VEI. Creators tend to work with others that respect creators.
This....times a million.
+1

Humans make these comics... humans, who worked with other humans that gave them their jobs. It’s hard for some humans to forgive other humans who screw over good humans for the sake of “good business”. It’s hard for some humans who read stories made by other humans to forgive those same other humans who screwed over good humans.

It’s not a giant faceless corporate entity here that makes a product for humans to consume. It was/is a small group of humans.
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