New Reader Here!

[otomo]

Hey there, my name's Jon, been reading comics since my aunt got me a subscription to amazing spider-man when I was 10 years old, which was just about the time Valiant popped up the first time. On a kid's budget, I didn't stray much beyond Spider-Man then, but ended up owning a retail shop in the early 2000s while in school, dropped that when I got a real job, made a couple webcomics on the side, of which I found art was too expensive without a way to monetize to stop that... and still kept reading along the way. Over the last decade my pull list went from almost all of the marvel line, to following specific writers across companies, still far too many books a month, until recently where I've dwindled to just a few. I'm a big Terry Moore fan, so I love his Motor Girl, and just finished up with Chew and Revival. I still have Saga going, but I'm reading that in trade because it's so decompressed.

I saw a few promos of the relaunch XO Manowar #1 on Twitter last week, so I picked it up. I saw that title before when I was a kid, but it didn't grip me at the time. My cousin had a shiny copy of the #1 I remember, but he was a bit older. This last week, however, I was wowed. A really good adventure story all the way through, phenomenal art, and a classic pulp style cover, bright and beautiful. I'm in love with the book, my favorite thing I've read in a long time.

After enjoying that, I went back (my office is pretty close to the LCS) and asked about Valiant. They have a small selection, but I got the hardcover of the 90s Shadowman, and am almost finished reading that. I love Jim Shooter from his Marvel/Spider-Man work so I'm pleased by that book as well (though I'm not sure if it was the art from the time or the scans but it looks a little fuzzy). Not as much as the current Manowar, but good.

I'm definitely in, and, OCD as I am, I want more. It seems there's not a great comprehensive list of the Valiant Universe or really a good reading order for everything. Wiki talks about individual comics but it seems like there's a lot missing. Hard to see what's what from their website as well. Any suggestions?

And hi!

[greg]

Welcome to the board, and to Valiant!

I'm working on some better pages for reading order, and there may be some good ones already that others can link.

The general dates of things can be seen on the price guide: http://www.valiantfan.com/guide" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Those are at least a way to see the order of the series/titles.

When I have some better lists and other similar info pages, I'll post them at http://www.valiant101.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That shiny X-O you mentioned was #0. It came out in 1993. The first issue of X-O (#1) was a year earlier.

[otomo]

Awesome. This is very helpful thanks for the quick link post. Holy heck they have a crap ton of titles. Wasn't expecting this big! I really like the deluxe edition hardcovers (I only have one) but seems a good way to get a lot in one book reading and stores nicely.

Someone on twitter recommended I read Divinity next?

[greg]

Divinity is a newer title, no 1990s version or similar characters. Just 4 issues. You'll probably like Divinity and want more... and there's a little more before Divinity II (another 4 issues). Divinity III is finishing this week (#4), and there are some companion books.

You can't really go wrong with Divinity, except that he interacts with major Valiant characters you won't know yet.

Valiant restarted in 2012 with X-O, Harbinger, Bloodshot, and Archer & Armstrong. Then Shadowman a few months later. Eternal Warrior has had series as well as Ninjak's ongoing book.

Divinity interacts (briefly) with many of these, so you might want to get the first trade paperback for a few to introduce the larger names, then read the next volumes of your favorites.

[FlipMega]

Welcome!

"The Valiant" is also a good starter mini series as it is contained to 4 issues and gives a little taste of the universe and many of the characters, although with very little context in some cases. This can be picked up in trade as well and is a great read on its own.

[bobby97801]

Welcome

[greg]

Here's a (hopefully) handy reference that I made today...

http://www.valiantfans.com/forum/viewto ... =1&t=49669" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[otomo]

Thanks everyone. and Nice chart that's helpful.

I finished reading Shadowman classic vol 1 (#0-7) and enjoyed it. Then I read 2012, and I see that the 2012 looks like a complete reboot. Is all 2012 forward a reboot and doesn't require the 1990s stuff?

[TheeBaldMoose]

Thanks everyone. and Nice chart that's helpful.

I finished reading Shadowman classic vol 1 (#0-7) and enjoyed it. Then I read 2012, and I see that the 2012 looks like a complete reboot. Is all 2012 forward a reboot and doesn't require the 1990s stuff?

First, welcome to the page. I've been here just about a year, and I absolutely love this page and these people. There are some fantastic peeps here (as you are starting to see), so please get involved in conversations, regardless of your knowledge.

Second, No, not really. VH1 (the 90's versions) never really grabbed me regarding the stories and the art. VEI has always been my bread and butter. I've barely read any of the VH1 stories, but I've read enough to know that you don't really need those older stories to truly enjoy these newer ones, they add nothing. Some people are fans of just the old stuff (or more of a fan of the older stuff), and that's cool.

I will say on my behalf, that now that I've devoured most/all of the VEI stories, I am finding some of the more collectible items enjoyable from VH1...

Again, welcome! It's awesome to have you here

[otomo]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I used to post a lot of comic reviews and had some good traffic back in the day. The site was truebelieverreviews.com but I didn't see a way to monetize it so I stopped paying for the domain. Probably going to write up some reviews of the Valiant stuff I'm going back and reading now.

And yeah -- that's what I noticed. I picked up XO #1, read it, loved it, lurked around a bit and I did get a sense that Valiant readers are nicer and more pleasant compared to a lot of other comic reader bases. I see that happening a lot across fandoms, the sorta big long legacy fan groups of the big brands tend to be a bit more snippy, and the indie groups are more welcoming. It's a big plus for wanting to get involved and actively go through this stuff and catch up.

Now I gotta figure out to what degree do I want to collect this stuff. I like hardcovers, but the TPBs are so inexpensive that Valiant puts out... and then there's individual issues which I've sworn off of but I do miss collecting.

[DirtbagSailor]

Welcome to the forums!

[Donkey]

Welcome to the board.

I am a new guy myself around here. I am going to warn you. These maybe some of the nice people you have ever come across on the internet.

[AnarchoMambo]

Jon: I'm kinda new too, and I'm also all in. I gave my LCS 500 copies of XO 1 last week (I kept the 501st copy-heh!) and they're flying off the shelf! Lotsa new readers, just like yourself. Welcome! -AM

[otomo]

Jon: I'm kinda new too, and I'm also all in. I gave my LCS 500 copies of XO 1 last week (I kept the 501st copy-heh!) and they're flying off the shelf! Lotsa new readers, just like yourself. Welcome! -AM

Wow that's intense lol, but very cool.

[corey]

Welcome and hope you stay

[WhoDoo]

Great time to jump in with the chance of movies coming soon, the Ninjak Show around the corner, and the new titles and characters.

Welcome to the universe.

[nycjadie]

[grendeljd]

Welcome!

I'll second the vote to check out The Valiant - while you could try diving into each characters first tpb's to get acquainted with them, that book is a really solid jump-on spot that'll get you into several characters while also being a fantastic story all on its own. It's a good set up for the Bloodshot:Reborn title if you haven't gotten into that yet.

[otomo]

Welcome!

I'll second the vote to check out The Valiant - while you could try diving into each characters first tpb's to get acquainted with them, that book is a really solid jump-on spot that'll get you into several characters while also being a fantastic story all on its own. It's a good set up for the Bloodshot:Reborn title if you haven't gotten into that yet.

I've got that Trade, found a huge stack at half price books of the early stuff though so I've been working my way up. I'm almost through my stack now!