Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

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Nameless7
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Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by Nameless7 »

Hello everyone,

I should explain; sometime late 2016 my wife and I invested our lives and money into purchasing a restaurant (in addition to our 8-5 jobs). I am quite the valiant fan but I simply could not keep up with any reading as the work demand was a good 18-20hrs a day every day...

I kept my monthly subscription at my local shop and ended up accumulating 3+ years worth of valiant comics. late 2019 we sold the business and have seen been normalizing our lives again (feel like I have aged 10 years however). I started going through all my comics (I only get valiant) that were piling in the basement and I remember how awesome they were. being reading them too.. Imperium, Bloodshot reborn..etc. I started getting super excited about catching up because I am currently reading is just fantastic.

Then I came here to reconnect - and I am now heartbroken. From what I am reading VEI as I know it is no more and the current batch of stuff is junk (brings back nightmares from the 90's) VEI was sold/acquired by some company? Dinesh is gone? what the hell happened?

Regarding the books - Where should I stop? is any of the current stuff worth picking up at all? I still have my subscription but I will cancel the titles if all I am doing is setting myself up for disappointments. I can't believe it. Its like I have been under a rock and then The Beattles broke up or something.

Is there any hope?

Thanks for any suggestions you guys may have on the current batch of VEI titles.

Cheers!

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Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by BugsySig »

Everything falls off right around Harbinger Wars 2.

Life and a Death of Toyo Harada is the last book published under the DMG reign that was created during the VEI era.

Other than that, Fallen World/Rai has been the only book relatively praised across the board. Heard some good reviews of Punk Mambo, but haven’t read it myself.

Other than that, some are enjoying Dr. Tomorrow, but the Visitor and new Bloodshot and XO are just not good.


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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by Sunlight on Snow »

Andy Diggle's Shadowman was awesome and Ninja-K was good, too.

The most recent X-O Manowar #1 likely is the worst debut issue since 2012.

I'm still enjoying the current Bloodshot series; great artwork with plenty of action.

I just decided not to order all the Bundles anymore. It's time to let things go.

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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by geocarr »

Sunlight on Snow wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 9:27:28 am The most recent X-O Manowar #1 likely is the worst debut issue since 2012.
Not saying you're wrong, but Dead Drop is near the top of that list too. :P
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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by BugsySig »

geocarr wrote:
Sunlight on Snow wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 9:27:28 am The most recent X-O Manowar #1 likely is the worst debut issue since 2012.
Not saying you're wrong, but Dead Drop is near the top of that list too. :P
Dead Drop wasn’t a (the) tentpole VALIANT title. No comparison there.


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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by Nameless7 »

I guess i'll stick to maybe just the vanilla 'A' cover or something. I used to try to hunt down all the covers (variants etc) before but I dont see myself trying to do that for the new stuff.

On a positive note, I still have some 3 years or of good stuff to read before i catch up to the current books :D

Is the ValiantDatabase gone as well? The old URL I have does not work.
The most recent X-O Manowar #1 likely is the worst debut issue since 2012.


this is a shame, X-O was one of my favorite titles.

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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by Sunlight on Snow »

ValiantDatabase.com was closed in early/mid 2018. :hm:

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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by OhioValiantNut »

I gave up on the VEI material early last year maybe ... I do not doubt the quality and production values, but my collecting profile changed and I began moving away from consuming new comics.

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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by Oxmyx »

Nameless7 wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 11:06:03 am On a positive note, I still have some 3 years or of good stuff to read before i catch up to the current books :D
I'm about where you are, maybe, in reading order. Have you read Armor Hunters? That's a good sign post. For a long while I was working towards getting there, anticipating a wild ride. I finally got to read it a few months ago and I'm not sure what my next signpost is... maybe the end of XOs first run...the VDitti run as I understand it

But I know that it's not just you and me living in the past. A guy named Talarius posted last week where he has just started on VH1.
I've been looking everywhere for the ultra-rare Turok vs Blister issue. Anybody able to help me out?

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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by SwiftMann »

Nameless7 wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 3:51:51 amThen I came here to reconnect - and I am now heartbroken. From what I am reading VEI as I know it is no more and the current batch of stuff is junk (brings back nightmares from the 90's) VEI was sold/acquired by some company? Dinesh is gone? what the hell happened?
Majority corporate owner DMG made an equity play and took over 100% in late January 2018. Things have been degrading ever since.
Regarding the books - Where should I stop? is any of the current stuff worth picking up at all? I still have my subscription but I will cancel the titles if all I am doing is setting myself up for disappointments. I can't believe it. Its like I have been under a rock and then The Beattles broke up or something.
As noted above, Harbinger Wars 2 is as good a spot as any to start looking at the quality dip, so let's say May 2018 cover dates becomes the starting point for this discussion. From there the positives are few and far between.

Life and Death of Toyo Harada #1-6: As noted, this was in the can for years at Valiant. Finally came out in 2019. Did you like Harbinger and Imperium? Do you bow at the alter of Dysart? Then you will LOVE this. If not, well, it's perfectly good comics but the zealots kind of make you seek out the flaws.

Shadowman (2018) #3-11: This was scheduled to go longer. It didn't. This was generally well received though.

Q&W (2017) #6-12: Q&W seems pretty maligned here, but I thought the 2017 series was the best attempt since Priest & Bright. The current mini is straight trash.

Fallen World #1-5, Rai (2019) #1-5: The shining star of the DMG universe. Dan Abnett is doing a great job in the 4002 world and art has been great.
Is there any hope?
No signs yet.
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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by Oxmyx »

SwiftMann wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 2:19:07 pm
Q&W (2017) #6-12: Q&W seems pretty maligned here, but I thought the 2017 series was the best attempt since Priest & Bright. The current mini is straight trash.

Fallen World #1-5, Rai (2019) #1-5: The shining star of the DMG universe. Dan Abnett is doing a great job in the 4002 world and art has been great.
The Q+W you refer to is the ! run following Kibblesmith? Basically TPB Seperation Anxiety?

About Dan Abnett...he's the writer on the Dejah Thoris comic I've been reading from Dynamite. (The world of John Carter of Mars, set in the semi near future after John Carter lived and died a normal Earth lifespan) It's stuck at issue #4 because of the virus.

Not my favorite story, not at all, but I give him credit it's not bad at all just not to my tastes. Too much "political intrigue" I guess is a good way to explain it.

Does Fallen World have much in the way of "political intrigue"?

But he knows his source material (the universe of Barsoom) and renders it faithfully (for the most part). I applaud him for that.

Has he been writing these concurrently, anyone know? It looks to me like he wrapped up the Fallen World run and then started Dejah next.

Maybe I'm just disappointed Dejah is wearing too many clothes. :P
I've been looking everywhere for the ultra-rare Turok vs Blister issue. Anybody able to help me out?

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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by Sunlight on Snow »

Usually Dan Abnett is working on and writing several stories at a time.

https://www.comics.org/checklist/name/D ... ation_date

Unfortunately, the Dejah Thoris issues haven't been added yet.

EDIT: Well, the credits are still missing..... https://www.comics.org/series/153528/

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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by Talarius »

Sunlight on Snow wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 10:25:28 am Usually Dan Abnett is working on and writing several stories at a time.
And also writing novels. That’s how I know him; not from his work in comics but his many highly regarded novels for Black Library’s line about Warhammer 40,000. He’s their most popular author.

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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by Sunlight on Snow »

Talarius wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 1:17:33 pm
Sunlight on Snow wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 10:25:28 am Usually Dan Abnett is working on and writing several stories at a time.
And also writing novels. That’s how I know him; not from his work in comics but his many highly regarded novels for Black Library’s line about Warhammer 40,000. He’s their most popular author.
Yes, of course. The question is more comic book related. He's also one of the most popular writers for the British 2000 AD anthology. Sinister Sextor probably is one of the longest running stories in 2000 AD; at least between 1995 and 2010.

Then his work as DnA with Andy Lanning. The Guardians saga, for instance.

This guy's a genius. I wish he was in charge of X-O Manowar.

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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by darkwingdan »

Sunlight on Snow wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 1:53:03 pm
Talarius wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 1:17:33 pm
Sunlight on Snow wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 10:25:28 am Usually Dan Abnett is working on and writing several stories at a time.
And also writing novels. That’s how I know him; not from his work in comics but his many highly regarded novels for Black Library’s line about Warhammer 40,000. He’s their most popular author.
Yes, of course. The question is more comic book related. He's also one of the most popular writers for the British 2000 AD anthology. Sinister Sextor probably is one of the longest running stories in 2000 AD; at least between 1995 and 2010.

Then his work as DnA with Andy Lanning. The Guardians saga, for instance.

This guy's a genius. I wish he was in charge of X-O Manowar.
Abnett also wrote the best issues of Ninjak (1994). Hell, his Aquaman stuff is fantastic too. If Valiant put him on more titles, you'd see the complaints about their current books start to dry up pretty quickly.

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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by Sunlight on Snow »

darkwingdan wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 2:21:02 pm
Sunlight on Snow wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 1:53:03 pm
Talarius wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 1:17:33 pm
Sunlight on Snow wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 10:25:28 am Usually Dan Abnett is working on and writing several stories at a time.
And also writing novels. That’s how I know him; not from his work in comics but his many highly regarded novels for Black Library’s line about Warhammer 40,000. He’s their most popular author.
Yes, of course. The question is more comic book related. He's also one of the most popular writers for the British 2000 AD anthology. Sinister Sextor probably is one of the longest running stories in 2000 AD; at least between 1995 and 2010.

Then his work as DnA with Andy Lanning. The Guardians saga, for instance.

This guy's a genius. I wish he was in charge of X-O Manowar.
Abnett also wrote the best issues of Ninjak (1994). Hell, his Aquaman stuff is fantastic too. If Valiant put him on more titles, you'd see the complaints about their current books start to dry up pretty quickly.
Exactly, he's already familiar with some of the other Valiant characters such as Ninjak, Bloodshot, and Shadowman (although his SM wasn't Jack Boniface).

There's a funny typo in my previous post. :lol:

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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by Oxmyx »

Sunlight on Snow wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 1:53:03 pm
Talarius wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 1:17:33 pm
Sunlight on Snow wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 10:25:28 am Usually Dan Abnett is working on and writing several stories at a time.
And also writing novels.
Yes, of course.

This guy's a genius. I wish he was in charge of X-O Manowar.
THIS!!!! Even if I'm not thrilled with his Dejah story, I can tell he's good at an "immersive" reading experience.
I've been looking everywhere for the ultra-rare Turok vs Blister issue. Anybody able to help me out?

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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by TheFerg714 »

Don't let the haters scare you off, there's some good sh!t in the DMG era. Harbinger Wars II definitely isn't great, but it's not bad. Britannia: Lost Eagles of Rome is just as good as the first two mini's. Faith: Dreamside is good, if you're into Faith stories. It's still written by series writer, Jody Houser. Incursion feels like a VEI event. Definitely don't just stop mid-series when it comes to X-O, Ninja-K, Bloodshot Salvation, Q&W, and Shadowman. The endings to all of those are really good.

As for the truly "DMG era" books, the good ones come few and far between, but there are a few, and they're must-reads. The first volume of Livewire is a solid book-end to Harbinger Wars II, that ties up some loose ends (it's hard to talk about said loose ends without spoiling). I do not recommend the subsequent volumes though. Killers is a weird spin-off/spiritual successor of Ninja-K, and it's awesome. Dr. Tomorrow is only two issues in, but I'm really enjoying it so far. It's child-friendly in a good way. I also don't mind the first issue of Bloodshot Rising Spirit, but maybe that's just me.

It's hard to recommend anything else, but this stuff is really good, and it would be silly to miss out on it just because different people were in charge. Hell, there's probably a series I didn't mention that you might enjoy.




Of course you should read Life and Death of Toyo Harada and Fallen World/Rai, but you've heard enough from everyone else about those.

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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by SwiftMann »

You are a very generous Valiant fan.
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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by Oxmyx »

Oxmyx wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 9:45:45 am
SwiftMann wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 2:19:07 pm
Q&W (2017) #6-12: Q&W seems pretty maligned here, but I thought the 2017 series was the best attempt since Priest & Bright. The current mini is straight trash.
The Q+W you refer to is the ! run following Kibblesmith? Basically TPB Seperation Anxiety?
Swift, maybe you didn't see my question? Who is the author you refer to? That may be the easiest way to clarify.
I've been looking everywhere for the ultra-rare Turok vs Blister issue. Anybody able to help me out?

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Post by TheFerg714 »

SwiftMann wrote: Sat May 30, 2020 11:18:41 pm You are a very generous Valiant fan.
Not really? The only books I mentioned, that you didn't, were Britannia, Faith, Incursion, X-O, Ninja-K, Bloodshot Salvation, Livewire Vol. 1, Killers, and Dr. Tomorrow, and you should have, because they're all really good!
Oxmyx wrote: Sun May 31, 2020 2:32:25 am
Oxmyx wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 9:45:45 am
SwiftMann wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 2:19:07 pm
Q&W (2017) #6-12: Q&W seems pretty maligned here, but I thought the 2017 series was the best attempt since Priest & Bright. The current mini is straight trash.
The Q+W you refer to is the ! run following Kibblesmith? Basically TPB Seperation Anxiety?
Swift, maybe you didn't see my question? Who is the author you refer to? That may be the easiest way to clarify.
Yea, he's talking about Separation Anxiety, by Eliot Rahal. I really liked that arc as well.

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Post by Sunlight on Snow »

TheFerg714 wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 12:41:27 am
SwiftMann wrote: Sat May 30, 2020 11:18:41 pm You are a very generous Valiant fan.
Not really? The only books I mentioned, that you didn't, were Britannia, Faith, Incursion, X-O, Ninja-K, Bloodshot Salvation, Livewire Vol. 1, Killers, and Dr. Tomorrow, and you should have, because they're all really good!
:lol: :lol: :lol:

Livewire Vol. 1' a really good book...?

That's like saying HW2 is a really good event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wazTC2n ... tu.be&t=81

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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by SwiftMann »

TheFerg714 wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 12:41:27 am
SwiftMann wrote: Sat May 30, 2020 11:18:41 pm You are a very generous Valiant fan.
Not really? The only books I mentioned, that you didn't, were Britannia, Faith, Incursion, X-O, Ninja-K, Bloodshot Salvation, Livewire Vol. 1, Killers, and Dr. Tomorrow, and you should have, because they're all really good!
Yes really. I listed 4. You have 9 more. That's a 225% increase in quality titles, which I'd say is being very generous.

Britannia is fine, but has nothing to do with anything (other than the Handbook identifies it as in continuity).

Faith: Dreamside started well enough, but ended with a clunk.

Incursion was generally enjoyed by folks here, but I wasn't one of them.

Kind-T's X-O started well, but I hated the second year.

Ninja-K bored me to tears (but I've never been a fan of any Ninjak series).

Bloodshot Salvation only had a couple issues after the May date I came up with, so didn't feel like it fit the criteria. It was a good read though.

The only saving grace of Livewire's opening arc is the Allen/Martin art. The story was repetitive trash.

Killers was fine. I enjoyed it well enough as a competitionist, but wouldn't suggest someone spend money on it.

Dr. Tomorrow has had two issues. Can't really make the judgment call on it yet.
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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by TheFerg714 »

Sunlight on Snow wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 4:39:43 am :lol: :lol: :lol:

Livewire Vol. 1' a really good book...?

That's like saying HW2 is a really good event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wazTC2n ... tu.be&t=81
I'd give Livewire Vol. 1 a 7/10, and I don't think I'm the only one. That arc was fairly well received when it came out, by Valiant fans, and non-Valiant fans. F*** me, I guess. :?

HW2 gets a 6/10 from me. I don't think it' awful.
SwiftMann wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 2:47:18 pm Britannia is fine, but has nothing to do with anything (other than the Handbook identifies it as in continuity).
So? The other two Britannia series were like that too. It's cool if you're not into that, but they're all good stories, and I'm glad we got a third one.
Faith: Dreamside started well enough, but ended with a clunk.
I would argue that Dreamside was significantly better than Future Force or Winter Wonderland.
Kind-T's X-O started well, but I hated the second year.
I agree, but that last arc was worth it.
The only saving grace of Livewire's opening arc is the Allen/Martin art. The story was repetitive trash.
I think it does a great job of getting the reader to not see Livewire as a straight-up villain, like she was characterized in HW2. The subsequent issues are garbage though.

So, out of the 9 books, that you apparently disagree with me about, 3 of them (Incursion, Ninja-K, Killers) were well-received by most readers, 2 of them (Salvation, Dr. Tomorrow) don't count, you had personal problems with 2 more of them (Faith, Britannia), and you had some legitimate grievances with the other 2 (X-O, Livewire).

I'm sorry, I just think your definition of 'generous' is a little skewed. I don't think I'm being generous at all by saying that the VEI books had solid endings, and the DMG output has been 50/50. If your definition of generous is 'being generally fair and not hating everything,' then fine, I guess I'm being generous.

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Re: Resuming Valiant reading and now heartbroken?

Post by SwiftMann »

TheFerg714 wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 6:18:39 pm So, out of the 9 books, that you apparently disagree with me about, 3 of them (Incursion, Ninja-K, Killers) were well-received by most readers, 2 of them (Salvation, Dr. Tomorrow) don't count, you had personal problems with 2 more of them (Faith, Britannia), and you had some legitimate grievances with the other 2 (X-O, Livewire).

I'm sorry, I just think your definition of 'generous' is a little skewed. I don't think I'm being generous at all by saying that the VEI books had solid endings, and the DMG output has been 50/50. If your definition of generous is 'being generally fair and not hating everything,' then fine, I guess I'm being generous.
I think your summary is even a little generous. I wouldn't say Killers was "well-received by most readers" especially how it ended. I didn't have "personal problems" with Faith; it, just like Killers, ended poorly. Yes, better than the trainwreck holiday issue, but not better than Future Force. And I don't have "personal problems" with any of Britannia. I just don't see the point in recommending it to someone looking for good Valiant books.

So, 2 were well-received by most readers, 2 don't have enough product in the DMG era to opine on, 1 isn't connected to Valiant U at all, and multiple people had "some legitimate grievances" with 4.

This is why I only mentioned what I liked in the post and didn't do a rundown of nearly everything published in 2018 and 2019. I definitely, absolutely lean towards thinking most of what Valiant has produced for the last 3 years isn't very good. You definitely lean towards thinking it is. I'm harsh. You're generous.
"If you think any of these [older comics/shows/movies] do not carry a political content and is not using the medium of science fiction to explore real-world ideas, than you have not been paying attention." - Dan Abnett, VCR #246


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