VALIANT And The World Outside Our Window

[ManofTheAtom]

In the '90s, VALIANT showed us how Shooter, Layton, BWS, Vanhook, Hall, and others believed superheroes would look like in the world outside our window.

If VALIANT Entertainment were to show us their view of what superheroes would look like in the world outside our window today, what would that look like, and which writers and artists should they get to paint that picture?

Which is to say, which writers and artists would be best equipped to tell stories about superheroes in a real-world setting?

[syzhang28]

In the '90s, VALIANT showed us how Shooter, Layton, BWS, Vanhook, Hall, and others believed superheroes would look like in the world outside our window.

If VALIANT Entertainment were to show us their view of what superheroes would look like in the world outside our window today, what would that look like, and which writers and artists should they get to paint that picture?

Which is to say, which writers and artists would be best equipped to tell stories about superheroes in a real-world setting?

Venditti, Dysart, Kindt, Ven Lente, Lemire etc. They already did this. I enjoy your frequency of posting but I wish you were more informed.

cue: a rebuttal that pretends VEI didn't do Shooter justice when they actually ran circles around him.

[ManofTheAtom]

In the '90s, VALIANT showed us how Shooter, Layton, BWS, Vanhook, Hall, and others believed superheroes would look like in the world outside our window.

If VALIANT Entertainment were to show us their view of what superheroes would look like in the world outside our window today, what would that look like, and which writers and artists should they get to paint that picture?

Which is to say, which writers and artists would be best equipped to tell stories about superheroes in a real-world setting?

Venditti, Dysart, Kindt, Ven Lente, Lemire etc. They already did this. I enjoy your frequency of posting but I wish you were more informed.

cue: a rebuttal that pretends VEI didn't do Shooter justice when they actually ran circles around him.

I didn't say VEI didn't do Shooter justice, or suggest that they failed to honor the original VALIANT. But the way superheroes in the world outside our window was done in the '90s is not the same as it would be done today. The world has changed in the last three decades. So would the heroes.

[IMJ]

Mental-Algebra Problem: They tried it through Social Justice agenda publishing. And it failed. Yet in the past these things were done, often more successfully, without agenda and unhinged blue-hair life-vitriol.

And so, if it's done organically and correctly then the publishing line you are describing would look like something more akin to the comics we grew up with, which were doing it correctly back then. If you want to put out a book about a character named "Faith" for example, then just do it on the best merits of the character and see how it sells. Don't virtue-signal to me in interviews as you jerk yourself off to the masses about your role in enabling "body positivity".

Just do it and go where the markets lead you, and you will indeed find "the world outside our window" without the peasant-thinkers voice prattling away your sales.

cue: a rebuttal that goes immediately to attack instead of the truth of my post, and said rebuttal probably begins with "Mental-Algebra Problem" in an attempt at reflective wordplay intellectualism.

Venditti, Dysart, Kindt, Ven Lente, Lemire etc. They already did this. I enjoy your frequency of posting but I wish you were more informed.

cue: a rebuttal that pretends VEI didn't do Shooter justice when they actually ran circles around him.

I liked this. So I used it not only for truth, but irresistible bait for the circular thinker.

[Chiclo]

Mental-Algebra Problem: They tried it through Social Justice agenda publishing. And it failed. Yet in the past these things were done, often more successfully, without agenda and unhinged blue-hair life-vitriol.

And so, if it's done organically and correctly then the publishing line you are describing would look like something more akin to the comics we grew up with, which were doing it correctly back then. If you want to put out a book about a character named "Faith" for example, then just do it on the best merits of the character and see how it sells. Don't virtue-signal to me in interviews as you jerk yourself off to the masses about your role in enabling "body positivity".

Just do it and go where the markets lead you, and you will indeed find "the world outside our window" without the peasant-thinkers voice prattling away your sales.

cue: a rebuttal that goes immediately to attack instead of the truth of my post, and said rebuttal probably begins with "Mental-Algebra Problem" in an attempt at reflective wordplay intellectualism.

But all the people excited about positivity will buy Faith comics, right? And some of them will buy other Valiant comics too! Why don’t you want Valiant to advance representation as a way to prosperity? They answer to stakeholders now, not shareholders.

[ManofTheAtom]

Mental-Algebra Problem: They tried it through Social Justice agenda publishing. And it failed. Yet in the past these things were done, often more successfully, without agenda and unhinged blue-hair life-vitriol.

And so, if it's done organically and correctly then the publishing line you are describing would look like something more akin to the comics we grew up with, which were doing it correctly back then. If you want to put out a book about a character named "Faith" for example, then just do it on the best merits of the character and see how it sells. Don't virtue-signal to me in interviews as you jerk yourself off to the masses about your role in enabling "body positivity".

Just do it and go where the markets lead you, and you will indeed find "the world outside our window" without the peasant-thinkers voice prattling away your sales.

cue: a rebuttal that goes immediately to attack instead of the truth of my post, and said rebuttal probably begins with "Mental-Algebra Problem" in an attempt at reflective wordplay intellectualism.

Venditti, Dysart, Kindt, Ven Lente, Lemire etc. They already did this. I enjoy your frequency of posting but I wish you were more informed.

cue: a rebuttal that pretends VEI didn't do Shooter justice when they actually ran circles around him.

I liked this. So I used it not only for truth, but irresistible bait for the circular thinker.

I feel that's directed at Antos. I still don't know what she did, no one will tell me.

[syzhang28]

Mental-Algebra Problem: They tried it through Social Justice agenda publishing. And it failed. Yet in the past these things were done, often more successfully, without agenda and unhinged blue-hair life-vitriol.

And so, if it's done organically and correctly then the publishing line you are describing would look like something more akin to the comics we grew up with, which were doing it correctly back then. If you want to put out a book about a character named "Faith" for example, then just do it on the best merits of the character and see how it sells. Don't virtue-signal to me in interviews as you jerk yourself off to the masses about your role in enabling "body positivity".

Just do it and go where the markets lead you, and you will indeed find "the world outside our window" without the peasant-thinkers voice prattling away your sales.

cue: a rebuttal that goes immediately to attack instead of the truth of my post, and said rebuttal probably begins with "Mental-Algebra Problem" in an attempt at reflective wordplay intellectualism.

Venditti, Dysart, Kindt, Ven Lente, Lemire etc. They already did this. I enjoy your frequency of posting but I wish you were more informed.

cue: a rebuttal that pretends VEI didn't do Shooter justice when they actually ran circles around him.

I liked this. So I used it not only for truth, but irresistible bait for the circular thinker.

I feel that's directed at Antos. I still don't know what she did, no one will tell me.

You have to read the comics man. Again, love you posting so much but frustrating that you aren't educated in Valiant

[ManofTheAtom]

Mental-Algebra Problem: They tried it through Social Justice agenda publishing. And it failed. Yet in the past these things were done, often more successfully, without agenda and unhinged blue-hair life-vitriol.

And so, if it's done organically and correctly then the publishing line you are describing would look like something more akin to the comics we grew up with, which were doing it correctly back then. If you want to put out a book about a character named "Faith" for example, then just do it on the best merits of the character and see how it sells. Don't virtue-signal to me in interviews as you jerk yourself off to the masses about your role in enabling "body positivity".

Just do it and go where the markets lead you, and you will indeed find "the world outside our window" without the peasant-thinkers voice prattling away your sales.

cue: a rebuttal that goes immediately to attack instead of the truth of my post, and said rebuttal probably begins with "Mental-Algebra Problem" in an attempt at reflective wordplay intellectualism.

Venditti, Dysart, Kindt, Ven Lente, Lemire etc. They already did this. I enjoy your frequency of posting but I wish you were more informed.

cue: a rebuttal that pretends VEI didn't do Shooter justice when they actually ran circles around him.

I liked this. So I used it not only for truth, but irresistible bait for the circular thinker.

I feel that's directed at Antos. I still don't know what she did, no one will tell me.

You have to read the comics man. Again, love you posting so much but frustrating that you aren't educated in Valiant

I've read every VALIANT and Acclaim comics dozens of times. I haven't had the chance to do the same with VEI, but I hope to someday.

I quite literally wrote the original VALIANT Wiki for VEI that was hosted on the first version of their site.

[syzhang28]

Mental-Algebra Problem: They tried it through Social Justice agenda publishing. And it failed. Yet in the past these things were done, often more successfully, without agenda and unhinged blue-hair life-vitriol.

And so, if it's done organically and correctly then the publishing line you are describing would look like something more akin to the comics we grew up with, which were doing it correctly back then. If you want to put out a book about a character named "Faith" for example, then just do it on the best merits of the character and see how it sells. Don't virtue-signal to me in interviews as you jerk yourself off to the masses about your role in enabling "body positivity".

Just do it and go where the markets lead you, and you will indeed find "the world outside our window" without the peasant-thinkers voice prattling away your sales.

cue: a rebuttal that goes immediately to attack instead of the truth of my post, and said rebuttal probably begins with "Mental-Algebra Problem" in an attempt at reflective wordplay intellectualism.

Venditti, Dysart, Kindt, Ven Lente, Lemire etc. They already did this. I enjoy your frequency of posting but I wish you were more informed.

cue: a rebuttal that pretends VEI didn't do Shooter justice when they actually ran circles around him.

I liked this. So I used it not only for truth, but irresistible bait for the circular thinker.

I feel that's directed at Antos. I still don't know what she did, no one will tell me.

You have to read the comics man. Again, love you posting so much but frustrating that you aren't educated in Valiant

I've read every VALIANT and Acclaim comics dozens of times. I haven't had the chance to do the same with VEI, but I hope to someday.

I quite literally wrote the original VALIANT Wiki for VEI that was hosted on the first version of their site.

You haven't read most of Valiant. old Valiant and acclaim is like saying I read every Stan Lee comic so I know Marvel as well as anyone now get your damn Miles Morales and your Knull off my lawn.

Yes, you've mentioned. So many times. Read the hundreds of Valiant comics you've missed. The Dinesh era is perfection and you'll have more fun on these boards.

[Chiclo]

Mental-Algebra Problem: They tried it through Social Justice agenda publishing. And it failed. Yet in the past these things were done, often more successfully, without agenda and unhinged blue-hair life-vitriol.

And so, if it's done organically and correctly then the publishing line you are describing would look like something more akin to the comics we grew up with, which were doing it correctly back then. If you want to put out a book about a character named "Faith" for example, then just do it on the best merits of the character and see how it sells. Don't virtue-signal to me in interviews as you jerk yourself off to the masses about your role in enabling "body positivity".

Just do it and go where the markets lead you, and you will indeed find "the world outside our window" without the peasant-thinkers voice prattling away your sales.

cue: a rebuttal that goes immediately to attack instead of the truth of my post, and said rebuttal probably begins with "Mental-Algebra Problem" in an attempt at reflective wordplay intellectualism.

Venditti, Dysart, Kindt, Ven Lente, Lemire etc. They already did this. I enjoy your frequency of posting but I wish you were more informed.

cue: a rebuttal that pretends VEI didn't do Shooter justice when they actually ran circles around him.

I liked this. So I used it not only for truth, but irresistible bait for the circular thinker.

I feel that's directed at Antos. I still don't know what she did, no one will tell me.

Captained a sinking ship. She was hired as an assistant editor about a year after the DMG buyout. Editors had a shelf life of right at a year (contract term, maybe?). DMG books were in decline before she got there. When she was an assistant editor, Valiant was putting out fewer books each month than they had editors - still more than one. Then the current Senior Editor fled the DMG sinking ship and she was promoted alongside another lady - Lyssa Hawkins? Nobody ever really talked about her. She was hired about the same time and worked at Valiant even longer. The artwork in the books did not look like they went through all those editors. Antos and Hawkins were left holding the bag when COVID hit. Valiant ordered pencils down and didn’t produce anything for a while. This broke the cycle of new Senior Editors every year, since nobody else was hiring.

During her time, there was a lot of digital ink spilled about representation in Valiant comics and very little spilt proclaiming Valiant comics as well-written. Read those comics of that era. They were not as good as the early VEI books from the first 5 years. Read those books too.

She also liked penguins.

[ManofTheAtom]

You haven't read most of Valiant.

old Valiant and acclaim is like saying I read every Stan Lee comic so I know Marvel as well as anyone now get your damn Miles Morales and your Knull off my lawn

Do you have any idea how many hundreds of comics that was? "Not most of VALIANT"?

How many comics did VEI publish during Dinesh' time compared to what Voyager and Acclaim published?

Yes, you've mentioned. So many times. Read the hundreds of Valiant comics you've missed. The Dinesh era is perfection and you'll have more fun on these boards.

Was it hundreds? You sure?

I'm sure being on this board and the Facebook page was a lot of fun during the time Dinesh was in charge. I'd have been here and there then, but I was banned from here at the time and not allowed there because I was told that people didn't want to post there if I did...

[ManofTheAtom]

Mental-Algebra Problem: They tried it through Social Justice agenda publishing. And it failed. Yet in the past these things were done, often more successfully, without agenda and unhinged blue-hair life-vitriol.

And so, if it's done organically and correctly then the publishing line you are describing would look like something more akin to the comics we grew up with, which were doing it correctly back then. If you want to put out a book about a character named "Faith" for example, then just do it on the best merits of the character and see how it sells. Don't virtue-signal to me in interviews as you jerk yourself off to the masses about your role in enabling "body positivity".

Just do it and go where the markets lead you, and you will indeed find "the world outside our window" without the peasant-thinkers voice prattling away your sales.

cue: a rebuttal that goes immediately to attack instead of the truth of my post, and said rebuttal probably begins with "Mental-Algebra Problem" in an attempt at reflective wordplay intellectualism.

Venditti, Dysart, Kindt, Ven Lente, Lemire etc. They already did this. I enjoy your frequency of posting but I wish you were more informed.

cue: a rebuttal that pretends VEI didn't do Shooter justice when they actually ran circles around him.

I liked this. So I used it not only for truth, but irresistible bait for the circular thinker.

I feel that's directed at Antos. I still don't know what she did, no one will tell me.

Captained a sinking ship. She was hired as an assistant editor about a year after the DMG buyout. Editors had a shelf life of right at a year (contract term, maybe?). DMG books were in decline before she got there. When she was an assistant editor, Valiant was putting out fewer books each month than they had editors - still more than one. Then the current Senior Editor fled the DMG sinking ship and she was promoted alongside another lady - Lyssa Hawkins? Nobody ever really talked about her. She was hired about the same time and worked at Valiant even longer. The artwork in the books did not look like they went through all those editors. Antos and Hawkins were left holding the bag when COVID hit. Valiant ordered pencils down and didn’t produce anything for a while. This broke the cycle of new Senior Editors every year, since nobody else was hiring.

During her time, there was a lot of digital ink spilled about representation in Valiant comics and very little spilt proclaiming Valiant comics as well-written. Read those comics of that era. They were not as good as the early VEI books from the first 5 years. Read those books too.

She also liked penguins.

It sounds similar to the period after Birthquake at Voyager during which they published two issues of a handful of comics like Bloodshot, Ninjak, and X-O Manowar a month and the period after VH 2 at Acclaim during which they published the oversized Turok magazines, the Turok/Shadowman crossover, and the Armorines mini-series.

[Sunlight on Snow]

You haven't read most of Valiant.

old Valiant and acclaim is like saying I read every Stan Lee comic so I know Marvel as well as anyone now get your damn Miles Morales and your Knull off my lawn

Do you have any idea how many hundreds of comics that was? "Not most of VALIANT"?

How many comics did VEI publish during Dinesh' time compared to what Voyager and Acclaim published?

Yes, you've mentioned. So many times. Read the hundreds of Valiant comics you've missed. The Dinesh era is perfection and you'll have more fun on these boards.

Was it hundreds? You sure?

I'm sure being on this board and the Facebook page was a lot of fun during the time Dinesh was in charge. I'd have been here and there then, but I was banned from here at the time and not allowed there because I was told that people didn't want to post there if I did...

VH-1 put out slightly more than 700 floppies (708 to be exact); incl. zero issues but not including any promos and vintage stuff.

VEI put out slightly more than 750 floppies (759 to be exact); incl. zero issues but not including any promos, FCBD books, Handbooks, and any reprinted stuff (e.g. the Plus Editions). Of course, that's 759 to date and not all of them can be credited to the Dinesh era.

Dinesh and Co. only put out 596 of those 759 books incl. all of HW2 and all issues of those series that started before HW2 and concluded slightly after it (e.g. 6 more issues or so of Matt Kindt's X-O Manowar, some Ninja-K & Shadowman, and Faith: Dreamside) but not incl. The Life and Death of Toyo Harada and everything since Livewire and Bloodshot Rising Spirit.

Needless to say HW2 was the beginning of the end when it comes to quality stories. Of course, there are some readers who already didn't like some of the follow up or relaunched titles from the Dinesh era, however, HW2 was really bad and got worse from issue to issue and ended up putting certain characters into really odd situation esp. Livewire, Bloodshot, and X-O Manowar. These series, incl. Harbinger, can also be considered the worst during the DMG era whereas Shadowman and Rai can be considered the better and more enjoyable titles during the DMG era. Either it was easier for creative teams to maintain a certain quality for characters and series that weren't really used/mentioned in HW2 or they are simply better because they were written by more experienced creative people like Cullen Bunn and Dan Abnett as compared to all those name- and hopeless creatives who were allowed to ruin those other titles.

[Sunlight on Snow]

In the '90s, VALIANT showed us how Shooter, Layton, BWS, Vanhook, Hall, and others believed superheroes would look like in the world outside our window.

If VALIANT Entertainment were to show us their view of what superheroes would look like in the world outside our window today, what would that look like, and which writers and artists should they get to paint that picture?

Which is to say, which writers and artists would be best equipped to tell stories about superheroes in a real-world setting?

Do you actually believe VEI's stories still take place during the 90's ?!?

[ManofTheAtom]

VH-1 put out slightly more than 700 floppies (708 to be exact); incl. zero issues but not including any promos and vintage stuff.

VEI put out slightly more than 750 floppies (759 to be exact); incl. zero issues but not including any promos, FCBD books, Handbooks, and any reprinted stuff (e.g. the Plus Editions). Of course, that's 759 to date and not all of them can be credited to the Dinesh era.

Dinesh and Co. only put out 596 of those 759 books incl. all of HW2 and all issues of those series that started before HW2 and concluded slightly after it (e.g. 6 more issues or so of Matt Kindt's X-O Manowar, some Ninja-K & Shadowman, and Faith: Dreamside) but not incl. The Life and Death of Toyo Harada and everything since Livewire and Bloodshot Rising Spirit.

Needless to say HW2 was the beginning of the end when it comes to quality stories. Of course, there are some readers who already didn't like some of the follow up or relaunched titles from the Dinesh era, however, HW2 was really bad and got worse from issue to issue and ended up putting certain characters into really odd situation esp. Livewire, Bloodshot, and X-O Manowar. These series, incl. Harbinger, can also be considered the worst during the DMG era whereas Shadowman and Rai can be considered the better and more enjoyable titles during the DMG era. Either it was easier for creative teams to maintain a certain quality for characters and series that weren't really used/mentioned in HW2 or they are simply better because they were written by more experienced creative people like Cullen Bunn and Dan Abnett as compared to all those name- and hopeless creatives who were allowed to ruin those other titles.

Cool, thanks.

[ManofTheAtom]

In the '90s, VALIANT showed us how Shooter, Layton, BWS, Vanhook, Hall, and others believed superheroes would look like in the world outside our window.

If VALIANT Entertainment were to show us their view of what superheroes would look like in the world outside our window today, what would that look like, and which writers and artists should they get to paint that picture?

Which is to say, which writers and artists would be best equipped to tell stories about superheroes in a real-world setting?

Do you actually believe VEI's stories still take place during the 90's ?!?

Of course not.

[Sunlight on Snow]

In the '90s, VALIANT showed us how Shooter, Layton, BWS, Vanhook, Hall, and others believed superheroes would look like in the world outside our window.

If VALIANT Entertainment were to show us their view of what superheroes would look like in the world outside our window today, what would that look like, and which writers and artists should they get to paint that picture?

Which is to say, which writers and artists would be best equipped to tell stories about superheroes in a real-world setting?

Do you actually believe VEI's stories still take place during the 90's ?!?

Of course not.

Then why keep asking "if they were to show...."?

They've already done it.

Can easily be checked out by reading the first few arcs of Venditti's X-O Manowar and Dysart's Harbinger.

It's probably not the first time you hear these 2 names around here.

[ManofTheAtom]

In the '90s, VALIANT showed us how Shooter, Layton, BWS, Vanhook, Hall, and others believed superheroes would look like in the world outside our window.

If VALIANT Entertainment were to show us their view of what superheroes would look like in the world outside our window today, what would that look like, and which writers and artists should they get to paint that picture?

Which is to say, which writers and artists would be best equipped to tell stories about superheroes in a real-world setting?

Do you actually believe VEI's stories still take place during the 90's ?!?

Of course not.

Then why keep asking "if they were to show...."?

They've already done it.

Can easily be checked out by reading the first few arcs of Venditti's X-O Manowar and Dysart's Harbinger.

It's probably not the first time you hear these 2 names around here.

I read all VEI up until Stalinverse.

What I'm pointing out is that the world outside our window as it is today is not as it was back when VALIANT was created nor even as it was a decade ago. An though those VEI comics were more grounded than the average DC and Marvel comic book, I think they could have done more.

To give you some perspective, when I asked this same question on the Facebook VALIANT Fans group, a comment brought up The Boys as an example of heores in the real world. In the course of that conversation, we compared Vought from that series to the Harbinger Foundation from VALIANT, and how in the world outside our window the latter would be considerably as the former is presented.

While I'd agree that Dysart's run was substantially grounded, it certainly could have been even more reflective of the real world.

I recall having a conversation with Dysart at the time the series came out about Torque knowing who Doogie Howser was (in the comic Torque compared Pete to Doogie), which to me sounded as a considerably archaic comparison for a teenager in the 2010s to make. Like, how would he even know who Doogie was? It's not like his show has been on in decades or is readily available.

That conversation concluded with me pointing out that it's POSSIBLE Torque learned who Doogie was from watching a rerun of the series on TV since at the time he was unable to get out of bed (though both then and now I doubt it's plausible since, again, the series is not that readily available). Dysart concluded the conversation with telling me that my suggestion made me sound like Simons.

To me, making that more world outside our window would have been to use what at the time would have been a MORE contemporary comparison to some other fictional character Pete might remind Torque of than Doogie.

[IMJ]

Mental-Algebra Problem: They tried it through Social Justice agenda publishing. And it failed. Yet in the past these things were done, often more successfully, without agenda and unhinged blue-hair life-vitriol.

And so, if it's done organically and correctly then the publishing line you are describing would look like something more akin to the comics we grew up with, which were doing it correctly back then. If you want to put out a book about a character named "Faith" for example, then just do it on the best merits of the character and see how it sells. Don't virtue-signal to me in interviews as you jerk yourself off to the masses about your role in enabling "body positivity".

Just do it and go where the markets lead you, and you will indeed find "the world outside our window" without the peasant-thinkers voice prattling away your sales.

cue: a rebuttal that goes immediately to attack instead of the truth of my post, and said rebuttal probably begins with "Mental-Algebra Problem" in an attempt at reflective wordplay intellectualism.

But all the people excited about positivity will buy Faith comics, right? And some of them will buy other Valiant comics too! Why don’t you want Valiant to advance representation as a way to prosperity? They answer to stakeholders now, not shareholders.

Exactly. Well said to anyone with the global-understanding to compute it.

[Ryan]

This whole debate has gotten repetitive, but the way I take it is 'the world outside your window' is another way of saying 'hard sci-fi'.

Hard sci-fi is a more rigorous approach to science fiction where all of the fantastical elements of the story are explained using our current understanding of science and logic.

When applied to a comic book superhero universe, another feature is that the entire world would be realistically affected (drastically) by the appearance of super powered beings and whatever other sci-fi elements are introduced.

Also the stories take place in real-time with the characters changing over time and events have a lasting effect on the world and characters.

VEI used a few of these elements, but not consistently. They were not hard sci-fi. They were definitely superhero fantasy in the same realm of Marvel and DC.

To answer the initial question, a hard sci-fi approach set in the modern day would just use the modern world as the springboard for whatever the sci-fi premise/world-changing event would be.

A lot of comics since the 90's have used elements of hard sci-fi/realism (even Youngblood and Wildc.a.t.s were attempting to) so that it's not a novel approach anymore. I think 'grim and gritty' realism has pretty much become the default. But no one is taking that extra step to realize a truly hard sci-fi, real-time superhero universe. The only people who seemed to have the interest, passion, and opportunity to pull that off were Jim Shooter (out of comics) and Mark Gruenwald (passed in 1996, RIP).

[ManofTheAtom]

This whole debate has gotten repetitive, but the way I take it is 'the world outside your window' is another way of saying 'hard sci-fi'.

Hard sci-fi is a more rigorous approach to science fiction where all of the fantastical elements of the story are explained using our current understanding of science and logic.

When applied to a comic book superhero universe, another feature is that the entire world would be realistically affected (drastically) by the appearance of super powered beings and whatever other sci-fi elements are introduced.

Also the stories take place in real-time with the characters changing over time and events have a lasting effect on the world and characters.

VEI used a few of these elements, but not consistently. They were not hard sci-fi. They were definitely superhero fantasy in the same realm of Marvel and DC.

To answer the initial question, a hard sci-fi approach set in the modern day would just use the modern world as the springboard for whatever the sci-fi premise/world-changing event would be.

A lot of comics since the 90's have used elements of hard sci-fi/realism (even Youngblood and Wildc.a.t.s were attempting to) so that it's not a novel approach anymore. I think 'grim and gritty' realism has pretty much become the default. But no one is taking that extra step to realize a truly hard sci-fi, real-time superhero universe. The only people who seemed to have the interest, passion, and opportunity to pull that off were Jim Shooter (out of comics) and Mark Gruenwald (passed in 1996, RIP).

You summed it up well, but I think it's not just hard sci fi, but also politics, changes in society and media, that sort of thing. A true reflection of the world we live in as it is now. More a matter of tone than much else, maybe.

It would definitely be very interesting if new comics would address that almost a decade has passed since the new VALIANT Universe started.

[Chiclo]

This whole debate has gotten repetitive, but the way I take it is 'the world outside your window' is another way of saying 'hard sci-fi'.

Hard sci-fi is a more rigorous approach to science fiction where all of the fantastical elements of the story are explained using our current understanding of science and logic.

When applied to a comic book superhero universe, another feature is that the entire world would be realistically affected (drastically) by the appearance of super powered beings and whatever other sci-fi elements are introduced.

Also the stories take place in real-time with the characters changing over time and events have a lasting effect on the world and characters.

VEI used a few of these elements, but not consistently. They were not hard sci-fi. They were definitely superhero fantasy in the same realm of Marvel and DC.

To answer the initial question, a hard sci-fi approach set in the modern day would just use the modern world as the springboard for whatever the sci-fi premise/world-changing event would be.

A lot of comics since the 90's have used elements of hard sci-fi/realism (even Youngblood and Wildc.a.t.s were attempting to) so that it's not a novel approach anymore. I think 'grim and gritty' realism has pretty much become the default. But no one is taking that extra step to realize a truly hard sci-fi, real-time superhero universe. The only people who seemed to have the interest, passion, and opportunity to pull that off were Jim Shooter (out of comics) and Mark Gruenwald (passed in 1996, RIP).

The higher sciences are basically embracing sci-fi as stopgaps to explain why the math disagrees with their janky models. Things like dark matter, supersymmetry, Linnean extinctions, quantum superpositions, even the Big Bang theory is rotted-through with these gods-of-the-gaps.

[Ryan]

You summed it up well, but I think it's not just hard sci fi, but also politics, changes in society and media, that sort of thing. A true reflection of the world we live in as it is now. More a matter of tone than much else, maybe.

It would definitely be very interesting if new comics would address that almost a decade has passed since the new VALIANT Universe started.

For sure, any realistic comic set in the modern day would have to include all the modern technology like internet, cell phones, etc. that have changed since the 90s, and incorporate the current political/global landscape, is that what you mean?

I think that's why many people said VEI did this already, because it is set in the modern world incorporating the modern political landscape. Can you elaborate more on what differences you mean?

[ManofTheAtom]

You summed it up well, but I think it's not just hard sci fi, but also politics, changes in society and media, that sort of thing. A true reflection of the world we live in as it is now. More a matter of tone than much else, maybe.

It would definitely be very interesting if new comics would address that almost a decade has passed since the new VALIANT Universe started.

For sure, any realistic comic set in the modern day would have to include all the modern technology like internet, cell phones, etc. that have changed since the 90s, and incorporate the current political/global landscape, is that what you mean?

I think that's why many people said VEI did this already, because it is set in the modern world incorporating the modern political landscape. Can you elaborate more on what differences you mean?

Not many that come to mind at this moment, it has been a while since I read VEI and, unlike the previous iterations, I've only read them twice at best.

[Ryan]

The higher sciences are basically embracing sci-fi as stopgaps to explain why the math disagrees with their janky models. Things like dark matter, supersymmetry, Linnean extinctions, quantum superpositions, even the Big Bang theory is rotted-through with these gods-of-the-gaps.

Oh for sure, I'm no science absolutist. Even in science fiction, the distinction between what's considered 'hard' and 'soft' can get very murky and almost meaningless in many instances.

But in this case, talking about superhero comic book universes, there can be distinctions made between the 'Marvel' approach where contradictory super sciences, magic systems, alien races, time travel, etc. are all introduced and have no realistic effect on the overall world, and the 'New Univese'/Pre-Unity Valiant approach that is trying to rigorously explain and control these fantastic elements to maintain the illusion of realism.

I'm not saying that's the only way to make good comics. There are plenty of great comics that have a softer fantasy approach. I think VEI falls on the more realistic side of the spectrum, but taken as a whole it's more similar to Marvel than pre-Unity Valiant.