What are your MUST-READ Valiant stories?

[TheFerg714]

Here's mine:

1. Dysart's Psiot Cycle
2. Solar #1-11, followed by Unity.
3. Venditti's X-O Manowar, including Unity Vol. 1 and Armor Hunters.
4. BWS' Archer & Armstrong
5. Van Lente's Archer & Armstrong
6. Kindt's Rai and 4001, followed by Abnett's Rai.
7. Divinity 1-3
8. The Valiant
9. Kindt's X-O Manowar #1-14
10. The Malev War

[ManofTheAtom]

I read all of VH 1 dozens of times when I wrote the Wiki, lol.

[TheFerg714]

I read all of VH 1 dozens of times when I wrote the Wiki, lol.

So... does anything stand out to you as a must-read story? As in, is there anything that you think non-Valiant fans should check out asap?

[ManofTheAtom]

I read all of VH 1 dozens of times when I wrote the Wiki, lol.

So... does anything stand out to you as a must-read story? As in, is there anything that you think non-Valiant fans should check out asap?

The pre-Unity stuff is great act one world building. The post Unity and pre-Chaos Effect stuff is a great act two.

It's when it got to Birthquake that VALIANT died at the altar of DC and Marvel.

[Ryan]

1. Dysart's Psiot Cycle

What books does that exactly entail?

[TheFerg714]

1. Dysart's Psiot Cycle

What books does that exactly entail?

Harbinger, Imperium, and The Life and Death of Toyo Harada.

Plus, Harbinger Wars, Harbinger: Omegas, Harbinger #0, Bleeding Monk #0, and Book of Death: Fall of Harbinger.

[TheFerg714]

I read all of VH 1 dozens of times when I wrote the Wiki, lol.

So... does anything stand out to you as a must-read story? As in, is there anything that you think non-Valiant fans should check out asap?

The pre-Unity stuff is great act one world building. The post Unity and pre-Chaos Effect stuff is a great act two.

It's when it got to Birthquake that VALIANT died at the altar of DC and Marvel.

Okay so just to be clear, if a new fan, that is just dipping his toes into Valiant, asks you for the absolute must-reads, you're going to tell him to read the entirety of Pre-Unity, as well as maybe everything up until Chaos Effect?

[Ryan]

1. Dysart's Psiot Cycle

What books does that exactly entail?

Harbinger, Imperium, and The Life and Death of Toyo Harada.

Plus, Harbinger Wars, Harbinger: Omegas, Harbinger #0, Bleeding Monk #0, and Book of Death: Fall of Harbinger.

Cool thanks

Okay so just to be clear, if a new fan, that is just dipping his toes into Valiant, asks you for the absolute must-reads, you're going to tell him to read the entirety of Pre-Unity, as well as maybe everything up until Chaos Effect?

Not to answer for Mota, but pre-Unity is less than 50 issues, similar in length to the Dysart cycle.

For me, that's easy. Steel Nation, Alpha & Omega or Harbinger 1-4 if they're only going to try one skinny trade. If just one issue I would give them Magnus 1, Harbinger 4, X-O 1, or Solar 7. If they want to sample an even shorter story Rai 1 (flipbook) is a great complete story that encapsulates early Valiant's strengths.

[ManofTheAtom]

I read all of VH 1 dozens of times when I wrote the Wiki, lol.

So... does anything stand out to you as a must-read story? As in, is there anything that you think non-Valiant fans should check out asap?

The pre-Unity stuff is great act one world building. The post Unity and pre-Chaos Effect stuff is a great act two.

It's when it got to Birthquake that VALIANT died at the altar of DC and Marvel.

Okay so just to be clear, if a new fan, that is just dipping his toes into Valiant, asks you for the absolute must-reads, you're going to tell him to read the entirety of Pre-Unity, as well as maybe everything up until Chaos Effect?

Well, I'd probably direct them to the VEI versions since those are the current ones.

Start with everything before Harbinger Wars I think. I believe most of that must be collected in trades. Might be one or two trades per series leading into HW?

[magnusr]

Early Harbinger and Rai (both VH1 and VEI).

Early Solar and Magnus.

/Magnus

[Dallow Spicer1]

Off the top of my head …

Harbinger Wars
Armour Hunters
Harbinger, Imperium, and The Life and Death of Toyo Harada
X-O #0 (VH1)
Kindts run on Rai

[Dallow Spicer1]

Here's mine:

8. The Valiant

Major problem with this as it contains one of the biggest mis-steps of VEI IMO. Issue #3 is a throwaway meeting of all of the VEI character for some nonsense battle. This effectively robbed us of a ton of ‘first meeting’ storyline between all of the characters….and it wasn’t worth it!

[syzhang28]

Here's mine:

8. The Valiant

Major problem with this as it contains one of the biggest mis-steps of VEI IMO. Issue #3 is a throwaway meeting of all of the VEI character for some nonsense battle. This effectively robbed us of a ton of ‘first meeting’ storyline between all of the characters….and it wasn’t worth it!

I couldn't disagree more. The stakes were incredibly high and incredibly personal. Very hard to do. My heart skipped a beat when I turned the page and saw that splash. And we got the meeting scene for most of these characters before and plenty after anyway. Nothing was missed, epic moment gained.

[syzhang28]

Off the top of my head …

Harbinger Wars
Armour Hunters
Harbinger, Imperium, and The Life and Death of Toyo Harada
X-O #0 (VH1)
Kindts run on Rai

Great list. Armor Hunters might be the most blockbuster story ever told in Valiant imo. And X-O Manowar #0 might be the most underrated. That opening is so well done.

[TheFerg714]

Here's mine:

8. The Valiant

Major problem with this as it contains one of the biggest mis-steps of VEI IMO. Issue #3 is a throwaway meeting of all of the VEI character for some nonsense battle. This effectively robbed us of a ton of ‘first meeting’ storyline between all of the characters….and it wasn’t worth it!

Although I do find #3 a little cringey, it doesn't take away from the greatness of the rest of the story for me. I don't really see it as a "first meeting." It was just an emergency team-up, and then everyone immediately went their separate ways.

[Dallow Spicer1]

Here's mine:

8. The Valiant

Major problem with this as it contains one of the biggest mis-steps of VEI IMO. Issue #3 is a throwaway meeting of all of the VEI character for some nonsense battle. This effectively robbed us of a ton of ‘first meeting’ storyline between all of the characters….and it wasn’t worth it!

Although I do find #3 a little cringey, it doesn't take away from the greatness of the rest of the story for me. I don't really see it as a "first meeting." It was just an emergency team-up, and then everyone immediately went their separate ways.

They didn’t need them all in that scene, most of them were superfluous to the story!

Also, can’t believe I forgot Lemire’s Bloodshot run, that’s a must read. That’s how you writer that character, with some depth. Been a series of car crash minis ever since (and not in a good way).

[nycjadie]

Lemire’s first run of Bloodshot for sure.

Shout out to Savage and Britannia.

[daniellew61]

The 2024 line!


But I am biased

[Dallow Spicer1]

The 2024 line!


But I am biased

Well there’s thousands of posts on this site from people who actually buy the comics, so you can see what works and what goes down like a lead balloon. Virtually everything after Dinesh was ousted up until Alien got involved was a car crash (with the exception of Rai by Dan Abnett - smart move bringing him back and Dysart finishing off his Harbinger story).

Good luck and stay clear of political bias

[Chiclo]

The 2024 line!


But I am biased

They are off to a strong start.

[daniellew61]

The 2024 line!


But I am biased

Well there’s thousands of posts on this site from people who actually buy the comics, so you can see what works and what goes down like a lead balloon. Virtually everything after Dinesh was ousted up until Alien got involved was a car crash (with the exception of Rai by Dan Abnett - smart move bringing him back and Dysart finishing off his Harbinger story).

Good luck and stay clear of political bias

no plans featuring any Clintons on a comic cover that I know of!

[Dallow Spicer1]

The 2024 line!


But I am biased

Well there’s thousands of posts on this site from people who actually buy the comics, so you can see what works and what goes down like a lead balloon. Virtually everything after Dinesh was ousted up until Alien got involved was a car crash (with the exception of Rai by Dan Abnett - smart move bringing him back and Dysart finishing off his Harbinger story).

Good luck and stay clear of political bias

no plans featuring any Clintons on a comic cover that I know of!

the right answer

[Chiclo]

The 2024 line!


But I am biased

Well there’s thousands of posts on this site from people who actually buy the comics, so you can see what works and what goes down like a lead balloon. Virtually everything after Dinesh was ousted up until Alien got involved was a car crash (with the exception of Rai by Dan Abnett - smart move bringing him back and Dysart finishing off his Harbinger story).

Good luck and stay clear of political bias

no plans featuring any Clintons on a comic cover that I know of!

I dunno. I have often said that Bill Clinton was the funniest character on SNL.

https://youtu.be/PNa8I50XJgQ

[BugsySig]

Here's mine:

1. Dysart's Psiot Cycle
2. Solar #1-11, followed by Unity.
3. Venditti's X-O Manowar, including Unity Vol. 1 and Armor Hunters.
4. BWS' Archer & Armstrong
5. Van Lente's Archer & Armstrong
6. Kindt's Rai and 4001, followed by Abnett's Rai.
7. Divinity 1-3
8. The Valiant
9. Kindt's X-O Manowar #1-14
10. The Malev War

Might not be in the same order, but I concur on those 10. I’d also add FVL’s Ivar, Timewalker as an extension of his A&A run.

[syzhang28]

Here's mine:

1. Dysart's Psiot Cycle
2. Solar #1-11, followed by Unity.
3. Venditti's X-O Manowar, including Unity Vol. 1 and Armor Hunters.
4. BWS' Archer & Armstrong
5. Van Lente's Archer & Armstrong
6. Kindt's Rai and 4001, followed by Abnett's Rai.
7. Divinity 1-3
8. The Valiant
9. Kindt's X-O Manowar #1-14
10. The Malev War

Might not be in the same order, but I concur on those 10. I’d also add FVL’s Ivar, Timewalker as an extension of his A&A run.

Interesting that so many people generally agree. As a breakdown these 10 are:
3 from VH1
7 from VEI
0 from Acclaim
0 from DMG*
0 from Alien^

* you could maybe give them a 1/3 of a point for Abnett's Rai because it's added onto Kindt's Rai.
^ so far but they have just started and we should give them a fair shot of time.