Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

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ManofTheAtom
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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by ManofTheAtom »

Ryan wrote: Sat Aug 24, 2024 3:19 pm
ManofTheAtom wrote: Sat Aug 24, 2024 9:47 am
Ryan wrote: Sat Aug 24, 2024 9:03 am
ManofTheAtom wrote: Fri Aug 23, 2024 11:00 pm
Drastic.
Just look at any of the old threads, full of fans who once were super passionate about Valiant but at some point lost interest. If the comics are only being made for new fans, then I'd rather leave the fandom for the new fans and than to be a source of negativity.
You could try speaking directly to the people that make the comics and offer your feedback on what you'd like to see. They are active on the Facebook VALIANT Fans group.
Eh, I've been making the case to go in the direction of VH1 on this board since I started posting again in 2018. Obviously some people like the direction of continuing VEI and targeting a new, younger audience.

I've made the argument they should've thoroughly and objectively evaluated the VEI and VH1 eras to decide what really worked and what didn't work from each era, and come up with a plan that would incorporate the best of both. Try to win back and shore up the old fans that they already had then from there try to expand into newer audiences. But the time for a plan like that has probably passed.
As I've mentioned before, best bet is bringing back the tone and arcs from VH 1 applied to the VEI versions, such as Archer becoming a religious figure and the like.
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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by Ryan »

ManofTheAtom wrote: Sat Aug 24, 2024 5:16 pm As I've mentioned before, best bet is bringing back the tone and arcs from VH 1 applied to the VEI versions, such as Archer becoming a religious figure and the like.
That reminds me of another thing. One of the things the fans loved about VH1 was that it was unfolding in real time (1 year passes in the real world = 1 year passes in the characters lives). This guaranteed the characters would change and grow. Rai 0 reinforced that.

Had A&A continued, we were going to see the growth and maturation of Archer from an innocent, naive boy into a fully realized mature hero and leader.

In contrast, there's no growth in VEI characters. They can't stray far from their original concepts because the whole point of these comics is to get them into movies/streaming/etc.

For example, compare the covers from VEI's Archer & Armstrong #1 from 2012 and Alien's Archer & Armstrong Assassin Nation #1 from this month (Aug 2024), both written by the same writer:

Image

Image

12 years later and they haven't even changed clothes. Zero changes. Zero character growth. Characters stuck in a perpetual pitch for a TV show.

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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by ManofTheAtom »

Ryan wrote: Sun Aug 25, 2024 9:39 am
ManofTheAtom wrote: Sat Aug 24, 2024 5:16 pm As I've mentioned before, best bet is bringing back the tone and arcs from VH 1 applied to the VEI versions, such as Archer becoming a religious figure and the like.
That reminds me of another thing. One of the things the fans loved about VH1 was that it was unfolding in real time (1 year passes in the real world = 1 year passes in the characters lives). This guaranteed the characters would change and grow. Rai 0 reinforced that.

Had A&A continued, we were going to see the growth and maturation of Archer from an innocent, naive boy into a fully realized mature hero and leader.

In contrast, there's no growth in VEI characters. They can't stray far from their original concepts because the whole point of these comics is to get them into movies/streaming/etc.

For example, compare the covers from VEI's Archer & Armstrong #1 from 2012 and Alien's Archer & Armstrong Assassin Nation #1 from this month (Aug 2024), both written by the same writer:

Image

Image

12 years later and they haven't even changed clothes. Zero changes. Zero character growth. Characters stuck in a perpetual pitch for a TV show.
That is lamentable.
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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by TheFerg714 »

Ryan wrote: Sun Aug 25, 2024 9:39 am That reminds me of another thing. One of the things the fans loved about VH1 was that it was unfolding in real time (1 year passes in the real world = 1 year passes in the characters lives). This guaranteed the characters would change and grow. Rai 0 reinforced that.
Yea, that's cool. I still think continuity was handled fairly well during VEI, but it was just different. VEI preferred to allow their solo series space to breathe, without being subject to strict continuity rules. Even so, everything makes sense and doesn't contradict eachother. As much as I appreciate VH1's appproach, I don't think it's inherently better. I can see why one would prefer it though.
Had A&A continued, we were going to see the growth and maturation of Archer from an innocent, naive boy into a fully realized mature hero and leader.
Yea, but that's the thing... it didn't continue, so this hypothetical doesn't mean much. Pound for pound, I'd take VEI/DMG/Alien's 49 issues over VH1's measly 26 (13 of which being kind of sh!tty)
12 years later and they haven't even changed clothes. Zero changes. Zero character growth.
I mean that's just a superficial way of looking at it. Armstrong doesn't change much, because that's kind of his thing. He does become less of an @sshole over time though. Archer goes through big changes though. He used to be unsure about everything and now he's headstrong and not afraid to do what he thinks is right. He's now much more open to trying new things, he's completely turned on his parent's religion, he got in a relationship with Faith and recently dropped her after realizing that they're at different places in life. They've also swapped place by giving Archer immortality and Armstrong becoming mortal. Sure, it would be neat if Archer was an entirely different character from his appearance in A&A (2012) #1, but it's a little disingenuous to say that there have been zero changes.

On another note, of the series that I've read, it's not like VH1 characters went through big sweeping changes either. Solar, Magnus, and Turok, for the most part, look and act like they did when they were introduced. They "change" just as much as (for example) VEI X-O, Bloodshot, Harada, and Livewire, did over time.
Characters stuck in a perpetual pitch for a TV show.
Alien doesn't give a *SQUEE* about TV shows or movies dude.
Last edited by TheFerg714 on Sun Aug 25, 2024 3:55 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by TheFerg714 »

Image
Image
In contrast, there's no growth in VH1 characters. They can't stray far from their original concepts because the whole point of these comics is to get them into movies/streaming/etc.

Zero changes. Zero character growth. Characters stuck in a perpetual pitch for a TV show.

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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by Ryan »

TheFerg714 wrote: Sun Aug 25, 2024 3:42 pm Yea, that's cool. I still think continuity was handled fairly well during VEI, but it was just different. VEI preferred to allow their solo series space to breathe, without being subject to strict continuity rules. Even so, everything makes sense and doesn't contradict eachother. As much as I appreciate VH1's appproach, I don't think it's inherently better. I can see why one would prefer it though.
Whether it's considered inherently better or not might be a personal preference. My point is that for the dedicated fans that had gathered for Valiant in the 2000s, the tight continuity was always one of the things that people loved most about it. That's one of the reasons most people preferred the early years (of VH1).

I understand why a company like Marvel has switched to a 'continuity-lite' approach. There's just way too much history and way too much to keep track of. I'll never understand why the Valiant reboot chose this approach. :? Water under the bridge at this point, but its a big distinguishing factor between the 2 Valiant universes.
Yea, but that's the thing... it didn't continue, so this hypothetical doesn't mean much. Pound for pound, I'd take VEI/DMG/Alien's 49 issues over VH1's measly 26 (13 of which being kind of sh!tty)
Yeah, I'll grant you its a small sample size and the 'real-time' principles got looser and even non-existent in the later years of VH1. But it was in effect the first few years, and we saw how it can work. It's certainly a hypothetical to project that working over a longer period of time, but I'd argue that's what the hardcore fans wanted to see an attempt at.

I still prefer the BWS 12 issues over anything from VEI. But it might just be the style of humor. I love BWS' wry humor but I'm not into goofball or slapstick in comics.
I mean that's just a superficial way of looking at it. Armstrong doesn't change much, because that's kind of his thing. He does become less of an @sshole over time though. Archer goes through big changes though. He used to be unsure about everything and now he's headstrong and not afraid to do what he thinks is right. He's now much more open to trying new things, he's completely turned on his parent's religion, he got in a relationship with Faith and recently dropped her after realizing that they're at different places in life. They've also swapped place by giving Archer immortality and Armstrong becoming mortal. Sure, it would be neat if Archer was an entirely different character from his appearance in A&A (2012) #1, but it's a little disingenuous to say that there have been zero changes.
That's fair, I don't think I read past issue 4 of the 2012 series, so my view is more superficial. It still proves they have a much more Marvel/DC approach that 14 years later Archer looks exactly the same cosmetically, younger even. I get it with Armstrong.
On another note, of the series that I've read, it's not like VH1 characters went through big sweeping changes either. Solar, Magnus, and Turok, for the most part, look and act like they did when they were introduced. They "change" just as much as (for example) VEI X-O, Bloodshot, Harada, and Livewire, did over time.
You can't have read all of Magnus then. He's in his 40s, with a son, and president of North Am in the later issues. I get what you're saying though, in general the 'real-time' changes are less emphasized after the first few years. Some of the VH1 characters do change a lot towards the end, but that's less due to real-time aging than writers grasping for any new direction that will lead to a bump in sales.
Alien doesn't give a *SQUEE* about TV shows or movies dude.
C'mon man. You think people are investing millions (10s of millions?) of dollars into these characters just to sell 4,000 copies in the comic book market? I don't buy it.

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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by Ryan »

TheFerg714 wrote: Sun Aug 25, 2024 3:50 pm Image
Image
In contrast, there's no growth in VH1 characters. They can't stray far from their original concepts because the whole point of these comics is to get them into movies/streaming/etc.

Zero changes. Zero character growth. Characters stuck in a perpetual pitch for a TV show.
Dang, seeing the elegant BWS Solar right next to that Grindberg monstrosity brings up one feeling...

Image

Even though no one is saying (or has ever said) that Birthquake-era VH1 is a good example for anything (except what not to do), that comparison is still a reach. Solar is an energy being who doesn't age, and those 2 comics are only 4 years apart. Even a normal human might not have changed much in that time.

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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by TheFerg714 »

Ryan wrote: Sun Aug 25, 2024 11:02 pm I understand why a company like Marvel has switched to a 'continuity-lite' approach. There's just way too much history and way too much to keep track of. I'll never understand why the Valiant reboot chose this approach. :? Water under the bridge at this point, but its a big distinguishing factor between the 2 Valiant universes.
There I was about to agree with you, but then you equated Valiant to Marvel's "continuity-lite" approach. I agree with the overall point that VH1 was special in that it cared very much about tight, strict continuity guidelines, and VEI tended to be more lax about it. That said, VEI handled continuity WAY better than Marvel. VEI didn't have the same character appearing in 3 different books without explanation, or constant events that interrupt every ongoing series. VEI cared about everything fitting together and making sense chronologically, which is more than can be said for Marvel.
Yeah, I'll grant you its a small sample size and the 'real-time' principles got looser and even non-existent in the later years of VH1. But it was in effect the first few years, and we saw how it can work. It's certainly a hypothetical to project that working over a longer period of time, but I'd argue that's what the hardcore fans wanted to see an attempt at.
I'd argue that 6 sustained years of great books with tight continuity (not as tight as VH1; tight compared to every other shared universe) is preferred to "a few years" of the tightest continuity possible. Of course this comes back to personal preference, but let's be real, I've heard from oldhead fans that it starts going off the rails pretty quickly after Shooter left.
That's fair, I don't think I read past issue 4 of the 2012 series, so my view is more superficial. It still proves they have a much more Marvel/DC approach that 14 years later Archer looks exactly the same cosmetically, younger even. I get it with Armstrong.
It's not the 90's anymore man. It's not feasible to have a dozen ongoing series running at the same time. VEI only published 4-8 comics per month (which is an undeniably good number for a small shared universe), so it wasn't possible to continue every series infinitely. Due to this paradigm, A&A took several breaks between series, so if you had it your way, A&A would have had to have aged and developed, for the most part, off-screen. Considering that they've only had ~50 issues total to work with (actually less, excluding the #0's and specials), it makes sense that they wouldn't have aged too much.
You can't have read all of Magnus then. He's in his 40s, with a son, and president of North Am in the later issues. I get what you're saying though, in general the 'real-time' changes are less emphasized after the first few years. Some of the VH1 characters do change a lot towards the end, but that's less due to real-time aging than writers grasping for any new direction that will lead to a bump in sales.
That's right, and the same goes for Magnus. I did stop just before the time-skip, but I think it's kind of telling that the only big changes that you were able to bring up came from a contrived time-skip.
C'mon man. You think people are investing millions (10s of millions?) of dollars into these characters just to sell 4,000 copies in the comic book market? I don't buy it.
You seem to continually act like DMG and Alien are the same company, when they're demonstrably not.

Alien is a COMIC BOOK PUBLISHER, with a long(ish) history of comic book publishing. They don't care about shows or movies or any sort of adaptations. They care about comics and manga (and they're actually trying to dip their toes into novels soon too).

When you say "people are investing millions," you're talking about the parent company, DMG. Of course DMG only cares about the (potential) big money in movies and shows, but they have given up on the comics division entirely and licensed it out to a whole other publisher that has free reign to do whatever they want with little to no oversight.

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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by ManofTheAtom »

TheFerg714 wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 12:01 pm You seem to continually act like DMG and Alien are the same company, when they're demonstrably not.

Alien is a COMIC BOOK PUBLISHER, with a long(ish) history of comic book publishing. They don't care about shows or movies or any sort of adaptations. They care about comics and manga (and they're actually trying to dip their toes into novels soon too).

When you say "people are investing millions," you're talking about the parent company, DMG. Of course DMG only cares about the (potential) big money in movies and shows, but they have given up on the comics division entirely and licensed it out to a whole other publisher that has free reign to do whatever they want with little to no oversight.
Image
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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by Ryan »

TheFerg714 wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 12:01 pm I'd argue that 6 sustained years of great books with tight continuity (not as tight as VH1; tight compared to every other shared universe) is preferred to "a few years" of the tightest continuity possible. Of course this comes back to personal preference, but let's be real, I've heard from oldhead fans that it starts going off the rails pretty quickly after Shooter left.
We don't need to go tit for tat in circles endlessly, I get it you're a VEI fan who thinks they're the best comics ever made and I'm a long-time VH1 fan who could never get into VEI despite trying them many times. I'm not trying to convince you not to like what you like, I'm just sharing my opinion and trying to figure out why the Valiant fandom has basically disappeared.

Pretty much everyone on here pre-VEI all agreed that the VH1 comics fell off at some point, and that they were mostly bad by the end. At what exact point they got bad was always a matter of debate and preference.

Nobody thought 'All of VH1 are equally great comics", it was more like "When VH1 was at its best, they were some of the best comics ever, we want more comics like the peak VH1 comics".
You seem to continually act like DMG and Alien are the same company, when they're demonstrably not.

Alien is a COMIC BOOK PUBLISHER, with a long(ish) history of comic book publishing. They don't care about shows or movies or any sort of adaptations. They care about comics and manga (and they're actually trying to dip their toes into novels soon too).

When you say "people are investing millions," you're talking about the parent company, DMG. Of course DMG only cares about the (potential) big money in movies and shows, but they have given up on the comics division entirely and licensed it out to a whole other publisher that has free reign to do whatever they want with little to no oversight.
Alien has a long history of comic book publishing? No one had heard of them before they started to publish Valiant. They had done a handful of indie books that had made zero impact on the N. American market. If my facts are wrong on that, please correct me and show me all the big comics they've published in their long history.

I understand fully that they are a separate comic book publishing company. But I'm not business naive enough to think DMG has no interest into how the characters are handled. Do you think Alien and Valiant are completely self-sustaining by publishing comic books, or do you think they run at a loss?

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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by Ryan »

ManofTheAtom wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 3:49 pm
TheFerg714 wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 12:01 pm You seem to continually act like DMG and Alien are the same company, when they're demonstrably not.

Alien is a COMIC BOOK PUBLISHER, with a long(ish) history of comic book publishing. They don't care about shows or movies or any sort of adaptations. They care about comics and manga (and they're actually trying to dip their toes into novels soon too).

When you say "people are investing millions," you're talking about the parent company, DMG. Of course DMG only cares about the (potential) big money in movies and shows, but they have given up on the comics division entirely and licensed it out to a whole other publisher that has free reign to do whatever they want with little to no oversight.
Image
Ok, so in your version, Alien was this super successful, long-time comics publisher who decided on their own to license the Valiant characters because they liked them so much. And DMG was going to get out of publishing, but Alien convinced them to just license their characters. DMG has no involvement with Alien, they don't pay the bills or sign the checks. There are no meetings, no Zooms, no oversight or suggestions whatsover from DMG. Alien is completely independent and self-sufficient in their publishing business.

Do I have you and Ferg's version right?

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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by ManofTheAtom »

Ryan wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 4:58 pm
ManofTheAtom wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 3:49 pm
TheFerg714 wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 12:01 pm You seem to continually act like DMG and Alien are the same company, when they're demonstrably not.

Alien is a COMIC BOOK PUBLISHER, with a long(ish) history of comic book publishing. They don't care about shows or movies or any sort of adaptations. They care about comics and manga (and they're actually trying to dip their toes into novels soon too).

When you say "people are investing millions," you're talking about the parent company, DMG. Of course DMG only cares about the (potential) big money in movies and shows, but they have given up on the comics division entirely and licensed it out to a whole other publisher that has free reign to do whatever they want with little to no oversight.
Image
Ok, so in your version, Alien was this super successful, long-time comics publisher who decided on their own to license the Valiant characters because they liked them so much. And DMG was going to get out of publishing, but Alien convinced them to just license their characters. DMG has no involvement with Alien, they don't pay the bills or sign the checks. There are no meetings, no Zooms, no oversight or suggestions whatsover from DMG. Alien is completely independent and self-sufficient in their publishing business.

Do I have you and Ferg's version right?
I don't know if Alien was super successful or how long they were in comics. I do know they licensed the characters from DMG the same way Voyager licensed Solar, Magnus, and Turok from whoever owned them in the '90s and Dark Horse and Dynamite licensed them from Random House, or how IDW licenses Star Trek from Paramount.

You accept that Voyager, Acclaim, Dark Horse, and Dynamite could do whatever they wanted with the Gold Key three, why can't you accept that the same is true of Alien and VALIANT?
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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by Ryan »

ManofTheAtom wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 5:07 pm I don't know if Alien was super successful or how long they were in comics. I do know they licensed the characters from DMG the same way Voyager licensed Solar, Magnus, and Turok from whoever owned them in the '90s and Dark Horse and Dynamite licensed them from Random House, or how IDW licenses Star Trek from Paramount.

You accept that Voyager, Acclaim, Dark Horse, and Dynamite could do whatever they wanted with the Gold Key three, why can't you accept that the same is true of Alien and VALIANT?
One major reason, did Western Publishing (aka Gold Key) fund Voyager/Acclaim/DH/Dynamite in any way? No, all those companies were self-sufficient publishers before they licensed the GK characters. So that's why the important question is, does DMG fund Alien or are they a fully self-sufficent publisher? (Meaning the comics they publish bring back enough profit to pay all the expenses of producing the comics).

Since no one here knows their exact business situation, feel free to believe your version. I'm just giving you my opinion using my own logic, I never claimed to know anything beyond that.

Not sure why my business speculation bothers you all so much. At the end of the day, the comics are the comics and the business side is tangential. And they've put out plenty of comics that can be assessed on their own merits.

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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by ManofTheAtom »

Ryan wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 5:20 pm
ManofTheAtom wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 5:07 pm I don't know if Alien was super successful or how long they were in comics. I do know they licensed the characters from DMG the same way Voyager licensed Solar, Magnus, and Turok from whoever owned them in the '90s and Dark Horse and Dynamite licensed them from Random House, or how IDW licenses Star Trek from Paramount.

You accept that Voyager, Acclaim, Dark Horse, and Dynamite could do whatever they wanted with the Gold Key three, why can't you accept that the same is true of Alien and VALIANT?
One major reason, did Western Publishing (aka Gold Key) fund Voyager/Acclaim/DH/Dynamite in any way? No, all those companies were self-sufficient publishers before they licensed the GK characters. So that's why the important question is, does DMG fund Alien or are they a fully self-sufficent publisher? (Meaning the comics they publish bring back enough profit to pay all the expenses of producing the comics).

Since no one here knows their exact business situation, feel free to believe your version. I'm just giving you my opinion using my own logic, I never claimed to know anything beyond that.

Not sure why my business speculation bothers you all so much. At the end of the day, the comics are the comics and the business side is tangential. And they've put out plenty of comics that can be assessed on their own merits.
There is nothing that suggests that DMG finances Alien.
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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by ManofTheAtom »

Ryan wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 5:20 pm One major reason, did Western Publishing (aka Gold Key) fund Voyager/Acclaim/DH/Dynamite in any way? No, all those companies were self-sufficient publishers before they licensed the GK characters. So that's why the important question is, does DMG fund Alien or are they a fully self-sufficent publisher? (Meaning the comics they publish bring back enough profit to pay all the expenses of producing the comics).

Since no one here knows their exact business situation, feel free to believe your version. I'm just giving you my opinion using my own logic, I never claimed to know anything beyond that.

Not sure why my business speculation bothers you all so much. At the end of the day, the comics are the comics and the business side is tangential. And they've put out plenty of comics that can be assessed on their own merits.
Alien Books has over 25 years of experience publishing in the United States and abroad, and their collection includes works from many countries. Some of their titles include Sunshine Patriots! by Howard Chaykin, Blood, Love, Ghosts and a Deadly Spell by Damian Connelly, and Far South by Rodolfo Santullo and Leandro Fernandez.
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT AND ALIEN BOOKS PARTNER TO EXPAND PUBLISHING PLAN FOR THE VALIANT UNIVERSE
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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by Ryan »

ManofTheAtom wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 5:32 pm There is nothing that suggests that DMG finances Alien.
Cool, so I had your version right.
Ok, so in your version, Alien was this super successful, long-time comics publisher who decided on their own to license the Valiant characters because they liked them so much. And DMG was going to get out of publishing, but Alien convinced them to just license their characters. DMG has no involvement with Alien, they don't pay the bills or sign the checks. There are no meetings, no Zooms, no oversight or suggestions whatsover from DMG. Alien is completely independent and self-sufficient in their publishing business.
I don't agree, but it's only my opinion. Feel free to keep having your opinion, and I'll keep having mine.

Either version being true or false doesn't make the comics any better or worse.

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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by ManofTheAtom »

Ryan wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 6:56 pm
ManofTheAtom wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 5:32 pm There is nothing that suggests that DMG finances Alien.
Cool, so I had your version right.
Ok, so in your version, Alien was this super successful, long-time comics publisher who decided on their own to license the Valiant characters because they liked them so much. And DMG was going to get out of publishing, but Alien convinced them to just license their characters. DMG has no involvement with Alien, they don't pay the bills or sign the checks. There are no meetings, no Zooms, no oversight or suggestions whatsover from DMG. Alien is completely independent and self-sufficient in their publishing business.
I don't agree, but it's only my opinion. Feel free to keep having your opinion, and I'll keep having mine.

Either version being true or false doesn't make the comics any better or worse.
The thing is, Ryan, that the only reason you have to believe that DMG has its fingers on Alien's VALIANT comics is because Alien hired Hawkins as an editor. That is not evidence that DMG finances Alien or has a say in what they do with the license they acquired from them.

Marvel Studios has no say on what Sony does with the Spider-Man license they acquired from Marvel Entertainment. Nor does Marvel Entertainment/Disney.
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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by TheFerg714 »

Perhaps "long" wasn't the right word, because I really don't know how long they've been operating, but Alien is basically the English-language branch of an Argentinian comic publisher.
While Director Matias Timarchi is a relative newcomer to the American comics scene, he has over 25 years’ experience publishing comics in Spanish as the owner of two comics publishers, Ovni in his native Argentina and Moztros in Spain. Those publishers hold the licenses for The Walking Dead, Sin City, and Hellboy, Marvel and DC comics, and, yes, Valiant.
Technically everything has to be finally "approved" by DMG, but several Alien employees have been open about the fact that they have the luxury of doing essentially whatever they want with the license.
We were publishing Valiant in Spain, and in Latin America in digital, for 12 years. So the people from Valiant came to me and “Do you want to take over? We know your work, we know what you're doing. We can do this together and you can take over the publishing line, bring your ideas.” We started talking, they liked all the things I proposed, and that's how it happened.
They own the IP, so they have to approve all the books, all the storylines, whatever we want to do, but we are in charge of the publishing, so we have to cover all the expenses, pay the artists, printing, everything.
https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/556 ... lien-books

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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by Ryan »

ManofTheAtom wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 10:43 pm The thing is, Ryan, that the only reason you have to believe that DMG has its fingers on Alien's VALIANT comics is because Alien hired Hawkins as an editor. That is not evidence that DMG finances Alien or has a say in what they do with the license they acquired from them.
I clearly understand your viewpoint on this. I just have a different opinion. Accept it or not, it's not going to change my opinion.

So, out of all the options in the world, it's just a coincidence that Alien hired the DMG Senior Editor for its Editor-in-Chief? Or was it that DMG Valiant had such a great run of Valiant comics? Obviously Alien thought DMG Valiant was great, or why would they hire their Senior Editor to run its comic book company?

That's really just inside baseball stuff anyway, I don't know why you guys are so hung up on it. I'm talking about the comics.

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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by Ryan »

TheFerg714 wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 12:18 am Perhaps "long" wasn't the right word, because I really don't know how long they've been operating, but Alien is basically the English-language branch of an Argentinian comic publisher.
While Director Matias Timarchi is a relative newcomer to the American comics scene, he has over 25 years’ experience publishing comics in Spanish as the owner of two comics publishers, Ovni in his native Argentina and Moztros in Spain. Those publishers hold the licenses for The Walking Dead, Sin City, and Hellboy, Marvel and DC comics, and, yes, Valiant.
Technically everything has to be finally "approved" by DMG, but several Alien employees have been open about the fact that they have the luxury of doing essentially whatever they want with the license.
We were publishing Valiant in Spain, and in Latin America in digital, for 12 years. So the people from Valiant came to me and “Do you want to take over? We know your work, we know what you're doing. We can do this together and you can take over the publishing line, bring your ideas.” We started talking, they liked all the things I proposed, and that's how it happened.
They own the IP, so they have to approve all the books, all the storylines, whatever we want to do, but we are in charge of the publishing, so we have to cover all the expenses, pay the artists, printing, everything.
https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/556 ... lien-books
Cool info. I wonder what made them take them leap into licensing Valiant and publishing monthly in the N. American market? They must have really loved the DMG Valiant stuff.

I'll give Resurgence a go, but what I've read so far doesn't inspire me with confidence that I'm going to enjoy it. :?

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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by ManofTheAtom »

Ryan wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 9:36 am
ManofTheAtom wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 10:43 pm The thing is, Ryan, that the only reason you have to believe that DMG has its fingers on Alien's VALIANT comics is because Alien hired Hawkins as an editor. That is not evidence that DMG finances Alien or has a say in what they do with the license they acquired from them.
I clearly understand your viewpoint on this. I just have a different opinion. Accept it or not, it's not going to change my opinion.

So, out of all the options in the world, it's just a coincidence that Alien hired the DMG Senior Editor for its Editor-in-Chief? Or was it that DMG Valiant had such a great run of Valiant comics? Obviously Alien thought DMG Valiant was great, or why would they hire their Senior Editor to run its comic book company?

That's really just inside baseball stuff anyway, I don't know why you guys are so hung up on it. I'm talking about the comics.
I don't know why they decided to continue with Hawkins, but that they did does not mean that DMG finances Alien or that they are the same company.

Just because Broadway Video retained the same staff from Defiant when they launched Broadway Comics it did not mean that those were the same company.
:atomic: Comics are like a Rorschach test, everyone has a different opinion on what they are and can be... :atomic:

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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by Ryan »

ManofTheAtom wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 9:42 am
Ryan wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 9:36 am
ManofTheAtom wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 10:43 pm The thing is, Ryan, that the only reason you have to believe that DMG has its fingers on Alien's VALIANT comics is because Alien hired Hawkins as an editor. That is not evidence that DMG finances Alien or has a say in what they do with the license they acquired from them.
I clearly understand your viewpoint on this. I just have a different opinion. Accept it or not, it's not going to change my opinion.

So, out of all the options in the world, it's just a coincidence that Alien hired the DMG Senior Editor for its Editor-in-Chief? Or was it that DMG Valiant had such a great run of Valiant comics? Obviously Alien thought DMG Valiant was great, or why would they hire their Senior Editor to run its comic book company?

That's really just inside baseball stuff anyway, I don't know why you guys are so hung up on it. I'm talking about the comics.
I don't know why they decided to continue with Hawkins, but that they did does not mean that DMG finances Alien or that they are the same company.

Just because Broadway Video retained the same staff from Defiant when they launched Broadway Comics it did not mean that those were the same company.
Ok then they just loved DMG Valiant. Nothing wrong with that. It explains why the comics are DMG-like.
Last edited by Ryan on Tue Aug 27, 2024 9:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by ManofTheAtom »

Ryan wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 9:44 am
ManofTheAtom wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 9:42 am
Ryan wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 9:36 am
ManofTheAtom wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 10:43 pm The thing is, Ryan, that the only reason you have to believe that DMG has its fingers on Alien's VALIANT comics is because Alien hired Hawkins as an editor. That is not evidence that DMG finances Alien or has a say in what they do with the license they acquired from them.
I clearly understand your viewpoint on this. I just have a different opinion. Accept it or not, it's not going to change my opinion.

So, out of all the options in the world, it's just a coincidence that Alien hired the DMG Senior Editor for its Editor-in-Chief? Or was it that DMG Valiant had such a great run of Valiant comics? Obviously Alien thought DMG Valiant was great, or why would they hire their Senior Editor to run its comic book company?

That's really just inside baseball stuff anyway, I don't know why you guys are so hung up on it. I'm talking about the comics.
I don't know why they decided to continue with Hawkins, but that they did does not mean that DMG finances Alien or that they are the same company.

Just because Broadway Video retained the same staff from Defiant when they launched Broadway Comics it did not mean that those were the same company.
Ok then they loved DMG Valiant. Nothing wrong with that. It just explains why the comics are DMG-like.
They're "DMG-lite" because they're creatively overseen by the same person, sure.
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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by Ryan »

ManofTheAtom wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 9:45 am They're "DMG-lite" because they're creatively overseen by the same person, sure.
Exactly all I've been saying the whole time. I speculated on the business arrangement, using my own logic to explain the circumstance. Feel free to not believe my personal business speculation.

Because the only other logical explanation is that they just loved DMG Valiant and thought that they needed to take their all-new Valiant in that direction. Fair enough, it's their decision. But I have no interest in the DMG Valiant books or any books like those. :?

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Re: Fred Van Lente and AJ Ampadu are co-writing Resurgence of the Valiant Universe, Ask Them Anything!

Post by ManofTheAtom »

Ryan wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 9:47 am
ManofTheAtom wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 9:45 am They're "DMG-lite" because they're creatively overseen by the same person, sure.
Exactly all I've been saying the whole time. I speculated on the business arrangement, using my own logic to explain the circumstance. Feel free to not believe my personal business speculation.

Because the only other logical explanation is that they just loved DMG Valiant and thought that they needed to take their all-new Valiant in that direction. Fair enough, it's their decision. But I have no interest in the DMG Valiant books or any books like those. :?
It's not a matter of believe or not believe, it's a matter than it just isn't so.

Like I've said, the only reason you had to posit that belief was Alien hiring Hawkins, but that is not proof of DMG and Alien being the same company.

Had they hired someone else, you wouldn't have put it forward as a valid argument.
:atomic: Comics are like a Rorschach test, everyone has a different opinion on what they are and can be... :atomic:


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