Harbinger more important that Solar or Magnus?

[muzzsucker]

I was catching up on some Valiant Tangent goodness and this stuck out at me:

Harbinger is what I would consider to be a true Valiant book. What do I mean by that? Well, it's hard to describe, but it has to do with the general feeling you get when reading it, and the experience you have when it's done. Is it the brilliant characterization? Sure, that's definitely part of it. Is it the tight continuity with other Valiant titles? Absolutely. Is it the captivating storytelling? You're damn right it is. But it's more than that. It's also the intangibles and the indescribable. Harbinger epitomizes what it means to be a Valiant comic book, and it's not something that is easily identifiable. You'll know it and understand it when you see it, and you'll be aware of its absence when it's not present. This title is so firmly entrenched and imbedded into the fabric of the Valiant Universe ...
these kids are just as (and in some cases more) important to the foundations of the Valiant Universe as Solar and Magnus.

DISCUSS

[MedicAR]

More important? I've got to say no. I probably would never have picked it up without Magnus and Solar already getting my attention. I picked up the other two out of curiosity and was instantly hooked. So when that publisher put out another book, I picked it up. Had Harby been the first effort, I most likely would have overlooked it.

More VALIANT? Most definitely. When I think of VALIANT, I think of Harbinger, Magnus, and Solar in that order. Harby represents all that was good and original about VALIANT, but I think it needed the other two titles to get a foot hold.

[acc205]

More important? I've got to say no. I probably would never have picked it up without Magnus and Solar already getting my attention. I picked up the other two out of curiosity and was instantly hooked. So when that publisher put out another book, I picked it up. Had Harby been the first effort, I most likely would have overlooked it.

More VALIANT? Most definitely. When I think of VALIANT, I think of Harbinger, Magnus, and Solar in that order. Harby represents all that was good and original about VALIANT, but I think it needed the other two titles to get a foot hold.

i agree but does harbinger have more of an effect on the valiant universe than solar or magnus? solar, no. magnus, yes. without kris and torque we wouldn't have magnus. without harbinger we lose the second most important threat in the valiant universe (solar has the most important with mothergod).

[wrunow]

I don't look at Harbinger as being a cornerstone of the valiant universe as much as it was "Shooter's book". All that was good about Harbinger came about because of his writing (and some good Lapham art) pretty much,and the title went down hill pretty quick after Unity and the change in writing.

I was never let down by a comic as much as I was by Harby 25 after the huge buildup and wait for the Sting/Harada showdown. To this day I feel if Shooter was allowed to continue his run we would consider Harby 1-25 as one of the classic runs in comic history, not the pre unity 1-7.

[Elveen]

What I loved about early Harby, especially gettin it off the shelf in my young college days..... was what it was about, young kids having a bunch of probs. (of course they were not quite normal kids and all)

It just seemed like a "real" story (if fat flying girls, Sven and the boys, space ships, and a half robot-half man living on a moon base can be considered "real")

I don't know if it is better or more important or whatever, but I considered it the book that the others should have or could have rotated around. It featured the two Omega Harbies, an older Asian dude and a "confused" young dude that was forcing his chick to..... well you know.


Listen if you were a young dude with Omega powers, you know you would have..... um ... influenced and few girls.

[magnusr]

I don't look at Harbinger as being a cornerstone of the VALIANT universe as much as it was "Shooter's book".

I have a similar feeling. It's not so much the book that defines the corner-stones as the book that shows us how the foundation is laid out.

/Magnus

[cjv]

I think it depends what you mean by more important.

Solar defintely was more important in the sense Solar CREATED the Valiant universe, he was the most powerful character, and he was, for all intents and purposes, the "God" of the Valiant universe.

Pretty important.

But within the context of Valiant stories, I think you could make a good argument for Harbinger being more important.

Look at what the Harbinger book gave us.

The major villain, who played a role in EVERY Valiant characters life.

The primary "hero" character, whose impact was felt in the present and the future, to the point where he appeared in the present as a dual character.

It allowed for "normal" people to gain powers - you no longer had to be a nuclear scientist or something, everyone might be a superhero.

And the Harbinger Foundation/Sting conflict was something that would play out in the present and future as well.

I don't know if I would say it was the most important, but I could see an argument for it being at least second (more important that Magnus, at least).

And none of that address "importance" in the sense of getting people to read Valiant, getting people to see it on the shelves, etc.


Chris

[Daniel Jackson]

Harby was very well written and conceived and it was original to the Valiant Universe. In that respect I suppose I could see where someone could consider it more important. For me personally, Solar had the most important role followed closely by Magnus.

[cobra_commander]

For me Magnus was the run that really opened my eyes to what VALIANT was doing and how it was different.

Solar was what really sucked me in and got me addicted. So for me Solar was the most important too.

Harby is great but why is it more important? All the VALIANT books (pre-unity) are well written have tight continuity and have that "intangible" quality.

By the time I got to Harby it was to be honest "just another great VALIANT book". And nothing about having Harby around made me feel like "wow, now the VALIANT U has changed, now this is something different (to the rest of the VALIANT books that they were putting out)"

So since Magnus and Solar came out first and set the foundation for the Universe and continuity as well as showcasing what great art style and stories VALIANT have...they are more important for me.

What makes Harby more important? That article didn't really explain sh!t

I just did a fart thats really important to the VALIANT U...I can't exaplin why..its just got this intangible quality

[stephenpakula]

Hey everybody...thanks for reading the VALIANT Tangent columns! I hope you guys like them, and I think it's really cool that they spark any sort of disscusions and debates at all.

We're hard at work on the next batch, and they'll be posted on a more regular basis (the day job was getting in the way for a little while there, but things are cool now). There's some interesting stuff in store and I hope you guys keep reading.

By the way, is there anything in particular you would like to see in future columns? I'd love to get your feedback.

Okay, sorry for the plug...keep up the debate!

Take care,

Stephen

[Dr. Solar]

I can't believe we are debating this.

It is CLEAR that Solar Man of the Atom is the best, most important book published by Valiant.

Now that this has been settled we can derail this thread.
...

I see what people mean about Harbingers importance. I think that within the Valiant Universe, it's importance is questionable. Yeah, it's important that Harbingers exist, but those kids in particular, perhaps, perhaps not.

I think that from a publishing and storytelling standpoint, I agree Harbinger is the most important book. It sets the tone for the Valiant U in general, and gives a really broad view of what is important in Valiant Comics.

[muzzsucker]

Hey everybody...thanks for reading the VALIANT Tangent columns! I hope you guys like them, and I think it's really cool that they spark any sort of disscusions and debates at all.

We're hard at work on the next batch, and they'll be posted on a more regular basis (the day job was getting in the way for a little while there, but things are cool now). There's some interesting stuff in store and I hope you guys keep reading.

By the way, is there anything in particular you would like to see in future columns? I'd love to get your feedback.

Okay, sorry for the plug...keep up the debate!

Take care,

Stephen

How about jumping into the debate?

Love the articles, would like to seem the more regularly

[jsbt]

When I think of Valiant I think first of Harbinger. It's the book that got me into the VU all those years ago. Solar and Magnus are absolutely essential IMHO, yes, but Harbinger is too, and I think it would be one of, if not the most immediately marketable and promising properties were the VU to return.

[stephenpakula]

Love the articles, would like to seem the more regularly

Thanks! You'll definitely be seeing them on a much more regular basis. Lots of cool things in store for the column in the next few months. Keep your eyes peeled.

I really enjoy reading what you guys think about not only this, but any VALIANT topic. You guys really know your stuff.

By the way, Solar is cool, but Sting is my favorite character. And without either of them would there even be a Magnus (as we got to know him at the start of VALIANT)?

[Geomancer]

I was catching up on some VALIANT Tangent goodness and this stuck out at me:

Harbinger is what I would consider to be a true VALIANT book. What do I mean by that? Well, it's hard to describe, but it has to do with the general feeling you get when reading it, and the experience you have when it's done. Is it the brilliant characterization? Sure, that's definitely part of it. Is it the tight continuity with other VALIANT titles? Absolutely. Is it the captivating storytelling? You're damn right it is. But it's more than that. It's also the intangibles and the indescribable. Harbinger epitomizes what it means to be a VALIANT comic book, and it's not something that is easily identifiable. You'll know it and understand it when you see it, and you'll be aware of its absence when it's not present. This title is so firmly entrenched and imbedded into the fabric of the VALIANT Universe ...
these kids are just as (and in some cases more) important to the foundations of the VALIANT Universe as Solar and Magnus.

DISCUSS

It would seem that Valiant Enterprises agrees (or just can't publish or re-publish Magnus or Solar -- at least right now )