VALIANT SOLD

[StarBrand]

Late last night Dinesh tweeted:

"Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory." - Jim Shooter, 1992

Didn't know it was related to the sale at the time, but it sounded foreboding. In retrospect, it would appear Dino was not thrilled with this move, just as Shooter was not thrilled with the Acclaim sale. VEI was Dino's baby, and I'm sure he will do everything in his power to keep things going as he "transitions" out of his position, but the VALIANT we have known for 6 years is surely going to change.

Wow. Thanks for posting that.

[grendeljd]

Wow. This is unreal.

It's like someone came along and promised they're going to give you a bigger, heaping bowl full of your favourite sugary cereal than you've ever had before in your life - but then when you take a bite of it, you discover they poured sour milk in it (and maybe peed in it too).

Ruined.

In Dinesh, we had our modern day equivalent of a Stan Lee and/or Jim Shooter personality that was a larger than life spokesman behind our favourite fictional universe. Seems like a seriously big mistake to just throw that away. This will take some time to digest, I can't really see a positive silver lining here.

[Captain Craig]

I'm happy that Dinesh and his investors will profit from their risky endeavor of bringing Valiant back to us.
I'm curious if they had to sell though and why? Couldn't they just have said thank but no thanks to Mintz and his offer?

[valiantdude]

Also, its like how do you quote shooter, when you made him hide in a bathroom, were pretty unprofessional with him,
and then you quote him?
So weird, but probably a bummer for him, feel bad for him..
However, had you not burned Shooter back then, you might be still running stuff now, because there were a lot of old schoolers that would have been on board and kept buying if some of the old crew was making books, and hadnt been alienated..
I stopped buying in 2014, and just checked out trades from my library, and felt more vindicated when I found out about the shooter story, and other old creators issues with VEI (ie. If they dont support this, im not going to)... There was at the beginning and still is unprecedented fan support (way more in 2012) but they didnt do much to expand the fanbase.. Just made comics for comic fans, which isnt going to take you to the next level these days..

[lorddunlow]

From my perspective, as a longtime Valiant fan, this opens the door for the books to be how they originally should have been, there were too many holes too many editorial snafus, too many reboots, and generally not very intellectual, just same old same old... so hopefully when they do the universe relaunch in about 6 to 12 months, they can bring shooter back on, and David Lapham and some of the old school guys and really step up the quality of Storytelling in addition to the modernization of the comic book itself... they missed the boat on what made the original Valiant great and stick out and it was the depth of Storytelling the tight continuity, and so many other things that were neglected in this new startup

Dude, you are crazy if you think this will happen. DMG just sees Valiant as an IP farm to sell rights for money. Just look at their website - they list Valiant under "IP" on the site, along with Brandon Sanderson books and some caricaturized Marilyn Monroe character...

They don't give a *SQUEE* about the publishing arm.

They think they can cash in on Valiant IP like Disney did with Marvel and WB (questionably) does with DC. Problem is DC and Marvel have been household names for decades while no one knows any of the Valiant characters outside of handful of fans, some of whom have lots of resentment toward the whole universe due to the 90s.

I imagine the whole thing going belly up within 5 years or so unless one of the movies or TV shows really takes off.

[valiantdude]

I'm happy that Dinesh and his investors will profit from their risky endeavor of bringing Valiant back to us.
I'm curious if they had to sell though and why? Couldn't they just have said thank but no thanks to Mintz and his offer?

It might be because he already had 57% of the company...i mean DMG pretty much owned it anyway

[ShadowTuga]

Ok, man, this is harsh. Not the sale, but Dino out. He's Valiant to me, I started reading these comics because of his interviews early before the relaunch, I was a fan of having a fan running the company. It sounded he wanted to give us the best written shared universe in superhero comics. His passion and kindness (although I only interacted wityh the gent via written word) made me stick with the company even when the output wasn't as strong as it had been. "He" sent me a bunch of goodies in 2013, did not have to at all, that kind of CEO.

I would follow him if he wanted to ressurect another universe, I was never more of a VEI fan than at the very beginning, until the 1st year or so when he clearly called the shots, along with Warren Simons.

Good luck in future endeavours and Thank You for everything awesome that we had in these last years.

[valiantdude]

From my perspective, as a longtime Valiant fan, this opens the door for the books to be how they originally should have been, there were too many holes too many editorial snafus, too many reboots, and generally not very intellectual, just same old same old... so hopefully when they do the universe relaunch in about 6 to 12 months, they can bring shooter back on, and David Lapham and some of the old school guys and really step up the quality of Storytelling in addition to the modernization of the comic book itself... they missed the boat on what made the original Valiant great and stick out and it was the depth of Storytelling the tight continuity, and so many other things that were neglected in this new startup

Dude, you are crazy if you think this will happen. DMG just sees Valiant as an IP farm to sell rights for money. Just look at their website - they list Valiant under "IP" on the site, along with Brandon Sanderson books and some caricaturized Marilyn Monroe character...

They don't give a *SQUEE* about the publishing arm.

They think they can cash in on Valiant IP like Disney did with Marvel and WB (questionably) does with DC. Problem is DC and Marvel have been household names for decades while no one knows any of the Valiant characters outside of handful of fans, some of whom have lots of resentment toward the whole universe due to the 90s.

I imagine the whole thing going belly up within 5 years or so unless one of the movies or TV shows really takes off.

Yeah you are probably right, but hey at least the POTENTIAL is there now
There was no potential before today

[betterthanezra]

Dinesh was forced out. Not asked to leave

-Brian

[valiantdude]

Dinesh was forced out. Not asked to leave

-Brian

Wow..hence the consultant role being a joke.. to keep you all from revolting..

If anything this leaves the door open for Shooter to come back at the very least..somewhere he is laughing, or getting an offer!

Someone shoot shooter an email.. WE WANT HIM BACK NOW!!

[greg]

No comment from Greg yet. He must be assessing.

There's not much that can be said. Valiant without Dinesh is an totally unknown scenario.

Here's what we know:

2011 - Valiant got investment from Peter & Gavin Cuneo (Peter was at Marvel (CEO, CFO, Vice Chairman) during the sale to Disney, Gavin was an investment banker).
2012 - Valiant launched their monthly comic book line.
2015 - DMG purchased a minority stake in Valiant in 2015 for $110,000,000+.
2018 - Valiant announces the complete ownership of Valiant by DMG.

I feel like the DMG investment was a minority stake as long as Cuneo and Dinesh were in agreement on Valiant's direction.
I'll have to assume that either all 3 were in agreement on the DMG takeover, or two of the three were in agreement.
Regardless, all three are impacted by the sale to DMG, which has the Cuneos and Dinesh leaving.
(I read "they will stay on as consultants" as "we're not firing them, we're politely letting them have no further input".)

I very much doubt that either the Cuneos or Dinesh will be financially harmed, because one (or both) chose to sell to DMG (for a profit), and the other (if there was objection) should profit the same.

DMG has announced grand plans for Valiant and has a $6 Billion company to make it happen.

All those things are HUGE for Valiant, but we have the memory of how things changed in the 1990s when Acclaim wanted to do big things for Valiant.
We shouldn't automatically assume the "DMG thing" will be anything like the "Acclaim thing". It could be incredible.

Until we hear from Dinesh, I don't know what to feel for him.

[aj583]

Gut punch. Unless their first movie is the next Iron Man, expect things to go south, Acclaim style, quickly. How many of the folks that make Valiant, Valiant, stay with Dinesh gone and corporate movie folks pushing comic story lines. Bloodshoot looking like Vin D in the comics is the least of my worries. I’m hoping HW2 remains unscathed as a final swan song for Dinesh. I remember hearing his OTV interview, and how excited and pationate he was about this story line.

[myron]

No comment from Greg yet. He must be assessing.

There's not much that can be said. Valiant without Dinesh is an totally unknown scenario.

Here's what we know:

2011 - Valiant got investment from Peter & Gavin Cuneo (Peter was at Marvel (CEO, CFO, Vice Chairman) during the sale to Disney, Gavin was an investment banker).
2012 - Valiant launched their monthly comic book line.
2015 - DMG purchased a minority stake in Valiant in 2015 for $110,000,000+.
2018 - Valiant announces the complete ownership of Valiant by DMG.

I feel like the DMG investment was a minority stake as long as Cuneo and Dinesh were in agreement on Valiant's direction.
I'll have to assume that either all 3 were in agreement on the DMG takeover, or two of the three were in agreement.
Regardless, all three are impacted by the sale to DMG, which has the Cuneos and Dinesh leaving.
(I read "they will stay on as consultants" as "we're not firing them, we're politely letting them have no further input".)

I very much doubt that either the Cuneos or Dinesh will be financially harmed, because one (or both) chose to sell to DMG (for a profit), and the other (if there was objection) should profit the same.

DMG has announced grand plans for Valiant and has a $6 Billion company to make it happen.

All those things are HUGE for Valiant, but we have the memory of how things changed in the 1990s when Acclaim wanted to do big things for Valiant.
We shouldn't automatically assume the "DMG thing" will be anything like the "Acclaim thing". It could be incredible.

Until we hear from Dinesh, I don't know what to feel for him.

Thanks for putting it into perspective Greg...one of your strong suits

[grendeljd]

Until we hear from Dinesh, I don't know what to feel for him.

We need to hear more than just this, but Dinesh' tweet speaks volumes:

[lorddunlow]

No comment from Greg yet. He must be assessing.

There's not much that can be said. Valiant without Dinesh is an totally unknown scenario.

Here's what we know:

2011 - Valiant got investment from Peter & Gavin Cuneo (Peter was at Marvel (CEO, CFO, Vice Chairman) during the sale to Disney, Gavin was an investment banker).
2012 - Valiant launched their monthly comic book line.
2015 - DMG purchased a minority stake in Valiant in 2015 for $110,000,000+.
2018 - Valiant announces the complete ownership of Valiant by DMG.

I feel like the DMG investment was a minority stake as long as Cuneo and Dinesh were in agreement on Valiant's direction.
I'll have to assume that either all 3 were in agreement on the DMG takeover, or two of the three were in agreement.
Regardless, all three are impacted by the sale to DMG, which has the Cuneos and Dinesh leaving.
(I read "they will stay on as consultants" as "we're not firing them, we're politely letting them have no further input".)

I very much doubt that either the Cuneos or Dinesh will be financially harmed, because one (or both) chose to sell to DMG (for a profit), and the other (if there was objection) should profit the same.

DMG has announced grand plans for Valiant and has a $6 Billion company to make it happen.

All those things are HUGE for Valiant, but we have the memory of how things changed in the 1990s when Acclaim wanted to do big things for Valiant.
We shouldn't automatically assume the "DMG thing" will be anything like the "Acclaim thing". It could be incredible.

Until we hear from Dinesh, I don't know what to feel for him.

Greg, maybe you can clarify: you mentioned 2015 with the DMG investmetn and them being "minority" shareholders... That's also what I remember. How did they get from investment group minority shareholder to the majority shareholders (57% being reported) without anyone noticing or any announcements made? Does anyone know what their percentage was initially?

It's just very weird. I'm sure Dino profited well from this deal, but he never really seemed to be in it for the money. Money is nice, but living your dream (while making money doing so) is another thing. His tweet definitely seems like he's not too happy.

Wonder if we'll ever get the full story?

[valiantdude]

SHOOTER! SHOOTER! SHOOTER!

For the love of God, now's the chance to bring him back!!

[greg]

Until we hear from Dinesh, I don't know what to feel for him.

We need to hear more than just this, but Dinesh' tweet speaks volumes:

I had hoped we'd be able to at least temporarily convince ourselves of more optimism.

[greg]

Greg, maybe you can clarify: you mentioned 2015 with the DMG investment and them being "minority" shareholders... That's also what I remember. How did they get from investment group minority shareholder to the majority shareholders (57% being reported) without anyone noticing or any announcements made? Does anyone know what their percentage was initially?

I'm being told (secondhand info from some other board members) that DMG plus Jason Kothari's shares made it 57% (after 2015).

It's just very weird. I'm sure Dino profited well from this deal, but he never really seemed to be in it for the money. Money is nice, but living your dream (while making money doing so) is another thing. His tweet definitely seems like he's not too happy.

Wonder if we'll ever get the full story?

Dinesh went to college to be a filmmaker, maybe a "Behind the Scenes" Valiant documentary could be a project for him.

[BugsySig]

Latest news via bleeding cool is Dino and both Cuneo’s resigned. Dino and Gavin are staying on as consultants temporarily. Peter is out immediately. Ben Hung is possibly the person taking over as CEO. A former Marvel Studios Guy.

[myron]

Latest news via bleeding cool is Dino and both Cuneo’s resigned. Dino and Gavin are staying on as consultants temporarily. Peter is out immediately. Ben Hung is possibly the person taking over as CEO. A former Marvel Studios Guy.

linky - poo?

[valiantdude]

how is ben hung?....hahahhahaha..sorry couldn't resist...hahah

[BugsySig]

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/01/29 ... y-valiant/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Apparently the sale was triggered when VEI couldn’t find investors to match an amount in DMGs original investment deal. Ultimately the inability to get any film or TV off the ground may have doomed Dino.

[aj583]

We’ll see what happens. If you wanted to keep the direction of the comics and story telling in tact, you’d likely keep the founders, at least in the short term. Dinesh being relegated as a “consultant” sounds like big changes coming. Shooter is not what I would like (even though I long for the old Valiant days). Bottom line, Valiant needs to attract new readers and customers. Thus far, that hasn’t happened. Shooter’s influence might excite me, but it will not put Valiant on the right track today. It will be interesting to see what DMG has in mind next.

[nonplayer]

Now that valiant has built all thease loose ends the new guys can start over with a fresh reboot and never re visit them.
This *SQUEE* me off so much.
So can we get closure. Is momo dead?

[Nairbe]

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/01/29 ... y-valiant/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Apparently the sale was triggered when VEI couldn’t find investors to match an amount in DMGs original investment deal. Ultimately the inability to get any film or TV off the ground may have doomed Dino.

This is probably the likeliest scenerio. I'm sure DMG was getting very impatient for some ROI.