Fred Pierce Joins Valiant Entertainment

TheVisitor · Post by **TheVisitor** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:10:34 am

Fom today's Scoop -

Former Wizard top gun Fred Pierce has joined Valiant Entertainment, LLC as the company's new President and Publisher. He was, of course, with the original VALIANT before moving to Wizard.

It seems reasonable to expect an announcement of some projects in the near future.

Congratulations, Fred!

Scoop

Phil

iggy101us · Post by **iggy101us** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:14:15 am

He was previously President and COO of Wizard. He was let go last Oct: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/100803-FredPierce.html

VEI Reborn · Post by **VEI Reborn** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:16:54 am

Ok, so what is everyones thoughts on this?

This is good news right??

ncameron · Post by **ncameron** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:24:37 am

At least this hiring got announced...

iggy101us · Post by **iggy101us** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:25:19 am

I think it's good news for VEI since they are hiring. It would be nice if these announcements came directly from VEI though. Maybe there's more info to come.

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:40:21 am

I wonder if this happened in the week since the suit went public. My question is, wasn't this position the one that Walter Black had? Is he still with the company in any capacity now or is he gone?

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:46:45 am

iggy101us wrote:I think it's good news for VEI since they are hiring. It would be nice if these announcements came directly from VEI though. Maybe there's more info to come.

magnusr · Post by **magnusr** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:50:43 am

xodacia81 wrote:I wonder if this happened in the week since the suit went public. My question is, wasn't this position the one that Walter Black had? Is he still with the company in any capacity now or is he gone?

Walter Black was listed as Senior Vice President & Publisher.

Fred Pierce is a good name to have onboard.

/Magnus

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:56:52 am

magnusr wrote:
xodacia81 wrote:I wonder if this happened in the week since the suit went public. My question is, wasn't this position the one that Walter Black had? Is he still with the company in any capacity now or is he gone?
Walter Black was listed as Senior Vice President & Publisher.

Fred Pierce is a good name to have onboard.

/Magnus

Indeed. I think his contacts within the business, including from his days at Valiant, will serve the company well. It's a positive sign, imo.

VEI Reborn · Post by **VEI Reborn** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:58:12 am

I wont get too excited until we hear more, but I would think this at least means they are not tossing in the towel

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:20:17 am

Don't really know much about Fred, but I suppose it's a good sign that VEI is still going in a forward direction.

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:22:47 am

VEI Reborn wrote:I wont get too excited until we hear more, but I would think this at least means they are not tossing in the towel

I do not think that was ever in consideration.

iggy101us · Post by **iggy101us** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:44:50 am

Here's another link about Pierce leaving Wizard last year. The comments are quite polarized.

http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog ... at-wizard/

Here's a comment from the above link from Tony Bedard who was with Pierce at VALIANT.

Tony Bedard wrote:I’ve known Fred since I was an intern at Valiant. He was tough, confrontational, and brutally honest. And in my 16 years of making funnybooks, Fred remained one of the people I loved best and respected most in the industry. I wish him well, though, frankly, he doesn’t need my support. Fred’s going to be just fine, regardless.

Now, in fairness, I never worked at Wizard, so I can’t say one way or another what happened within those walls. But I recognize the raw feelings and the sense of wasted opportunity behind a lot of the comments out there. I lived through the Valiant implosion and the collapse of CrossGen. I’ve worked with Jim Shooter (who was nice to me) and with people who’d cheer if Jim got hit by a bus. And I’ve harbored my own resentment towards more than one comics “tyrant” over the years. It’s a very human reaction. I hope folks get past that anger and use their experiences, good and bad, to accomplish greater things with their careers.

As for me, the next time I see Fred I’ll hug the guy and ask him about his family. And he’ll be as warm and funny to me as always. Say what you want about him (he sure won’t care), but to me he’ll always be a mensch.

jdmoonie77 · Post by **jdmoonie77** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 1:19:29 pm

I agree with iggy,,let's hear it from "VEI" not Scoop!!!! If it indeed is true then, forget the lawsuit and get to the real "crux" of the matter (no pun intended) some publishing!!!!!!

superman-prime · Post by **superman-prime** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 1:30:25 pm

this suing stuff is getting old ve1 and DH could have worked togehter to launch a cohesive valiant world with 3 or 4 titles to start then working up to 10 or 12 and made a bunch of money instead they will take forever settling this mess

iggy101us · Post by **iggy101us** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 1:40:25 pm

superman-prime wrote:this suing stuff is getting old ve1 and DH could have worked togehter to launch a cohesive valiant world with 3 or 4 titles to start then working up to 10 or 12 and made a bunch of money instead they will take forever settling this mess

So maybe the 2 companies starting off with a crossover event and then split off and then each company does their own thing. Sort of a novel idea but it can work in this particular case. Normally companies start off independently and then do crossovers.

So start with where things ended (Solar, Magnus, Harbinger kids, X-O, . . . all together in the same universe) and then have an event that breaks them up into separately universes. Just may be crazy enough to work.

How can I protect this idea in case DH/VEI uses this?

UnknownTales · Post by **UnknownTales** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 3:43:26 pm

Now that you posted it, you can't.
Sorry.

MoonChild · Post by **MoonChild** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 3:51:27 pm

Nice to hear they are moving forward.

VEI Reborn · Post by **VEI Reborn** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 3:57:50 pm

Elveen wrote:
VEI Reborn wrote:I wont get too excited until we hear more, but I would think this at least means they are not tossing in the towel

I do not think that was ever in consideration.

Depends on who you ask

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:05:21 pm

VEI Reborn wrote:
Elveen wrote:
VEI Reborn wrote:I wont get too excited until we hear more, but I would think this at least means they are not tossing in the towel

I do not think that was ever in consideration.

Depends on who you ask

Perspective is measured in gradations.

UnknownTales · Post by **UnknownTales** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:14:28 pm

I think this is a positive move that somehow relates to the exit of Shooter.

400yrs · Post by **400yrs** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 5:00:37 pm

I'm surprised that people here are happy with them hiring a Wizard guy considering that most around here hate Wizard.

Although I'm ok with Wizard (used to read it occassionally), I feel like catering to the Wizard crowd is why the VH2 stuff wasn't good. Hopefully this guy doesn't bring this philosophy with him.

dellamorte · Post by **dellamorte** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 5:17:03 pm

He was credited on 3 Valiant comis. Two of them scripting with another writer (Shooter on Magnus 10 and Layton on the Harbinger Files 1) and one scripting over Shooters plot (Magnus 20).

http://www.valiantfan.com/valiant/artis ... red:Pierce

MoonChild · Post by **MoonChild** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 5:24:42 pm

Yea, the Whole Wizard Thing has me on the unsure side but It is good news that VEI is making moves. I want to see sum Valiant Comics!

MoonChild · Post by **MoonChild** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 5:26:45 pm

dellamorte wrote:He was credited on 3 Valiant comis. Two of them scripting with another writer (Shooter on Magnus 10 and Layton on the Harbinger Files 1) and one scripting over Shooters plot (Magnus 20).

http://www.valiantfan.com/valiant/artis ... red:Pierce

thanks

interesting he's worked with Shooter, wonder what their relationship is these days. [But one can make a pretty fair guess]