Valiant - 3rd Time's The Charm
Moderators: Daniel Jackson, greg
Valiant - 3rd Time's The Charm
Greetings, all.
I have been lurking for a few months as I get back into Valiant for the 3rd time. I started reading/collecting Valiant after Unity...actually it was a little later than that. My first Valiant comics were Solar 19, Shadowman 13 and Hard Corps 4. I was into comics as a kid, say 5th-8th grade, buying mostly Marvel (X-Men, West Coast Avengers, Spider-man, even some silver age Strange Tales), and of course The Dark Knight Returns. I dropped comics when I got to high school, but my sophomore year at college my roommate was a big comics reader (again, mostly X-Men, Silver Surfer, a few others). He let me read the books he bought and so I caught up a bit on what had been going on with the X-Men since I left them during the Fall of the Mutants storyline Then one day he brings home Spawn #3. We were both blown away by the art. And what was Image Comics? I was intrigued - had to know more.
I went back to a local comic shop for the first time in years and got a bit caught up in the speculator craze of the time. All those American Entertainment, EC Comics, Mile High and other ads in the comics proclaiming the HOT book, the NEXT hot book...and that's when I saw Valiant. At first, I was only interested in them because A) they were harder to find and so the collector gene in me kicked in and B) if I COULD find them they were going to be worth something. So I bought the 3 new issues I came accross and read them...and was hooked. Especially Shadowman 13. Still one of my favorite covers and stories from VH1. The artwork especially grabbed me due to its oppositeness to everything else I was currently reading. It looked hand crafted and panels seemed to have a purpose or direction. Hell, just HAVING panels was a departure from some of the Image stuff. I grew up with panels, so I like panels.
Anyway, I had to have more. With the closest comic shop over an hour away, and me with no car, I had to depend on/bribe/cajole other people for a ride. Thankfully there were a few other comic collectors around who were willing to let me tag along for gas money or lunch. (I was just thinking about all of the shops that were around then. All but 2 of the 10 shops I used to go to in that time are gone now - they were probably gone within a year. Even the card shops that also boomed are gone. Sorry, nostalgia break). Slowly I built up my collection - primarily new issues at first, but I'd find a Shadowman 4&5 here, Solar 16-18 there, etc. I worked all summer and by the end of the year (I can't remember exactly when it was, but prior to Christmas break), I had every regular Valiant comic (plus a Magnus 0 with card [I traded my Strange Tales and X-Men for this and several other pre-Unity issues - DOH!] and Harbinger 0 pink). And it was about that same time that I completely lost interest in the new titles as they came out.
I stayed with Harbinger until 25; Magnus 25; Ninjak 1; Solar 30; these were some of the last issues I bought. I dropped out of comics again for a year and a half or so, until I moved in with my girlfriend (now wife) and needed some money for rent. I sold all the Valiants (and the rest of my comics) for $300 plus some trade items. I got a bit of heat for not getting all cash, but what I got ended up being some of my favorite (and my wife's favorite) comics ever. I picked up the first Strangers in Paradise TPB, the first few Sandman TPBs, Beanworld, Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Sin City, I think. Those set the stage for my returing to comics and never leaving. I kept reading Strangers, started reading Preacher, Starman, Doom Patrol; going back to read Swamp Thing, Maus, Watchmen.
Fast forward 14-15 years and I hear about the new Harbinger HC. Harbinger is my favorite of the Valiant titles, with Solar and Shadowman close behind. So I ordered it, and after reading it I remembered how much I loved this book. So I picked up the rest of the issues 8-25 and that was that. For about a year. Then I came accross a Solar Alpha & Omega TPB, picked that up (my favorite Solar story). Not too long after, I found a Second Death TPB. And so it slowly started to snowball. Then this spring it became a full-on avalanche. Now I've completed every title thru Chaos effect, and 10 of them up to Birthquake. I was actually reading about Birthquake today when I decided it was time to start posting.
The price guide has been a wonderful tool, as has all of the info I have learned reading here. And I even started listening to the Only the Valiant podcast. About halfway thru all of the episodes. For anyone who hasn't tried it, it's a lot of fun - especially since there aren't too many people around talking Valiant comics where I am. So I think that's it for my first (very long) post. Thanks to everyone involved in making these boards available, and for all of the contributors that have aided me, unbeknownst, so far.
EDIT: Tried to make it more reader friendly with some paragraphs. Hope that helps. And yes, having a wife that reads comics (and watches football, plays video games, loves music - on vinyl no less) is a wonderful thing. May you all find someone as special.
I have been lurking for a few months as I get back into Valiant for the 3rd time. I started reading/collecting Valiant after Unity...actually it was a little later than that. My first Valiant comics were Solar 19, Shadowman 13 and Hard Corps 4. I was into comics as a kid, say 5th-8th grade, buying mostly Marvel (X-Men, West Coast Avengers, Spider-man, even some silver age Strange Tales), and of course The Dark Knight Returns. I dropped comics when I got to high school, but my sophomore year at college my roommate was a big comics reader (again, mostly X-Men, Silver Surfer, a few others). He let me read the books he bought and so I caught up a bit on what had been going on with the X-Men since I left them during the Fall of the Mutants storyline Then one day he brings home Spawn #3. We were both blown away by the art. And what was Image Comics? I was intrigued - had to know more.
I went back to a local comic shop for the first time in years and got a bit caught up in the speculator craze of the time. All those American Entertainment, EC Comics, Mile High and other ads in the comics proclaiming the HOT book, the NEXT hot book...and that's when I saw Valiant. At first, I was only interested in them because A) they were harder to find and so the collector gene in me kicked in and B) if I COULD find them they were going to be worth something. So I bought the 3 new issues I came accross and read them...and was hooked. Especially Shadowman 13. Still one of my favorite covers and stories from VH1. The artwork especially grabbed me due to its oppositeness to everything else I was currently reading. It looked hand crafted and panels seemed to have a purpose or direction. Hell, just HAVING panels was a departure from some of the Image stuff. I grew up with panels, so I like panels.
Anyway, I had to have more. With the closest comic shop over an hour away, and me with no car, I had to depend on/bribe/cajole other people for a ride. Thankfully there were a few other comic collectors around who were willing to let me tag along for gas money or lunch. (I was just thinking about all of the shops that were around then. All but 2 of the 10 shops I used to go to in that time are gone now - they were probably gone within a year. Even the card shops that also boomed are gone. Sorry, nostalgia break). Slowly I built up my collection - primarily new issues at first, but I'd find a Shadowman 4&5 here, Solar 16-18 there, etc. I worked all summer and by the end of the year (I can't remember exactly when it was, but prior to Christmas break), I had every regular Valiant comic (plus a Magnus 0 with card [I traded my Strange Tales and X-Men for this and several other pre-Unity issues - DOH!] and Harbinger 0 pink). And it was about that same time that I completely lost interest in the new titles as they came out.
I stayed with Harbinger until 25; Magnus 25; Ninjak 1; Solar 30; these were some of the last issues I bought. I dropped out of comics again for a year and a half or so, until I moved in with my girlfriend (now wife) and needed some money for rent. I sold all the Valiants (and the rest of my comics) for $300 plus some trade items. I got a bit of heat for not getting all cash, but what I got ended up being some of my favorite (and my wife's favorite) comics ever. I picked up the first Strangers in Paradise TPB, the first few Sandman TPBs, Beanworld, Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Sin City, I think. Those set the stage for my returing to comics and never leaving. I kept reading Strangers, started reading Preacher, Starman, Doom Patrol; going back to read Swamp Thing, Maus, Watchmen.
Fast forward 14-15 years and I hear about the new Harbinger HC. Harbinger is my favorite of the Valiant titles, with Solar and Shadowman close behind. So I ordered it, and after reading it I remembered how much I loved this book. So I picked up the rest of the issues 8-25 and that was that. For about a year. Then I came accross a Solar Alpha & Omega TPB, picked that up (my favorite Solar story). Not too long after, I found a Second Death TPB. And so it slowly started to snowball. Then this spring it became a full-on avalanche. Now I've completed every title thru Chaos effect, and 10 of them up to Birthquake. I was actually reading about Birthquake today when I decided it was time to start posting.
The price guide has been a wonderful tool, as has all of the info I have learned reading here. And I even started listening to the Only the Valiant podcast. About halfway thru all of the episodes. For anyone who hasn't tried it, it's a lot of fun - especially since there aren't too many people around talking Valiant comics where I am. So I think that's it for my first (very long) post. Thanks to everyone involved in making these boards available, and for all of the contributors that have aided me, unbeknownst, so far.
EDIT: Tried to make it more reader friendly with some paragraphs. Hope that helps. And yes, having a wife that reads comics (and watches football, plays video games, loves music - on vinyl no less) is a wonderful thing. May you all find someone as special.
Last edited by dbngaa on Tue May 10, 2011 1:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Valiant - 3rd Time's The Charm
Truly, you flatter us.dbngaa wrote:And I even started listening to the Only the Valiant podcast. About halfway thru all of the episodes. For anyone who hasn't tried it, it's a lot of fun - especially since there aren't too many people around talking Valiant comics where I am.
Welcome.
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Chiclo
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Large, black disks left behind by a previous civilisation. They are suspected to be some sort of storage media but a lack of proper disk readers has rendered them little more than curiousities and relics.ian_house wrote:vinyl? What is this mysterious substance you talk of?
Welcome to the board dude!
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ian_house
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I hear they played mystical tunes that made the dinosaurs extinct! But the music has been lost throught the ages.Chiclo wrote:Large, black disks left behind by a previous civilisation. They are suspected to be some sort of storage media but a lack of proper disk readers has rendered them little more than curiousities and relics.ian_house wrote:vinyl? What is this mysterious substance you talk of?
Welcome to the board dude!
