Reading the new Valiant but never read the 90's comics?

[Phoenix8008]

I'm interested to hear from anyone who is reading the new VEI comics from the last year but who never had any exposure to the original comics in the 90's. What are your thoughts on the characters? What do you like or not like? How much exposure to the old comics have you had and are you trying to get ahold of the old comics now as well, or are you fine with just reading the new titles?

[grendeljd]

This seems like a good topic for the general discussion board instead of the registered members only...

[Phoenix8008]

This seems like a good topic for the general discussion board instead of the registered members only...

Apparently so, since you're the first to post here in response.

[Daniel Jackson]

Moved.

[MrDomino]

I discovered old Valiant in the months leading up to the relaunch. I prefer the new stuff, but I still love the originals, and there are some cases (Shadowman) where I don't quite feel the new series has lived up to the original (yet). That said, I've picked up right around half of the original run of Valiant books so far, and I'm not gonna stop till I have everything. Even planning on getting the Acclaim books at some point.

[String]

I have yet to read any of the original Valiant run. I've only begun reading the current VEI run. As such, I've enjoyed everything I've read so far. Being a new fan, the story recaps on the inside front covers are very good and I've had little trouble following any of the events so kudos to Valiant for making it easy for new readers to just hop on board.

That being said, I'm now interested in reading the original Valiant run, both for their overall quality and for any comparison to the current titles. To start with, I was planning on buying the current and upcoming Valiant Masters HC to get my feet wet on these titles and then start building up runs from there.

[CallMeBloodshot]

I'm interested to hear from anyone who is reading the new VEI comics from the last year but who never had any exposure to the original comics in the 90's. What are your thoughts on the characters? What do you like or not like? How much exposure to the old comics have you had and are you trying to get ahold of the old comics now as well, or are you fine with just reading the new titles?

Thoughts on the characters:

Anyone who appears in Harbinger I absolutely love. Joshua Dysart is masterful at characterization, and the result is the first team book I actually see the point in. He's done such a good job at creating so many separate characters with their own distinct voices that I've come to love them all. They're personalities just pour off the page and I'm immersed in that world from the first panel. X-O Manowar is what initially caught my eye from Valiant, but I'm increasingly impressed with Harbinger every week. It's become my new favorite book, bar none.

What do you like or not like?:

Well I like - scratch that, adore - every Valiant title I read at the moment. Which is everything but A&A. I even picked up Q&W and thoroughly enjoyed that as well. A welcoming addition.
One title that has maybe disappointed me at times is Shadowman. The dichotomy that Justin Jordan is highlighting between Shadowman and Master Darque is intriguing, and the mythology he's creating is quite great, but its a bit weak on characterization. It's my only glaring *NOOGIES* problem with any of these books as I think the Shadowman concept is amazing and just has yet to be fully realized. I want to get more of the New Orleans feel too, with Jack prowling the Big Easy at night being its dark caretaker.

Old comics?:

Been going back and reading some bit by bit. Now that in basically addicted to Valiant, I have to get my fix and reading digital copies of the old books certainly does the trick. Some of my favorites of the old titles are Rai and Shadowman. Reading some of the old Shadowman is what made me realize that the current book isn't achieving all that it can. Anyway, I don't want this response to sound only negative as the worst Valiant can do at the moment is basically a solidly strong book that I look forward to more than any other publisher. So there you have it. I've inadvertently been weaned off of the big 2. I crave Valiant and must have more!

[swtor1091]

I dont read the old stuff (C'mon you guys had to see it coming) but I adore everything Valiant is doing a because of that I don't feel a need to go back....

is that bad of me to say

[lorddunlow]

I dont read the old stuff (C'mon you guys had to see it coming) but I adore everything Valiant is doing a because of that I don't feel a need to go back....

is that bad of me to say

I kept wondering why you hadn't chimed in yet. This thread was made for you.

[chriskay99]

I wouldn't say that I "never" read the '90s comics but I will say that I never got into the '90s comics. Shadowman was the only series I collected regularly from about Unity to somewhere in the mid #30s. I bought a lot more books out of speculation (thanks, Wizard!) and certainly read them all, but I didn't really sink my teeth into any of the series, if that makes sense. I think I tried collecting Dr. Mirage and Bloodshot for a while, but Shadowman was the only one that held my interest. I went back and got the Unity books but stopped collecting after Chaos Effect, and the majority of those books are long, long gone.

That said, I am fine reading the new titles. I filled in my missing Shadowman issues, so I have a full run of that, but I don't feel the need to track down anything else. VEI is very much a new starting point and it's allowed me to enjoy the books tremendously. I'm aware of the concepts of the original books and like how they've updated/tweaked things thus far. I'm sure there might be little callbacks or references that I'm missing out on but I'm completely happy just being aware of the basic concepts from before, jumping in and seeing where we go from here.

[Shadowman99]

...I'm sure there might be little callbacks or references that I'm missing out on but I'm completely happy just being aware of the basic concepts from before, jumping in and seeing where we go from here.

I'm not sure that there are.

My only exposure to pre-VEI Valiant comics is my complete run of VH1 and Acclaim Shadowman comics, and I haven't seen a single thing in the VEI comics that 'shouts out' to *anything* from the previous runs of the series. And I think that's really important, because whilst VEI maybe be refreshing and updating the old series, there's nothing in the new books that isn't explained adequately as a completely new concept which makes the books fully accessible for new readers. Personally I think that's vital to VEI's current success.

But like I inflected, I haven't read any other previous Valiant comics, so if there have been shout outs in other lines I would have missed them anyway. Can't imagine there have been though...

As for myself, like I said, my only pre-VEI comic exposure is VH1 and Acclaim Shadowman, so I feel like I'm basically coming into the VEI universe and forum from scratch. And I really like it. I feel like I don't have any baggage from having read previous comics, so there's not a lot that I particularly *want* from VEI, other than the best comics they can put out. I don't yearn to see any particular characters 'brought back', I don't think characters have to act a certain way based on their previous incarnations, I don't feel the stories have to be tied to any particular settings, I don't particularly wish for any particular 'familiar old events' (IE Unity) to happen: So I can simply get on with looking forward to seeing what happens next, and accept it for what it is

Having said that, I am hoping at some point to read VH1 Bloodshot, as I'm impressed with the current comics, but I really liked the #0 and #1 issues of the retro series, perhaps even more than the current series! So I'd like to read that at some point.

So, current Valiant: I think it's top-notch. I think the characters are all really distinctive and interesting in how they look, and the writing and art have all been really really good. Although I'm not that keen on the artist who drew the art for Harbinger 1. I think his faces all look a bit squashed and samey and his general pen work is a bit messy for my liking. But it does the job at least, anything he draws other than faces seems okay.

I'm currently reading Shadowman, Bloodshot and Harbinger, and whilst the #1 issues of XO and A+A haven't particularly grabbed my interest, the properties as a whole intrigue me, so I'm hoping to get a look at the #1 TPBs at one point or another to get a better idea of the series and characters, and possibly consider following the stories in TPB form if I take a liking to them.

Bloodshot has really impressed. I liked the #1 issue and I feel that everything's got better from there: Plot, Character, everything!
Shadowman, I agree perfectly with CallMeBloodshot: That's exactly what I feel about the comic as a whole.

Harbinger... Hm... 's okay, I suppose... I like the comic, but it's my 3rd favourite behind Bloodshot and Shadowman. The characterisation is really good and the plot has been entertaining so far too, but somehow it just doesn't hold my interest like the other two do. Perhaps because I like my fiction to really be fiction: Harbinger is perhaps a little too real-worldy for my liking, but it entertains every month so I don't really have any plans to drop it at the moment.

Quantum and Woody: I only go to the comic shop once a month to pick everything up all at once, so I haven't read the first issue yet, but I'm really looking forward to it: I really hope to like it, based on what I've seen so far of the build-up! But I haven't read the 'Discuss Q+W#1' thread yet, so I don't know how it's been received generally, and don't care to until I've read it!

[ShadowTuga]

Sorry if this is a bit long-winded, in advance:

Ok, so the first Valiant book I read was X-O #1. This book alone made me VERY curious about what a shared universe that has characters/stories like these, had to offer. Plus: the preview for Harby 1 at the end of that same X-O just made me instantly want to read it. In my mind VEI struck gold with ALL of their first 4 titles. I was a FAN for life right then.

Now, a few weeks prior to this, I had come around the announcement for the talking covers that were going to be a part of this relaunch. Relaunch? How on earth have I never heard about this company before? Oh yeah, I did not read a single comic between 1991 and 1998...

Some research later, i had a pretty big idea of who Valiant was and more importantly I SENSED that VEI was trying to bring that "quality of story" to the comics business, which in 2012 (and today) is still dominated by the big events full of nothing that the major companies who publish "superhero" stories constantly regurgitate. Not to mention the OVERUSE of their ticket-selling characters; that's why we got crap like the 456th wolverine or batman spin-off. I exaggerate, but so do they.

I say that I SENSED it, but what really awed me was the fact that this was a company runned by fans of the Original comics. I'm a fan of a lotta franchises, and I can only imagine if i had the rights and the means to publish them. Fans do HONOR the good stuff. I SENSED VEI was a company to trust.

What I think that sets this current line of books from the others, is that EVERY single move is WELL-THOUGHT: by this I mean excellence in writer/artists pairings, choice of titles to release, interaction with their fanbase, AND ABOVE ALL, I think that VEI is truly commited to bring comic book readers THE BEST EXPERIENCE POSSIBLE in this medium.

I mean, is there any book out there like X-O? A Sword & Tech epic that is above all, imho, about a man out of his time trying to make sense of what is left of his existence. He was kidnapped by aliens, only to go back 16 centuries later. Like, seriously, HE HAS nothing to hold on to. Or SPOILER maybe now he has? Seeing Aric grow as a character has been terrific.

Or Harbinger? I literally have no words to say what I think about this book. I love it like I love few pieces of art in life, let's leave it at that. It gives me warm fuzzy feelings at the same time that disturbs me for a week after I read it. If this book ended tomorrow, I'd cry like a little Red Sox fan before you-all-know-what.

Bloodshot. This title I admit, was the one I was most on the fence, only because I imagined it as some kind of terminator meets wolverine type of thing. But it was Valiant, so I immediately tried it anyway. I stayed on this book because it is really sad what P.R.S. did to BS. By the end of that same first issue I really wanted to BS to goe ape*** crazy on those guys. By this I mean HE is a very sympathetic character, who (like we are discovering in HW) just wants to be alone to play with little children.

Archer & Armstrong is like a band designée book, but on steroids. I see Titntin, Spirou and Fantasio-like world trotting scenarios, where two characters that could not be more different have the crazyest encounters with the weirdest friggin' people one can imagine. I love it, it's just great fun.

As for the old stuff, the ONLY character that I read prior to it's current incarnation was Shadowman. I really enjoyed those- and the fact that Jack was a musician like me . Since then I went and read mostly the BWS run on Archer & Armstrong and the first arc of Harbinger. I SOOOOOOO much prefer the new versions, no disrespect intend to who thinks I'm nuts and have bad-taste

[MarkRoseHFX]

I dont read the old stuff (C'mon you guys had to see it coming)

you rock

but I adore everything Valiant is doing a because of that I don't feel a need to go back....

is that bad of me to say

I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. some of the old stuff does kinda suck. but some of it seriously freakin' awesome.

[dornwolf]

I've been reading the newer stuff and going back for the older lately. I definitely prefer the new though.

[Uncle Yusuf]

I'm interested to hear from anyone who is reading the new VEI comics from the last year but who never had any exposure to the original comics in the 90's. What are your thoughts on the characters? What do you like or not like? How much exposure to the old comics have you had and are you trying to get ahold of the old comics now as well, or are you fine with just reading the new titles?

Yes, I'm reading every title of the current Valiant relaunch universe. No, I never read any of the comic book titles from the previous 90's incarnation of Valiant's superheroes, although I was quite aware of them back then. My thoughts on the characters are that they are all very, very special. The character I like the most is Aric of Dacia. So far, there isn't a Valiant character that I don't like. I've had very little exposure (in terms of reading) to the old Valiant. Yes, I am trying to get a hold of any collected editions of the previous 90's incarnations of Valiant titles/comic books. Yes, I'm fine with reading the new titles from the current Valiant universe. They still make me feel quite nostalgic.

[Jonman]

The new Valiant relaunch/reboot has since inspired me to check out old Valiant titles. I really like Shadowman. Anyone have any old Shadowman issue recommendation? I've seen it said on here that the Bob Hall written ones are best. I've only read the first few issues of VH1 though