My Valiant Story !
Moderators: Daniel Jackson, greg
My Valiant Story !
Well Well,
I go looking to see what my 1000's of comics could be worth (as I am moving in two weeks) sound familiar? LOL, I stumble on a site that prices out books and I read that there is this message board of die hard valiant fans. I smile and start to think about the beginning of Valiant and how I got addicted to their comics at the beginning.
I first wanted to read through many posts to get a feel of the folks who post on the board . I was going to start by asking how many of you were actually there at or near the beginning....I see that many of you have been.
I started collecting comics many many ears ago. My father owned a very large magazine store and he prided himself on having one hell of a comic section, this was before there were tons of dedicated comic book stores. He had a tremendous following of comic lovers who came in every week within an hour of the comics being delivered.
I helped him out in the store and got to read a ton of comics for free. My father being the business guy he was, started to interview his customers and find out what comics are hot and why? He started to put away comics by the box full away for a "rainy day". I had my share of old Richie Rich Comics, Spiderman, Avengers from when I was a little boy, but didnt really start reading comics in mass until, I think it was Alpha Flight, and then I started reading many of the titles that came into my dads store.
He would let me create my own collection. Fast Forward years later, I date a girl who had two kids, one of them found his way into my collection and he was fascinated. I had since stopped collecting for a few years at that time. He loved the comics, so I thought I would take him into the local mega comic book store to help him start his collection (after I gave him around 100 comics lol).
I remember all the hoopla about Image going to be launched as guys were leaving Marvel.... McFarlane, Lee and the others. Then I move away from the crowd and I see a couple of guys checking out books that seemed to be off to the side..... I asked what they were reading, they said Magnus ! I said Magnus??? Thats from the 60's, they said NO NO, Shooter came out with his own comic line , looking at me like I had three eyes! Like I was supposed to know.
Always being a fan of shooter and his maverick attitude, I picked up a Magnus Robot Fighter and started to read, I was impressed, the different art style, the writing. I then went and picked up Solar , then RAI , I knew the owner of the store as he was an old friend of my dad's and he let me have carte blanche in the store . After reading about six comics, I promply plucked down cash to buy each book that was available. I think there were only two issues of each. I dont remember exactly. They were like $8-$10 per issue already and I looked at my dads friend sideways and of course he hooked me up.
My girls son was engrossed in a Spiderman comic, He picked out 10 books he really wanted and I paid for all the comics......
The excitement of new comics outside of DC and Marvel was amazing . The buzz amongst the kids and grownups was addicting, talking about Spawn this, Wildcats that. Harbinger this , etc etc. It created a frenzy and I think I remember buying Magnus 12 and then a few weeks later the price was like off the charts. RAI 0 was also selling for big bucks.
The "in the know" guys were hooked on Valiant, while most of the masses were reading Image. I found images are to be way above average, Jim Lee was , is and will always be a tremendous artist, McFarlane...the art of Spawn was pure well.... ART !!
BUT..........The story lines of Valiant books were by far the best out there. I admit Spawn was my favorite overall book, but for storylines, depth of the entire universe had to be Valiant. I wasnt a big fan of too many other Image books, with maybe the exception of Maxx. With Valiant, I loved Eternal Warrior, A & A, Turok, XO and of course Magnus. Solar was to me a good story, but if you were under 15 (which I was definitely NOT), you probably would have found that book boring or at least less inspiring.
XO became my girls son's favorite book. We were able to talk about it on the same wave length, a 12 year old talking to a 30 something year old
, it was a bond between us that could never ever be duplicated until a few years later when I took him to see aerosmith in concert (I was a big fan, and he really really loved their music as well).
I stopped reading comic books for a very long time, the whole hype created by Wizard with their B.S. pricing kind of took some of the joy away, everyone was buying books for speculation and to make money.
The marvel diehards laughed a bit at the Image and Valiant craze, they knew the prices of those books was only a passing fad. In a way (even though a few of my books cost me a nice penny for missing a few), I am glad...I am glad that alot of people can buy books at reasonable prices and read the entire story line. Unity was, and still is one of the best story lines ever in comic book history.
For the younger guys and girls out there... be happy you werent around near the beginning. Many of the books sold out before you could even get to the comic store, if you missed a week because you *SQUEE* off Mom and she didnt let you out, you missed getting an issue and the following week you would pay four times the cover price. if you missed an issue by three weeks after release, you would have to pay stupid money .
In a way, I am glad you can buy books for .50 cents !!
I have decided NOT to sell my extensive collection (I have just about every valiant comic that came out at the beginning to about issue 30 or so).
I am going to read the RE-READ section and follow the recommended reading path and rediscover the Valiant Universe. I am sure many of the stories will come right back to me. I will smile and get lost in the universe that so impressed me almost 15 years ago.
Thanks for the bandwidth, this is a great place for someone like me to reaquaint myself with a past addiction.....Valiant comics....
Racecar
I go looking to see what my 1000's of comics could be worth (as I am moving in two weeks) sound familiar? LOL, I stumble on a site that prices out books and I read that there is this message board of die hard valiant fans. I smile and start to think about the beginning of Valiant and how I got addicted to their comics at the beginning.
I first wanted to read through many posts to get a feel of the folks who post on the board . I was going to start by asking how many of you were actually there at or near the beginning....I see that many of you have been.
I started collecting comics many many ears ago. My father owned a very large magazine store and he prided himself on having one hell of a comic section, this was before there were tons of dedicated comic book stores. He had a tremendous following of comic lovers who came in every week within an hour of the comics being delivered.
I helped him out in the store and got to read a ton of comics for free. My father being the business guy he was, started to interview his customers and find out what comics are hot and why? He started to put away comics by the box full away for a "rainy day". I had my share of old Richie Rich Comics, Spiderman, Avengers from when I was a little boy, but didnt really start reading comics in mass until, I think it was Alpha Flight, and then I started reading many of the titles that came into my dads store.
He would let me create my own collection. Fast Forward years later, I date a girl who had two kids, one of them found his way into my collection and he was fascinated. I had since stopped collecting for a few years at that time. He loved the comics, so I thought I would take him into the local mega comic book store to help him start his collection (after I gave him around 100 comics lol).
I remember all the hoopla about Image going to be launched as guys were leaving Marvel.... McFarlane, Lee and the others. Then I move away from the crowd and I see a couple of guys checking out books that seemed to be off to the side..... I asked what they were reading, they said Magnus ! I said Magnus??? Thats from the 60's, they said NO NO, Shooter came out with his own comic line , looking at me like I had three eyes! Like I was supposed to know.
Always being a fan of shooter and his maverick attitude, I picked up a Magnus Robot Fighter and started to read, I was impressed, the different art style, the writing. I then went and picked up Solar , then RAI , I knew the owner of the store as he was an old friend of my dad's and he let me have carte blanche in the store . After reading about six comics, I promply plucked down cash to buy each book that was available. I think there were only two issues of each. I dont remember exactly. They were like $8-$10 per issue already and I looked at my dads friend sideways and of course he hooked me up.
My girls son was engrossed in a Spiderman comic, He picked out 10 books he really wanted and I paid for all the comics......
The excitement of new comics outside of DC and Marvel was amazing . The buzz amongst the kids and grownups was addicting, talking about Spawn this, Wildcats that. Harbinger this , etc etc. It created a frenzy and I think I remember buying Magnus 12 and then a few weeks later the price was like off the charts. RAI 0 was also selling for big bucks.
The "in the know" guys were hooked on Valiant, while most of the masses were reading Image. I found images are to be way above average, Jim Lee was , is and will always be a tremendous artist, McFarlane...the art of Spawn was pure well.... ART !!
BUT..........The story lines of Valiant books were by far the best out there. I admit Spawn was my favorite overall book, but for storylines, depth of the entire universe had to be Valiant. I wasnt a big fan of too many other Image books, with maybe the exception of Maxx. With Valiant, I loved Eternal Warrior, A & A, Turok, XO and of course Magnus. Solar was to me a good story, but if you were under 15 (which I was definitely NOT), you probably would have found that book boring or at least less inspiring.
XO became my girls son's favorite book. We were able to talk about it on the same wave length, a 12 year old talking to a 30 something year old
, it was a bond between us that could never ever be duplicated until a few years later when I took him to see aerosmith in concert (I was a big fan, and he really really loved their music as well).I stopped reading comic books for a very long time, the whole hype created by Wizard with their B.S. pricing kind of took some of the joy away, everyone was buying books for speculation and to make money.
The marvel diehards laughed a bit at the Image and Valiant craze, they knew the prices of those books was only a passing fad. In a way (even though a few of my books cost me a nice penny for missing a few), I am glad...I am glad that alot of people can buy books at reasonable prices and read the entire story line. Unity was, and still is one of the best story lines ever in comic book history.
For the younger guys and girls out there... be happy you werent around near the beginning. Many of the books sold out before you could even get to the comic store, if you missed a week because you *SQUEE* off Mom and she didnt let you out, you missed getting an issue and the following week you would pay four times the cover price. if you missed an issue by three weeks after release, you would have to pay stupid money .
In a way, I am glad you can buy books for .50 cents !!
I have decided NOT to sell my extensive collection (I have just about every valiant comic that came out at the beginning to about issue 30 or so).
I am going to read the RE-READ section and follow the recommended reading path and rediscover the Valiant Universe. I am sure many of the stories will come right back to me. I will smile and get lost in the universe that so impressed me almost 15 years ago.
Thanks for the bandwidth, this is a great place for someone like me to reaquaint myself with a past addiction.....Valiant comics....
Racecar
I always wanted to be Magnus, Robot Fighter
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childres
- The more you post, the more you want to.
- Posts: 2983
- Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 11:30:27 am
- Location: True Grit Country
Hi Racecar,
Welcome to the boards of ValiantComics.com.
Its a fun place to be for a Valiant fan, and you can find virtually anything you might want to know about the Valiant universe from the different people here. There are people who were there at the beginning & fans that are in their teens. You will even see posts from some of the original creators. I've been a member for awhile. I've enjoyed being here,and I hope you will too.
-Joe
Welcome to the boards of ValiantComics.com.
Its a fun place to be for a Valiant fan, and you can find virtually anything you might want to know about the Valiant universe from the different people here. There are people who were there at the beginning & fans that are in their teens. You will even see posts from some of the original creators. I've been a member for awhile. I've enjoyed being here,and I hope you will too.
-Joe
-
Daniel Jackson
- A toast to the return of Valiant!
- Posts: 38007
- Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2004 8:33:38 pm
) 
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Dr. Phil Seleski
- Is it Dee-no or Die-no? Dunno.
- Posts: 482
- Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2005 10:52:33 am
- Location: Cromwell,CT
Welcome to the jungle baby....
< Rob >
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