Valiant Entertainment...or how I fell in love with comics again.

[sandwraith]

Since the Big 2 and their obsession with movies and reboots, I've been distant from a lot of my old loves, dropping titles like Batman, the Avengers, Aquaman and so forth. My current pull list is pretty much IDW's TMNT...and not much else.

A void was sitting in my soul where solid storylines and well-kept continuity in a vast shared university. Imagine my surprise when I decided to pick up the Deluxe Edition of Harbinger War from my LCS. This was my gateway drug, my slippery slope that I enjoyed thoroughly.

I'm a novice to the Valiant universe. I remembered X-O Manowar back in the early 90s from comic book ads about the Iron Man/X-O Manowar video game back on one of the old consoles. I also remembered picking up Deathmate Blue and Yellow(or Gold?) back when Image was hot but most of my memories of it are hazy but the new Valiant Entertainment stuff is pretty accessible, combining both excellent writing and some of the cleanest artwork I've seen in a while.

I've picked up the deluxe editions of Unity, Armor Hunters and Bloodshot as well and am eagerly awaiting Imperium and Bloodshot Reborn to be released in Deluxe HC forms.

Anyone else have any feedback on Valiant or what other titles I should be looking at? Archer and Armstrong seems like the comedy book while Ivar,Timewalker seems more for Whovians. Unity has me tempted to look at Eternal Warrior and X-O Manowar but I get a very "flashback"-prone feeling about both characters.

 

[MMMMM...Pancakes]

I'm just getting into valiant. I picked up Rai vol 1.

 

[sandwraith]

I'm just getting into valiant. I picked up Rai vol 1.

Cool. Not sure if I'm ready to jump into the 4001 AD stuff just yet.

 

[MMMMM...Pancakes]

Cool. Not sure if I'm ready to jump into the 4001 AD stuff just yet.

I'm not familiar with this universe yet. Was that a bad decision that I made?

 

[sandwraith]

I'm not familiar with this universe yet. Was that a bad decision that I made?

I really can't say. Rai is sort of like the Legion of Superheroes of Valiant. We read LOS and see easter eggs and references to characters from the present timeline but because you are new to the Valiant Universe itself, you might miss out on the same type of references or the events that led up to the 4001 A.D timeline.

For entry level Valiant, the dudes at VEI forums say X-O Manowar and Harbinger is the way to go. I lean more to Bloodshot myself. I really think there is no right answer. But to paraphrase something mentioned on one of the Valiant thread:

X-O Manowar = Braveheart meets Iron Man meets Green Lantern.
Bloodshot = Universal Soldier meets The Bourne Identity meets Terminator.
Archer&Armstrong = Your favorite buddy comedy meets Raiders of the Lost Arc. Armstrong is one of 3 Immortals of the Valiant Universe
Harbinger = X-Men without the superhero stereotypes and the lines between good and bad are shaded gray.
Ninjak: Daredevil+James Bond...with Ninjas, a British super-spy who is willing to do whatever the mission calls for. Has a bit of Batman arrogance.
Eternal Warrior: An immortal warrior who guards the "Geomancer". Think Highlander meets Dr.Strange. Youngest of the 3 Immortals.
Ivar, Timewalker: Rip Hunter/Dr.Who, time-travelling Immortal.Oldest of the 3 Immortals.
Divinity: God exists, and he's a black soviet cosmonaut from the sixties.
Rai: I've heard it referred to as Blade Runner.

 

[MMMMM...Pancakes]

Thanks for explaining all of that! A lot of those titles sound really interesting.

 

[Peyton Westlake]

based off those comparisons , Eternal Warrior has my vote.

 

[sandwraith]

based off those comparisons , Eternal Warrior has my vote.

Unfortunately, according to the Valiantfans page, Eternal Warrior's better stories are usually in support of other characters.

The 2 events you can consider to check out are:

- The Valiant
- Book of Death

Eternal Warrior has focal roles in both events. He is pretty cool in the Unity title which is essentially the JLA/Avengers-level team book of the Valiant Universe.

 

[SpideyInATree]

I really can't say. Rai is sort of like the Legion of Superheroes of Valiant. We read LOS and see easter eggs and references to characters from the present timeline but because you are new to the Valiant Universe itself, you might miss out on the same type of references or the events that led up to the 4001 A.D timeline.

For entry level Valiant, the dudes at VEI forums say X-O Manowar and Harbinger is the way to go. I lean more to Bloodshot myself. I really think there is no right answer. But to paraphrase something mentioned on one of the Valiant thread:

X-O Manowar = Braveheart meets Iron Man meets Green Lantern.
Bloodshot = Universal Soldier meets The Bourne Identity meets Terminator.
Archer&Armstrong = Your favorite buddy comedy meets Raiders of the Lost Arc. Armstrong is one of 3 Immortals of the Valiant Universe
Harbinger = X-Men without the superhero stereotypes and the lines between good and bad are shaded gray.
Ninjak: Daredevil+James Bond...with Ninjas, a British super-spy who is willing to do whatever the mission calls for. Has a bit of Batman arrogance.
Eternal Warrior: An immortal warrior who guards the "Geomancer". Think Highlander meets Dr.Strange. Youngest of the 3 Immortals.
Ivar, Timewalker: Rip Hunter/Dr.Who, time-travelling Immortal.Oldest of the 3 Immortals.
Divinity: God exists, and he's a black soviet cosmonaut from the sixties.
Rai: I've heard it referred to as Blade Runner.

Thanks for those descriptions. I've been thinking about getting into the Valiant universe and this definitely helps out. Honestly, it all sounds really awesome but you can never go wrong with some time traveling.

 

[2kt09]

I really can't say. Rai is sort of like the Legion of Superheroes of Valiant. We read LOS and see easter eggs and references to characters from the present timeline but because you are new to the Valiant Universe itself, you might miss out on the same type of references or the events that led up to the 4001 A.D timeline.

For entry level Valiant, the dudes at VEI forums say X-O Manowar and Harbinger is the way to go. I lean more to Bloodshot myself. I really think there is no right answer. But to paraphrase something mentioned on one of the Valiant thread:

X-O Manowar = Braveheart meets Iron Man meets Green Lantern.
Bloodshot = Universal Soldier meets The Bourne Identity meets Terminator.
Archer&Armstrong = Your favorite buddy comedy meets Raiders of the Lost Arc. Armstrong is one of 3 Immortals of the Valiant Universe
Harbinger = X-Men without the superhero stereotypes and the lines between good and bad are shaded gray.
Ninjak: Daredevil+James Bond...with Ninjas, a British super-spy who is willing to do whatever the mission calls for. Has a bit of Batman arrogance.
Eternal Warrior: An immortal warrior who guards the "Geomancer". Think Highlander meets Dr.Strange. Youngest of the 3 Immortals.
Ivar, Timewalker: Rip Hunter/Dr.Who, time-travelling Immortal.Oldest of the 3 Immortals.
Divinity: God exists, and he's a black soviet cosmonaut from the sixties.
Rai: I've heard it referred to as Blade Runner.

Quantum & Woody = That other buddy comedy with a very Nextwave vibe
Haven't yet read Shadowman & Dr Mirage, so I don't know the analogy for those 2

 

[sandwraith]

Thanks for those descriptions. I've been thinking about getting into the Valiant universe and this definitely helps out. Honestly, it all sounds really awesome but you can never go wrong with some time traveling.

Might I interest you in the Ivar,Timewalker Deluxe Hardcover edition then. Its a little pricier but I've been collecting the Deluxe Hardcovers almost exclusively and have been pleased with the presentation. Collects issues 1-12 which I think covers the entire first run.

https://www.amazon.com/Ivar-Timewal...d=1467359040&sr=8-4&keywords=Ivar,+Timewalker

 

[SpideyInATree]

Might I interest you in the Ivar,Timewalker Deluxe Hardcover edition then. Its a little pricier but I've been collecting the Deluxe Hardcovers almost exclusively and have been pleased with the presentation. Collects issues 1-12 which I think covers the entire first run.

https://www.amazon.com/Ivar-Timewal...d=1467359040&sr=8-4&keywords=Ivar,+Timewalker

Thanks for that. Think that I will start with that but I will take my purchase over to instocktrades.com. They will probably have a sick discount on it and plus there are tons of other trades I need to get as well.

 

[JewishHobbit]

My diminishing interest in Marvel led to me giving the Valiant Universe a shot earlier this year... or maybe late last year. Good call on my part.

My recommendations are:

X-O Manowar - by far the best book of them all. It's ending in 3 issues or so, but I think they have plans for him beyond that. It's been fantastic from the very beginning. I didn't think I'd like it because the writer sucks over on Green Lantern and Flash, but none of that crappiness shows here. Great book.

Wrath of the Eternal Warrior - It's true what someone posted above. This character works best in a team or group setting. I just didn't care for any of his previous series/minis. But this book surprised me. I recommend reading The Valiant mini first since this picks up from that. Now this book is my second favorite Valiant book behind X-O Manowar.

Rai and 4001 A.D. - I had no idea what Rai was when I picked up the tpb from my local Half Priced Books. It ended up being a fantastic beautiful read. with beautiful Clayton Crain art. The event 4001 A.D. is like the 3rd arc of Rai, continuing his adventures. I love it.

Unity - This book was up and down but mostly up, but the team was great. Prior to Wrath of the Eternal Warrior, this was the best showing of that character. I also liked having Ninjak there. I don't care for his solo that came after this series ended and think he works best in a team. Note: The First arc of Unity ties-in with the 5th arc of X-O Manowar (or 4th, but I think it's 5th).

In addition to the above series, several really good minis/events (which are small minis unlike Marvel or DC epic events) are:

4001 A.D. & The Valiant - I mentioned both of them above. 4001 A.D. should be read with Rai. The Valiant mostly stands alone but leads into other books.

Armor Hunters - This was an event that was important for X-O Manowar and Unity. There were also two other minis that tied in with Bloodshot and Harbinger. The Bloodshot mini was quite good.

Divinity & Divinity II - Both are pretty good, though the second one is only a few issues in. I didn't think I'd like this when I tried but, but I really did. It was an interesting story from a different perspective.

Book of Death - While this takes aspects of the Shadowman series, you don't need to read that to enjoy this. It's a great story.


So there you go. Regarding some other titles:

I like Bloodshot and Bloodshot Reborn, but they're pretty up and down. Some parts are great and others bored me. I'm glad I read them but don't know if I'd recommend them to someone else.

Something happens in the first issue of Harbinger that turned me off of that book, and while I read the entire run (though I was really just skimming the last arc or two) I never could get over that. Due to that I haven't even bothered with books that's branched out of it.

Shadowman was decent but forgettable. I liked it but doubt it's everyone's cup of tea.

Ninjak is great bouncing off of other characters, but his solo story bores me.

Now... I should mention that I don't much care for humor books, so it should come to no surprise that neither Quantum and Woody or Archer and Armstrong are my cup of tea. That said, I do feel that if you like humor books like Deadpool and Harley Quinn, you'll love these. I'll admit though that Quantum and Woody got a chuckle out of me a few times. All that said, I do recommend at least reading the second arc of Archer and Armstrong which introduces the Eternal Warrior. It's a good read and other stories outside of the title branches from it like The Valiant and I think Book of Death.

Eternal Warrior's initial series was only two arcs. The first arc took place in the past and was decent, and the second arc took place in the future. The disconnect was just weird. I'd say at least try the first arc. It was worth a read.

 

[MMMMM...Pancakes]

I found Harbringer vol 1 and Bloodshot vol 1 at Half Price Books! Can't wait to get started on those. Still can't find X-O Manowar vol 1 at any local stores, I guess I'll just order it then.

Edit: Ha! Ended up finding it today at another Half Price store!

 

[sandwraith]

I found Harbringer vol 1 and Bloodshot vol 1 at Half Price Books! Can't wait to get started on those. Still can't find X-O Manowar vol 1 at any local stores, I guess I'll just order it then.

Edit: Ha! Ended up finding it today at another Half Price store!

Nice. And to that regard, if you are a trade collector, Valiant trades a very economically priced. At half-price, they are a steal.

 

[SpideyInATree]

I found Harbringer vol 1 and Bloodshot vol 1 at Half Price Books! Can't wait to get started on those. Still can't find X-O Manowar vol 1 at any local stores, I guess I'll just order it then.

Edit: Ha! Ended up finding it today at another Half Price store!

I just got Ivar Time Walker Volume 1 recently and should be digging into it soon.

May I also suggest ordering trades from instocktrades.com. They offer tons of trades at pretty massive discounts, brand new too. It's where I always buy my trades.

 

[MMMMM...Pancakes]

Alrighty, finally cracked open X-O Manowar volume one and now my Valiant journey is finally underway! Thanks to everyone in this thread for helping me out and answering questions.

 

[Gee]

I forgot to pick up Faith #1. It's probably sold out by now.

Fortunately second prints have been shipped.