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This may well spoil things for people trying to flip variants on eBay, but it looks like Books A Million will let you order (and pre-order) variant covers off their website.  And it looks like they’re expanding how many different publishers they’re getting variants from:

• Kaptara (Image)
• Fight Club 2 (Dark Horse)
• Archie Vs. Predator (Archie/Dark Horse)
• Bloodshot Reborn (Valiant) – Neal Adams cover, limited to 1200 copies in a slightly more informative description
• Rick and Morty (Oni)
• Doctor Who Ninth Doctor (Titan)
• Princess Leia (Marvel)

And that Princess Leia link is for the sketch variant.  Yes, BAM now has variants and sketch variants for some of the Star Wars titles.  A Marvel variant will set you back $7.99, but a sketch variant is $9.99  Start saving your pennies, kids.

There are a lot more variants available than just those, with Marvel leading the way in terms of volume.  On the BAM site, the publisher of the comics is always listed as “Diamond Comic” or “Diamond Comic Magazine,” amusingly reminding use where these are coming from.  I’d take as a good sign for how BAM’s doing with non-returnable fare that they’re adding all these variants and from all sorts of publishers.

And then there’s DC.  BAM lists a few DC titles online.  Here’s Convergence #1.  It’s not listed as being an exclusive cover, but it’s got “Diamond Comic Magazine” as the publisher and an ISBN number:

• ISBN-13: 9781492472070
• ISBN-10: 1492472077

Here’s the link for Convergence: Suicide Squad #1, which BAM has listed as a hardcover (almost certainly an error).

DC did not get back to me about why some of their titles are showing up on BAM’s site as Diamond titles, but since they’re not listed as variants, it’s entirely possible they weren’t aware those listings existed.

In the meantime, if variants are your thing, you don’t have to pay a jacked up price for the BAM variants on eBay if the title in question is still available on their website.

Have you read Todd’s book Economics of Digital Comics?  You can also ignore him on Twitter at@Real_Todd_Allen

In comics we usually put a spotlight on the writers of storylines, however, Butch Guice is the star of this article. The artist’s excellent linework and shading add an extra layer to the story of Ninjak with Ninjak: The Lost Files. The tale is the second feature in the upcoming Ninjak ongoing series debuting from Valiant Entertainment. Via a press release Valiant gave a staggering preview of the upcoming second story that will lift even the heaviest of eyebrows. March 11th, see’s the debut of the issue written by comics superstar Matt Kindt. The author is writing both features, as the first includes pencils from up-and-coming comics illustrator Clay Mann. The Lost Files storyline investigates the origin of Colin King’s life as he trained to be Ninjak working for the MI-6. King is hunting down the Shadow Seven in this tale – a secret cabal of shinobi that have important plot threads tying back into Ninjak’s own origins.

NINJAK #1 [VALIANT NEXT]
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by CLAY MANN with BUTCH GUICE
Cover A by LEWIS LAROSA [JAN151636]
Cover B by CLAY MANN [JAN151637]
Cover C by DAVE JOHNSON [JAN151638]
Cover D by MARGUERITE SAUVAGE [JAN151639]
Blank Cover Also Available [JAN151640]
Valiant Next Variant by TREVOR HAIRSINE & TOM MULLER [JAN151641]
Character Design Variant by CLAY MANN [JAN151642]
B&W Sketch Variant by LEWIS LAROSA [JAN151643]
$3.99 | 40 pages. | T+ | On sale MARCH 11 (FOC – 2/16/15)

Has it really been 25 years since Valiant’s characters first roamed the shelves? Since enthusiastic kids Jim Shooter, Bob Layton and Barry Windsor-Smith made a go of it? I guess so, because Valiant is making a hoopla of their 25th anniversary just in time for Free Comic Book Day in May, with a big special 25th Anniverasry collection, variant covers and more assorted hub bub. Here’s the long version:

Valiant’s 25th year is going to be the biggest one yet! The silver anniversary celebration begins this May on Free Comic Book Day 2015, and continues all summer long with monumental new releases honoring Valiant’s historic place in comics history – and laying the groundwork for another 25 years to come!

In 1990, the first Valiant comics hit the shelves and, then, the impossible happened – an upstart, independent company created a new, cohesive universe that managed to go toe-to-toe with the industry’s biggest publishers, forever changing the comics landscape in the process. Some of comics’ greatest talents – Jim Shooter, Bob Layton, Barry Windsor-Smith, and more – joined the ranks with a who’s who of up-and-comers – including David Lapham, Joe Quesada, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Sean Chen – to build one of the first true legends of the modern age of comics.

Quickly becoming one of the most recognized comic book companies in the world with more than 80 million comics sold, Valiant became the first publisher to ever approach Marvel or DC in scope and sales. In turn, Valiant’s now-classic characters – X-O MANOWAR, BLOODSHOT, HARBINGER,ARCHER & ARMSTRONG, RAI, and dozens more – became a pivotal force in comics fandom, reshaping the industry with a character-first approach to comics storytelling and creating what would eventually grow to become the largest independent universe anywhere in comics.

Now, two and half decades on from those monumental origins, Valiant is proud to announce the Valiant 25th Anniversary celebration – a months-long commemoration of the indelible heroes, volatile villains, and world-class creators that shaped Valiant into one of the most celebrated publishers in comics history. Spanning an all-star cast of Valiant’s talents past and present, this summer’s celebration of 25 years of Valiant begins on Free Comic Book Day with the Valiant 25th Anniversary Special, and will continue with all-new new releases across Valiant’s monthly publishing line in print and digital, hardcover and trade paperback catalog, and roster of licensed merchandise.

“Valiant has always been about creating stories that will stand the test of time 25 years from now, not reflecting on the successes of 25 years ago,” said Valiant Publisher Fred Pierce. “As a member of the Valiant team across more than two decades, I can say that our 25th anniversary is an incredibly exciting turning point for us as one of the premier storytelling companies in comics. All summer long, we’ll be revealing glimpses of where Valiant is headed next with special initiatives in print, digital, and licensing for one of our largest and most coordinated efforts to date.”

“Even after two decades, many of the innovations Valiant brought to the industry shortly after its arrival in 1990 continue to be felt today,” said Valiant CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani. “For the 25th anniversary, we’re celebrating that spirit of creative freedom that made Valiant such an influential force in the first place, and honoring those that made it possible for us to continue the mission of making the best superhero comics in the industry.

“Each year, we always make it known to fans and retailers that they can expect something big from Valiant on Free Comic Book Day,” he added. “Rarely are there occasions bigger than the 25th anniversary of one of the most iconic publishers in comics history. Kicking off with our Free Comic Book Day release, and continuing throughout the summer, we’re going to make Valiant’s 25th year its most exciting to date. Titles like BLOODSHOT REBORN, NINJAK, IMPERIUM, and DIVINITY are only the beginning. All summer long, we’ll be revealing a slew of surprises spinning out of our silver anniversary plans.”

The year’s can’t-miss celebration officially kicks off on May 2nd in the FCBD 2015: VALIANT 25th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL – featuring two all-new stories and a myriad of never-before-seen special features chronicling Valiant’s storied place in comics history! First, New York Times best-selling writerJeff Lemire and blockbuster artist Butch Guice chronicle the devastating fallout of THE VALIANT as Bloodshot rises from the ashes to unleash a never-before-seen prelude to BLOODSHOT REBORN! Then, Valiant superstars Robert Venditti and Rafa Sandoval throw down the gauntlet for an action-packed introduction to the world of X-O MANOWAR and an all-new tale of DEAD HAND! Plus: NINJAK;IMPERIUM; DIVINITY; IVAR, TIMEWALKER; RAI; special guests from throughout Valiant’s decades-long history; and a cavalacade of special surprises!

The Valiant 25th Anniversary celebration continues throughout the summer with a host of new offerings in May and beyond, beginning with two very special places for fans to discover Valiant’s biggest heroes! First up, don’t miss the all-new VALIANT UNIVERSE HANDBOOK: 2015 EDITION, spotlighting everything you need to know about Valiant’s heroes – who they are, what makes them tick, and where they’re headed next! Featuring highly detailed and thoroughly updated entries on all of Valiant’s most important players, discover everything you need to know about Valiant’s award-winning publishing line here — just as the 25th Anniversary celebration begins in full force!

Then, get up close and personal with the legendary origins behind Valiant’s most indelible icons in theVALIANT: ZEROES & ORIGINS trade paperback collection, re-presenting each of Valiant’s greatest zero issue introductions to X-O MANOWAR, BLOODSHOT, HARBINGER, SHADOWMAN, and more from a world-class cast of creators including Joshua Dysart, Matt Kindt, Lewis LaRosa, Clay Mann,Peter Milligan, Mico Suayan, Robert Venditti, and many more!

Plus: don’t miss a very special new series of Valiant 25th Anniversary variant covers by red-hot artist Rafa Sandoval showcasing a diverse cast of heroes and villains from across 25 years of Valiant history beginning in May! A special series of alternate shelf covers featuring Valiant’s ever-growing line-up of heroes new and old, look for these Valiant 25th Anniversary variant covers on your favorite Valiant titles all summer long.

May 2015 is only just the beginning… Stay tuned for even more exciting Valiant 25th Anniversarynews and releases in the weeks and months to come!

By Harper Harris

Valiant Entertainment has been gradually earning a loyal fanbase since their return in 2012, but in the last several months their line has skyrocketed to the top of the list of publishers to watch. This is largely due to the inclusion of some fantastic talents that have joined up in the Valiant Next initiative, including Matt Kindt, Jeff Lemire, Jen Van Meter, Paolo Rivera, and more. Kindt in particular has really carved out his own section in the Valiant Universe, writing The Valiant, Unity, Rai, and now, with Trevor Hairsine on pencils, Divinity, an original book that brings a new character to this fast-growing superhero universe.

The basic concept is pretty interesting: a Soviet cosmonaut is sent on a 30-year mission during the Cold War to the farthest reaches of our galaxy, only to mysteriously return in modern day with god-like powers. This allows for some potentially violent politicking between the communist god and the American military (and perhaps some of Valiant’s other heroes), not to mention the obvious culture clash inherent in the man returning to earth after several decades archetype. However intriguing this all might be, it isn’t wholly unfamiliar; what really makes this issue stand out, though, is the careful and complex style in which it is written.

Kindt takes the approach of utilizing a great metaphor to both describe and tell the story: the idea that time is like a book, with pages that can be flipped between at will. There are obvious ties to the famous Watchmaker chapter of Watchmen, but it is used quite well in its own right here. It allows the narration to skip around, introducing both Abram Adams (the cosmonaut/god) and David Camp, who might be our POV in the modern era. This overarching metaphor works brilliantly as a storytelling device and adds meta-textual richness to the actual comic book readers will hold in their hands.

It’s worth noting, too, that while the issue primarily lays the foundation of the story rather than focusing on its characters, the pieces that build up Abram Adams are unique and allow for some subtlety that could really pay off down the line. I particularly like the fact that Adams is a person of color in an otherwise Caucasian group of scientists, students, and soldiers in Soviet Russia. This is obviously a conscious choice, especially interesting as we see the contrast between the racial riots in America on TV while Adams’ comrades recommend him for the most important mission in their country’s history without a second thought as to his race.

The art by Hairsine, who has pencilled many issues of a variety of Valiant books, is mostly serviceable, but shines in small bursts. The talking heads pages where we see a bit of Adams’ education are nothing special, but the more action packed segments–those with rockets taking off and of a wince-worthy rock climbing accident–pack a surprising gut punch. As we get a glimpse of the oddly beautiful powers of Adams returned to Earth at the end of the issue, I’ll be interested to see how Kindt and Hairsine design future uses of this god’s unique and terrible power set.

Divinity doesn’t pack the excitement of The Valiant, but what it lacks in epic superheroics it makes up for with fantastic writing. It’s hard to tell whether the distinct style will continue with the book or whether it was just a great way to introduce the story, but either way Divinity is one to watch in an increasingly exciting line from Valiant Entertainment.

WHO will be the Netflix/Spotify of comics? Several companies have been trying to offer all you can eat comcis buffets, but a lack of top content has been holding them back. But Scribd just made a major play announcing a $8.99 a month plan that allows you access to 10,000 comics, including top titles from Marvel, IDW/Top Shelf, Archie, Dynamite and Valiant. Scribd has been around for a while as en embeddable pdf reader, and already offers over a million ebooks and audiobooks on a subscription basis, so this makes a lot of sense.

Titles in the 10,000 book library include Spider-Man, My Little Pony, X-O Manowar, Lcoke & Key and graphic novels by Alan Moore, Matt Fraction, Gail Simone, George R.R. Martin and more—so a lot of good content but not everything available on Marvel Unlimited, for instance.
 
“We are very excited to take this step in expanding our subscription service beyond books,” said Trip Adler, co-founder and CEO of Scribd in a statement. “This addition gives comics readers the freedom of unlimited reading, while also giving our ebook and audiobook lovers the opportunity to discover comics and graphic novels.”

“IDW and Top Shelf have been considering subscription models for comics for some time,” said Jeff Webber, IDW’s Vice President of Digital Publishing & Business Development in his own statement. “Scribd came to us with the perfect opportunity to offer the entire catalog to fans and new readers. Time for some binge-reading!”

“For decades, a driving force at Marvel has been the desire to put comics in the hands of new readers,” sschimed in Daniele Campbell, Marvel’s VP CRM. “Our partnership with Scribd allows some of Marvel’s greatest stories to sit alongside Scribd’s already vast and eclectic catalogue of content in an effort to reach readers who might not have access to a comic shop.”

Ever unafraid to take a digital plunge, IDW is offering a two month free trial running until 2/17, where as regular Scribd offers a one month trial.

I’ve never been a fan of how Scribd embeds work in blog posts, but I never tried their sub service, which is optimized for tablets, so I’m sure it will be a better reading experience.

$8.99 — the cost of a mere two or three comics a month— is a pretty reasonable deal—well this be the next killer app? What do you all think? Will you sign up?

 
Some more deets on the content:

●        Classic Comics – Classic runs of the Avengers, the X-Men, Daredevil, Archie, Judge Dredd, the Rocketeer and more
●        Top Characters – Spider-Man, the Avengers, Betty and Veronica, Kevin Keller, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, My Little Pony, G.I. Joe, Bloodshot, Adventure Time
●        Major Creators – Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Fiona Staples, Darwyn Cooke, Mark Waid, Ed Brubaker, Renee French, Jeffrey Brown, Joe Hill, and many more
●        Acclaimed Graphic Novels – March, From Hell, Swallow Me Whole, Underwater Welder, Spiral-Bound, The Ticking, Too Cool to Be Forgotten
●        Award Winners – League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, 30 Days of Night, Locke & Key, Alec, Will You Still Love Me if I Wet the Bed?
●      Hit YA Titles – Ultimate Spider-Man, Runaways, Afterlife With Archie, Harbinger, Lumberjanes
●        Manga – Partnership with MediaDo brings titles from Cork and Harlequin Manga, including work by acclaimed artist Moyoco Anno
●        Leading Publishers – Marvel, Arcana, Archie, Boom! Studios, Dynamite, IDW/Top Shelf, Kingstone, Space Goat, Top Cow, Valiant, Zenescope

Valiant Entertainment are unveiling the interior artwork in full for the upcoming Bloodshot Reborn #1 written by Jeff Lemire with art from Mico Suayan. The company is launching each page on their brand new Tumblr account. The Tumblr is set to reveal daily updates with a behind-the-scenes peek at all the big artwork happening with Valiant Next. Bloodshot #1 debuts on April 15th.

Valiant’s Director of Marketing Communications & Digital Media Hunter Gorinson chimed in to explain what else the company has in store for their new social media account.

“Valiant prides itself on its close relationship with fans around the world, and this is a terrific place for us to add a whole new depth to that experience,” said Gorinson. “Every day, we’ll be showcasing something special from the walls of Valiant HQ – advance artwork, covers, webcomics, interviews, and more – beginning with each and every page of artwork from the biggest Valiant release of 2015 thus far: BLOODSHOT REBORN #1”

After becoming aware of Project Rising Spirit guiding his every move, Bloodshot is now living in exile. How does a killing machine controlled by others cope with life? Keep your eyes peeled on the Tumblr, as it will be receiving updates throughout the day.

When Valiant Next was first announced, the biggest question mark for fans was: why Imperium? What is the series? Where’s Harbinger?

It turns out we were asking all the wrong questions, or so author Joshua Dysart would have us believe in Imperium #1. We should have been asking:

What will the future look like?

Thanks to the incredibly well designed cover by Raul Allen, the questions multiplied. Even though various interviews like the ones here disclosed more information about the book, there is still lots of secret information about this comic regarding the Renegades and other cast members.

What we do know about Imperium is that series takes the premiere Valiant nemesis, Toyo Harada, and teams him up with an assortment of ragtag villains.

Within the description text in the first issue villain and protagonist Toyo Harada notably wishes to: “end global conflict and bring about world peace…at any cost.” That’s a great window into this character, especially when thinking about how world peace may not be the absolute answer to all our problems on a global scale.

Joshua Dysart is a writer with political concerns in mind, a perspective that superhero comics rarely include. This story takes those elements to ground and enhance the backdrop of the story.

IMPERIUM #1 [VALIANT NEXT]

Written by JOSHUA DYSART
Art by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Cover A (Harada) by RAUL ALLEN
Cover B (Lord Vine-99) by RAUL ALLEN
Cover C (Major Mech) by RAUL ALLEN
Valiant Next Variant by TREVOR HAIRSINE & TOM MULLER
Character Design Variant by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Artist Variant by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Blank Cover also available

What will the future look like?

Have you ever found yourself asking that question? That’s the thesis on the first half of Imperium #1, a tale that might be one of the most bold superhero works since Dysart chronicled Unknown Soldier at Vertigo.

The author’s consistent choice to veer into the unexpected does not alienate readers, but fully draws them into the narrative surrounding the text. With that in mind, this comic is not for readers looking for a more traditional superhero story. This is not a more static reinterpretation of a villain in the Valiant world, it’s the start of something completely new.

Similar to Rai, there are various stray links to the Valiant Universe, equating to a stronger and more interesting storyline. Even if this comic is innovatively formatted, it’s still part of a huge shared Universe. The story never lets the reader forget that, and it’s all the better for it.

Readers will never see the plot twist coming, as the title has so perfectly evaded a concrete story synopsis. After a long form interview with Joshua Dysart conducted with Comics Beat, never once did the author mention nearly anything that happened in Imperium #1. The only clues to what the opening of the series are the preview pages already solicited.

This first installment of the story uses the protagonist in an extremely creative manner, having him interact with the story in an innovative hands-off approach. A new psiot taking the point-of-view narration is fully realized and reflected positively upon numerous interactions within the story.

Imperium #1 is built upon a lie, a potent beatiful lie that creates an exciting narrative thread. The implications for what this story could possibly mean and what the greater Valiant Universe holds for the rest of the series is left wide-open, but it’s for the better. If Dysart continues this streak of really using Imperium to make it’s audience second guess every decision they have ever made, this could be something really special. Imperium #1 stands out against a thousand #1’s in a crowded comics market. This is a comic that demands focus but culminates in an incredibly emotionally charged reward.

Author Ales Kot and penciller Adam Gorham are entering the Valiant Universe with a four issue mini-series entitled Dead Drop. The story features Archer, X-O Manowar, and more of the Valiant stable of characters. In keeping with the unexpected tone of Kot’s work, each issue follows a different character as they explore a contagion deep within the black market of New York City. The contagion is also set to have alien origins. CBR broke the news along with the first covers and interview with Kot on the tale.

“When I looked at the characters and clicked with the right ones, I did more research. I had some familiarity with the Valiant Universe,” said Kot. “I rarely read superhero comics these days. That’s not a diss — they just don’t resonate with me. So the challenge here is, how do I make a superhero comic that would resonate with me? “Secret Avengers” is a good example of me figuring that out. I want Dead Drop to be another.”

Among the characters already mentioned, some supporting cast members from the greater Valiant Universe like Detective Cujedo (Quantum and Woody) and Neville Alcot (Unity) are also included.

“Yes. I want to tell everyone who already reads Valiant comics to come in and take the ride. Then I want to steer the ride somewhere unusual and new. The strategy is calculated, but not cold.”

Those following Secret Avengers by the author have grown accustomed to the style that Kot has been writing, featuring action and Twin Peaks-style black humor. When asked what tone he would be incorporating in the series with it being either silly or dramatic, the author had this to say:

Both. And more.

With any luck it will feature the same brand of hard espionage and bloodthirsty robots that fall in love with their adversaries.

DEAD DROP #1 (of 4) 
Written by ALES KOT
Art by ADAM GORHAM
Cover A by RAUL ALLEN
Cover B by ADAM GORHAM
Cover C by JUAN JOSE RYP
Cover D by BRIAN LEVEL
$3.99 US | T+ | 32 pgs. | On sale MAY 2015

Dead Drop is Dropping in May, (Sorry for that pun!)

By Davey Nieves

Quantum & Woody Must Die #1

Story : James Asmus (Gambit, Thief of Thieves)

Art: Steve Lieber (Hawkman, Whiteout)

Color: Dave McCaig

Letters: Dave Lanphear

Publisher: Valiant

Full disclosure, while I’ve read and enjoyed many of the relaunched Valiant titles like Bloodshot and Harbinger, however I never got around to reading the first Quantum and Woody series. Now curiosity has won me over and I decided to dive right in starting with Quantum and Woody Must Die #1. After belly flopping in the pool I can say Peter Venkman put it best in this classic line “ I’ve worked with better, but not many.”

Quantum and Woody is a weird book but then again that’s what you get when you have two brothers who don’t resemble each other in the least, whose father was downloaded into a goat. The duo also each has a power that complements the other. Woody shoots energy blast from his fingertips while Quantum has the ability to generate force fields. As if this story didn’t need any more stipulations, bracelets they must clang together once every 24hrs or they’ll die also bind them to each other. What truly makes them unique is the under the surface stuff a writer like James Asmus brings out in these characters.

In the opening of the series, readers are eased into their world as the pair seemingly puts a halt to an armored car heist by a team of rough-and-tumble females. This is really the beginning of something bigger as a sinister power-harvesting plot is revealed. Much to the apropos of the characters, they stumble upon the corporation carrying out this plan and destruction ensues.

The best parts of the book have very little to do with the action or the overall plot. Quantum and Woody’s strength is in exposing their faults, which Asmus does by letting us see the pair in a therapy session. Even a visit to a veterinarian becomes this funny segment like something out of morning radio. Maybe I’m just a sucker for the N.W.A references and racial humor in the book but I’m willing to bet I won’t be the only one. A big plus for Q&W newbies like myself or if you’re looking for something new to read; this first issue is very accessible to their world. Even the banter between the brothers never feels like too much of an inside joke.

Steve Lieber’s art seems right for a book like this but sort of feels as though it misses the mark a bit. Just flipping through the pages you can see the Allred like influence on the style, but the necessary blend of zany and lucid never balances enough. This series is meant to be strange and should take more chances with that license going forward and I fully expect that to happen with a Kubert school guy like Lieber on art duties. I’d be amiss if I didn’t mention something that really stuck out in the issue. Dave Lanphear’s lettering is standout in the book. Title cards, onomatopoeia, and presentation all function in carrying the narrative along smoothly. While lettering is vital to every comic book, it doesn’t always stand out like in Q&W.

Even with the hiccups, there’s more to enjoy than hate here. Quantum and Woody Must Die #1 is best described as an odd couple written by Arthur Conan Doyle on speed and it has me strongly considering adding it to my own pull list.

Follow Dave on twitter @bouncingsoul217 as he spouts random ideas for new businesses.  

Valiant has done an incredible job looping endless previews and press information to the various news outlets. While last week’s batch of previews was filled with ongoing titles from Valiant Entertainment like X-O Manowar, Unity, and the upcoming Quantum and Woody mini-series. This new batch features some of the upcoming Valiant next launches leading with the much anticipated Ninjak #1.

Then: Meet inexperienced MI-6 recruit Colin King on his first mission in the field as he learns the basics of spycraft and counterintelligence, and develops a volatile relationship with his first handler.

Now: Colin King is Ninjak, the world’s foremost intelligence operative, weapons expert, and master assassin. And he’s hunting the Shadow Seven – a secret cabal of shinobi masters with mysterious ties to his training and tragic past.

$3.99 US | T+| 40 pgs. | ON SALE 3/11/15 (FOC – 2/16/15)

The character of Ninjak has been building in the Valiant Universe naturally since the first year of the publisher. It’s going to be interesting to see how the comics market reacts to one of the most highly sought after Valiant ongoing series since The Valiant. Unfortunately, Marvel and DC are also moving pieces of their line around in some pretty major ways at the moment, but that certainly won’t discount the strong upcoming creative team for the title with Matt Kindt, Butch Guice, and Clay Mann. Who doesn’t love the idea of a ninja working for MI-6. The idea is enough to drive not 20, but 40 pages of story content at a cool $3.99 price point. Possibly the most intriguing part of the series is how the comic is flashing forward between the early exploits of Colin King, all the way to the Batman-esque excellence of the current Valiant Universe Ninjak.

Take a look at the full preview here.

  Valiant’s most heinous supervillain team is also returning for a follow-up issue with Imperium #2, featuring none-other-than Joshua Dysart manning the helm of the comic alongside artist Doug Braithwaite on art. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but evil Professor Xavier, a robot, scientist, alien-assassin, and terrorist walk into a bar.

 A psychic dictator, an inhuman robot, a mad scientist, a murderous alien and a super-powered terrorist are about to try and take over the world…and you’re going to be rooting for them every step of the way. THIS IS IMPERIUM.

$3.99 US | T+| 32 pgs. | ON SALE 3/4/15 (FOC – 2/9/15)

One of Valiant’s most ambitious series yet, Divinity is also shifting towards a second issue. This is another title with Matt Kindt at the helm, featuring a character of color with the power of a god. The lead in Divinity is also soviet cosmonaut, believe me, we couldn’t make this stuff up if we tried. This comic ships in a larger format also sporting the relaxed $3.99 price tag with a 32 page second issue.

X-O Manowar kicks off Dead Hand in a few months. The story features Aric killing some robots, that’s all you need to know. We covered the current arc of Armorines in the pages of X-O Manowar that is set to directly lead-in to the upcoming storylines.

This is it…X-O Manowar…face-to-face with a ROBOT ARMY HELLBENT ON THE DESTRUCTION OF EVERYTHING! Blast off with New York Times best-selling creator Robert Venditti (ARMOR HUNTERS,Green Lantern) as he begins the most shocking arc yet of his seminal run on Valiant’s flagship series!

$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+ | On sale MARCH 4 (FOC – 2/9/15)

 
There’s STILL MORE, Ivar Timewalker #1 was the latest issue of Valiant Next that came to store shelves. The comic is still revealing the full scope of it’s premise thus far, but Ivar does indeed walk through time. In the first issue of the story, he prevents a scientist from inventing time travel. The series looks to continue to pick up steam from here.

Can a man resigned to forever walk through time truly make up for the mistakes of his past? And just who is the mysterious sociopathic leader of Oblivi-1, and why does she have such an interest in Ivar and Neela’s time traveling team-up?

Find out here as Fred Van Lente and Clayton Henry – the team that brought you ARCHER & ARMSTRONG – continue their clock-stopping race to the end of time and back!

$3.99 US | T+| 32 pages, full color | ON SALE 3/18/15 (FOC – 2/23/15)

Issue #2 of The Valiant stepped on the gas, and illustrated the full potential of the writing present from Jeff Lemire and Matt Kindt fusing the story with the wonderful art of painter Paolo Rivera. The Immortal Enemy’s appearance last issue was the stuff of nightmare fuel. The vision that Rivera brought to the comic propelled the series to one that demands reader attention.

The Immortal Enemy has all but won and only Bloodshot and The Geomancer are left to stand against his darkness. Are they willing to save humanity if it means losing their own – and each other?

$3.99 US | T+| 32 pages, full color | ON SALE 3/25/15 (FOC – 3/2/15)

Will Ninjak’s ongoing make a splash in the direct market? Keep your eyes peeled to the sales charts during February and March, and pick up these comics on store shelves.

Ever since the relaunch of the publisher, Valiant Entertainment has always been up to something new. This morning, fresh previews of ongoing series from the publisher were scattered across the internet.

Unity is in the middle of a great story-arc featuring a cast of characters called The United. The team of villains have been expertly hand crafted by author Matt Kindt to go up against the current Unity roster. After taking a break around the big Armor Hunters storyline and getting the chance to pick up the pieces, it’s been excellent to get some added characterization with these heroes. The addition of Faith is a strong new aspect that will likely to add something new to the team dynamic. Excluding on-again off-again Unity member X-O Manowar, this comic now has a direct male to female split in the cast.

UNITY #14
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by CAFU
Cover by LEWIS LAROSA (NOV141693)
Handbook Variant by FRANCIS PORTELA (NOV141694)
Variant Cover by RYAN LEE (NOV141695)

A world on fire! Unity vs. The United!
A dark secret at the heart of the Unity team has led the world to the brink of global war. Only Unity and their international counterparts, The United, can broker a peace…but that might not work, seeing as how they’re trying to kill each other. All hope lies with Unity’s newest team member, who may not be able to shoulder the weight of the world!

$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+ | On sale JANUARY 28

Next up, Valiant shared a few pages of Quantum and Woody Must Die! The title is a four-issue mini-series written by author James Asmus with art from Superior Foes of Spider-Man alumni Steve Lieber. The comic continues it’s irreverent tone with this solicitation text also provided by the publisher, where it seems that Quantum and Woody are trying to beat Sex Criminals at their own game.

QUANTUM AND WOODY MUST DIE! #1 (of 4)
Written by JAMES ASMUS
Art by STEVE LIEBER
Cover by MIKE HAWTHORNE (NOV141684)
Variant Cover by JOHNNIE CHRISTMAS (NOV141685)
Variant Cover by CHIP ZDARSKY (NOV141686)

They came. They saw. They pissed off a whole lotta folks. And now a team of mystery vigilantes has singled out the world’s worst superhero team for complete and utter destruction. Their first target: their minds! But who are these all-new enemies? Are Quantum and Woody hitting it off with a sexy duo of cat burglars? And, dear god, what have they done to the goat? Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Sex Criminals isn’t the only comic that can quote Queen, comics fans – here come Quantum and Woody! (Or so they think! [Trippy, right?!])

$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+ | On sale JANUARY 28

X-O Manowar is in the middle of a brand new arc focusing on The Armorines as the title makes way for the upcoming Dead Hand story-arc. The creative team has been in constant stride on this comic with Robert Venditti writing the narrative, and Diego Bernard on pencils. In the solicitation text, something new is teased regarding a fail-safe melded into place by a mysterious figure.

X-O MANOWAR #32
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI
Art by DIEGO BERNARD
Interlocking A & B Covers by RAUL ALLEN (NOV141696/NOV141697)
Variant Cover by RYAN LEE (NOV141698)

The bleeding-edge commando unit codenamed: ARMORINES has finally undermined the X-O Manowar armor and the man inside it – Aric of Dacia, one of the most feared men alive. But who are these hardened men and women, and just who orchestrated their lethal combination of technology and cunning? The new generation of ARMORINES are more than just mercenaries…and the figure pulling their strings is about to activate a fail-safe that will leave the world reeling.

$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+ | On sale JANUARY 28

By Davey Nieves

The first issue of the long-awaited VALIANT NEXT ongoing series Ninjak is almost here. The series features the creative team of New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (THE VALIANT, Mind MGMT), and superstar artists Clay Mann (Gambit) and Butch Guice (Captain America). On March 11th, the search for the Shadow Seven starts here as Ninjak begins an international manhunt for the secretive figureheads behind the Webnet terror network…and unearths their classified connection to his own never-before-revealed origin and training!

Beginning with NINJAK #1, each 40-page issue of Ninjak’s debut solo series begins with a full-length lead tale by Matt Kindt & Clay Mann, followed by a new chapter of Colin King’s never-before-told origin by Kindt & Butch Guice monthly and featuring shelf covers by Lewis LaRosa (BLOODSHOT), Clay Mann(X-Men), Dave Johnson (100 Bullets), and Marguerite Sauvage (Sensation Comics). VALIANT NEXT unleashes an all-new introduction to the fearless life and times of the world’s deadliest master spy in NINJAK #1!

This book is looking like a must read! Check out the preview below.

Valiant Comics has added Andy Liegl, formerly of Boom!  and Matthew Klein formerly of Forbidden planet to its marketing team, joining  Sales Manager Atom! Freeman, Publishing & Operations Manager Peter Stern, Director of Marketing, Communications & Digital Media Hunter Gorinson, and Publisher Fred Pierce in that end of the company. Tom Brennan recently joined the editorial side. 

Andy Liegl comes to Valiant from Boom! Studios, where he oversaw the publisher’s convention presence and convention sales strategy as Event Coordinator until 2014. Prior to that, Liegl spent five years as Manager of Collector’s Paradise – Pasadena, a leading comics retailer in Southern California, where he rediscovered Valiant via the publisher’s 2012 “Summer of Valiant” relaunch and personally bolstered in-store sales of the titles in his store to great success. Liegl is also a former comics journalist, having co-founded ComicAttack.net in 2009 and served as an Assistant Editor of Eisner Award-winning website Comic Book Resources from 2012 to 2013.
 
“I’m absolutely psyched for the opportunity to work with a publisher who puts such a high priority on product quality and the positive impact that can have with our retail partners,” said Liegl. “Everyone at the Valiant office is insanely dedicated to their work and their energy is powerfully motivating. I’m champing at the bit to be boots on the ground at comic shops, working closely with the people who have dedicated their lives to keeping the direct market thriving for consumers.”
 
A lifelong comic book fan, Matthew Klein worked as a Retail Associate for Forbidden Planet NYC from 2011 to 2014 – one of the largest sellers of comic books, graphic novels, science fiction, toys, and associated collectibles in the world. During his time with FPNYC, he also worked in the the Artistic Department for the Off-Broadway company, The New Group (Avenue Q, Hurly Burly, The Jacksonian). Klein is also a producer and lead script developer for Six Part Productions and has been a company member since 2013.
 
“I’m incredibly excited to be a part of the Valiant team,” said Klein. “Nobody in comics is creating an intricate yet accessible universe like Valiant’s and populating it with as diverse a cast of characters. I can’t wait to learn from the insanely experienced team and find ways to contribute to our goal of getting a Valiant comic in the hands of every reader.”

Together, Freeman, Liegl, and Klein will lead the front line of communication between Valiant and the comics retail community worldwide, just as Valiant readies a major wave of titles to be released under the auspices of the VALIANT NEXT initiative with new series including IVAR, TIMEWALKER by New York Times best-selling creators Fred Van Lente and Clayton Henry; IMPERIUM by New York Times best-selling writer Joshua Dysart and artist Doug Braithwaite; NINJAK by New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt and artists Clay Mann and Butch Guice; and BLOODSHOT REBORN by New York Times best-selling writer Jeff Lemire and artist Mico Suayan.
 
“Valiant’s growth over the past three years has been tremendous, and we’re not done yet” said Valiant CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani. “As always, however, one of our top priorities remains the strengthening of relationships with fans and retailers. We’ve made a concerted effort since day one to get involved with each and every comic book shop, convention and consumer. Now, as we begin 2015 in full force, we’re looking forward to taking that mission even further with Andy and Matthew on board as valuable new additions to our dedicated and hard-working team.”

By Bruce Lidl

Lost somewhat in the initial burst of news from last week’s ImageExpo was the announcement of a new Image Humble Bundle offering, beginning that morning and lasting until January 21. The “Humble Image Comics Bundle 2: Image Firsts” is a massive collection of digital comics that can be purchased for whatever price the consumer chooses. Included in the basic bundle are the beginning issues of a number of recent series, including Alex + Ada, Deadly Class, C.O.W.L., Elephantmen 2260 Book One, Minimum Wage, God Hates Astronauts, Genius, and Satellite Sam. Paying at least $15 also gets you the slightly higher profile titles The Manhattan Projects, The Wicked + The Divine, The Fuse, Velvet, Sex Criminals, Wytches, The Walking Dead Vol. 22: A New Beginning (#127-132), The Fade Out #1, Nailbiter, Stray Bullets, Southern Bastards, and Shutter. And finally, a stretch price of $18 brings The Walking Dead Compendium One (#1-48), East of West: The World, and Saga Book One (#1-18). For anybody at all interested in Image brand comics, the price truly cannot be beat, especially as the retail price of the comics would be over $300 according to Humble Bundle. Also, purchasers are strongly encouraged to mark a portion of their price paid towards charity, in this case the comics creator focused Hero Initiative. As of this evening, the Image bundle has generated almost $318,000, with over five days left to go.

The current offering is the third Humble Bundle to include Image titles. The first time Humble Bundle included any digital comics was the Image bundle in April 2014 that generated almost $400,000 revenue in two weeks, with titles including Saga, Walking Dead, Fatale, Invincible and Chew. Image imprint Skybound also did a special Comic-Con Humble Bundle in July 2014 as well, which was almost entirely Kirkman based titles such as The Walking Dead, Invincible, Thief of Thieves, and Super Dinosaur. That bundle alone generated $232,000.

Other comic publishers that have released Humble Bundles since April include Dark Horse, Oni, Dynamite, BOOM!, IDW, Top Shelf and Valiant. According to Kelley Allen, Director of Books for Humble Bundle, comics publishers are eager to work with them, and she has a number of ebook and comics bundles planned in 2015 alongside Humble Bundle’s traditional gaming focused offerings. The average revenue number for the comics based bundles so far has been $288,000 for the 14 day period. According to Allen, non-gaming bundles allow Humble to “break out from their core gaming audience” but from the comics perspective, they can also create “enormous crossover” by getting great comics in front of the very large Humble Bundle community. With a very clearly defined, and devoted, young male demographic, Humble Bundle chooses comics with both a logical appeal, like Transformers, Star Wars and The Walking Dead, but Allen also curates high quality titles that may stretch demographic borders. She “pushed very hard” to include titles like Sex Criminals in the latest Image bundle, trusting the Humble Bundle audience to appreciate an outstanding title, even without prior awareness.

While the Humble Bundles may help expand the reach of digital comics, they are also helping to encourage comics publishers to feel comfortable with forgoing DRM protections for their products. Humble Bundles, regardless of content, gaming or ebooks, do not use Digital Rights Management anti-copying technologies, both for philosophical reasons and from a practical standpoint. As Allen pointed out, why use DRM when the consumer could theoretically decide to purchase the content for one cent in any case? Even Dark Horse, which has been very reluctant to forgo DRM generally, was convinced to try not using it for their big Star Wars themed Humble Bundle in October and was rewarded with sales over $375,000 for the two week offering.

Fundamentally, the Humble Bundle “pay what you want” approach reflects exactly the insights independent game developers have learned over the years in regards to digital sales. Since their products are almost universally available to be pirated, often in formats that are actually *more* user friendly than the official versions, game creators have learned to embrace the concept of giving customers compelling reasons to purchase, in the recognition that they do not have to anymore. Distribution options like Steam and Humble Bundle provide explicit value beyond what a pirated version can give, whether through ease of use, personal connection to the creators, community recognition, charitable giving, etc. The Humble Bundle experiment really leverages the unique potential of digital distribution, as the pay what you want model could not really scale in a system that necessitated fulfillment and postage charges. With this almost “donation” type model there is no extra expense for the seller after the first sale, everything after that is essentially “profit.” And the possibility that the new readers exposed to the material may become fans, and go on to make further purchases, even print purchases in local comic books stores, only heightens the value of the Humble Bundle offering. We are likely to see a number of interesting comics based bundles in 2015 and we will learn if this kind of non-traditional sales can become a significant portion of publishers’ revenue, in much the same way digital has already established itself recently.

By Davey Nieves

2015 is shaping up to be a great year in comics. With mega events, character deaths, and relaunches there’s something for everyone. Valiant has their own plans to build on their popular Valiant Next initiative that’s already launched original books like Divinity and will bring a new ongoing Ninjak title in March. In April the publisher launches a new series for their nano fueled killing machine in Bloodshot Reborn #1.

Featuring the creative team of New York Times best-selling writer Jeff Lemire (THE VALIANT, Green Arrow) and Mico Suayan (HARBINGER, Moon Knight) Bloodshot Reborn aims to plunge the ultra commando into his darkest depths ever as a rash of shootings by copycat killers forces him out of his self imposed exile to face the violence of his past.

The debut issue will also feature an armory of covers by top talent like Dave Johnson, Butch Guice, and many more. Take a look at the preview below.

BLOODSHOT REBORN #1 [VALIANT NEXT]
Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Art by MICO SUAYAN with JEFF LEMIRE
Cover A by JUAN DOE
Cover B by MICO SUAYAN
Cover C by DAVE JOHNSON
Cover D by LEWIS LAROSA
Valiant Next Variant by MICO SUAYAN & TOM MULLER
Variant Cover by JEFF LEMIRE
Variant Cover by BUTCH GUICE
B&W Sketch Variant by LEWIS LAROSA
Blank Cover also available
$3.99 |40 pgs.| T+ | On sale APRIL 15 (FOC – 3/23/15)

Follow Davey on twitter to find out just how underrated the X-O Manowar/Iron Man game was and where the best donuts in L.A are.

By: Alexander Jones

Modern mythmakers Valiant Comics are implementing something new with a prologue for their upcoming Imperium comic with Imperium: Prelude. February 4th see’s select Valiant comic books equipped with the special prelude story. The tale is written by Joshua Dysart, the regular author of the hijinks of Imperium main character Toyo Harada. The comic is drawn by Doug Braithwaite.

The story can be detached from these upcoming Valiant titles:

• X-O MANOWAR #33: February 4th
• RAI #7: February 11th
• Q2: THE RETURN OF QUANTUM AND WOODY #5 (of 5): February 11th
• UNITY #15: February 18th
• IVAR, TIMEWALKER #2: February 18th
• QUANTUM AND WOODY MUST DIE #2: February 25th

The prelude bridges the gap between Harbinger and Imperium, showing Harada’s upcoming rise to power after the descent chronicled in Harbinger and Harbinger: Omegas.

Valiant CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani chimed in with the following:

“IMPERIUM is unlike every other book Valiant has ever published before, and this exclusive prelude story is a great chance to find out why,” Dinesh Shamdasani said. “Joshua and Doug are doing phenomenal work, and, together, they are about to unleash a politically charged series with global stakes and what are sure to be some of the most compelling characters anywhere in comics today.”

 IMPERIUM #1 [VALIANT NEXT]

Written by JOSHUA DYSART

Art by DOUG BRAITHWAITE

Cover A (Harada) by RAUL ALLEN (DEC141700)

Cover B (Lord Vine-99) by RAUL ALLEN (DEC141701)

Cover C (Mech Major) by RAUL ALLEN (DEC141702)

Valiant Next Variant by TREVOR HAIRSINE & TOM MULLER (DEC141704)

Character Design Variant by DOUG BRAITHWAITE (DEC141705)

Artist Variant by DOUG BRAITHWAITE (DEC141706)

Blank Cover also available (DEC141703)

$3.99 US | T+ | 32 pgs. | On sale FEBRUARY 4 (FOC – 1/12/15)

Former Marvel editor Tom Brennan has joined Valiant as Associate Editor, joining several ther former Marvel and DC editors on staff.

Brennan will be working closely with eic Warren Simons. PR below.

Valiant is proud to announce that veteran editor Tom Brennan has been named to the position of Associate Editor. Brennan begins his new role in the midst of the new VALIANT NEXT initiative, overseeing the launch of IVAR, TIMEWALKER by the New York Times best-selling creative team of Fred Van Lente and Clayton Henry. Additionally, Brennan will assist Valiant Editor-in-Chief Warren Simons on an ongoing basis on titles including NINJAK – beginning in March – by New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt and artists Clay Mann and Butch Guice, and X-O MANOWAR by New York Times best-selling writer Robert Venditti and artist Diego Bernard.

Brennan is the newest addition to Valiant’s rapidly growing editorial team, which includes Assistant Editor Kyle Andrukiewicz, Editor Alejandro Arbona, and Editor-in-Chief Warren Simons.

“Tom has already proven to be a great fit,” said Valiant Editor-in-Chief Warren Simons. “His editorial experience stems from working on a long list of fantastic comics over the years. Great editors don’t come along often, and I’m thrilled to have him join the team.”

A six-year veteran of the editorial team at Marvel Entertainment and a Harvey Award nominee, Brennan has worked on some of the preeminent characters in comics with recent launches including Wolverine & The X-Men by Jason Latour and Mahmud Asrar, and She-Hulk by Charles Soule and Javier Pulido. His series have ranged from the world of all-ages super-heroes in tiles like Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to mainstays of the Marvel line, where Brennan contributed to lengthy runs on Amazing Spider-Man as well as Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, Venom, Thunderbolts, Savage Wolverine, and many more.

“Being a part of Valiant Entertainment might just prove that I’m the luckiest guy in comics,” said Brennan. “Watching Valiant not just survive but thrive in one of the toughest climates in publishing history was always inspiring, but to be a part of it is incredibly exciting. Moreover, Warren Simons is an editor I’ve looked up to for my entire career. This place is full of heart and hustle. I am so incredibly grateful to Dinesh Shamdasani, Fred Pierce, Gavin Cuneo and the whole crew for this warm welcome. I’m happy to be here and ready to get to work!”

“This is an exciting time at Valiant,” said Valiant CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani. “The growth and success we have achieved is a testament to the creators and staff at Valiant HQ, who work tirelessly to produce the best comics possible. Tom has been a natural addition to the team and his presence is already being felt across the line.”

Final housekeeping of 2014: I keep trying to use WordPress’s new “lite editor interface” but it keeps posting things when I meant to save them as drafts which is why odd things popped up in the feed of late. BETA, people. The new editor does seem to be the way forward—it’s nice not to have to scroll through my huge and arbitrarily nested list of caategories— but the way forward is also a dirt road. I also discovered that the plug in Tumblr Crosspostr created more than 2000 duplicate posts on this site without me noticing. Takeaway: Do not use Tumblr Crosspostr.

§ Happy New Year, everyone!

Final Best of round up:

• A weird but endearing list from The Village Voice  with some books I never heard of:

Vincenzo Ferriero and Ray Chou’s Skies of Fire (Mythopoeia, $5) focuses on Captain Helen Pierce, the only officer in the royal fleet of brass and wood dirigibles with the balls to chase bloodthirsty pirates into the Expanse, a realm of perpetual storm clouds and nihilistic gods. This steampunk epic is given believable visual heft by Pablo Peppino’s sweeping vistas and Bryan Valenza’s vintage coloring.

• I loved this list from Shea Hennum atThis Is Infamous because it covered so many things.

• At comics Alliance Steve Morris cared to say the unsayable: 

Frank Quitely may be great at drawing people walking around backwards (or whatever was going on in Pax Americana) but The Society of Super-Heroes was the actual best issue of Multiversity this year.

 

• But I have to be honest, I think I liked Nick Gazin’s list at Vice the best as it veered unselfconsciously from Michael DeForge to Dick Briefer, and included other cartoonists’ favorites AND a sharp  interview with Ed Piskor. ALSO, a reminder that Milo Manara can draw the crap out of anything, above.

• AND

The 50 Best Comic Book Covers of 2014 from Paste — I like all of these but the list could probably have been 100. That’s Deadpool’s Art of War, Cover Art by Scott Koblish above.

And: The 10 Queerest Moments in Comics of 2014 

§ This article about how Fno one remember Avatar just five years later  was a bit shocking.

Today is the fifth anniversary of the theatrical release of James Cameron’s 3D action spectacular. Avatar earned rave reviews, went on to become by-far the highest-grossing movie of all time, and won several Oscars. It absolutely almost immediately vanished from the popular zeitgeist leaving almost no pop culture impact to speak of. It did not inspire a passionate following, or a deluge of multimedia spin-offs that has kept the brand alive over the last five years. Few today will even admit to liking it, and its overall effect on the culture at large is basically non-existent. It came, it crushed all long-term box office records, and it vanished almost without a trace.

I guess when you’rea deep sea diving autuer who has time to make toys. I seem to remember this was the first part of a trilogy, but…would anyone want to return to…wherever it was set?

§ Several people in my feed linked to this piece called The Death of the Artist—and the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur which does ties up many themes I’ve been mentioning on this site all year but…come on, weren’t folks like Mozart and Picasso entrepreneurs, too? All the tools and socials available mean there is less and less time to be creative, and more and more to promote oneself, but Mozart didn’t have indoor plumbing or a car, and that took up a lot of time, too.

§ Vulture’s Abraham iesman has a very flattering profile of Valiant Entertainment which compares it to Moneyball.

Today Kindt isn’t just a fan — he’s one of the company’s star writers. He’s participating in one of the strangest experiments in comics history: the resurrection of Valiant, a brand that had long been a failure and a punch line. It’s an experiment that involves message boards, mysterious auctions, time-traveling Visigoths, filthy cubicles, and Moneyball. The goal is to create a superhero universe that can challenge Marvel and DC’s supremacy. It’s an experiment that could very well fail. But right now, against all odds, it’s working.

the piece does acknowledge Valiants lack of diversity, which some people think is hurting it in the marketplace.

However, he thinks Valiant still has a big hurdle to overcome: “The only knock I have against them right now is the lack of diversity that is cropping up in their line, both in terms of characters and the creatives behind them.” He has a point: Few of its titles star women (and the ones that do are either team books or limited series), and its creative staff is overwhelmingly male. Even Kindt, who’s currently writing three Valiant series, thinks his company has catching up to do on diversity. He recalled going to his first Valiant writers’ retreat, which was “maybe six or seven guys, and the first thing we said was, ‘We need to get a woman in here, it’s ridiculous.’”

Valiant is letting out all the stops with the Valaint Next launch, and luckily most of the stops look pretty nifty. It’s a competitive field out there for well designed comics covers, but designer Tom Muller (Zero, Drifter) usually stands out. Here are the variants for the Valiant Next titles TIMEWALKER #1, IMPERIUM #1, DIVINITY #1, NINJAK #1 and BLOODSHOT REBORN #1.

IVAR, TIMEWALKER #1 [OCT148442]
Valiant Next Variant by Tom Muller & Clayton Henry
On sale January 21, 2015

THE VALIANT #2 (of 4) [OCT148443]
Valiant Next Variant by Tom Muller & Paolo Rivera
On sale January 21, 2015

IMPERIUM #1 [DEC141704]
Valiant Next Variant by Tom Muller & Trevor Hairsine
On sale February 4, 2015

DIVINITY #1 (of 4) [DEC141709]
Valiant Next Variant by Tom Muller & Trevor Hairsine
On sale February 11, 2015

NINJAK #1 [JAN151641]
Valiant Next Variant by Tom Muller & Trevor Hairsine
On sale March 11, 2015

BLOODSHOT REBORN #1
Valiant Next Variant by Tom Muller & Mico Suayan
On Sale April 15, 2015

By: Alexander Jones

Valiant comics are continuing to mix up their line with a couple of brave new experimental decisions, but this one might be the most dangerous of them all, introducing a character with incredible power in the Valiant world. The publisher’s latest wave, Valiant Next, started with the release of the first issue of The Valiant, and will continue to launch throughout the first couple of months of 2015. In February of Valiant Next Matt Kindt and Trevor Hairsine’s Divinity is launching alongside Imperium. This is a new concept for Valiant that’s shipping in the prestige format in four issues. The concept for this story is especially bonkers for a new property launching in a shared superhero universe. In the middle of the Cold War, the Soviet Union sent one man into the far reaches of space, he went further than anyone has ever gone before. Then he found something strange. That same man came back to Earth and landed in Australia, with the power of to bend matter, space, and time. His new name is…Divinity.

Valiant released teaser images featuring Hairisine’s art, several covers, and this intriguing concept below:

DIVINITY #1 (of 4) [VALIANT NEXT]

Written by MATT KINDT

Art by TREVOR HAIRSINE

Cover A by JELENA KEVIC-DJURDJEVIC (DEC141707)

Cover B by TOM MULLER (DEC141708)

Valiant Next Variant by BUTCH GUICE & TOM MULLER (DEC141709)

Character Design Variant by LEWIS LAROSA (DEC141710)

Artist Variant by LEWIS LAROSA (DEC141711)

Blank Cover also available (NOV148093)

$3.99 | T+ | 32 pgs. | PRESTIGE FORMAT | ON SALE 2/11/15 (FOC – 1/19/15)

By: Alexander Jones

After revealing the first wave of Free Comic Book Day titles, it was only a matter of time before the rest of them started to pop up. This next batch is very exciting, and full of fun offerings from all your favorite publishers with the big guns like Marvel and DC, along with Valiant, Comix Tribe, IDW, Image, Oni and the mysterious new Legendary Comics imprint that kicked off with Grant Morrison’s Annihilator. DC still has their titles blocked out with the letters ‘TOP SECRET’ sitting on the front page, it’s likely whatever these comics are will be revealed closer towards Convergence. Of course, Marvel is launching Avengers material close to their upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron film. Included in this silver collection of titles is a lot of material from other media, meant to turn you non-comics reading friends completely addicted to this medium. See if Attack on Titan, Avatar, or Sonic can hook your non-reading friends. Free Comic Book Day is on the first Saturday of May. CBR broke the news this morning with covers, and quick description information. All these titles are considered silver comics, with the gold titles being the first wave of books.

• 2000 AD Special–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• And Then Emily Was Gone–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Avengers #1–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Bodie Troll & Friends–FCBD 2015 EDITION

• Captain Canuck–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• CBLDF Defend Comics–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Comics Festival–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Dark Horse All Ages Avatar PVZ Bandette–FCBD 2015 EDITION

• DC Comics Silver Book–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• GFT Wonderland Special Edition One Shot (MR)–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Graphix Spotlight Cleopatra In Space–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Gronk and Friends–FCBD 2015 EDITION

• Hatter M Love of Wonder–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Hip Hop Family Tree 3-in-1 Featuring Cosplayers (MR)–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Ice Bayou Blackout–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Jojos Bizarre Adventure and Yu Gi Oh–FCBD 2015 EDITION

• Jurassic Strike Force 5 One Shot–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Kodansha Comics Sampler–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Lady Justice–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Legendary Comics Sampler–FCBD 2015 EDITION

• March Grand Prix–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Mercury Heat Debut (MR)–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Motorcycle Samurai–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Overstreet Comic Book Marketplace–FCBD 2015 EDITION

• Phantom Special–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Rabbids–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Sonic the Hedgehog Mega Man Worlds Unite Prelude–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Stan Lee Chakra The Invincible–FCBD 2015 EDITION

• Steampunk Goldilocks–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Street Fighter Super Combo Special–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Stuff of Legend Call to Arms–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Supermutant Magic Academy Step Aside Pops Combo–FCBD 2015 EDITION

• Tales of Honor–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Terrible Lizard #1–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• The Tick–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• TMNT Prelude to Vengeance–FCBD 2015 EDITION

• Valiant 25TH Anniversary Special–FCBD 2015 EDITION
• Worlds of Aspen–FCBD 2015 EDITION

By: Alexander Jones

Imperium is coming. After getting briefed from Joshua Dysart on mission orders, check out these brand new pages from the fantastical Doug Braithwaite in a press release sent straight from the Valiant Entertainment headquarters in New York City. Imperium is Valiant’s spiritual successor to Harbinger, a title that carried the company into greatness, and also introduced Toyo Harada, one of the most interesting villains in the Valiant world. Toyo is a decrepid old man, with intense psiot powers, enabling him to hide his appearance and true nature. Until, the events of Harbinger changed his path forever. Now, everyone knows the deranged actions of Harada. To combat his loss of power, the dictator is now seeking an army to help him operate in the shadows, enter Imperium, Harada’s band of merry misfits. These aliens, robots, and psiots may not bring holiday cheer.

Imperium #1 ships February 4th, and features covers from Doug Braithwaite, Raul Allen, and Trevor Hairsine with Tom Muller.

In our very own interview with Joshua Dysart, the author had this to say of what’s left of Toyo Harada’s empire before Imperium:

The current situation with the Harbinger foundation that was sort of the secret organization buried within Harada Conglomerates, is that Harada’s conglomerate has dissolved. However, Harada still has thousands of secret accounts located all over the world. These things are actively being tracked down all over the planet. It’s difficult for him to track all of them down, but they exist. The Harbinger Foundation itself is now whatever technologies he has found and pilfered. It’s now predominantly found within the U.S.S. Bush – Harada has stolen one of the largest nuclear aircraft carriers in the United States, and they are also taking the Somalia itself. But that’s all that’s left of Harada’s empire. It’s like if he were a musician, at one time he was in the biggest stadium band in history, but now he’s back to playing garages.

By: Alexander Jones

“Venditti’s cooked up a good one”

In 2015, Valiant Entertainment is gearing up to send Aric of Dacia, the greatest, most butt-kicking 15th century Visigothic that was ever placed out of time in a brand new storyline entitled Dead Hand. The creative team features the usually spectacular talent of Robert Venditti and Diego Bernard, and kicks off after Enter: Armorines concludes. The story begins in March’s X-O Manowar #34 in 2015.

Author Robert Venditti himself chimed in via a press release from Valiant on what he has been brewing for the series:

“DEAD HAND is going to take the mythology surrounding the X-O Manowar armor, and the entire Valiant Universe, in a direction not seen before,” said Venditti “As formidable as the adversaries in the series have been to date, none of them measure up to this single-minded, doomsday threat. X-O Manowar has made a habit of taking what readers expect and turning it on its head. We’ve challenged ourselves to do that again.”

After exploring space for a little, the Visigoth seems to have gone too far into the unknown. He accidentally stumbles across a squad of bloodthirsty robots known as the Dead Hand, whose creators have been proclaimed long dead (pun intended). Aric has activated these robots in the storyline who have been created to combat an unknown enemy.

Valiant’s Editor-in-Chief Warren Simons had the following to say about Aric’s predicament:

“Last summer, X-O Manowar went up against the Armor Hunters for a full-metal throwdown between Earth and alien life. Well, we won the battle, but that doesn’t mean we’ve won the war,” said Simons. “Somewhere out there, something colder, grimmer, and more calculating is about to come online. And it won’t concede that war, even in death. An extinct world has saved a nasty treat for the Valiant U – something insanely effective that could only exist in the wake of their failure – a dead hand. Venditti’s cooked up a good one, folks.”

The first issue hits finer comic book shops in March with covers from both Lewis Larosa, and Jorge Molina. Take a look at the solicitation copy from Valiant:

X-O MANOWAR #34 (NEW ARC! “DEAD HAND” – PART 1)

Written by ROBERT VENDITTI

Art by DIEGO BERNARD

Cover A (Overlay Wrap) by LEWIS LAROSA

Cover B (Wraparound) by JORGE MOLINA

Variant Cover by DAS PASTORAS

Dead Hand Design Variant by JORGE MOLINA

Artist Variant by BUTCH GUICE

$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+ | On sale MARCH 4 (FOC – 2/9/15)

By: Alexander Jones

“He’s definitely the largest robber baron in the history of the human species,”

said author Joshua Dysart of Toyo Harada, the main character in his newest ongoing series Imperium.

Valiant Entertainment could have just published another volume of their fan-favorite Harbinger title which Dysart also wrote and called it a day; but instead the company is striving for something different with their upcoming Imperium title. Toyo Harada, one of the most heinous villains of the Valiant Universe is the star of the upcoming series. Dysart shared some new information on the new project, spilling the secrets on the new Vine soldier joining the team, giving more insight into Toyo Harada’s motivations, and checking on the brand new status quo of Peter Stanchek. Witness how Dysart and artist Doug Braithwaite are taking advantage of Harbinger creators Jim Shooter and David Lapham’s groundwork to spin something wholly original:

Comics Beat: Let’s start with the obvious: why Imperium? After Harbinger was such a rousing creative success, why take this insane risk?

Joshua Dysart: It’s for exactly that reason. I’m not super interested in going right back into the same thing. I feel like we pulled something off with Harbinger completely by accident. The last thing you wanna do is go in and keep meddling with it. Obviously we will eventually get back to that story. It’s just more interesting to do something new and different. The whole point of being a creative person is to not constantly repeat yourself.

CB: Is there a trend coming now with Valiant’s renewed interest in melding brand new characters and additions to the lore that were not present during the initial run of the company?

JD: Absolutely, I think that it’s in their best interest, and I think that’s what I am trying to do in Imperium, which is a book about almost all new characters. That’s a big part of what Valiant is looking to do next.

CB: While Imperium begins, are Peter’s stories going to be pushed to the side?

JD: Yeah, I think what’s happening with the Renegades and what’s happening with Toyo are on two divergent paths for the time being. I mean basically what’s happened here is Peter and his crew won, but in winning they sort of destroyed themselves. In Harada’s losing it sort of entrenched him and reinforced his ideals to himself so we have a situation where the winners have really lost and the loser has ultimately won, which I think says something interesting about the nature of conflict. That’s what I think where we are at. The Renegades are not even capable of fighting Harada, and is that even interesting to that even more. One of them lost their life and the rest of them gave all their efforts to this conflict for so long, and to what end? They just reinforced him and entrenched him. I don’t even know if that’s something they are interested in anymore.

CB:  How large is the scope of Imperium? Will Imperium affect the greater Valiant publishing line?

JD: It’s being designed to interact with the larger Valiant Universe in a way that Harbinger wasn’t. You know Harbinger was a sort of insular thing that was about these young people, and I sorta moaned and groaned every time the larger Valiant Universe came crashing into my little bubble. This is a much bigger conflict. This is ultimately a conflict for the world so we would have to imagine the whole Valiant U will come up against Harada and his plans. The whole thing is built to embrace that absolutely.

CB: Now that you are opening up the Valiant Universe more with your upcoming project, is there any correlation between penciller Doug Braithwaite’s art and what you are trying to do to sort of open this book up wider?

JD: I think thematically yeah, absolutely. You know I really love Doug’s work. I love that he can handle density and that he can handle these big moments but then I started talking about the series, but then I wanted him to do work that was really human and very concerned with the minutia of the moment, so Doug automatically became the perfect person for this book. He can go big, but instead he’s going small. He can have an epic moment, based around human drama that will lead to a better comic. I think he’s an incredible asset to the book.

CB: With an interest in HBO shows where we’re exploring a lot of anti-heroes, how do you walk that line between following some people who are sort of making some questionable decisions, but still making it so we can identify with them in the book?

JD: That’s hard to talk about, because it’s the kind of thing you do when you’re writing. It’s just really important to make sure they feel complicated and human. Once a person feels as complicated as you can make them as a character, then that person can actually become really interesting. Apart from that there’s no real secret trick or anything you just try to humanize them as much as possible.

CB: After reading Robert Venditti’s work with X-O Manowar, I saw that the Vine was painted as these dehumanized killers that entrapped Aric’s group of Visigoth. Whereas during the Planet Death Arc, we see a different side of the Vine. With the new Vine character integrated into the Imperium team are you going to explore that side that Robert opened up in Planet Death?

JD: Yeah absolutely, I think the complexity of the Vine is going to be revealed eventually, maybe not in the first arc, but eventually. Lord Vine 99 is less of a product of conscious free-will vine, and more of a clone that the Vine has created. He doesn’t represent exactly the Vine mindset. I don’t think we can share a story about Toyo trying to take over the planet and not have the Vine be intimately involved in this. The fact is that the Vine took over the planet and won a long time ago. Now we are going to share Harada’s history with the Vine that goes back to the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. It’s all going to be woven in pretty tightly into the narrative.

CB:  What will the antagonists look like in the title? I heard something about robots, aliens, and poets?

JD: Harada has his basic psiot that survived the collapse of his first post civilization in first crew. He basically has a fully functional robot which is a version of his med-bots that he kind of amped up. The A.I. was a total accident, and now he has an A.I. shackle. He is incapable of entering any network. He is extremely limited in how his intelligence can grow and what he can affect. This is Harada’s basic check to not having a singularity happen overnight. It’s only a matter of time before artificial intelligence is affected all across the internet. He’s a really interesting tragic character for me. He’s capable of so much, yet he can’t intellectually grow but he knows that. We also have mad scientists!

CB: While the Harbinger Foundation was in control of an incredible amount of corruption, Harada surely cannot employ telekinesis on the entire planet. With limited power, does Toyo Harada have any chance of clearing his name?

JD: The current situation with Harbinger foundation that was sort of the secret organization buried within Harada Conglomerates, but Harada’s conglomerate has dissolved. However, Harada still has thousands of secret accounts located all over the world. These things are actively being tracked down all over the planet. That exists, so there is money and revenue. It’s difficult for him to track all of them down, but they exist. The Harbinger Foundation itself is now whatever technologies he has found and pilfered. And it’s now predominantly found within the U.S.S. Bush – Harada has stolen one of the largest nuclear aircraft carriers in the United States, and they are also taking the Somalia itself. But that’s all that’s left of Harada’s empire. He has money, but it’s tricky for him to use the money without being seen and he has a lot of his old tech, but he doesn’t have it all. For instance, he can’t activate psiots right now. It’s like if he were a musician, at one time he was in the biggest stadium band in history, but now he’s back to playing garages.

CB: Is Harada interested in clearing his name?

JD: He has done everything he is accused of doing; he’s definitely the largest robber baron in the history of the human species.

I don’t think that Harada believes that he has done anything wrong. I think he believes that the narrow shortsightedness of the species and their inability to see all that he gave them in return for the few things that he had to only reinforces him to see what others can’t see. It would have been easier if he keeps his global institution in place it would be easier for him to operate things within the shadows. Instead of having every government and every corporation pitted against him. He has no desire to clear his name.

CB: Was Unity Toyo’s failed attempt at building a team like the one featured in this comic?

JD: What’s really interesting about Unity is that their initial inception was to keep Aric [X-O Manowar] from taking over Romania. Harada has done exactly the thing that Aric did, in that he put together this team to fight him which is a real vine of hubris and hypocrisy.

CB: What has Peter learned from the first volume of Harbinger to now?

JD: For a while, we’re not gonna know what’s going on with them. The last time we saw Peter he was contemplating that the only true heroism is doing nothing at all. I don’t know that they were ever ready to play at the level they played Harada at all. They are just kids, they are kids with a lot of power and they took on a really big task, and I don’t think they knew what it entailed. I think they are pretty heartbroken and beaten down from the battle.

Valiant continues to roll out some new books—this month it’s Josh Dysart’s Imperium—but I really just posted this for the Matt Kindt/Jeff Lemire  variant covers.

IMPERIUM #1 [VALIANT NEXT]

Written by JOSHUA DYSART
Art by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Cover A (Harada) by RAUL ALLEN
Cover B (Lord Vine-99) by RAUL ALLEN
Cover C (Major Mech) by RAUL ALLEN
Valiant Next Variant by TREVOR HAIRSINE & TOM MULLER
Character Design Variant by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Artist Variant by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Blank Cover also available

A daring new superhero saga from New York Times best-selling creator Joshua Dysart – writer of of the Harvey-Award nominated series HARBINGER – and superstar artist Doug Braithwaite (UNITY, Justice)!

Toyo Harada is the most dangerous human being on the planet. Imbued with incredible powers of the mind, he has spent his life guiding humanity from the shadows. But today he is a wanted man. His powers are public knowledge, his allies have turned to enemies, and he is hunted by every government on the planet.

Instead of surrendering, Harada has one last unthinkable gambit to play: to achieve more, faster, and with less, he will build a coalition of the powerful, the unscrupulous and the insane. No longer content to demand a better future, he will recruit a violent legion from the darkest corners of the Earth to fight for it. The battle for utopia begins now.
$3.99 US | T+ | 32 pgs. | On sale FEBRUARY 4

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DIVINITY #1 (of 4) [VALIANT NEXT]
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by TREVOR HAIRSINE
Cover A by JELENA KEVIC-DJURDJEVIC
Cover B by TOM MULLER
Valiant Next Variant by BUTCH GUICE & TOM MULLER
Character Design Variant by LEWIS LAROSA
Artist Variant by LEWIS LAROSA

From New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (THE VALIANT, Mind MGMT) and blockbuster artist Trevor Hairsine (X-Men: Deadly Genesis) comes a shocking new vision of science fiction in an all-new prestige format limited series.

At the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union – determined to win the Space Race at any cost – green lit a dangerously advanced mission. They sent a man farther into the cosmos than anyone has gone before or since. Lost in the stars, he encountered something unknown. Something that…changed him.

Long thought lost and erased from the history books, he has suddenly returned, crash-landing in the Australian Outback. The few that have been able to reach him believe him to be a deity – one who turned the scorched desert into a lush oasis. They say he can bend matter, space, and even time to his will. Earth is about to meet a new god. And he’s a communist.

How long can it be before the first confrontation between mankind and DIVINITY begins?

$3.99 US | T+ | 32 pgs. | PRESTIGE FORMAT | On sale FEBRUARY 11

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IVAR, TIMEWALKER #2 [VALIANT NEXT]
Written by FRED VAN LENTE
Art by CLAYTON HENRY
Cover A by RAUL ALLEN
Cover B by BRIAN LEVEL
Variant Cover by PERE PEREZ
Variant Cover by RAMON VILLALOBOS

From the award-winning team that brought you ARCHER & ARMSTRONG, New York Times best-selling creators Fred Van Lente and Clayton Henry continue a centuries-spanning race against the clock! 

At this very moment in Geneva, Switzerland, history is being made. A thousand meters underground inside the Large Hadron Collider, researcher Neela Sethi is about to discover time travel – and jeopardize her life in the process. But she doesn’t know that yet. Ten minutes from now, every deadbeat chrononaut, wannabe conqueror, and misguided protector of the time stream will be banging down her door. Good thing that the legendary Ivar, Timewalker, got there first…right? Now it’s down to history’s most jaded, most tempestuous time traveler to stop the worst  of everything that is, was, and will be…before time runs out!

$3.99 US | T+ | 32 pgs. | On sale FEBRUARY 18

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THE VALIANT #3 (of 4) [VALIANT NEXT]
Written by JEFF LEMIRE & MATT KINDT
Art & Cover by PAOLO RIVERA
Variant Cover by JEFF LEMIRE & MATT KINDT
Variant Cover by FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA

As the world teeters on the brink of a new Dark Age, superstar creators Jeff Lemire (Green Arrow, Animal Man), Matt Kindt (RAI, Mind MGMT), and Paolo Rivera (Daredevil) recruit each of Valiant’s most formidable heroes into the 10,000-year-old battle for the fate of all mankind!

The entire Valiant Universe faces off against the Immortal Enemy! Can they help Eternal Warrior succeed where he has failed so many times before? Civilization’s best hope against the darkness may lie in the unlikeliest of romances…

$3.99 US | T+ | 32 pgs. | PRESTIGE FORMAT | On sale FEBRUARY 18

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X-O MANOWAR #33 (ALL-NEW JUMPING-ON POINT!)
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI
Art by RAFA SANDOVAL
Cover A by MARGUERITE SAUVAGE
Cover B by RYAN LEE
Variant Cover by CHRISCROSS

X-O Manowar has beaten the Vine. Survived the Armor Hunters. Come face to face with the Armorines. Now he faces an unimaginable threat…a threat from beyond the grave.

The lesson needed to defeat them resides with his past and the greatest love of his life, Deidre of Dacia. But the last Aric knew of her, she was captured by the Roman legions and heading towards a slave camp. Her story, however, did not end there. Heavy hangs the head the that wears the crown.

Join New York Times best-selling writer Robert Venditti (Green Lantern, The Flash) and rising star Rafa Sandoval (X-Men: Legacy) for this special done-in-one jumping-on point issue – revisiting a mystery ripped from the pages of X-O Manowar #1!

$3.99 US | T+ | 32 pgs. | On sale FEBRUARY 4

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QUANTUM AND WOODY MUST DIE! #2 (of 4)
Written by JAMES ASMUS
Art by STEVE LIEBER
Cover by MIKE HAWTHORNE
Variant Cover by JOHNNIE CHRISTMAS
Variant Cover by SINA GRACE

The fix is in – and award-winning creators James Asmus (Gambit) and Steve Lieber (Superior Foes of Spider-Man) are about to unleash a world of hurt on the world’s worst superhero mis-adventurers! 

Quantum and Woody have been hyp-mo-tized! But why? And how did these two chuckleheads suddenly become the heroes and idols of millions? A sinister puppet master lays his cards on the table and activates his Manchurian Candidates. Because when the world’s worst superhero team swoops into action…Quantum and Woody must die!

$3.99 US | T+ | 32 pgs. | On sale FEBRUARY 25

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UNITY #15 (NEW ARC!)
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by PERE PEREZ
Cover A by RAUL ALLEN
Cover B by JENNY FRISON
Variant Cover by CHRISCROSS

ALL-NEW ARC! New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (THE VALIANT, RAI) and Harvey Award nominee Pere Perez (ARCHER & ARMSTRONG) rebuild the world’s most elite super-team one member at a time!

The United have left Unity decimated – a member lost, a terrible secret revealed, and the entire world turned against them. Not Harada, not Dr. Silk, not even the mighty Armor Hunters left the team as fractured as this! Now, Unity must decide where their place is in this new world and whether they will stand together or fall apart, beginning with the one teammate that might just be the most dangerous of all…the lethal intelligence operative called NINJAK!

$3.99 US | T+ | 32 pgs. | On sale FEBRUARY 18

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RAI #7
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by CLAYTON CRAIN
Cover A by CLAYTON CRAIN
Cover B by RAUL ALLEN
Variant Cover by RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE

“Battle for New Japan” explodes with another pulse-pounding chapter by New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (THE VALIANT, Mind MGMT) and featuring fully painted artwork by superstar artist Clayton Crain (X-Force)!

Romance threatens to destroy a necessary peace between Raddies and robots as Rai builds his army for the final assault on Father! Plus: a glimpse of Earth 4001 and the secret weapon hiding out on the planet’s surface that could be the key to taking back New Japan!

$3.99 US | T+ | 32 pgs. | On sale FEBRUARY 11

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Q2: THE RETURN OF QUANTUM AND WOODY #5 (of 5)
Written by CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
Art & Cover by MD BRIGHT
Variant Cover by RYAN LEE
Throwback Variant by MARC LAMING

It all ends here! Legendary creators Christopher Priest (Black Panther) and MD Bright (Iron Man) deliver the final chapter for a comic book milestone more than a decade in the making!

Quantum. Woody. The other Quantum has disappeared. The other Woody has been revealed. Heroes, enemies, frenemies, and armies of vicious mercenaries descend on one luxurious ballroom during a black-tie affair…they all want the secret young Woody guards, and nothing will stop them from taking it. As the bullets fly and the champagne flows, can Quantum save the life of his young ward? And just whose side is the slippery Woody finally on…?

$3.99 US | T+ | 32 pgs. | On sale FEBRUARY 11

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THE DELINQUENTS TPB
Written by JAMES ASMUS & FRED VAN LENTE
Art by KANO
Cover by PAOLO RIVERA

Quantum and Woody are the world’s worst superhero team. Archer & Armstrong are a mismatched pair of conspiracy-busting adventurers. When a mysterious force collides these ill-suited and irresponsible “heroes” are in for a cross-country race through the darkest corners of American mythology, all hell is bound to break loose. Can two busted pairs become four of a kind in time to defeat the Hobo King, save the day, and make it back home in time for happy hour?  Let’s hope so…’cause these guys make a really, really bad team. (And you don’t even want to know about the goat.)

It’s an all-new superhero joyride from fan-favorite writers James Asmus (QUANTUM AND WOODY) and Fred Van Lente (ARCHER & ARMSTRONG) and heat-seeking artist Kano (QUANTUM AND WOODY,Immortal Iron Fist), colliding Quantum and Woody and Archer & Armstrong for the world’s most disastrous team-up adventure! Collecting THE DELINQUENTS #1–4.

$14.99 US | T+ | 112 pgs. | On sale FEBRUARY 4
TRADE PAPERBACK | ISBN: 9781939346513

“✮✮✮✮✮…[The Delinquents] just might be the single most entertaining comic book released in…the entire year of 2014.” – Comic Book Resources

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VALIANT MASTERS: HARBINGER VOL. 1 – CHILDREN OF THE EIGHTH DAY HC
Written by JIM SHOOTER
Art & Cover by DAVID LAPHAM

Peter Stanchek and his band of teenage runaways are harbingers of a new age, born with the power to change the world… or break it. Plagued by emerging psionic powers he hardly understands, Peter turns to Toyo Harada and his Harbinger Foundation, an organization dedicated teaching young people like Peter. But when Peter learns to what lengths Harada will go to further his secret agenda, he turns on his mentor, gathering a group of like-minded rebels. On the road and always just one step ahead of Harada and his hit-squad of super powered Eggbreakers, these renegade harbingers will have to learn how to use their powers to change the world for the better along the way.

This deluxe hardcover collects the critically acclaimed masterpiece that kicked off a whole new age of superheroes from legendary creators Jim Shooter (Secret Wars) and David Lapham (Stray Bullets). Collecting HARBINGER (1992) #0–7 in a deluxe hardcover format, complete with process art, sketches, and more rarely seen back-up material from the Valiant vault.

$39.99 US | T+ | 200 pgs. | On sale FEBRUARY 25
HARDCOVER | ISBN: 978193934648

“’Children of the Eighth Day’ deserves to be uttered in the same breath as the masterpieces of the art form: Watchmen, Maus, Dark Knight Returns…” – Sequart