I don't actively promote comics from big name comics. I much rather promote the works of small press but, this is an exception. The comics I'm reading now are so phenomenal I feel I must share them with everyone! So, below you will find my rant about The Sumer of Valiant and why I'm reading monthly comics once again.
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Back in the late 90's I stopped actively collecting comics due in large part to the Spider-Man Clone Saga... they just lost my interest. Over the next decade or so I would pic up the occasional Marvel or DC book just to keep up with the characters. Time and time again though, I'd be horribly disappointed. It wasn't always just poor writing and poor art but it was always at least one of those things that just gets to you... that whisper in your mind that says, "You just wasted your money, dude!"
So, I began buying and reading more and more indie comics. Often times I was rewarded with both great art and excellent stories and if not, I could at least feel good that I was supporting someone's dream.
...and seeing others do so, I began making my own comics with the value of quality in both art and story. W.I.C. was born. A few years before a company called BOOM! was coming out with amazing stuff and most amazing of all they were producing comics for kids! I began reading their books and studying how they run their business. I love BOOM! and KaBOOM! and highly recommend a number of their titles! That said, I still wasn't a collector anymore nor a monthly reader of any one series. I'd wait for the trade. I had come to realize there would never be another "mainstream" comic title I'd be so excited about that I would buy it on a monthly schedule... or so I thought... Quality was about to come back to comics in a very epic way...
The Summer of Valiant!
I was excited when I heard Valiant Comics was returning but not even I could have predicted how wonderful these books would be. Sure, they were known for quality art and writing and often heralded as the best of the 90's but, there was that time, not so long ago when Aklaim took a stab at bringing the Valiant titles back and left most of us, if not all of us, disillusioned. So there was some skepticism. I'm very happy to say, it was unneeded. What the guys and gals over at Valiant Comics have done is nothing short of a miracle!
In a period where so many comic companies are struggling to stay alive and thus are constantly re-inventing themselves and characters in one fashion or another (and failing miserably) Valiant has not only managed to successfully re-invent themselves and their characters but also put incredible teams on their comics!
The art is amazing and superior to many other comics, it also tells the story without the words, the way sequential art should! But on top of great art is equally great writing! From the moment you open the #1 issue of any Valiant book you are trapped; mesmerized; encapsulated by the epic tales they are telling! Unlike other companies who have for the past decade or so relied on grand universe spanning "Events" Valiant has chosen to focus on characters rather than events! Not that there isn't an event coming, or so promises the many blurbs out there about what to expect.
They have thus chosen to unite their universe of characters without alienating the reader by making the Valiant world cohesive enough for a day dreaming couch potato as well as detailed and interesting enough for the keenest of geeks!
I can't say enough about how wonderful it is to be engaged in monthly comics again. As a writer of comics myself, the level of quality coming out of Valiant is the mark of excellence I want to meet. The bar has been set. Ladies and gentlemen, let the games begin!
Long Live Valiant!
The Summer of Valiant!
I was excited when I heard Valiant Comics was returning but not even I could have predicted how wonderful these books would be. Sure, they were known for quality art and writing and often heralded as the best of the 90's but, there was that time, not so long ago when Aklaim took a stab at bringing the Valiant titles back and left most of us, if not all of us, disillusioned. So there was some skepticism. I'm very happy to say, it was unneeded. What the guys and gals over at Valiant Comics have done is nothing short of a miracle!
In a period where so many comic companies are struggling to stay alive and thus are constantly re-inventing themselves and characters in one fashion or another (and failing miserably) Valiant has not only managed to successfully re-invent themselves and their characters but also put incredible teams on their comics!
The art is amazing and superior to many other comics, it also tells the story without the words, the way sequential art should! But on top of great art is equally great writing! From the moment you open the #1 issue of any Valiant book you are trapped; mesmerized; encapsulated by the epic tales they are telling! Unlike other companies who have for the past decade or so relied on grand universe spanning "Events" Valiant has chosen to focus on characters rather than events! Not that there isn't an event coming, or so promises the many blurbs out there about what to expect.
They have thus chosen to unite their universe of characters without alienating the reader by making the Valiant world cohesive enough for a day dreaming couch potato as well as detailed and interesting enough for the keenest of geeks!
I can't say enough about how wonderful it is to be engaged in monthly comics again. As a writer of comics myself, the level of quality coming out of Valiant is the mark of excellence I want to meet. The bar has been set. Ladies and gentlemen, let the games begin!
Long Live Valiant!
