|
I was in middle school when Valiant started and began collecting them around the time X-O Manowar came out. It was a weird phenomenon because at that time collectors were buying comics by the fistful and early Valiant issues became very expensive due to their rarity. Trade paperbacks hadn't become big (printing was still done manually) and digital wasn't even a thing yet so you actually had to buy the comics in order to read them. I remember Rai #4 was the most expensive comic around for a while, simply due to the fact that it had an extremely low print run (Rai wasn't a very good comic book). Anyway people started buying multiples of Valiant comics because the early issues were so sought-after (Rai #4 = $500 therefore Bloodshot #0 = $5000, right?) and the comics themselves never really warranted that kind of popularity. I swear if they had just chugged along without the hype and kept producing a small number of quality comics, Valiant would have survived the crash and produced massive, elaborate, well-planned storylines like Unity. They would have been magnificent. But no, instead we got Bloodshot and Hard C.O.R.P.S. and Ninjak as they rapidly expanded their line to cash in on the stupidity of collectors by producing as many #1 or #0 issues as possible. These new Valiant comics seem pretty cool, though. It sucks that they can't bring back Solar because he was always the coolest part of their universe.
|
#
¿
Jun 22, 2012 12:09
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 10, 2024 07:56 |
|
|
ShimSham posted:To this day I still have a few boxes of his filled with nothing but early issues of XO, Turok, Rai, Bloodshot and a lot of early stuff from Image. The funny thing is by the time Turok and Bloodshot came out the print runs were already so high there was no chance whatsoever said comics would ever accrue value. While the early Valiants were definitely overpriced, they were also genuinely rare and still command a decent price today because of it. If you wanted to make money off of comics in the early 90's, the best thing to do would have been buying massive amounts of late run Transformers and GI Joe comics, because both series had astoundingly low print runs leading up to their cancellation. To this day the most expensive Marvel Transformers comic is the last issue.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 1, 2012 07:11
|
|
|
I have been trying to read the whole Valiant run in order of release. The pre-unity books are fantastic. The way they built up the universe was really interesting. Solar linked up with Magnus and begat Rai and XO in parallel storylines taking place 2000 years apart. Everything was really well-written, the art was not flashy but told good stories. Villains in one book would appear in others. By Solar #10 the origin of the universe was established. Solar accidentally destroyed the universe then subconsciously recreated it with some changes made by his subconscious. This spawned the aliens and Geomancers and Gilad's family begat harbingers. Everyone with powers comes from this one event somehow. Unity was a great storyline. Then during Unity, Jim Shooter got fired, I guess, and everything goes downhill from there. There are good post-unity books. Archer and Armstrong continues being quality. Solar drops off quickly. David Lapham stuck around for a few months and turned out good books. But the difference in quality is noticeable. The comics are still good, but not as artful or compelling. Especially Solar, which was such a unique and interesting story for the first year.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 22, 2012 15:08
|
|
|
I am up to the serial number contest now. Some books have already gotten bad but it seems like the quality doesn't go completely downhill until the original writer leaves. It really is a shame they can't even reprint most of this stuff. I remember not liking Rai as a kid but if you read up to Magnus #8 it makes sense and is a good story. The key books were so rare back then, it was difficult just to read most of the early issues. The only pre-unity books I collected from the start were Shadowman and XO, so going back and reading early Solar or Magnus is very cool. I am sure by Birthquake these books get awful, though. At that point they were hiring interns as writers and pencilers. Valiant Vision was another bad idea.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 22, 2012 18:09
|
|