Crushing Krisis presents a definitive guide on every Valiant Entertainment title from their 2012 universe reboot and how they can be read via hardcover and trade paperback graphic novels. Last updated May 2016 with titles scheduled for release through October 2016.
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A Brief History of Valiant Comics
Valiant Comics has one of the most interesting origin stories in the business. The company was originally founded in the late 80s by Marvel’s longtime Editor-in-Chief, Jim Shooter, and a crowd of entertainment industry veterans. Their initial titles were actually licensed Nintendo character comics, including a Super-Mario, Zelda, Metroid, and comic called Game Boy – no joke! A year later they brought back Gold Key Comics characters from the dawn of the Silver Age, like Magnus Robot Fighter and Solar, Man of the Atom.
It was in 1992 that Valiant launched their own, original line of superheroes, starting with a core of four interconnected titles: Harbinger, X-O Manowar, Rai, and Shadowman. In the height of the comic market and the heat of speculation craze, Valiant was a massive hit alongside renegade start-up Image. Their books soared in back-market value, and they added more heroes to the line.
The success was short-lived. In 1994 the company solid to video game company Acclaim Entertainment. Acclaim did great service to Valiant by getting their intellectual property into mass market video games, giving characters like Shadowman and X-O Manowar exposure factorially larger than they had in comic shops. However, in two more years the comic line was shuttered and relaunched, to ever-dwindling returns before finally petered out in 2000.
How did they come back? A long slog from acquiring the rights to the original Valiant characters in 2005 to the re-debut of X-O Manowar in 2012 to critical accolades. Having learned from past over-extension, Valiant’s comeback has been deliberately paced with a focus on big-name creators, consistent interconnected stories, and strong artwork. They also published some beautiful collected editions, in both paperback and deluxe hardcover. [Read more…] about Collecting Valiant Entertainment Comic Books as graphic novels