Shadowman 1 Cover

SHADOWMAN #1
Written by JUSTIN JORDAN & PATRICK ZIRCHER
Art by PATRICK ZIRCHER
Cover by PATRICK ZIRCHER
“Blackout” Pullbox Exclusive Variant by PATRICK ZIRCHER
Variant Covers by DAVE JOHNSON and BILL SIENKIEWICZ

The next epic expansion of the Valiant Universe starts this November in a new ongoing series by comics superstar Patrick Zircher (Captain America, Thor: Ages of Thunder) and Harvey Award nominee Justin Jordan (The Strange Talent of Luther Strode, Team 7)!

There’s a million dreams in the Big Easy. But now its worst nightmare is about to come true. As the forces of darkness prepare to claim New Orleans as their own, Jack Boniface must embrace the legacy he was born to uphold. As Shadowman, Jack is about to become the only thing that stands between his city and an army of unspeakable monstrosities from beyond the night. But is the mantle of Shadowman a blessing or a curse? And what is the true cost of his otherworldly power?

The rebirth of a Valiant icon starts right here when Shadowman strikes this November!

$3.99 US/Rated T+/32 pgs.
ON SALE NOVEMBER 7th!

And here’s the rest of the covers to number 1:

Pullbox Variant Cover

Johnson Variant Cover

Sienkiewicz Variant Cover

Back in the 90s, I was never too excited about Shadowman. I liked the first 6 or so issues of the series, but I actually liked it a bit less when Bob Hall took over and ran with his run on the book. Shadowman was about the middle of the pack for me. Better than Armorines, HARDCorps and Secret Weapons, but not as good as the rest of the A-listers.

That said, Valiant has sure put some heavies on this book. Justin Jordan is coming off a huge initial foray into writing comics with Luthor Strode, and Patrick Zircher is off the hook. Have you seen the previews of Zircher’s Shadowman art? Check it out if you haven’t. It might be the best looking art in a Valiant book yet.

Ultimately, I think this book is going to come down to character. Who is Jack Boniface in this incarnation, and what makes him tick?

Just like with Bloodshot, where the Acclaim version of the character is mixed with the classic Valiant version of the character, I expect this Shadowman to be a mix of Jack Boniface (the classic Valiant Shadowman) with Michael LeRoi (the Acclaim Shadowman).

The premise of this book seems pretty simple from the solicitation, a guy fights monsters and zombies in New Orleans. I think we’ll have to wait and see in Novemeber what else is going to be in this book to see what more this becomes.

This solicitation has intrigued me, but not captured me. I’m waiting till November to find out more.

Of course, I’m sure I’ll love it. Like I’ve loved all the other Valiant comics.

Archer & Armstrong 1 Cover

ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #4
Written by FRED VAN LENTE
Art by CLAYTON HENRY
Cover by JASON PEARSON
Variant Cover by JUAN DOE

Archer & Armstrong make their last stand against The Sect high in the Himalayas!

Every clan of The Sect has gathered together for the first time in millennia to harness the unthinkable, sanity-shattering destruction of the mythical Book. But one piece is still missing – and Obadiah Archer has it! If he turns it over, The Sect will give him back his family. If he refuses, the man called Armstrong dies! PLUS: The true nature of Archer’s powers revealed! AND, on top of everything else, witness the debut of the Valiant Universe’s next superstar hero – only in this issue!

$3.99/Rated T+/32 pgs.
ON SALE NOVEMBER 14th!

Doe Variant Cover

Insane-O-Rama!

That’s really the only way I can explain this book.

I’ve noticed that Archer & Armstrong seems to be the book that old school Valiant fans like the least, but that everyone else likes the most. I love it.

I’m inclined to like the kind of books that Fred Van Lente writes, however, and Clayton Henry is the perfect artist to illustrate his stories. I like the strange, humorous way that everything plays out in Van Lente’s books.

This sounds like it is the last issue of the first arc, with Archer and Armstrong’s initial confrontation with the Sect and The One Percent coming to a head. This book promises a lot of cool, crazy storytelling in each solicitation we’ve seen.

If the stroytelling continues how it did in issue 1, I’m gonna enjoy the heck out of this comic.

Garcia Variant Cover

BLOODSHOT #5
Written by DUANE SWIERZCYSNKI
Art by MANUEL GARCIA
Cover by ARTURO LOZZI
Variant Cover by MANUEL GARCIA

ALL-NEW ARC! Before Bloodshot, who was Raymond Garrison?

Bloodshot is finally free of the memories that have haunted him since his awakening – but now even greater mysteries remain. Who was he before he was transformed into a walking weapon of mass destruction? And does he have a real family out there somewhere? Unfortunately, the only man with the answers is the former mastermind of Project Rising Spirit, Dr. Emmanuel Kuretich –-and he’s just struck a devil’s bargain with Bloodshot. “Destroy your creators and I’ll reveal everything.” Well, almost everything…

$3.99/Rated T+/32 pgs.
ON SALE NOVEMBER 14th!

The tricky thing with a character like Bloodshot is what to do once the amnesiac remembers everything. Wolverine became a far less interesting character once he got all his memories back. Will the same thing happen to Bloodshot? Also, there is the flip side – how long can you string the story along without revealing anything? It’s a tough balancing act./p>

We recently recorded a podcast episode (OTV 81, coming this Sunday), and one of the concerns that some of the OTV crew had with Bloodshot #2 is that it brings in more mystery, without providing much answers. We need to get some answers to be satisfied. Too many answers though, and the story might lose its drive./p>

I’ll be curious to see how this title walks this line. It looks like there may have been some answers by the time this issue is in our hands, but that Bloodshot is still looking for other answers./p>

I’m loving this title though, this Bloodshot is very different than the classic bloodshot stories, but this is very cool.

Harbinger 6 Cover

HARBINGER #6
Written by JOSHUA DYSART
Art by PHIL BRIONES
Cover by MICO SUAYAN
Variant Cover by MATTHEW CLARK

ALL-NEW ARC! From out of the ashes – ­RENEGADES!

After a crushing defeat at the hands of his would-be mentor, Peter Stanchek lies critically wounded and the only person who can save him is the person that hates him the most – his childhood love Kris Hathaway. As Harada’s Eggbreaker strike force closes in, the helpless Peter wonders if he is going to find forgiveness at Kris’s door –-or unbridled vengeance. But when Faith returns as the superhero she’s always dreamed of being, the game is going to change for everyone involved…

As the most daring series in comics enters its staggering second act, find out why this is the book that Comic Book Resources says “feels new in a way that few comics about characters with superpowers manage these days.”

$3.99/Rated T+/32 pgs.
ON SALE NOVEMBER 21st!

Clark Variant Cover

As excited as this solicitation makes me for issue 6, it makes me more excited for issue 5. I want to see this showdown between Pete and Harada that leaves Pete in such a critical state. That is gonna be some good comic book story telling.

At San Diego Comic-Con, both Josh Dysart and Warren Simons addressed the issue of what happened between Pete and Kris, and how Pete used and invaded her mind (if not more). They didn’t say anything definititive, and asked us to wait and see how it plays out in the story, and to see how they handle it.

It looks like they will be addressing that here in this issue, and as physically explosive as I expect the showdown between Pete and Harada to be, I expect the showdown between Pete and Kris to be equally emotionally explosive.

Plus, Faith. Looks like the old gang’s getting back together.

X-O Manowar 7 Cover

X-O MANOWAR #7
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI
Art by LEE GARBETT
Cover by DOUG BRAITHWAITE

X-O Manowar vs. Ninjak. To the victor – Earth!

Agents of the alien race known as The Vine have been living in secret among us for centuries and now they’ve just been activated for one final mission – purge the Earth of all human life! An invasion fleet is on its way and the only weapon in existence powerful enough to defeat it is the X-O Manowar armor. But first, Aric of Dacia must survive his latest encounter with Ninjak, the covert operative and master weapons specialist charged with taking him down. The stakes are raised and revelations abound in the latest issue of the smash hit series that has IGN declaring, “This is X-O Manowar done for this generation…and it is awesome.”

$3.99/Rated T+/32 pgs.
ON SALE NOVEMBER 21st!

Robert Venditti promised us that plot points set out in issue 1 will come back throughout the series. It looks like at one of those plot points (creepy Vine Baby, anyone?) will be coming up.

This is part 3 of the X-O Manowar v. Ninjak storyline, and we haven’t even seen part 1 yet (other than a few X-O Manowar #5 preview pages), so it’s hard to comment on this.

Will Ninjak be working for the Vine? Will he turn against his Vine masters?

I have no idea, but one thing does seem to be promised by this solicitation, VINE INVASION. That should be a pretty good bit of war coming. Sounds good to me.

Looks like X-O will continue to be the most awesome of the Valiant titles.

Let’s talk about that cover. How cool is that? It reminds me of the type of cover Jim Steranko would do for an old Nick Fury comic. It is reminiscent of that 60s spy style. Very cool!

I heard about this “Unity” thing that was coming out one summer. It sounded cool, so I picked up a couple issues, and a couple issues of some of the comics that came right before it.

I was hooked. I mowed the lawn and trimmed the bushes about a dozen times in the next couple weeks to earn enough money to buy all of the Unity chapters. I spent a lot of money buying back issues of Solar, and a few others that I could afford. I bought what I could.

I heard about these fandangoled “gold books”, and I wanted one. I didn’t know what to do, so I did what any 12 year old would do. Lose all self respect and do something goofy.

I wanted to show that I was a big enough fan to get one of the gold books, so I convinced a friend into dressing up like Archer, and I dressed up as Armstrong, and I set up all my Valiant comics on display and took some pictures.

Me (on the left) and my friend Victor (on the right)

I wrote a letter to Valiant telling them about how much I love their comics, and a month later I got a package in the mail.

I got that note in the package, along with an Archer & Armstrong #0 Gold.

I was as excited as could be! Back at this time, Archer & Armstrong #0 Gold was a $125 book. There was no possible way that I would be able to buy one. To have one given to me by my favorite comic company, that was exciting.

It was the pride of my collection. Back then, I couldn’t complete all my pre-Unity runs. I was 12, and couldn’t afford $80 for Harbinger 1.

Eventually, I completed my Valiant collection, and managed to get a lot of other nice books. No book beats the sentimental value of that original Archer & Armstrong #0 gold though.

In light of Valiant’s recent gold book announcement, I thought it was time to drag out this story to post up here.

Oh, and of course, here’s the gold book:

The Archer & Armstrong #0 Gold I received from Valiant back in 1992

ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #3

Written by Fred Van Lente
Art by Clayton Henry
Cover by Arturo Lozzi
Character Design Cover by David Aja

Fnord!

Those email forwards Grandma sends you? ALL TRUE. Every lurid cover of every supermarket tabloid? ALL TRUE. That impossible-to-read GeoCities site rambling on about truthers, birthers and black ops alien greys working for the U.N.? ALL TRUE. The Sect has dragged a curtain of confusion across the inner workings of your world, but fear not, the conspiracy-busters Archer & Armstrong are here to deliver Truth in the form of ass-kicking! (And ass-kicking in the form of ass-kicking.) Our heroes’ newfound friendship will face its greatest test as they battle The Sisters of Perpetual Darkness – the Nunjas (“ninja” + “nun”) who guard Rome’s blasphemous secrets. Obadiah Archer thought he had been betrayed by his family before, but nothing can prepare him for this!

Also: the existence of God will be proven for all time. Or disproven. One of the two.

$3.99/Rated T+/32 pgs.
ON SALE OCTOBER 10th

Thoughts on the Archer & Armstrong #3 Solicitation

When they invoke the insidious fnord, you know we’re on trouble.

Sleep a little more soundly knowing that you can see the fnord. If you can see it, you are on the inside. And apparently, this means you won’t need an ass-kicking from Archer and Armstrong.

This solicit promises to get us deep into the story, real quick. It looks like the story will quickly get through the “Hi, I’m Archer, Hi, I’m Armstrong, let’s team up” buddy-buddy stuff, and get right to the meat.

And what tasty meat this looks like, roasting on it’s spit, sizzling with succulent Nunjas. In the past incarnation of Archer & Armstrong, the evil nuns were just cranky old dudes dressed as nuns. Hopefully we’ll get some nunja hotties this time around. I’d like to see an Archer with confused feelings towards some hot nuns that are trying to chop-suey him.

We haven’t even seen this book yet, but it looks to be pretty darn fun.

BLOODSHOT #4

Written by Duane Swierczynski
Art by Manuel Garcia
Cover by Arturo Lozzi
Character Design Cover by David Aja

They call you Project Bloodshot, but you had a real name once.

You were born, raised, maybe even loved. And at some point, some evil bastards filled your head with dozens of false memories to motivate you, restrain you, control you. And oh, what they made you do in the name of national security… But what if one of those memories wasn’t false? What if you had a real wife and a child somewhere in the world who thought you were dead? Wouldn’t you go through seven kinds of violent hell to find them? Congrats. Your wish is about to be granted…

$3.99/Rated T+/32 pgs.
ON SALE OCTOBER 10th

Thoughts on the Bloodshot #4 Solicitation

I think the big question on everyone’s mind after reading the first issue of Bloodshot is what is the over-under for number of times Bloodshot will get blown to bits in this issue?

This series started out with a bang, with a well-received first issue. It set up a lot of plot, a lot of action, and a lot of twists.

This solicitation is promising some pathos, and we may get to the core of who Bloodshot is, and maybe, some tragedy. Whatever Bloodshot finds down the path promised by this solicitation, I do not think it will have a happy ending. Just a hunch.

Or maybe, this entire solicitation is a false implant by Project: Rising Spirit to create a false motivation to buy the book.

(I’ll buy it anyway, even if it is)

HARBINGER #5

Written by Josh Dysart
Art by Khari Evans
Cover by Mico Suayan
Character Design Cover by David Aja

Toyo Harada and Peter Stanchek. Master and apprentice. Creator and destroyer. Alpha and omega.

Humanity’s most powerful psionic, Pete Stanchek, has been run to ground. His few friends and family are gone. He is loved is by no one. At the nadir of his brief, 18-year existence, he has been drugged, deceived and deluded by a corporate master. But now he’s finally had enough. Tonight, the human race will find out exactly how powerful he is. Tonight, the boy who has nothing will go to war against the man who has everything. And soon the Valiant Universe will discover that anything can end – even the world.

$3.99/Rated T+/32 pgs.
ON SALE OCTOBER 17th

Thoughts on the Harbinger #5 Solicitation

I want to know.

I want to know what will push Pete to break with Harada, and start his Harbinger war against the man that runs it all.

This is the last issue of the first story arc, and from the solicitation, it looks like we will see quite a showdown with Harada. In issue 2, we saw what Pete is capable of, and it will be cool to see Pete, young, reckless, and not as in control of his power, unleash against the older, wiser, fully in control Harada.

This issue should be the final piece in establishing the relationship between Pete and Harada, and establish the nature of their conflict.

I’m loving Harbinger, it is reaching out and grabbing me, compelling me to read it. I can’t wait.

X-O MANOWAR #6

Written by Robert Venditti
Art by Lee Garbett
Cover by Doug Braithwaite
Variant Cover by Patrick Zircher
Character Design Cover by Jelena Kevic-Djurdjevic

Ninjak vs. X-O Manowar: Round II!

Aric of Dacia has bonded with the most powerful weapon in the universe, but his command of the sentient X-O Manowar armor will lead him to cross swords with Ninjak, the world’s most skilled weapons specialist. Hired by members of The Vine hidden deep within Earth’s governments, Ninjak has been sent to bring back the Manowar armor at any cost. It’s raw power versus stealth and cunning in the second installment of the espionage-edged thriller that pits two of Valiant’s most popular heroes against each other – to the death.

$3.99/Rated T+/32 pgs.
ON SALE OCTOBER 17th

Thoughts on the X-O Manowar #6 Solicitation

To the death!

It’s hard to say why I want to read this issue other than to say, “yes please!” I already explained my excitement for the return of Ninjak, and I am looking forward to more. I want to see them fight, learn more about who Ninjak is in this universe, and see more of Aric adjusting to the modern day.

Yes, please!

VALIANT MASTERS: BLOODSHOT VOL. 1 HC

BLOOD OF THE MACHINE

Written by Kevin VanHook
Art by Don Perlin, Andrew Wendel and Ted Halsted
Cover by Barry Windsor-Smith

The first in an all-new library of Valiant classics!

Collected for the first time anywhere, the best-selling title of the 90s is back! Re-presenting the first arc of his original adventures in the VH1 Valiant Universe, Bloodshot comes armed to the teeth with bullets, nanites – and questions. With all of New York as his battlefield, Bloodshot wages a one-man war for the secrets to his past. But with the whole of New York’s mafia underground hot on his tail, he’ll soon realize that some questions are better left unanswered! With appearances from Ninjak, Eternal Warrior, Rai and more, no fan can miss this essential piece of Valiant history! Collecting BLOODSHOT (1994) #1-8 and featuring AN ALL-NEW, NEVER–BEFORE-SEEN STORY by the original creative team of Kevin VanHook and Don Perlin.

$24.99/Rated T+/200 pgs.
ON SALE OCTOBER 24th

Thoughts on the Bloodshot Hardcover Solicitation

I wasn’t expecting this so soon.

I fully expected to wait six months or so for the first new collection of old material. That said, it makes complete sense to offer this as a hardcover collection.

Valiant hardcovers on my shelf

Back when Valiant was a lawsuit-fighting company, instead of a comic-making company, they started releasing hardcover collections, first of Harbinger 0-7, then X-O Manowar 0-6, and finally Archer & Armstrong 0-6. This seems to follow along with that, giving us a hardcover collection of the original material that the fourth of the current titles is based on.

These first issues of Bloodshot set him up as a “secret agent” of sorts, and he went after Rising Spirit, and his former mob buddies, the people that turned him over to the project to become Bloodshot.

Just like in all of the first three hardcovers, we also get an all-new Bloodshot story by the creative team that worked on the original. The new stories in the Harbinger, X-O Manowar, and Archer & Armstrong hardcovers followed in the old continuity, and I expect this to be the same. I’m looking forward to seeing Kevin VanHook and Don Perlin working on Bloodshot again, and showing us a new story set in the classic Valiant Universe.

I do wonder about the trade dress on this hardcover, and how it will compare to the original. The shelf freak in me wants to know how this will look next to my other Valiant hardcover books. No matter what, I’ll be buying this. When I got around to reading all of the original Valiant material, this stuff made me love the Bloodshot character. I can’t wait to get my hands on this hardcover, re-read these stories, and read the new story.

I hope they do a Shadowman hardcover next, and please, oh please, let it collect up to issue 12, to include the introduction of Master Darque, and the fantastic “Blood Runner” storyline.

Anthony Diecidue Moriarty Drawing

Sketchbook Addition

After I got my sketchbook back from Eric Jones on Saturday, I dropped it off with Anthony Diecidue, the artist of Moriarty.

As usual, I told him I liked his work on Moriarty, and liked that character, but left it up to him.

I got this great Moriarty drawing, and the nicest touch, the banana peel that Moriarty is about to slip on.

Another great addition to my book!

Esad Ribic and the Epic Purchase

When I got to the convention hall on Sunday, I had a pocket full of cash, and I fully expected to spend it on a couple nice EC Science Fiction books. I was making my way through the dealers, taking notes on who had what, and I saw a sign hanging on the booth of an art dealer:

“Esad Ribic, Signing and Commissions”

Esad, of course has done some awesome covers for Valiant, like the cover to X-O Manowar #1, the 1:50 variant to Bloodshot #1, and the upcoming Bloodshot #3.

I walked over, told him hello, told him I liked his art, especially his Valiant covers. He was working on commissions, at the time he was drawing on one of those blank Marvel sketch covers.

Bloodshot 1 Esad Ribic cover

He had a portfolio full of prints he was selling, and a lot of his Marvel covers were hanging on the wall behind him, a lot of X-Force stuff.

That’s when I saw them.

On the table behind Esad was the art for the covers to Bloodshot #1 and Bloodshot #3. I asked to see them, they are stunning. Absolutely beautiful. I told him I had to ask, how much were they?

He told me the price. It was a lot. A lot more than I’ve paid for anything comic book related, by several times. I pulled out my phone, and started checking my bank account balances, credit lines, etc., to see how much I could scrap together. I told Esad sorry for hanging out so much, and he was very friendly. It was no problem to him, and it gave him someone to talk to.

He mentioned that he is from Croatia, so I introduced myself, “Stravo, ja sum Sean” (Hello, my name is Sean – Blood can correct my spelling). He gets excited by that, and I tell him that I dated a girl from former Yugoslavia back in high school and college.

Just when I was thinking I might be able to do it, The dealer, who actually sells all the art, came over and asked what I was thinking about. I pointed and told him I like this cover, and Esad told me it was X amount.

He looked a little frustrated, and said, “I’m sorry, I already have another offer higher than that. You would have to beat that offer to get it”. The price he gave me was another 30% higher than I was considering.

It was a lot, and I told him I was very interested, but I have to really think about it, and see if I can make it work.

Smoke Break

Just then, Esad pulls out a pack of smokes and tells the dealer he is going for a smoke break. I look at him and mention, “man, if I buy this art, I’m gonna need one of those afterwards.”

Esad asks, “do you have some?”

“Nope”, I say.

“Well, come on, I’ll give you one.”

Esad and I walked out to the front of the hall, he gives me a cigarette, pulls one out for himself, and we just got to chat for a bit while sharing a smoke. I asked him about travel, what shows he likes to do. He complained about all these sketch covers that people were giving him for commissions, because he hates the paper and it is hard to do the type of work he likes to do on them. We talked about art in general, and the stuff that interested him. We didn’t really talk about the cover art for sale, he just said, “if you can afford it and want it, then buy it. If it is difficult to the point that it’s not fun anymore, then don’t buy it, because it’s supposed to be fun.”

He was incredibly friendly, easy going, and is a no-nonsense kind of guy. While we were out there, I decided I was going to buy the cover art.

Pulling The Trigger

I had to transfer money between my accounts, and split it between a debit card, a credit card, and cash, but I made it work. It was just on the border of the amount that I could actually make work.

Here’s me and Esad Ribic with the cover art after I made the purchase:

Me and Esad Ribic with the Bloodshot #1 original art

I’ll be eating ramen for a couple months, but I made it work. And now I have this:

Bloodshot 1 Original Painted Cover Art by Esad Ribic

I felt like everything came together in just the right way. I talked with Jonesy about this after I made the purchase, and I didn’t realize it while I was considering buying it, but there were so many perfect coincidences that led to this.

I had no idea Esad Ribic would be at the show, I only ran into him and his art dealer by chance. I hadn’t bought anything yet, so I still had my cash. It was my favorite cover of my favorite Valiant character, and it is a fully painted piece, so I get a full, complete piece of artwork with the purchase. Most of all, I got to spend some time with Esad, and get to know him a bit, and from that I felt a greater connection with the piece of art.

As I was walking through the convention with this, I checked in my portfolio about every 15 minutes to make sure it was still there. Still can’t quite believe I’ve got this, and I’m thrilled that I do.

Epic end to an epic con.

Duane Swierczynski signing at the CBLDF Booth

Friday was Epic. That leaves Saturday as a recovery day.

On Saturday, I think everyone was a bit worn out from the previous days, so it was much mellower. Still, plenty of good convention action going on.

CBLDF and Duane Swierczynski

I started out the day with a visit to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund table, where Duane Swierczynski was signing copies of Bloodshot, and Atom! Freeman was giving away copies of the Valiant Free Comic Book Day Book.

When Atom! is working, you know it. As soon as the line dwindled down, he started the yell again, “Free Comics! Get them signed by the writer of Bloodshot!” a minute later, Boom! There’s a line.

While I wasn’t able to make it back to the CBLDF booth, I know that Josh Dysart also made a signing appearance.

Support Valiant! Support the CBLDF!

New Sketchbook Art

A couple years ago, I finally started a sketch book. I didn’t want the same kind of book as everyone else though, full of heroic characters in heroic poses. I opted for something a little more interesting, and… strange.

Lil Vader on the Death Star by Eric Jones

I asked my buddy Dave Dwonch to start the book out, and he drew a Not Safe For Life drawing of Doctor Doom that is… well, just ask to see it when you see me at a convention.

I wanted to get a couple drawings in my book this year, and while in the Image booth, ran into the creators of Danger Club. Perfect. I am really enjoying Danger Club, and the art style is great.

I asked Eric Jones, the artist, to put an addition into my book, and told him that it was his choice. I like the Danger Club characters, but I gave him the liberty to draw whatever seemed interesting to him.

The Vader drawing at right is the result, it fits perfectly in my book, and fits, and expands, the theme I’m going for.

I dropped my sketch book off with another artist as well, though I’ll share that sketch in my Sunday wrap up.

Costumes and Crazies

Just a few of the costumes and such that I snapped throughout the day.

Cutest Costume Award

Gnarliest Costume Award

Dark Helmet!

Sonic Dancing Alone

The Crew

We recorded our Friday/Saturday wrap up on a nice sunny grassy lawn outside of Hall H.

Saturday was definitely a much mellower day for all of us. We were all worn down, and ready for a much more mellow day and night.

The OTV Crew flashing our OTV gang signs, left to right: Jonesy, Sean, Elveen

I said this on our first Comic-Con wrap up episode, Con is like the Lost Land. It is its own time, and time really seems to go by differently here.

I don’t even remember what I did at the show yesterday morning. I know I strolled over to the show mid-morning, and that I walked around doing something, but cannot remember what. I think I might have walked through artist alley, or was that the day before? I might have made a pass through the small press area, but maybe that was another day. I know I got a copy of Youngblood signed by Rob Liefield, but cannot remember if that was Friday or Thursday.

There are a couple things about the day that I remember VERY prominently.

The Walking Dead Escape

Intense.

The Walking Dead Escape was a zombie obstacle course set up at Petco Park. It was part obstacle course, but part just, well, recreation of the Zombie Apocalypse.

At some points there were obstacles that had to be climbed over, under, etc, with zombies reaching out to grab you and infect you.

This loving couple came prepared

In some places there was just zombies roaming around, and we were forced to hide, run, and evade them.

Within moments of the event starting, we were right there, and we were running for our lives. It brought us right into the scenario. There’s nothing like jogging down a hall with a pack of people, have someone yell, because they see a zombie running after them from behind, and everyone yelling and taking off at a sprint.

The course was hard. We were huffing and puffing by the end. Elveen was one of the first people out, and I was right behind him. Our friend Greg finished a couple minutes behind us.

I didn’t survive. I got infected somewhere along the course, and got ushered into the decontamination room where people yelled at me that I had a choice, I was gonna turn into a zombie, or I could put a bullet in my head.

I chose the bullet, and made them look me in the eye while they pulled the trigger.

I’m still sore today from running this course. This was a highlight of the entire show for me.

For more about this awesome event, listen to OTV Episode 77, our Saturday Convention Wrap-Up episode, where we discuss Epic Friday and Beat-Down Saturday.

Summer Of Valiant Panel

The Summer Of Valiant panel was on Friday from 4pm to 5pm, and it was steller. I live tweeted the event, so if you are reading this article shortly after it is published, you should still be able to scroll down our twitter feed to get almost everything that was discussed. I was tweeting like a mad man! Also, Jonesy expertly video taped the panel, and we should have video of that available soon.

Here’s some of the highlights:

I was in my Pete Stanchek costume

When asked about Ninjak appearing in X-O manowar, Rob Venditti and Warren Simons explained that the idea was hatched at C2E2 in Chicago this year. They don’t want the meeting to be contrived, and Rob feels that if a man suddenly appeared on Earth in the X-O armor, of course, Ninjak, the world’s leading weapons expert, would go after him.

When asked about crossovers, Warren answered that they want to establish the characters on their own before having big crossover events, and that story trumps all. They don’t want to force a big crossover event just for the sake of publishing a crossover.

Peter Cuneo, Valiant’s Chairman, was asked why he was interested in Valiant. He spoke for a while about the work that Dinesh Shamdasani and Jason Kothari did to clear up the property, and take care of all the legal work required to demonstrate that they owned all of the characters and material outright. When he found that that was the case, he became excited about building a character based comic book company. It was a very interesting look at the business side of things.

When asked about how many books they are likely to launch, Fred Pierce spoke about their plans. They decided to start with 4 titles, one a month. One a month makes it easier for retailers to absorb the orders into their current purchases, and it is still enough titles to be taken seriously. There will be a fifth book launched in 2012, and another next spring. The plan is to launch 4 books a year after that.

Someone asked about Peter Stanchek, and brought up the question of rape. Did he rape Kris? They were very careful with the answer, and did not answer it directly. Nearly everyone chimed in though. Joshua Dysart said that Pete is a screwed up kid, and has made a lot of bad decisions. The story will address those bad decisions, and it would be unethical not to address the fallout and ramifications of Pete’s decisions. That said, part of the story will be about redemption. Warren added that we should wait to see what is in the books, letting us know that those questions will be addressed. Rob Venditti chimed in, saying that one of the things he appreciated about Harbinger is that it requires that some questions be asked. It doesn’t just tell you what the story is and allow the reader to passively accept it.

X-O Manowar #1 Gold Logo

What about reprints of the classic books and the Gold Key characters. Could there ever be a reprint of Unity (perhaps in an oversized, absolute format edition please)? In response, they mentioned that they are discussing it internally, which seemed like a code word for not being able to comment at this time.

There was a question of diversity, and if there will be headlining characters that are female, and from different ethnic backgrounds. It sounds like they are establishing the existing characters now, many of which are white men, but are mindful of this.

Last of all, Dinesh Shamdasani made an announcement that the Gold Logo book program is back! the Classic Valiant had a great tradition of supporting the fans that supported them, and they plan to continue that tradition. Everyone in attendence recieved a gold logo version of X-O Manowar #1. There is no one way to receive one of these from Valiant, they will be used to reward fans and retailers that some way show they are doing something to show their love and support of Valiant Comics.

Valiant Trivia/Poker

For the last five years, a number of folks that know each other from the ValiantFans.com Forum have got together to play poker and play Elveen’s trivia game.

Atom! is a blur as he mixes the X-O Manowar Shots

For the last couple years, we’ve been joined by some guests from Valiant Entertainment. This year, Dinesh Shamdasani, Fred Pierce, Warren Simons, Atom! Freeman, and Hunter Gorrinson came to the party.

Dinesh won trivia (though I came in second), Warren and Fred won poker, and Atom! mixed the drinks.

Atom! had a special drink concoction called the “X-O Manowar”, it was Patron XO Cafe liquere, with a splash of Bailey’s Irish Creme on top. Delicious!

Last year, we asked a lot of questions. A lot. Fred and Dinesh said that we may have been “skeptical”, I let them know that we were merely “aggressively interested”. Last year, however there weren’t books. There wasn’t even an announcement of new comics. This year, we have Valiant Comics on the stands, and as a result, it was much more laid back. We didn’t ask a ton of questions, we were able to kick back and enjoy a fun night of comics and poker.

The OTV T-Shirt

We also have a tradition at the poker game, someone brings a stack of comics, and we all sign each copy, and they are numbered, and as the poker game proceeds, we take one of the signed, numbered comics, until the only the winner remains and gets number 1.

This year we used the Harbinger #1, 1:20 variant cover as the souvenir book, it looks pretty cool with all those signatures!

Last of all, Elveen surprised everyone with Only The Valiant t-shirts! I had no idea these were coming, what a cool surprise!

Interested in joining us next year? Get involved at the ValiantFans.com Forum, get to know all the folks there, and get out to San Diego!

Epic Friday

We dubbed Friday “Epic Friday”. I think you might have been able to see why. Walking Dead, Valiant Panel, and Poker/Trivia night.

As a fan, Comic-Con does not get any better than Friday.

Make sure you also listen to OTV Episode 77, our Saturday Convention Wrap-Up episode, for more about Friday (and Saturday too)!

The interesting thing about Comic-Con is that even when you spend a day there without really doing a whole lot, it still seems like an incredibly long day.

Before I get into the daily recap, however, and just to set the scene, here’s a couple pics of the convention floor.

View From The Floor

View From The Floor

View From the Floor

View From The Floor

When I first got to the con, I met a couple friends, and we cruised around. One of my buddies wanted to get an X-O Manowar #1 signed, so we made our way to the Top Shelf booth to chat with Robert Venditti. He had his Surrogates hardcover collection at the booth, so I bought that up.

Small Press

There’s some good, and some bad, in the Small Press area. I wasn’t able to really dive in and check it all out, but I did catch up with a few Small Press regulars.

Steve Bryant, James Heffron, and Chris Murrin are always set up with one of the most professional, well done booths in the Small Press area. Steve has drawn in my sketch book in the past, and does fantastic work. He is drawing the upcoming Steed and Peel book from Boom! and written by Mark Waid, and his Athena Voltaire book is soon to be published by Dark Horse. I was able to catch up with these guys for a bit, always fun.

I also made it over to Super Real Graphics to check for their latest book. Unfortunately, Night of the 80′s Undead #2 wasn’t out yet (the first issue was great!), but always nice to stop by and say hi.

Purchases and Panels

I made the rounds, picked up a couple things, like the Walking Dead Compendium Hardcover, the Simpsons Go For The Gold, The Art Of Amanda Conner Hardcover.

Most of the day was spent meandering around the convention floor with buddies, looking at everything there is to be seen.

I did notice that it seemed less crowded than in previous years, even when I got to the center of the con, which I affectionately call “the vortex”. It is the part of the convention floor with the giant multimedia booths that usually have people packed like crazy around. Somehow, this year, it wasn’t as bad.

I did make it to the All-Stars of Comics Podcasting panel with Jonesy. For some reason we were not panelists, maybe next year.

I jest, the folks on the panel certainly are all-stars of comics podcasting, and deserve to be up there.

Batmobiles

On display next to the con are all six Batmobiles. I’ll just let these pictures speak for themself.

The Tumbler

The Keaton

The West

The Kilmer

The Clooney

Tumbler 2.0

Podcasts and Parties

After the con, we made our way back to the Hyatt and recorded our first convention wrap up (available now!)

After that, I dragged all my friends to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund party. I joined the CBLDF earlier that day on the convention floor, and I heard about the party from the folks at the booth. A couple of my friends were planning to go, so I dragged my other friends across town. It was a very nice party, up on an outdoor terrace, and some cool folks to hang out with and meet.

From there we headed to the Boom! Studios drink up, and by the time we arrived, the “event” was more like “people at a bar”.

I dragged myself home at 1 am, and promptly stayed up till 3 am producing the podcast episode that went up last night.

Why am I awake? Why am I going to do that all over again?

Must be Con.

Stay Classy, San Diego!

Bloodshot and Harbinger came out today. My first order of business was to get coffee and a bagel, sit down with my iPad, and pour through them. I put up my early impressions, executive summary – I liked them.

Top Shelf Cyber-Con

I found out about this last night, and it was announced this morning. Top Shelf Productions is holding a Cyber-Con for folks that can’t make it to Comic-Con.

Top Shelf publishes a lot of indie, creator owned titles. A few notable new things that are available digitally:

• Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire
• The Surrogate: Case Files #1 by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele (dude, he’s the writer of X-O Manowar)
• League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 2009 by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill
• Double Barrel #1 and #2, by Kevin Cannon and Zander Cannon, the best deal in comics!

A ton of other Top Shelf stuff is on sale on Comixology as part of this Cyber-Con sale, check out some great creator owned indie comics!

San Diego Drinky Con

Wednesday afternoon before Preview Night opens is one of my favorite times at the show. During the afternoon, friends start to arrive to San Diego, everyone picks up their passes, and the excitement builds in anticipation of the doors opening.

The only sensible thing to do is to grab a beer with your buddies! Luckily, the Gaslamp District in San Diego (the area across from the convention center, full of restaurants, shops, and bars) has a plentiful number of places to go. I dropped in with Jonesy, and by the end of the afternoon, another five or six friends had dropped by to wait for the con to open.

I affectionately like to call the afternoon before Preview Night Drinky-Con, in celebration of the most ideal way to wait.

Jonesy at Drinky Con

Sean at Drinky Con

The Floodgates Open

Once every last drop of Drinky-Con was finished, we headed down to the convention hall, waited a few minutes for the front doors to open.

For me, Preview Night is when I hustle around to pick up exclusive merchandise. I flip it on eBay, and it helps to pay for my trip down to San Diego.

My Precious

First stop, IDW Publishing, for their incredible variant books they are selling at the con. I picked up a couple books for a friend back home, and the Dave Stevens: Covers and Stories hardcover book for myself.

Second stop, Boom! Studios, to pick up the Adventure Time mini-comic. A special treat, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning were at the booth, signing copies of Hypernaturals, their new cosmic sc-fi/superhero book. I got to tell them how much I enjoy their work, and get the convention variant of Hypernaturals #2 signed by them.

Third stop, Image Booth for some Secret Agent Poyo. After that, Hero Initiative for some Lady Death exclusives.

Around this time, I decided to cruise through the comic dealers, to see if I could find some Valiant goodies. With Bloodshot out that day, I wanted one of those sweet, sweet 1:50 variants. Found it. Paid for it. My precious.

Wrap It Up

A quick trip back to my hotel room to drop off my swag, and I was back to cruise the hall one last time before meeting some folks for dinner at the Tilted Kilt (always enjoyable).

As I wrap this up, I’m about to get ready to get ready and head out for the first full day of Comic-Con.

The San Diego Convention Center during badge pick up

I mean, the weekend happens fast, sure, but it all goes up and gets created fast.

I’m sure there is a lot of planning that goes in to it, but it seems like within a day, San Diego goes from sorta quiet downtown to maelstrom of chaos in just a day.

It’s Tuesday, the day before Comic-Con starts, and not a whole lot is going on. Most of my friends arrive tomorrow, and almost everything is in the process of going up.

Every year, the hotels surrounding Comic-Con get “skins”, giant advertisements covering the side of the hotel. There don’t seem to be too many of these this year, I’ve only noticed two on the the Marriott, and the Hilton. As of Tuesday afternoon, the skin on the Hilton, and one of the skins on the Marriott are still being applied.

Injustice Skin on the Marriott, still being applied

Defiance Skin on the Marriott

The convention always spills out across the streets to the gaslamp and surrounding areas. Any flat open area within sight of the convention becomes overrun with something every year. It’s hard to tell what though, everything at this point is random stages and structures being put up. The only thing set up that actually looked like anything was the big Grimm setup at the Tin Fish across the street from the convention center.

And there are, of course, folks already lined up for Hall H.

People Queuing For Hall H

I found out not too long ago about the terrible accident that happened this morning and claimed the life of a fan. It looks like it really was just a terrible accident, our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of this fan. It’s a sad way to start Comic-Con, and serves as a solemn reminder that we all need to be careful, be safe, and watch out for each other.

Since it’s a quite day, I was able to take care of a few things before Con starts. I got soem shopping done, and made a quick purchase to finish up the preparation for my costume (yes, I said costume).

I was also able to set up the mobile OTV audio recording and processing station.

The OTV Mobile Studio

Tomorrow the chaos really starts, I’ll try to keep up with these daily reports from Comic-Con.

I mentioned last time that my views of decompressed storytelling have been evolving.

And they have. But first…

Review Session

If you read my previous articles, you might assume that I want comics to have as much crammed on the page as possible, at the expense of nuance and depth of storytelling. I think people could reasonably get the impression that I want a return to the good old days, where the villain robbed the bank, the hero swooped in to fight him, thwarted his plans, and dropped him off at the police station, all in one page (I’m sure there’s a page of silver age Spider-Man like that somewhere).

Today, that sequence would fill at least half of a comic book, if not the whole thing. That’s decompression in a nutshell.

Decompressed is the wrong word though. It assumes that comics were compressed in the first place, and they weren’t. They were just comics. Expanded is a much better term for what has happened in comics.

The Authority – Decompressed and Loving It

In the right hands, expanded storytelling allows for nuance to the emotional ride of the story, builds suspense, can show much more subtle character progression. One of my favorite comic book series of all time, Warren Ellis’s run on The Authority, was a poster child for decompression. The term pretty much had to be invented to describe what the creators were doing in that book. And it is awesome.

Nuance and Pages

To create that extra nuance, however, the story needs to be expanded, and takes up more page space. Comic book stories become longer, while still having the same number of story beats. As a result, less of the story is told in each issue.

I get it. I really do. This is the way things are now, and a modern comic is going to have less story than comics from decades past. I’m ok with that.

What I’ve found, more than anything, is that I am looking for forward story momentum in each issue. I want to feel like the story has moved forward in a satisfying way when I finish each issue. I don’t mind when certain parts of the story are expanded upon, as long as when I finish the issue, I feel like enough has taken place to move the story forward.

In a lot of comics I have tried out recently, I feel like not much happens in each issue. There isn’t enough there to tell me what the story is about, and what to look forward to in future issues.

Decompression, Expansion, whatever you want to call it, is fine. As long as we are given a chunk of story that moves things forward. That is what is really satisfying.

Is a little story too much to ask for?