Only The Valiant

Shadowman: jazz saxophone playin’, and Master Darque slayin’. This episode is a shadow energy charged discussion of Shadowman Comics issues 30 to 43, the conclusion of Bob Hall’s fantastic run.

This is another episode in a series of discussions about the comics published by Valiant in the later years of their publishing tenure. Shadowman is one of the gems of the “Birthquake era” of Valiant Comics.

In addition to our overall discussion, we cover:

• The TWO Shadowmans!
• Villains: Blister! Night Monster! Ishmael! Sandria? Where is Master Darque?
• Birthquake – what the heck was it?
• Details that made the book work
• Supporting cast: Nettie, Maxim, Marcia

This episode is a musical jam fest, with musical interludes, including:

• Hard Bop Jazz
• Zydeco Jams
• and the OTV Rap Crew!

Musical notes:

Rap interlude is the OTV Rap Crew, The Shadowman Rap

Jazz interlude is Wayne Shorter, JuJu, from the album JuJu

Zydeco interlude is Boozoo Chavis, Paper in my Shoe

Continuing our discussion of the later years of Valiant Comics, we discuss the last year and a half of Bloodshot comic books, issues 34 to 51.

Mobsters! Rampage! Other fake Bloodshots! Deathangel! Guns! Creepy babies! These issues are loaded, but are they loaded with the goods, or do they fall flat? Opinions vary (as always), and we hash out what we liked, and what we didn’t like about these issues.

Pick up your issues, read along, and listen.

• Chiclo has become… Electronic. Supersonic.
• Do you use a “90′s filter”?
• Senseless violence! Or is throwing a man in a trash compactor perfectly reasonable?
• Nothing stands out
• Bimbo? Or competant MI-6 agent?
• Everybody gets a drug lord!
• What books to avoid, unless you want to stab yourself with a pencil
• Once again, Ultraverse leads the way down a path of badness
• Creepy babies (worth mentioning twice)
• Bangs make a book great

Show links/notes:

Zlad: Elektronik Supersonik

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT: Why is Chiclo so happy?

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Who is… The Visitor?

Why is he here? What does he want?

We discuss the two issue series Visitor vs. The Valiant Universe and the 13-issue series The Visitor. He shows up out of nowhere. Harada goes for his throat and sends the Harbinger after him. Flamingo is drawn to him somehow. And there are… aliens?

Make sure you read these 15 issues first (go ahead, it won’t take long), so you can follow along with our discussion.

Some of us hate it!

Some of us kinda liked it!

Some of us have no strong opinion either way!

Opinions vary wildly on this one, and we get into some heated discussion.

Valiant Comics issues related to this episode:

• Visitor vs. The Valiant Universe 1 and 2
• The Visitor 1 – 13
• Timewalker 6, 7, and 8
• Harbinger Files 2

Plus, we round out the episode with a recent reads segment.

Back in the swing of things, we discuss a few of the recent books out from Dark Horse. In this episode, we review Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #2, Magnus, Robot Fighter #2, and Turok, Son of Stone #1.

As if that weren’t enough for an action packed episode:

• A less than stellar case is presented to refute claims about a feminine voice
• How Turok, Son of Stone has misleadingly exciting cover art
• Jim Shooter’s secret source of inspiration for a key character in Doctor Solar
• Someone gets caught acting like a typical San Franciscan
• Mighty Samson, gets nothing special to his name
• Invisible, unpronounced commas – they’re everywhere!
• Someone speaks Klingon, 3 guesses who, the first 2 don’t count
• We conject, sure, about the time frame of each Dark Horse series
• Chiclo exclaims, “I’m Christine! I’m Christine!” and Mrs. Chiclo is rather confused
• One fan’s feedback sends the show into a downward spiral of a sing-along.
• Then there is MORE SINGING

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Total Time: 47 minutes

Posted under: Dark Horse, Doctor Solar, Magnus, Turok


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The Following Speaks for itself:

• Doctor Solar
• Magnus Robot Fighter
• Free Comic Book Day
• Review and discussion

We talk about Free Comic Book Day, and spend plenty of time on the Dr. Solar/Magnus issue that has relaunched those titles at Dark Horse, brought to us by Jim Shooter, Dennis Calero, and Bill Reinhold.

Some things are great! Some things are not so great! This is the first we’ve seen these characters in print in over a decade, so we are rather excited to say the least. Excited like we were for Phantom Menace? Maybe. Excited like we are for the latest Lady Gaga video? Possibly. Excited in another way entirely? Listen and find out now.

When you are done listening, send in your feedback about what you thought of this issue.

It’s time for our 24th episode, and an in-depth look at one single issue, the eponymous Rai #0! We discuss:

• The impact this issue had at the time, and our initial reactions when it came out
• The story nuggets in this book, and where they show up in other Valiant books
• The final fate of Shadowman… or not!
• Inconsistencies between this book and later Valiant material
• The auspicious editor column in this issue
• Our One Year Anniversary! Congratulations us!
• A brand new segment, Recent Reads
• …and a whole lot more! This is a long one, buckle up!

We take you back to December, 1993, a month when the Valiant Universe celebrated Christmas. We explore the Valiant holiday season. This is the perfect episode to go along with your favorite comics, staying warm by the fire, and enjoying a cup of cocoa (or something stronger!). The weather outside is frightful, but this episode is so delightful. This episode has all the Valiant goodness you could hope for.