Only The Valiant

The Only The Valiant crew talks about the first issue of Magnus Robot Fighter from Dark Horse and Jim Shooter! Plus, some good stuff we’ve been reading recently, and a nice little discussion of the merit of premise vs. execution.

Plus! Action packed with:

• Robot ventriloquism (humanity is doomed)
• Shopping for battle tunics at Macy’s
• vacuums are not robots!
• The Mail damages comics…
• learn the secrets of getting paid to jibber jabber
• how to be a scab and influence people (or not)
• No San Diego variant for Magnus. Poor Magnus…
• Corsets are the secret to character design
• Mispronunciation is not tolerated
• Deep discussion of the virtue of 4 vs. 6! 5 vs. 8!
• Robot impersonations, and tones are not voltages
• Kitchens aren’t the only place for fridges anymore
• Fear of submission (and non sequiturs)
• Beware the Ides of July (no one believes this?)
• Was Siege just forced, or did it just suck?
• Hulk would slap down Juggernaut in a minute
• Without word balloons, it doesn’t count
• Library extortion, as measured in dollars. DOLLARS!
• You’d think it would be, but a premise that makes a woman’s clothes explode off every issue isn’t enough
• Arguments over Watchmen!
• HA! Give me my million
• Princess Mononoke, international success!
• Die cut! Hologram! Double Size! Fancy cover! Special backup! (coming soon)

If you are not listening at this very instant, you’re doing it wrong. Listen now!

A few of the creators working on the new Gold Key character books from Dark Horse will be at San Diego Comic-Con, here’s the complete info.

Dennis Calero

Dennis did the art for the Doctor Solar portion of Free Comic Book Day Magnus/Doctor Solar, as well as Doctor Solar 1 and 2. I’m not sure yet if he will be returning after issue 3, but I will certainly be asking him.

Dennis will be in Artist Alley booth FF-05. He is also scheduled to be signing at the Dark Horse Comics booth (#2615) on Thursday from 4-5pm.

Roger Robinson

Roger is drawing the upcoming third issue of Doctor Solar. I’ll be stopping by his booth to get his take on the character, and see if I can find out what is in store for upcoming issues.

Roger will be in Artist Alley booth DD-20

Raymond Swanland

Raymond has been painting the incredible covers for Magnus, Robot Fighter, and Turok, Son of Stone. He also did the cover art for the Free Comic Book Day Magnus/Doctor Solar issue.

Raymond doesn’t have a booth, but is scheduled to sign at the Dark Horse Comics booth (#2615) Friday from 4-5pm. He will also appear at the Heavy Metal Magazine booth (#1629) and the Wizards of the Coast, Magic the Gathering booth (#1128/1130/1132) at times during the weekend.

M.I.A.

Looks like Jim Shooter won’t be making it to San Diego Comic-Con.

Also, Bill Reinhold, the artist for the new Magnus, Robot Fighter series isn’t going to make it this year.

That’s too bad, I was hoping to get the Free Comic Book Day Magnus/Doctor Solar issue signed by all 4 creators. Maybe at another con.

Valiant Alumni

Bernard Chang and Sean Chen will be in their BLVD Studios booth (#1223). Both were great Valiant artists, Sean Chen is well known for his work on Rai and the Future Force, Bernard Chang is well known for his work on Dr. Mirage. They will also have Bill Sienkiewicz and David LaFuente at their BLVD Studios booth. Stop by annd say hi!

Bob Layton will be at the convention, though I don’t know when his scheduled appearances and signings are. He does not have an artist alley booth this year.

Don’t forget us!

Only The Valiant will be recording LIVE from the convention floor, startign Friday at 2:30pm. Check out the recording schedule and map posting for more information.

Any other creators that we missed? Leave a comment and let us know.

Dark Horse Comics have released their solicitations for comics sold in October. We’ll be getting new issues of Doctor Solar, Magnus, Robot Fighter, and Turok, Son of Stone, all written by Jim Shooter.

Here’s the solicitations, click on the images for larger images of the covers.

Doctor Solar 3, Michael Komarck Cover (click for a larger image)

DOCTOR SOLAR #3

Jim Shooter (W), Roger Robinson (A), and Michael Komarck (Cover)

On sale Oct 6

FC, 40 pages

$3.50

Ongoing

The dark god Moloch the Devourer pits his demonic hellfire against the thermonuclear fury of Doctor Solar. Whitmore Pickerel, whose power to bring his imagination into existence unleashed the Devourer, conjures the mighty sun-god Surya for protection. But instead, Surya bows before Moloch, and the Man of the Atom faces cosmic-scale war on a second front. With the power of Solar pitted against the god of the sun, can the planet survive?

• All-new series written by Jim Shooter!
• New artist: Roger Robinson (Azrael, Batman: Gotham Knights).

Sean’s comment: Looks like Dennis Calero is off the book for this issue. I wonder if this is a permanent change?

Magnus Robot Fighter 3 Comics Raymond Swanland cover (clikc to enlarge)

MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #3

Jim Shooter (W), Bill Reinhold (A), Wes Dzioba (C), and Raymond Swanland (Cover)

On sale Oct 27

FC, 40 pages

$3.50

Miniseries

In the year 4000, savage illegal prizefights operate in the shadows of the milespires. In one corner, the deadly, gen-enhanced number-one contender—Hyppolyta. In the other corner, the remorseless robotic champion—Steelhammer, who has annihilated every opponent he has faced, man or machine. Drawn unwillingly into the ring to save a life, Magnus must battle them both—steel-smashing man against super-woman, robot fighter vs. robot fighter—to the death.

• All-new series written by Jim Shooter!

Sean’s Comment: This should be a smash-a-riffic, action packed, high entertaimo issue.

Turok, Son of Stone 1, Raymond Swanland cover (click to enlarge)

TUROK, SON OF STONE #1

Turok returns! All-new series written by Jim Shooter!

Jim Shooter (W), Eduardo Francisco (A), TBD (C), and Raymond Swanland (Cover)

On sale Oct 20

FC, 48 pages

$3.50

Ongoing

Turok, wandering warrior from a far land, rescues Andar, son of a Chiricahua chief, from the ruthless King Maxtla and his Aztec horde. Pursued into a vast cavern, prey and predators are swept away by an unimaginable force to a savage, timeless land of nightmares and miracles, where dinosaurs thunder and rampage. Beset by bloodthirsty enemies and beasts, Turok and Andar encounter an even deadlier threat—the fearsome Panther People and their mesmerizing goddess, Aasta.

Turok, Son of Stone returns, reimagined by legendary writer Jim Shooter and illustrated by hot new talent Eduardo Francisco (Victory, Executive Assistant: IRIS).

• 48-page first issue, includes the very first Turok story from 1954!

Sean’s Comment: This should be a cool take on things. At least the Lost Land will be back. And dinosaurs. It’s not Turok without dinosaurs.

Is it really time for a new episode of Only The Valiant? Yes. The answer is yes. In this episode, we talk about upcoming Dark Horse comics, collecting habits, etc.

In addition, we have our amazing brand of banter, and…

• Will there be a mailed address call for auditions?
• Klingons fighting Star Wars fanboys.. in our dreams
• Will we get to rock, er, I mean, Turok, in September?
• How many comics makes a print run of comics “limited” in today’s comic world
• What should we do when we get down on comics?
• Do you have Comic Addiction? there is a (manga) patch for that
• When was the first appearance of Aliens?
• The best Star Wars movie, and the two best words about Jedi
• Chub Nub… sing it, Ewoks

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.

The new Doctor Solar ongoing series will debut in July, as was announced at Wondercon this weekend.

The new series will be penciled by Dennis Calero and written by Jim Shooter.

I asked the folks at the Dark Horse booth about the relaunch of the Gold Key character books, and they said that a new Magnus ongoing series will debut in August, and that there are also plans to launch a new Turok ongoing series this summer as well, though they didn’t mention a month.

Though they have mentioned plans to launch Turok, this is, that fact that they intend to launch the new series this summer has not been announced yet. Convention scoop!

Note that this was mentioned from the Dark Horse folks working at the booth, and is not an official announcement.

Jim Shooter will also be writing the new Magnus series. I don’t know at this time who the artist will be in the ongoing Magnus series.

Sean, Chiclo and Big Daddy get together to discuss the Malev War, the epic story of man versus robot invaders that was published in Magnus, Robot Fighter 21 through 37, and Rai and the Future Force 9 through 22.

This story is one of the epic, quality, post-Unity stories that Valiant produced

We discuss what we liked, what we didn’t like, ties to the rest of the Valiant Universe, plus…

• this episode is certified Vengeance free
• we don’t judge spelling discrepancies
• learn how to – and how not to – serve a Cabernet Sauvignon. Don’t make this mistake at parties!
• find out just how much Valiant retconned their comics. Marvel and DC, step aside
• the Future Force is not like Robin Hood’s Merry Men in one key way. Find out before your friends.
• Would you hook up with a hot (or cold) robot chick?
• we spoil The Exorcist. If you haven’t seen it, too bad.
• “Springtime for Hitler” has nothing on the Nazi silliness in a certain part of the world…
• Are computer viruses like potholes? you decide.

Notes from the show: Malev-6 first showed up in Gold Key Magnus Robot Fighter issues 7, 21, and 24.

The Only The Valiant guys are gonna discuss the Malev War, the epic storyline of man versus sentient robot invaders. Recording will take place during the week of Feb 22 to 26. We would love to have your input.

The Malev war is the long, overarching story that runs in Magnus 21 to 37, and in Rai and the Future Force 9 through 22.

Send in your thoughts to us by email: onlythevaliant at gmail dot com, or call our voicemail number: (270) 8-NINJAK.

Any questions and or comments are welcome!

Jim Shooter was asked 20 questions and gave 20 answers about the relaunch of the Gold Key characters at Dark Horse.

One of those 20 questions was from yours truly at the Only The Valiant Podcast. Click to read the questions and answers:

20 Questions with Jim Shooter

Most of these questions are from fans, a request for questions was given at the valiantfans forum.

Dark Horse has made a press release of the announcement they made at Comic-Con regarding their plans to print new Magnus, Solar, Turok, and Mighty Samson comics.

You can see the complete press release at the Dark Horse website at the following link:

Dark Horse Press Release

The press release contains some history about Jim Shooter, and statements by Jim Shooter and Dark Horse President Mike Richardson. They both express enthusiasm for this upcoming project.

The press release also gives a little bit of background information about Magnus, Robot Fighter, Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom, Turok, Son of Stone, and The Mighty Samson.

Hopefully they will announce plans for writers, artists, titles, and release dates soon.