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!

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.

That’s because it’s “slow week”.

What exactly is “slow week”? It’s the week after San Diego Comic-Con, where everybody is catching up on sleep, and catching up on Comic-Con news.

San Diego Comic-Con

Speaking of Comic-Con, OTV has a ton of stuff for you to read and listen to about the King of Cons.

• Jonesy writes about his experience at SDCC.
• Sean has daily updates: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
• OTV Podcast! We’ve got two episodes recorded at San Diego Comic Con, Part 1, covering Preview Night and Thursday, and Part 2, covering Friday and Saturday.

Also at the Con was also the Summer Of Valiant Panel.

Do you want to see it? We’ve got a video of it here for you.

Other folks covered the panel as well:

• CBR covers the panel, and has an exclusive look at the variant cover to X-O Manowar #6, with an awesome homage cover
• The outhousers also have a run down of the panel

X-O Manowar #1 Gold

Go For The Gold

The coolest announcement at the Comic-Con panel was that the Gold Logo Book program will be returning. These books will be given out as fan rewards for demonstrating their support for Valiant.

The first gold book is X-O Manowar #1, just take a look at this beauty of a book!

Valiant gave all of the attendies of the panel at Comic-Con a copy of the gold book, but how can you get one for yourself?

There isn’t any particular way to get your hands on one of these, just do something to support Valiant, and let them know. Who knows? It may land you a gold book.

Also, Valiant is auctioning off a Gold X-O Manowar #1 comic, with all proceeds going to the Wounded Warrior Project. Pretty solid of Valiant to start off their gold logo book program with charity!

Check out the cool way the first gold winner won:

Congrats to Michael M., our first official Gold Book winner! He definitely earned it, eh, Valiant fans? twitter.com/ValiantComics/…

— ValiantComics (@ValiantComics) July 19, 2012

In addition, V-Ditti’s got some ideas of his own about how to score one of these gold books:

@robertvenditti yes, yes they will!

— ValiantComics (@ValiantComics) July 20, 2012

October Solicitations

The solicitations for October came out last week, with the next issues of our favorite titles hitting the solicits.

Recolored Barry Windsor-Smith cover art for the Bloodshot Hardcover

I’m sure we’ll be taking a look at these solicitations soon enough, but there is one item to take note of:

Valiant is releasing a hardcover collection of the Classic Bloodshot comic, with issues 1-8. Most notably, it will feature a new Bloodshot story by the original creative team of Kevin VanHook and Don Perlin. Pretty cool!

X-O Manowar #3

X-O #3 hit the stands this week, and Aric was finally able to cut loose with the armor.

In addition, reviewers were finally able to cut loose across the internet. Here’s a slew of reviews:

• Broken Icon
• Comics Crux
• Comic Bastards
• One Geek Nation
• Omnicomic
• …and of course, Only The Valiant

The Shape Of Things To Come

This week gave us some previews of the things we’ll be seeing in the coming months from Valiant.

Ninjak

Newsarama has an exclusive preview of X-O Manowar #5, featuring the introduction of Ninjak. These first few images of Ninjak alone are already better than the original version (clearly, this author wasn’t a fan).

Harbinger

Harbinger #6 is the beginning of the second story arc. Here’s the official word:

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. But as Harada’s Eggbreaker strike force closes in, the helpless Peter wonders if he will find forgiveness at Kris’s door – or vengeance. And when Faith Herbert arrives as the superhero she’s always dreamed of becoming, the game is going change for everyone involved…

Now, let’s take a look at the covers!

Harbinger #6 Cover by Matthew Clark

Harbinger #6 Cover by Mico Suayan

Weekend!

So there you go. I’m off to finish recovering from Comic-Con.

Probably by watching the Dark Knight.

Have a weekend, folks!

Strangely, this week didn’t really see us receiving a lot of information, but this week was all about quality, instead of quantity.

Let’s review!

Monday

Number crunch!

• Comic book sales estimates for May 2012 were released, and we got to see how X-O Manowar stacked up. X-O Manowar sold over 42,000 copies, making it the second highest selling title (after Walking Dead) amongst titles not published by Marvel or DC
• Many comic book reporting sites focused on the high sales of A vs. X, and how Walking Dead is selling boatloads, but we here at OTV have the Valiant angle on the sales number

Also, Harbinger just came out, and reviews are still coming in.

• There are reviews of Harbinger #1 at The Beat, over at Geekasms, and on the War Rocket Ajax podcast (minute 24)
• 16 Bit Monster lists Valiant as part of the 5 must read comics of the summer; the other 4 titles listed are pretty good too

Enter: Ninjak

• and quietly, over on Twitter, V-Ditti tells us X-O Manowar readers: Expect a teaser image about the series’ second arc tomorrow

Tuesday

On Tuesday, we got a killer teaser – Enter: Ninjak

• Everyone on the internet reported on this teaser
• Interestingly, many of th places assumed that the teaser meant that Valiant planned to launch a Ninjak series in September, but those in the know knew that the plan is for Ninjak to appear in X-O Manowar #5 in September

Wednesday

New Comic Book day! What did you get today?

• Comic Impact Podcast discusses Harbinger #1 as their pick of the week
• Valiant continues to release classic issues in digital format, on Wednesday they released Bloodshot #6, incidentally, the first appearance of Ninjak!

Thursday

X-O Manowar #5 Zircher Interlocking Variant Covers

Moar Ninjak!

• USA Today reports on the return of Ninjak in X-O Manowar #5

Ninjak Character Design from Newsarama

• MTV Geek has the Ninjak teaser, plus a preview of the variant cover to X-O Manowar #5
• IGN also reports on Ninjak appearing in X-O Manowar, with a preview of the cover to X-O Manowar #6
• Interview: CBR talks to V-Ditti about Ninjak and X-O
• Aja Alert! David Aja shares some of the design work he has done for Valiant, check out his work on X-O Manowar, on Archer & Armstrong, and on Bloodshot; awesome work!

Friday

• Bleeding Cool has Valiant Comics solicitations for September, 2012
• To round out the week, Newsarama interviews Warren Simons and Patrick Zircher about the return of Ninjak, with images of character designs, and the cover to Harbinger #4

Just like last month, here’s some thoughts on these August solicitations.

ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #1

Archer & Armstrong #1 Cover

Written by Fred Van Lente

Art by Clayton Henry

Cover by Mico Suayan

Pullbox Exclusive Cover by Clayton Henry

Variant Covers by David Aja & Neal Adams

It’s a globetrotting quest for the Valiant Universe’s greatest secrets, from the New York Times bestselling team of Fred Van Lente (Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel Zombies) and Clayton Henry (Uncanny X-Men)!

Obadiah Archer was born and raised to cherish three things above all else: the faith of his parents, the love of his 22 brothers and sisters, and his lifelong mission to defeat the ultimate evildoer. Now, after years of training, Archer has been dispatched to the heart of America’s festering modern day Babylon, aka New York City, to root out and kill this infamous Great Satan. Unfortunately, dying has never been easy for Archer’s target — the hard-drinking, 10,000-year-old immortal known as Armstrong. Together, this unlikely pair of heroes is about to stumble headfirst into a centuries-old conspiracy that will bring the whole of ancient history crashing down on the modern day Valiant Universe. And that’s going to mean one Hell of a hangover.

$3.99

On Sale August 8

Thoughts on Archer & Armstrong

Archer & Armstrong #1 Clayton Henry Pullbox Variant

The fourth and last title in the #SummerOfValiant!

Archer & Armstrong was the favorite of many folks back in the days of Barry Windsor-Smith’s legendary 12-issue run on the book (well, it should be legendary).

A naive Obadiah that is the world’s greatest hand-to-hand fighter? Check.

A washed up, immortal Aram that prefers his bottle to anything else? Check.

An ancient conspiracy that thinks that Armstrong is the spawn of Satan? Check

The odd thing about this book is that is seems like it will be very different from the rest. It doesn’t seem to be taken a wild action bent, with big important ramifications to them, like in the other books. This seems appropriate, since the entire concept of Archer & Armstrong was very different from the rest of the books back when it was first published in 1992.

It seems like they are keeping the core concept to Archer & Armstrong intact, so all the ingredients are there. The question is, will they be mixed up correctly?

Also, I expect to laugh when I read this book. In a good way.

BLOODSHOT #2

Bloodshot #2 Cover by Arturo Lozzi

Written by Duane Swierczynski

Art by Manuel Garcia & Arturo Lozzi

Cover by Arturo Lozzi

Variant Cover by Andy Brase

Waking up inside a body bag is no way to start the day.

But that’s where you are, and worse yet, you’re 35,000 feet above the desert, guarded by the some of the toughest soldiers on the planet. You’re being flown back to the people who created you, who may have even betrayed you. You’re having a hard time separating your false memories (of family, duty, country) from the grim reality (of bullets, blood, screaming). Who’s really on your side? Why were you created? Where does the “real you” end and the programming begin? There’s only one way to find out – by reaching up and zipping open this bag. And God have mercy on anyone who comes face-to-face with the weapon — no, the man — no, the soldier — known only as Bloodshot.

$3.99

On Sale August 15

Thoughts on Bloodshot

Bloodshot #2 Andy Brase Variant Cover

The solicitation for the first issue of Bloodshot was unique, it was written in the second person. You are Angelo Mortalli. You are Raymond Garrison. You are Bloodshot. Etc.

This solicitation continues this writing style. It gives us a cool look into the thoughts of Bloodshot, as he no doubt begins a bloody rampage in true Bloodshot style.

They are flying Bloodshot back to the people that created him, which was Iwatsu and Project: Rising Spirit in the original Bloodshot. Will his creators be the same in this version? It seems like he is some sort of Military project from some earlier info and solicitation.

It sounds like Bloodshot will be struggling as much with figuring out who he is, and what is happening in his head, as he is with struggling to blow his ay out of whatever situation he is in.

I hope that this book includes this inner struggle, I think that gets closer to the root of what makes Bloodshot such a great character.

HARBINGER #3

Harbinger #3 Cover

Written by Joshua Dysart

Art by Khari Evans & Lewis Larosa

Cover by Arturo Lozzi

Variant Cover by Patrick Zircher

Welcome to the Harbinger Foundation. Class is now in session.

Throughout his whole life, Peter Stanchek has been confused by his strange powers and their effect on those closest to him. Now, having abandoned everything he knows, Peter has escaped to the confines of Toyo Harada’s Harbinger Foundation where his new training will temper his body, torture his mind and reawaken the horrors of his past. But is all of this truly giving Peter more control over his power? Or simply making him far more dangerous than he’s ever been before?

$3.99

On Sale August 15

Thoughts on Harbinger

Harbinger #3 Variant Cover by Patrick Zircher

Pete in the Harbinger foundation.

We never actually saw this in the original. He never put on the Harbinger Foundation uniform, practiced with the eggbreakers, and joined the team. Looks like we’ll see that in this book, it seems to be a bit of a difference from the original.

Also, Pete found out pretty quickly in the original incarnation of Harbinger that Toyo Harada is not the good guy. I’m looking forward to seeing Harada use and manipulate Pete in this version.

I also hope that we will see some of our other recognizable characters in this issue. One of the promo images that Valiant has been throwing around shows Pete with Kris and Zephyr. Maybe they’ll be at the foundation? Will Kris have a Harbinger ability this time around?

And most importantly, when is Flamingo gonna show up. That’s who I wanna see.

And what’s this about “horrors from his past”? I guess we’ll have to wait and see what kind of tortured soul Pete is.

X-O MANOWAR #4

X-O Manowar #4 Cover

Written by Robert Venditti

Art by Cary Nord

Cover by Doug Braithwaithe

Variant Cover by Don Kramer

X-O Manowar vs. 2012 A.D.

With the enormous power of the X-O Manowar armor at his command, Aric has returned to Earth hell bent on destroying the Roman Empire. But the Rome he encounters is as alien to him as the Vine colony ship he escaped from – because 1,600 years have transpired in his absence. Without fully understanding the consequences of his actions, will Aric’s first act in the modern day ignite a new world war? Meanwhile, the secret history of the Vine’s presence on Earth is finally revealed. Who is corporate mogul Alexander Dorian? Will he be Aric’s one ally in this strange new world – or his very first enemy?

$3.99

On sale August 29

Thoughts on X-O Manowar

X-O Manowar #4 Variant Cover by Don Kramer

This one looks good. This one looks like we’ll be getting to what X-O is all about: a man out of time.

I love that the cover shows Aric in modern day Rome. Of course he would come back to crush the Roman Empire, and of course he would start at the heart, by destroying Rome.

I’m expecting a bunch of mayhem when Aric arrives.

Should be good.

I feel like the first three issues of the series will be working to get us here, to the point where Aric crashes into modern day earth. With this issue, we’ll get to see the totality of what X-O Manowar is all about, and what we can expect to get from the series.

I’m also looking forward to the secret history of the Vine on earth. The planting of the Vine baby was the most intriguing part of the first issue, I’m looking forward to seeing more about this.

And is Alexander Dorian our new Ken?

Monday:

The exciting news was from C2E2, where Valiant had their first convention appearance and panel.

• Comic Booked covered the panel, with lots of tasty nuggets:

The Vine, will play a role in the story of Bloodshot as well, and the first two pages of this title will have “lasting implications” for the next year of the Valiant Universe.

Bloodshot 2 Cover

• There are transcripts of the live tweets from the Valiant panel at C2E2, courtesy of Greg Holland of Valiantfans, and the folks at Bleeding Cool.
• Last of C2E2 coverage, Newsarama covered the Valiant Panel.
• Also on Monday, Diamond Scoop caught the wave, and looked back through the history of X-O Manowar publication.
• Oh yeah! and Sean put up a Compost Pile column to talk about the July Solicitations from Valiant Comics.

Tuesday:

• Newsarama put up Valiant preview art, including a lot of really great stuff, including the cover to Bloodshot #2, and interior Bloodshot and Archer & Armstrong pages.

Wednesday:

• CBR published their C2E2 Valiant coverage, including an awesome splash that shows the characters from the Valiant books coming this summer, plus some extras: Rai! Zephyr! Is that Kris? And, Eternal Warrior’s arm!
• Stash My Comics held an interview with Kevin Van-Hook, co-creator of Bloodshot back in the 90s

Harbinger 1 Preview Pg 5

Thursday:

• Pretty much every one posted up a six-page preview of Harbinger. We’ve seen these pages before, but now they are in their finished, lettered form. The interesting reveal in these pages is that Pete doesn’t seem to be able to control all those voices in his head, though it looks like some good drugs will help with that.

Friday:

Friday brought us news of a bunch of appearances:

• Valiant Comics is gonna be at the Calgary Expo on April 27-29, and X-O Manowar artist Cary Nord will be attending as well
• On Free Comic Book Day (May 5th), Harbinger writer Joshua Dysart will be at The Comic Bug in Manhattan Beach to sign books
• Also on Free Comic Book Day, X-O Manowar writer Robert Venditti will be at Jim Hanley’s Universe in Manhattan (New York version, not the Cali beach version) to sign books

It’s been a fun week for Valiant!

These solicits are from the Valiant Universe website.

BLOODSHOT #1

Bloodshot 1 Cover by Arturo Lozzi

Written by Duane Swierczynski

Art by Manuel Garcia and Arturo Lozzi

Covers by Arturo Lozzi, Mico Suayan, David Aja, and Esad Ribic

The Summer of Valiant continues!

It’s the start of a new mission for one of comics’ all-time best-selling superheroes in Bloodshot #1 – the first issue of new ongoing series from acclaimed novelist Duane Swierczynski (Immortal Iron Fist, Birds of Prey) and the lethal artistic tag team of Manuel Garcia (Checkmate) and Arturo Lozzi (Immortal Weapons)!

Your name is Angelo Mortalli. Your brother is trapped behind enemy lines and on the verge of — no. That’s not right. Your name is Raymond Garrison. You’ve retired from the dangers of the field, but a desperate plea from your oldest friend plunges you into a vicious firefight that — no. That’s not right, either. You are Bloodshot. You are the shade of gray that freedom requires. The perfect confluence of military necessity and cutting-edge technology. A walking WikiLeaks that is a reservoir of dirty secrets that could set the world on fire. And you’ve just been captured.

32pgs, Full Color, $3.99

On sale July 11

Variant covers:

Pullbox by Mico Suayan

Variant by David Aja

Variant by Esad Ribic

Thoughts on the Bloodshot solicitation

This book seems very much to be shrouded in mystery. We haven’t seen very much from this book in terms of previews or information. in fact, a lot of the questions about the book seem to be answered with “if we answered that, it would spoil the book”. This makes me curious, and I’m getting more and more curious the closer we get to this book’s release.

We do know that we will be surprised at how important Bloodshot is to the Valiant Universe, and we know from C2E2 that something is going to happen in the first two pages that will have bigger ramifications for the Valiant Universe.

The hints seem to indicate that Bloodshot is going to be much more important to this Valiant Universe than he was to the classic Valiant stories. The thing is, he was pretty important, since he was the basis for the Rai legacy, and his blood was the Blood of heroes that was so important to the future.

We also know from C2E2 that The Vine are going to be involved in this somehow. I have no idea how, but this hints at the kind of interconnected world that made Valiant so great in the past.

The biggest question, and mystery, seems to be about the two artists on the book. It seems clear that the different artists are depicting separate things, though it’s unclear if this means they are drawing different times, different memories, different aspects of Bloodshot’s identities… or what if it is different characters altogether? Bloodshot and Rai were connected in the classic Valiant, will they be connected again in this book? Will one of the artists be depicting Rai? Just a thought.

Bloodshot is one of my favorite characters from the classic Valiant, I’m very anxious to find out more about this new Bloodshot.

HARBINGER #2

Harbinger 2 Cover by Arturo Lozzi

Written by Joshua Dysart

Art by Khari Evans

Cover by Arturo Lozzi

Variant cover by Doug Braithwaite

Outside the law. Inside your head. Welcome to the Harbinger Foundation.

The hunt for Peter Stanchek intensifies after an epic battle with Pittsburgh S.W.A.T forces him to use his powers out in the open. Now he faces the most difficult decision of his life. Continue to put his friends in harm’s way… or abandon them for the safety of Toyo Harada’s Harbinger Foundation?

32pgs

Full Color

$3.99

On sale July 11

Thoughts on the Harbinger Solicitation

Harbinger 2 Variant by Doug Braithwaite

I’m calling it now: Darpon, the character who’s name translates to the mirror, is a talking dog, and he’s on the cover of Harbinger #2. Josh Dysart and Dino Shamdasani hinted about this character at Wondercon, and we may be seeing him in the cover image above.

Have I mentioned that I really enjoy these covers with word balloons on them? We don’t see that too often these days, and it is a cool decision. I know opinions vary on this, but my opinion is that it is really cool.

That said, epic battle with S.W.A.T.?

Joining the Harbinger Foundation?

This sounds pretty fantastic. Who are Pete’s friends? Are they going to be the Harbinger kids that we all know, Kris, Flamingo, Zephyr, and Torque?

The variant cover to this issue seems to indicate that Pete joins the Harbinger Foundation, but is reluctant to do so.

Harbinger is an OTV favorite, so I know we’re all looking forward to this one.

X-O MANOWAR #3

X-O Manowar 3 by Jelena Kevic-Djurdjevic

Written by Robert Venditti

Art by Cary Nord

Cover by Jelena Kevic-Djurdjevic

Variant Cover by Mico Suayan

The smash hit series of the summer continues!

With the X-O Manowar armor now in his possession, all that stands between Aric and freedom is a legion of alien soldiers. When he at last comes face to face with Commander Trill — the man responsible for his capture — the enormous power of the Manowar armor reveals its potential in a new and electrifying way. Can Aric lead his band of fellow prisoners off the Vine colony ship and back to Earth, or will their revolt be put down? Who will live, and who will die?

32pgs

Full Color

$3.99

On sale July 18

Thoughts on the X-O Manowar solicitation

Three words.

Freaking. Lightning. Sword.

X-O Manowar 3 Variant by Mico Suayan

At this time, I see no reason to try to interpret “the Manowar armor reveals its potential in a new and electrifying way” differently.

What else could it be, really?

From the solicitation, this sounds like it will be a balls to the wall action issue, and I’ll be plenty happy to see Aric fighting his way through hordes of The Vine in his new found X-O Armor.

In Venditti and Nord we trust, so I expect we’ll get so much more than “just” a slugfest out of this.

It is also cool to note that the regular cover is an homage to issue 5 of the original X-O Manowar run, which had an awesome Barry Windsor-Smith cover.

Talking about covers, there is another variant cover to this issue. I don’t know yet if this is a 1:10 or 1:20 variant, though I would expect it to be 1:20, following in the same pattern as the 1:20 variant of issue 2.

The coloring reminds me quite a bit of the painted color look of comic covers from the late 80s and early 90s. It’s not really doing it for me though, this cover doesn’t excite me as much as some of the other covers I’ve seen.

Overall, these books look great, I can’t wait to have these in my hands and read, read, read.

The solicitation of the book is as follows:

THE TIMELESS ADVENTURES OF THE ETERNAL WARRIOR (ONE-SHOT)
story PAUL GRIST
art & cover PAUL GRIST
OCTOBER 7
32 PAGES / FC
$3.50

The Eternal Warrior. He’s the Cosmic Champion, a wanderer through time, forever caught in the battle between order and chaos

There’s a woman called Bernadette who wants to be the Empress of the Universe, and she’s just found the one thing that could help her achieve that. The only man who can stop her is the Eternal Warrior. And he’s just arrived 10 minutes too late!

So what is the issue here?

It comes down to the difference between copyrights and trademarks.

Copyrights protect the content of a published work. For instance, the copyright for Eternal Warrior would refer to a character named Gilad that is ten thousand years old, wears a jacket with strange containers down one side, has a glove with spikes on it, and has long flowing hair like Fabio.

Trademarks protect titles of products. In this case, the title Eternal Warrior is registered by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to Valiant Entertainment. An online record of this registration is located here.

In particular, the use of the words Eternal Warrior as the title of a product is registered to Valiant Entertainment, Inc, and includes:

Printed matter, namely, comic books; graphic novels; books featuring stories in illustrated form; books relating to comic book characters; periodicals, namely, magazines featuring illustrated stories for children and adults; comic strips; posters; art prints; lithographic prints; seriographic prints; limited edition prints; collector’s cards featuring comic book characters; trading cards; trading card albums

As far as I understand Trademark laws, the contents of this comic solicited by Image are fine. Even the description of the character within the book as the Eternal Warrior is probably fine. The use of the words Eternal Warrior in the title of this book seems to be a violation of VEI’s registered trademark.

These trademark laws help to protect both consumer and producer. If VEI does eventually print a new Eternal Warrior comic book, it is in the companies interest and in our interest as consumers to only have one product in comic book stores called Eternal Warrior.

If I were to recommend to a friend that he go to the comic shop and buy the latest issue of Eternal Warrior, there should not be any confusion about which comic book I am referring to. With two different books, with entirely different content in the marketplace, the consumer could reasonably be confused.

It will be interesting to see what happens, and if this comic book does come out with the title that it is solicited with. I will be ordering a copy, at the very least for posterity, to see how this plays out.