Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Discuss the VALIANT comics, characters, and collecting.
PLEASE DO NOT REVEAL SPOILER INFORMATION IN YOUR TOPIC TITLE.

Moderators: Daniel Jackson, greg

Post Reply
otomo
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 342
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 4:04:27 pm
Valiant fan since: 2017
Favorite character: XO Manowar
Favorite title: XO Manowar
Favorite writer: Matt Kindt
Favorite artist: Tomas Giorello
Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by otomo »

Since getting back into the Valiant Universe, I've been reviewing the TPBs, which could give a clue to new folk what to read (as long as their tastes line up with mine!). Usually they're brief thoughts. Here's the list of what I've read so far. If it's not here, I haven't read it!

4001 AD
Volume 1

Archer & Armstrong
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 5

Armor Hunters
Volume 1

Book of Death
Volume 1

Bloodshot
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Volume 6

Bloodshot: Reborn
Volume 1 10/10
Volume 2 9/10
Volume 3 10/10
Volume 4 9/10

Bloodshot: USA
Volume 1 8/10

Britannia
Volume 1

Death Defying Doctor Mirage
Volume 1 7/10
Volume 2 6/10

Divinity
Volume 1 10/10

Harbinger
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5

Harbinger Wars
Volume 1

Ivar, Timewalker
Volume 1 5/10
Volume 2 7/10
Volume 3 6/10

Ninjak
Volume 1 10/10

Rai
Volumes 1-3
Volume 4

Savage
Volume 1

Shadowman
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5

The Valiant
Volume 1

Unity
Volume 1

X-O Manowar
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Volume 7
Volume 8
Volume 9
Last edited by otomo on Fri Sep 15, 2017 11:58:17 pm, edited 13 times in total.
Like XO Manowar or Conan The Barbarian? Check out my new graphic novel, DEUS VULT on IndieGoGo now: Deus Vult: http://igg.me/at/deusvult.

Zhuge1
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 350
Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2014 10:45:34 am
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by Zhuge1 »

Also, as a head's up, there is a fairly new trade available that deals somewhat with the VH2 (Acclaim) incarnation of Shadowman. It's called Shadowman by Garth Ennis and Ashley Wood (or if you search on that on Amazon, you'll find it).

otomo
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 342
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 4:04:27 pm
Valiant fan since: 2017
Favorite character: XO Manowar
Favorite title: XO Manowar
Favorite writer: Matt Kindt
Favorite artist: Tomas Giorello
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by otomo »

Thanks ZHuge I saw that and will check it out at some point.

Shadowman Vol 1: Birth Rites

I read the original 90s Shadowman trade thinking that it would give me some context for the current one, but it appears that the Valiant titles since 2012 are a fresh reboot, no prior knowledge required. This is both cool and kind of a bummer to me as I liked the first incarnation quite a bit.

This version is by Justin Jordan and Patrick Zircher. Shadowman is again Jack Boniface, but the character has completely changed in the Issues 1-4 that are collected here. His parents were involved in this past Shadowman history and were killed saving the world. Jack now works in a museum in New Orleans, and the setting there doesn't feel as crucial as it did in the first incarnation. There's an otherworldly plot going on -- and this is where I think the world building that Jordan did surpasses the original by leaps and bounds. The villain Darque is trapped in some other dimension, trying to get here. Shadowman can use his powers to travel between this world and a world of the dead, which he can traverse only in darkness or through the shadows. He meets a gal Alyssa Miles, who with her partner, are trying to cultivate him into the hero he's supposed to be, a sort of chosen one storyline. I find this works really well. There's a conspiracy of evil rich dudes that are summoning otherworldly evils, and then we meet the villain of this arc -- The Twist, a pretty creepy demon character who reminds me of Princess Mononoke's demon infested animals with the weird demonness kinda living atop the skin. The storyline is pretty solid, and I like the depth that they've gone to to make Shadowman feel like it's got a bit more to it than the last version had. The different worlds/planes are very interesting and I hope to see them developed more as the series goes on.

The art is decent, but I did read this right after XO Manowar's new iteration, in which the art is jawdropping, so I am comparing to that and it doesn't quite hold up. I don't think this has to do with the line art so much as the coloring. The lines are quite fluid, there's always action going on, something about the eyes or faces gives me the impression they're not real, I can't pinpoint it down, but it's not a big deal. Zircher's demons/undead/spirits is where he shines though. These come across as a really unique imagination and I think it makes the book. The colors though feel a little bit too much like digital flats for the dark storyline that's going on here. I don't feel a ton of impact from light sources and it doesn't leave me super excited. It's servicable but the tone doesn't feel right for Shadowman in that regard.

I found this story to be pretty darn fun, overall. It's good, and enough to make me interested in more volumes. I like how this reboot has gone compared to the original, having read them back to back. A solid start to the series. 8/10

Last night I followed up on my reading of Shadowman Vol 1 with a volume 2 and 3 read. Though I’m going to condense into one post, though will review separately.

Shadowman Volume 2 consists of issues #5-9 which continue the plotline of Darque trying to get back to the regular world. He’s hooked up with the “King of the Dead Side” who is skull and bones, super creepy, great art. He lives in a giant manner separate, out of touch from even this dark reality of ghosts and ghouls. The king is named Samedi, and he takes over a host in the real world in spectacular and disturbing fashion. Shadowman is confronted with him and they form an uneasy alliance to work together against Darque, who is fast taking over the dead side. The takeover and all that is a bit rushed compared to the rest of the storyline, without much development. I think they could have taken a little time to tell us more of who Darque was, but with a name like that and the whole dead side ghouls, we get that he’s bad, and we do have a fast paced action story to deal with on top of that. It’s something that could be explored more. There’s perhaps a bit too many concepts and factions here with Darque not getting explained, Samedi the same, then the Brethren who we know little about, and then Shadowman’s group, the Abettors – we know just as little about them. It still works as a story even though I’d like some more depth, definitely leaving room for future installments to develop these. If they had been developed prior to this confrontation, however, it would have exceeded the emotional impact. Still, because of the fun pace, I thought the story was great.

The art is great too. The problems I had with the coloring in the first volume seem to have gone away here, even with the first issue. I don’t know if the colorists got better or they switched, I didn’t notice. About the middle of the volume, the artist leaves and gets replaced with several. Some people say they found that jolting, but I thought it was fine. Wasn’t up to the standards of issues 5-6 in the volume, but still rather on the excellent side. This volume overall and storyline I rate a 9/10 as it could have had a little more to make it perfect but I am very much intrigued with the character.

Then there’s Shadowman Volume 3. This one starts with a #0 backstory and has 10-12 in addition to that. And the series starts to lose focus fast.

#0 is a backstory of Darque’s sister, which is intriguing and interesting. It shows how she’s connected to the Bonifaces, the origin of Shadowman through magic, and how she came to be. I was almost hoping they wouldn’t introduce her yet, as we had so much to learn about Darque himself, which we get glimpses of but still not a full picture here, and of Samedi and the Abettors…. All of which gets dropped. I like the art here, but it reads like a back story despite trying to make it into something. Good history, but it’s an info-dump of an issue. What’s weird is that issue #10 doesn’t further the current storyline either, but delves back further into backstory again. The series really goes off the rails a bit here. I’m glad for the history, but some of this should have been intertwined in the last story arc, and some of it with the sister should have been saved for later when she makes an appearance in the current timeline. After that, we get a bizarre Halloween Special for #11, which isn’t connected to anything and ignores a lot of the storyline for a quick fight-fest. Issue #12 devolves further into a series of vignettes by different writers and artists, like they couldn’t keep the team together to work on the storyline. These add very little to shadowman, and I had to force myself to read them. It was rough. I think we had an epic start for the first volumes, with some cool history unfolding, and then the rough times came.

The art in this collection varies in quality wildly. It’s all over the map and seems to get worse with each subsequent issue. Kind of sad to watch, as this had a lot of potential. Overall, the backstory of 0 and 10 are okay, but skippable, and 11-12 aren’t worth the read. 5/10
Last edited by otomo on Wed Aug 30, 2017 4:44:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Like XO Manowar or Conan The Barbarian? Check out my new graphic novel, DEUS VULT on IndieGoGo now: Deus Vult: http://igg.me/at/deusvult.

otomo
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 342
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 4:04:27 pm
Valiant fan since: 2017
Favorite character: XO Manowar
Favorite title: XO Manowar
Favorite writer: Matt Kindt
Favorite artist: Tomas Giorello
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by otomo »

Archer & Armstrong Vol 1.

This collects the first volume of the Archer & Armstrong series. I never read the original, so I am basing this review wholly off the merits of its own story. We have Archer, who we get a very nice backstory of, who is some elite ninja trained in some cult that masquerades as a foster home. He is sent to get some relics that if their powers combined, they make captain planet... or some big thing that will give his cult power over the world, the power to heal, the power to be immortal. We also meet an immortal who has several names but goes by Armstrong now, and see flashbacks of his life as the story progresses. Archer's got a girlfriend in the cult, who turns out to hunt him later on. His parents end up being pretty evil and are working with a super mustache-twirly villain group called "The 1%" which is a wall street group who wear bull and bear helmets... that's the weakest part of the story, as it lends itself to a little bit of political bs, though it doesn't overwhelm this volume. It has a slightly anti-religious bent to it as well which is a little annoying at parts, especially in the catholic church where they say the dissenter is the one who's most worth being saved. that is very... not Catholic. Bad characterization there to try to make a point. But, those are minor quibbles, even though they stood out enough that I picked them out, we're talking only a couple of panels worth of annoyance in 100+ pages. Overall the writing out of what I've read so far (which has been mostly Shadowman and a single volume of XO Manowar) in Valiant, this probably has the best and tightest storyline I've read. The writer also is really good at tying little things and sayings from the beginning in to have meaning at the end, a sign of solid craft.

Art is serviceable, reminds me of pretty much any Image Comic. It didn't stand out, didn't blow me away, didn't bother me at any point either. As the characters are a bit silly in concept, it doesn't need to be the most realistic or have some cool edginess to it, it just needs simple comic art that has good action poses, and it delivers.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. It set up a very cool world and a lot of pretty memorable characters. Definitely worth reading on. 8/10
Like XO Manowar or Conan The Barbarian? Check out my new graphic novel, DEUS VULT on IndieGoGo now: Deus Vult: http://igg.me/at/deusvult.

otomo
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 342
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 4:04:27 pm
Valiant fan since: 2017
Favorite character: XO Manowar
Favorite title: XO Manowar
Favorite writer: Matt Kindt
Favorite artist: Tomas Giorello
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by otomo »

X-O Manowar (2012) Vol 1.

The whole reason I'm reading this back universe is the 2017 X-O Manowar #1 issue impressed me so much, I had to see what was up with the rest of this. I was a bit nervous going back here, as I heard that the story has pretty close to a clean start so far and doesn't reference a ton of what went on. This version is written by Robert Venditti with art by Cary Nord. It is an origin story of an alien invasion force picking up slaves in the Roman Empire time, and seeding our planet with hybrids. Our hero, Aric, gets picked up by one of these slave transports, motivated by getting back to his gorgeous wife, and stumbles upon some magical armor that has religious status to the aliens, escapes with the armor and returns only to find out that 1600 years have passed and it's now modern times. A lot of culture shock to process from aliens to modern. It's very fast paced, much more decompressed than the current book which is fine for trade, but would have annoyed me in single issue form. I still loved it, and am eager to get this backstory that leads to the new relaunch. Aric is a classic pulp character hero, a true man's man like Tarzan or John Carter or Eric John Stark. He fights, he has his honor code, he has his loved ones and that's what he cares about. He's quick to go into a battle, and also quick to kick *SQUEE*. After one issue of the new, and now one trade of the old, it's safe to say I'm obsessed. Great work all around.

The art by Nord isn't quite as good as the current reboot's work. It's good, but there's a lack of detail at points. I also think the colorist on the new book really makes that one shine, and it's hard to get that style, so this has more of a generic comic book feel to it. Parts of it almost feel 90s in the way it's done, not sure if that aws intentional. It's fine and good, but not superb.

Overall, I think it being so decompressed hurts it a little. I was able to get through this volume in way too much speed, and I would have liked to have something a little meatier to enjoy, but I love the origin story. I love the character, and that trumps all. 9/10
Like XO Manowar or Conan The Barbarian? Check out my new graphic novel, DEUS VULT on IndieGoGo now: Deus Vult: http://igg.me/at/deusvult.

otomo
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 342
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 4:04:27 pm
Valiant fan since: 2017
Favorite character: XO Manowar
Favorite title: XO Manowar
Favorite writer: Matt Kindt
Favorite artist: Tomas Giorello
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by otomo »

X-O Manowar (2012) Vol. 2

This picks up right where the first volume left off, with a potential alien invasion from the Vine looming, their planted agents conspiring against Alric in present day Earth, chasing him down and sending agents who get torn apart by him immediately. He's so feral, so ancient, and it shows that he does not give a damn about anyone or anything. A truly desperate situation for our hero. Eventually, one of the alien plants defects and helps Alric as Earth is threatened with impending doom because they can't stand that the suit is here. MI-6 is controlled by the aliens, who send Ninjak to take him out -- a really cool character and foe, then friend to Alric. Tons of action, super fast paced, even faster than the first volume in a lot of ways, and equally as decompressed as we're now 8 issues in and alien invasion's been threatened awhile, and still hasn't happened. Despite that decompression -- I love it. The action's fun, the characters are there to care about, I find this story super engaging and want all 13 volumes immediately so I can binge. the only thing that bugs me is I'm 8 issues in and there's no reason for this guy to be called X-O Manowar. Why not Adventures of Alric?

Art has stayed pretty much the same through this volume. Not much has stood out and wowed me, and yet I've got nothing to complain about as well. I didn't even check if the artist stayed the same, it flowed smoothly and didn't bug me regardless. I suppose the artist did a good job on the MI-6 fortress, as that stood out as memorable to me. A big building with giant guns.

Loving it, can't wait for the next issue. 9/10
Like XO Manowar or Conan The Barbarian? Check out my new graphic novel, DEUS VULT on IndieGoGo now: Deus Vult: http://igg.me/at/deusvult.

otomo
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 342
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 4:04:27 pm
Valiant fan since: 2017
Favorite character: XO Manowar
Favorite title: XO Manowar
Favorite writer: Matt Kindt
Favorite artist: Tomas Giorello
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by otomo »

X-O Manowar (2012) Vol. 3

If I hadn't made, based on a one-issue pick up of the relaunch of X-O Manowar, the decision to fall in love with a comic company and universe, I would have simply by picking up X-O Manowar's last run and reading through this third volume. Wow. This is pure action pulp adventure at its finest. Everything clicks on high cylinders in the story. Epic prophecy. Epic alien armies. A man raising his own army from the ashes. Hot redhead. This is modern pulp and it's beautiful. It concludes the first major story arc, and answers some good questions, and gives us some great background for the Vine where a lot of things make sense now. We also finally see the term Manowar, and that starts to make sense. I'm very happy with how this has gone story wise, and though I would have added a little more romance personally and developed Shaana a tad more, it's near perfect.

The art has suffered a little bit. The first couple issues in this volume were a fill in artist who was again, fine and servicable. Cary Nord then came back for the rest of the issues and I have to say his detail started to lack. I don't know if he's rushing issues or what, but it's noticeable in a lot of panels, especially if comparing to earlier issues by reading through in a binge read. His attention to action though to maintain the fast paced read pretty much does make up for this, however. It's very story-communicative if that details not there, and so overall I wouldn't champion this book for its art, but I'm satisfied.

A brilliant comic work. Will be difficult to top this. 9/10
Like XO Manowar or Conan The Barbarian? Check out my new graphic novel, DEUS VULT on IndieGoGo now: Deus Vult: http://igg.me/at/deusvult.

User avatar
Keith
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Posts: 2454
Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2012 10:01:36 am
Valiant fan since: 1992
Favorite character: Timewalker
Favorite title: FVLs Archer & Armstrong
Favorite writer: FVL
Location: Saint Louis
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by Keith »

This is fun, please keep reading/posting!
Good Morning, that's a nice tnetennba.
The thing about Arsenal is they always try to walk it in...

otomo
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 342
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 4:04:27 pm
Valiant fan since: 2017
Favorite character: XO Manowar
Favorite title: XO Manowar
Favorite writer: Matt Kindt
Favorite artist: Tomas Giorello
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by otomo »

Keith wrote:This is fun, please keep reading/posting!
Thanks glad you're enjoying. I am too! And I think I'm still not even halfway through my stack of Valiant books. I'm gonna run out pretty fast though, these are very quick reads.
Like XO Manowar or Conan The Barbarian? Check out my new graphic novel, DEUS VULT on IndieGoGo now: Deus Vult: http://igg.me/at/deusvult.

User avatar
brucehartshorn
Nanite-powered posting
Nanite-powered posting
Posts: 1280
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2011 10:58:28 am
Valiant fan since: MRF #1
Favorite character: Shadowman
Favorite title: Shadowman
Location: Jericho, Vt. 05465
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by brucehartshorn »

Love to see these reviews! :clap: Keep up the great work :thumb:

otomo
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 342
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 4:04:27 pm
Valiant fan since: 2017
Favorite character: XO Manowar
Favorite title: XO Manowar
Favorite writer: Matt Kindt
Favorite artist: Tomas Giorello
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by otomo »

The review everyone's been waiting for!! (everyone being brucehartshorn)

Harbinger Vol.1

This is such an interesting divergence compared to the other characters I've seen so far in the Valiant Universe. Every character up until now has their unique qualities, don't get me wrong, but in Harbinger we find the first character who's seriously flawed. He has a gift of psionics from birth, and he can't control that sometimes, and at other times he gets so frustrated with life he does terrible things with it. We start with him on the run, see a lot of character development up front before he's thrust into a school for psionics behind a megacorporation that is using them to bend the world to their CEO's will. Our main character gets trapped in there and we get a nice dose of conflict going on. It's pretty dark compared to other Valiant comics thus far as well, but it's also extremely gripping. I really like the introduction of Faith later, who is physically flawed as much as Peter is flawed with his mental issues. It's a great introduction with layers in the background undiscovered. Loving it.

Art wise... this is some of the rougher art I've read Valiant wise. There's points in this where the faces don't quite match and I have to piece together who's in the panel. Some of the other faces look pretty awkward at a lot of points, not all, some of it is really good but it did stand out to me as having some issues. While the story is about perfect, I do have to dock points for the art in the overall review which brings a 10/10 down to an 8/10.
Like XO Manowar or Conan The Barbarian? Check out my new graphic novel, DEUS VULT on IndieGoGo now: Deus Vult: http://igg.me/at/deusvult.

otomo
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 342
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 4:04:27 pm
Valiant fan since: 2017
Favorite character: XO Manowar
Favorite title: XO Manowar
Favorite writer: Matt Kindt
Favorite artist: Tomas Giorello
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by otomo »

X-O Manowar Vol 4.

In theory I should catch up on the other titles so I don't get any events that happen in later books that I spoil some of the other books, but I love X-O so much I couldn't stop. Alric is back to Earth with this issue, and he settles down in Romania and brings his people there. The pace slows down a lot as we get some nice character moments, see Alric's real flaws as a leader -- as he hasn't developed much beyond fighting. As such, others think they can fight him for that leadership, which poses problems. The Eternal Warrior shows up from Archer & Armstrong, illuminating exactly why I should catch up on the other books in the universe as that was a nice little easter egg for me at this point, where it might not have been for someone who just read this straight through. I love the developments on Earth and the looming feel of X-O vs. The World developing. Hard to top the epicness of Planet Death (last volume) but this in its slowed down pace is equally gratifying.

Art seems to have gotten a little better with this volume than the last, or maybe it's just much harder to draw alien action sequences than it is some intrapersonal stuff on earth (not that there isn't action, but not to the level of the last volume certainly). Either way, I'm satisfied with it. Looking forward to seeing where this storyline goes next. 9/10
Like XO Manowar or Conan The Barbarian? Check out my new graphic novel, DEUS VULT on IndieGoGo now: Deus Vult: http://igg.me/at/deusvult.

otomo
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 342
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 4:04:27 pm
Valiant fan since: 2017
Favorite character: XO Manowar
Favorite title: XO Manowar
Favorite writer: Matt Kindt
Favorite artist: Tomas Giorello
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by otomo »

Archer & Armstrong Vol 2.

Where do you go when your last volume has saved the world already? Save all of reality. There's a problem sometimes when comics try to one up storylines, and I feel like Archer & Armstrong did that to a big degree. It kills the emotion and the tension when you've already saved the world from an epic conspiracy so fast with ancient artifacts... only to find that there's some reality destroying plotline. But let's back up a little. This book starts with The Eternal Warrior chasing down our heroes, as they are responsible for the death of the Geomancer. This part of the story is actually fun. There are wonderful character moments for Armstrong here, which we didn't get a ton of in the first volume. The storyline of the new Geomancer is really cool too, and I like her as much as the main characters, perhaps more. Unfortunately that's where my enjoyment of this storyline pretty much ends. I mentioned that Van Lente went a bit political in the first volume with the 1%, etc. Well, he pushed that a lot harder in the back half of this story, really laying it on thick at points, and then going into global warming atop that. When it's not subtle, it throws a reader out of a story. That happened to me combined with the "out epicing" the first volume's storyline... lost a lot of the luster for me.

The art is a bit on the cartoony side, colors aren't super defined. I do think that the cover of this volume which is the cover of Issue 7 is one of my favorite covers valiant produced. It's got our characters in crosshairs but then Armstrong with a taunting sign saying "Good luck with that" -- that cover evokes the fun of oldschool comics, which I really like. Kay, the new Geomancer, is drawn really gorgeous in a couple of panels, which actually stick out in my memory too. Overall, the art is servicable but not something I'd be going back to this book for more on.

Honestly, not sure I want to continue with this series. I haven't decided yet, but unless it really tones down and focuses on character and lays off of the political preaching some, I'm tepid on it. I heard the original A&A was total off the wall hi jinx... and i'd actually like to see a little more of that. Could be some good slapstick between these two characters. 6/10
Like XO Manowar or Conan The Barbarian? Check out my new graphic novel, DEUS VULT on IndieGoGo now: Deus Vult: http://igg.me/at/deusvult.

User avatar
Sunlight on Snow
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Posts: 2230
Joined: Sat May 28, 2016 1:11:03 pm
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by Sunlight on Snow »

otomo wrote:The review everyone's been waiting for!! (everyone being brucehartshorn)

Harbinger Vol.1

This is such an interesting divergence compared to the other characters I've seen so far in the Valiant Universe. Every character up until now has their unique qualities, don't get me wrong, but in Harbinger we find the first character who's seriously flawed. He has a gift of psionics from birth, and he can't control that sometimes, and at other times he gets so frustrated with life he does terrible things with it. We start with him on the run, see a lot of character development up front before he's thrust into a school for psionics behind a megacorporation that is using them to bend the world to their CEO's will. Our main character gets trapped in there and we get a nice dose of conflict going on. It's pretty dark compared to other Valiant comics thus far as well, but it's also extremely gripping. I really like the introduction of Faith later, who is physically flawed as much as Peter is flawed with his mental issues. It's a great introduction with layers in the background undiscovered. Loving it.

Art wise... this is some of the rougher art I've read Valiant wise. There's points in this where the faces don't quite match and I have to piece together who's in the panel. Some of the other faces look pretty awkward at a lot of points, not all, some of it is really good but it did stand out to me as having some issues. While the story is about perfect, I do have to dock points for the art in the overall review which brings a 10/10 down to an 8/10.
And we have a new Harbinger fan!

Yup, Faith is the complete opposite of Peter.

Great to see you catching up so quickly. Keep up posting your summaries and verdicts. :thumb:

Harbinger's and Bloodshot's 3rd trades are part of the first Harbinger Wars.

X-O ... you may want to start reading Unity now. The first Unity trade ties in to XO's fourth or fifth (or both, inbetween). Unity's second trade is fun and the third will tie-in to XO's mega event Armor Hunters. Bloodshot and Harbinger have their own Armor Hunters mini-series and trades.

A&A .... keep reading! This series only gets better and better. You don't wanna miss the next arc featuring General Redacted and his [NO SPOILER] army in the La La Land, or the arc called "Mission Improbable" where A&A go up against Bloodshot and everything gets smashed, and last not least the "American Wasteland" arc.

User avatar
Keith
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Posts: 2454
Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2012 10:01:36 am
Valiant fan since: 1992
Favorite character: Timewalker
Favorite title: FVLs Archer & Armstrong
Favorite writer: FVL
Location: Saint Louis
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by Keith »

new Geomancer is really cool too, and I like her as much as the main characters, perhaps more.
uh oh...
Good Morning, that's a nice tnetennba.
The thing about Arsenal is they always try to walk it in...

User avatar
Keith
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Posts: 2454
Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2012 10:01:36 am
Valiant fan since: 1992
Favorite character: Timewalker
Favorite title: FVLs Archer & Armstrong
Favorite writer: FVL
Location: Saint Louis
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by Keith »

Sunlight on Snow wrote:Harbinger's and Bloodshot's 3rd trades are part of the first Harbinger Wars.
Maybe worth noting that the deluxe edition for Harbinger Wars has all these trades in it, if you'd like to have them all combined. I think it has the right reading order, too
Sunlight on Snow wrote:X-O ... you may want to start reading Unity now. The first Unity trade ties in to XO's fourth or fifth (or both, inbetween).
SoS brings up a good point, especially if you're concerned about falling any kind of chronology. I think it's safe to say that Harbinger Wars takes place before Aric returns from Loam, for example. There may be an old reading order posted somewhere in these threads.
Sunlight on Snow wrote:Unity's second trade is fun and the third will tie-in to XO's mega event Armor Hunters. Bloodshot and Harbinger have their own Armor Hunters mini-series and trades.
And they are all collected in the Armor Hunters deluxe edition for ease of reading.
Sunlight on Snow wrote:A&A .... keep reading! This series only gets better and better. You don't wanna miss the next arc featuring General Redacted and his [NO SPOILER] army in the La La Land, or the arc called "Mission Improbable" where A&A go up against Bloodshot and everything gets smashed, and last not least the "American Wasteland" arc.
Agreed. The third arc - Far, Faraway - is still my most favoritest story arc from Valiant, and that is saying something as there is much competition for that top spot.

And on a side note, you can read Rai at pretty much any time since it takes place so far in the future, though you may bump up against some references to Valiant history that get detailed out during title occurring in the present. Some of our characters futures (X-O, Ninjak, Bloodshot, the Harbinger Renegades) were fleshed out during the Book of Death event, though we're still debating if what we read in that event can be considered canon.
Good Morning, that's a nice tnetennba.
The thing about Arsenal is they always try to walk it in...

Zhuge1
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 350
Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2014 10:45:34 am
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by Zhuge1 »

Regarding reading order of the TPBs, I've found this listing helpful:

https://www.reddit.com/r/valiant/wiki/readingorder

otomo
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 342
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 4:04:27 pm
Valiant fan since: 2017
Favorite character: XO Manowar
Favorite title: XO Manowar
Favorite writer: Matt Kindt
Favorite artist: Tomas Giorello
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by otomo »

Thanks for the reading order tips, gonna try to mostly follow it if I can so I don't inadvertently spoil stuff as I catch up. Though, I went into...

Shadowman Vol. 4

Shadowman, after the new X-O was the first read I had, and made me really interested in this universe as a whole rather than just one comic. The last couple issues of vol. 3 were really rough. I don't know what happened, they parted ways with the creative team I guess and had to fill in to keep something coming out, but it was a jarring transition to say the least. Justin Jordan set up a lot of universe, and left a ton open after his issues finished, really without a ton of direction, but a lot of ways I could have imagined it going.

I didn't imagine it getting super dark like this.

The story changed pretty abruptly, with Jack now dealing with some "past" he had where he was beating people to pulps, murdering people, even though he looked like a nice guy on the surface. Now I'm all for flawed characters (as evidenced in my Harbinger review) but this has pushed the main character to unlikable. And it doesn't make sense given the prior issues. The character got completely rewritten, he has zero confidence in anything he does, and he simply is not someone worth following or rooting for in this installment. The Abettors are suddenly bad too, with a replacement Dox who just wants to take down Shadowman. There's a villain monster that shows up... and I'm just not engaged with that story at all. Alyssa decides that to make Shadowman good again, he must fall in love with her, and there's a forced love plot that doesn't really get developed so much as it happens cuz the plot says it happens. No characterization. No emotion. Almost no action. A very bizarre storyline. The Darque storyline developing in issue 10 is pretty much dropped, though referenced in a couple spots I suppose because they felt they had to maintain some continuity. Shadowman seems to have lost his powers to some degree too, only to rediscover the dark side at the end. Don't even get me started on the weird showing up at a guy he crippled's house. I'm sorry to say, I don't think there's anything I like about the story. It's more coherent than the last couple issues of volume 3, but it's not something I really want to read.

Now onto the art. This is noir style art like I'd expect in an arty Ed Brubaker book or a Neil Gaiman dark fairy tale piece. It's a bit stiff, and though it looks cool and realistic quite often, it's an odd choice for Shadowman. It's good, it's just very wrong for this book, and with so little action in the script, having a "realism" art instead of something dynamic just slows that pace down even further. They seem to not be able to keep up the pace of a monthly comic and switch into multiple artists for the last couple of issues, the second time this has been done with Shadowman, which hurts the book's flow pretty badly.

Really disappointed. 2/10
Like XO Manowar or Conan The Barbarian? Check out my new graphic novel, DEUS VULT on IndieGoGo now: Deus Vult: http://igg.me/at/deusvult.

User avatar
jmatt
Mmm, I was drooling over Cooshie tonight.
Mmm, I was drooling over Cooshie tonight.
Posts: 11026
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2012 2:41:10 pm
Location: Lehigh Valley, PA!
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by jmatt »

Love the synopses. :clap:

otomo
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 342
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 4:04:27 pm
Valiant fan since: 2017
Favorite character: XO Manowar
Favorite title: XO Manowar
Favorite writer: Matt Kindt
Favorite artist: Tomas Giorello
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by otomo »

And...

Shadowman vol 5. End Times

From what i see, this is the end of Shadowman in the valiant universe so far... and for good reason. If the last volume made little sense, the "I'll bring you back Darque so I can see my daddy and work out my issues!" really made no sense. I mean, the guy unleashed an evil that he's been pretty much trained to hate forever, something in his blood to hate, something the mask -- or loa as it's called now -- hates, something everyone around him hates and he brings him back to life by bestowing some energy to him? Huh? I'm going to chalk it up to everything that happened in vol 4-5 are due to prolonged exposure in the dark side and some hex that Darque put on him at the end of vol 2 and pretend this doesn't exist.

And as much as I said the art in the last issue didn't fit the comic... the art in this one is not the direction to go. Severe lack of detail. At points it's really hard to tell who's who. Very little action again. Not a good way to go out for Shadowman. 1/10

Since the whole Valiant Worlds thing exists on kindle, I may just have to write something to correct what's happened here...
Like XO Manowar or Conan The Barbarian? Check out my new graphic novel, DEUS VULT on IndieGoGo now: Deus Vult: http://igg.me/at/deusvult.

User avatar
Keith
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Posts: 2454
Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2012 10:01:36 am
Valiant fan since: 1992
Favorite character: Timewalker
Favorite title: FVLs Archer & Armstrong
Favorite writer: FVL
Location: Saint Louis
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by Keith »

otomo wrote:And...

Shadowman vol 5. End Times

From what i see, this is the end of Shadowman in the valiant universe so far... and for good reason. If the last volume made little sense, the "I'll bring you back Darque so I can see my daddy and work out my issues!" really made no sense. I mean, the guy unleashed an evil that he's been pretty much trained to hate forever, something in his blood to hate, something the mask -- or loa as it's called now -- hates, something everyone around him hates and he brings him back to life by bestowing some energy to him? Huh? I'm going to chalk it up to everything that happened in vol 4-5 are due to prolonged exposure in the dark side and some hex that Darque put on him at the end of vol 2 and pretend this doesn't exist.

And as much as I said the art in the last issue didn't fit the comic... the art in this one is not the direction to go. Severe lack of detail. At points it's really hard to tell who's who. Very little action again. Not a good way to go out for Shadowman. 1/10

Since the whole Valiant Worlds thing exists on kindle, I may just have to write something to correct what's happened here...
Or wait and see what's coming down the pipe! :hm: :thumb:
Good Morning, that's a nice tnetennba.
The thing about Arsenal is they always try to walk it in...

otomo
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Get those scissors away from my coupons
Posts: 342
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 4:04:27 pm
Valiant fan since: 2017
Favorite character: XO Manowar
Favorite title: XO Manowar
Favorite writer: Matt Kindt
Favorite artist: Tomas Giorello
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by otomo »

Have they announced anything?
Like XO Manowar or Conan The Barbarian? Check out my new graphic novel, DEUS VULT on IndieGoGo now: Deus Vult: http://igg.me/at/deusvult.

User avatar
TheeBaldMoose
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Posts: 2451
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2016 12:03:41 pm
Valiant fan since: ECCC April 2016
Favorite character: Bloodshot/Ninjak/Divinity
Favorite title: Divinity/BS Reborn/Britannia
Favorite writer: Kindt/Lemire/Roberts
Favorite artist: All of them, really
Location: Tacoma
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by TheeBaldMoose »

No, nothing solid. Pure speculation regarding Shadowman.
Moose

User avatar
Keith
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Posts: 2454
Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2012 10:01:36 am
Valiant fan since: 1992
Favorite character: Timewalker
Favorite title: FVLs Archer & Armstrong
Favorite writer: FVL
Location: Saint Louis
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by Keith »

But you definitely haven't seen the last of him.

And there was this:
Image
Good Morning, that's a nice tnetennba.
The thing about Arsenal is they always try to walk it in...

User avatar
TheeBaldMoose
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Rockin' out in Torquehalla
Posts: 2451
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2016 12:03:41 pm
Valiant fan since: ECCC April 2016
Favorite character: Bloodshot/Ninjak/Divinity
Favorite title: Divinity/BS Reborn/Britannia
Favorite writer: Kindt/Lemire/Roberts
Favorite artist: All of them, really
Location: Tacoma
Re: Discovering the Valiant (VEI TPB Reviews)

Post by TheeBaldMoose »

was that from Savage #4? how did I miss this??

I'd say that is a little more concrete than I was letting on, like almost damn solid!
Moose


Post Reply