"Holy crap! Is that Magnus?"

The Mighty Drew · Post by **The Mighty Drew** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 2:23:53 am

Hi everyone. Great website, and it looks like decent people. Not what I'm used to seeing on message boards.

My Valiant story begins many years before Valiant was around.

Does anyone remember "Whitman Comics"? In the late 70's-early 80's, Whitman published comics and sometimes, they even liscensed comics published by other companies, substituting their logo for the one of the original publishing company in the corner. They weren't always the best comics, but they were dirt cheap. They were usually sold in three-packs sealed in a plastic bag. (You could pick the books on either end, but your middle book was usually a crap shoot.) I remember Buck Rogers, Space Family Robinson, Grim's Ghost Stories, and many others.

The best Whitman Comics I discovered featured an actual super-hero that I never heard of before. "Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom". And the back-up feature of the book was even better than the title character! That was "Magnus: Robot Fighter". The other book that came with the two issues of Solar wasn't bad either, "Turok: Son of Stone".

I felt like I was on the ground floor of something really cool. A universe that I could watch grow and expand. My Mom's fridge was soon covered with pictures of a red and green guy with a nuclear symbol on his chest, and another guy head-to-toe in red trashing some robots. (The Whitman issues were the first time Magnus wore pants.)

But it wasn't meant to be.

I continued to collect comics through the eighties, refining my tastes, appreciating the vastness of the DC Universe, and filling the holes of their 50+ year history. The new heroes I discovered remained unused and unpublished. I had learned a little of their history, and even managed to find a couple of their old Gold Key issues for decent prices. With all of DC's "Earths", I held out some hope that we might see one with Dr. Solar and the other characters. Why not? They did it with three other defunct companies. (I doubt it was ever even an option.)

By the time 1990 hit, I was still enjoying comics, but I felt like comics needed a shot in the arm. I was feeling the beginings of disillusionment.

By 1991, I was a senior in High School. I was checking out the wall of books in my local struggling comic shop. Digging through the books on the shelf, I pulled out, completely by accident, Magnus Robot Fighter #1 by Valiant, a company I had never heard of before.

"Holy crap! Is that Magnus? THE Magnus???"

The store owner said "Oh yeah. They just started that up again. I just got one for the store in case someone was interested."

"You're damn right I'm @#$%ing intersted!"

He said number two had just come out, and he found me a copy under the counter. He said, "You know they're bringing back Dr. Solar too..."

I stared at him dumbfounded.

"You must get me a copy of everything this company publishes."

"You got it!"

I had no idea what a fortuitous statement that was at the time. I had two copies of Harbinger #1 sitting in my bin waiting for me as I watched other people kill themselves trying to get a copy. I remember being in another comic shop watching someone shell out 95 bucks for one. 95 bucks!!!

The best part is, I had that feeling again. I had recaptured the excitement of childhood thrill. I was a kid again, and I had that feeling that I was on the ground floor of a new, wonderful universe. And this one was all mine. I owned it. I felt like I was there, on-hand, to buy Action Comics #1, Detective Comics #27, and All-Star Comics #3.

And this time, I was right.

For a little while, anyway...

Thanks for reading!!!

Drew

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 2:31:06 am

Hola compadre. Great story! Welcome Drew, read some old posts, and add to the new ones.

slym2none · Post by **slym2none** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 2:52:27 am

Nice opener, Drew! Welcome aboard!!!

-slym

The Mighty Drew · Post by **The Mighty Drew** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 3:08:43 am

I've recieved many warm welcomes in several threads. I think I'm gonna like it here. Thanks everyone.

magnusr · Post by **magnusr** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 3:16:12 am

Great post.

The Mighty Drew wrote:I felt like I was on the ground floor of something really cool. A universe that I could watch grow and expand. My Mom's fridge was soon covered with pictures of a red and green guy with a nuclear symbol on his chest, and another guy head-to-toe in red trashing some robots. (The Whitman issues were the first time Magnus wore pants.)

But it wasn't meant to be.

It's a pity. They started this huge relaunch of their titles (and as you hint at mentioning the pants, they updated the characters a bit), just to give up after a few issues (and in some cases before any new issues had been published at all).

And this time, I was right.

For a little while, anyway...

Thanks for reading!!!

Drew

Let's hope it happens again.

/Magnus

96Valiantfan · Post by **96Valiantfan** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:54:30 am

Welcome

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 5:15:58 am

Very cool.

Welcome.

ibreakhorses · Post by **ibreakhorses** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 7:21:18 am

Welcome!

steverino · Post by **steverino** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:44:08 am

Great Story!

Hope ya stay awhile.

greg · Post by **greg** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 9:51:09 am

Mighty Drew, Welcome!

So... we know how you got into VALIANT books...
was there a time when you got OUT?

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 10:17:39 am

Welcome

The Mighty Drew · Post by **The Mighty Drew** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 10:47:30 am

greg wrote:Mighty Drew, Welcome!

So... we know how you got into VALIANT books...
was there a time when you got OUT?

Hmmmm... Yes. A little more than halfway through VH1. Maybe two-thirds of the way. It's difficult to remember.

I remember thinking that the quality of the storytelling took a dip sometime after Shooter left or was fired or whatever. But again, these were MY heroes, and I continued on no matter what. Hell, I'm the kind of comic collector who doesn't wear any kind of "geek paraphanelia". Yet there I was with my Shadowman logo t-shirt and Valiant logo ball cap. (Hint-hint to any would-be merchandisers for valiantfans.com.)

After a while, that feeling of disillusionment started to set in again. I remember feeling dissapointed by "Ninjak", and that was the first Valiant title I "dropped". In retrospect, I think I was building myself up too much for projects from this company, and after their first spectacular year, there was no way they could meet that high of a bar again. I also remember thinking that they were getting a little too gimmicky, or was that just comics in general? Again, there was that high bar I set in my head for Valiant.

Also, there was a lot of other stuff going on in my life during that time. Graduating college, death of my father, ended up marrying my first wife who didn't "get" the whole comic book thing... Valiant titles started dropping from my pull-list one by one, and not just Valiants, but comics all-together! I had actually quit buying comics for about a year or so.

By the time I was back in, I didn't recognize anything that was going on in Valiant, and their death knell was ringing. I thought of catching up on what I missed, but what was the point? It wouldn't feel the same.

Today, I'm a full-on collector again, buying a large portion of the DC Universe with the occassional Marvel or Independent book thrown in. DC Comics is better than they've been in a long time.

In spite of that, I miss my love affair with Valiant during my late teens and early twenties. What I wouldn't give to have that feeling that's bottled up somewhere inside set free one more time. I'm 33, I have beautiful and understanding wife, and we are expecting our first child. I could use a little of that childhood wonder, sure. But how great would it be to see these characters return to comics, and to watch my son or daughter experience that feeling for the first time?

Well, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. And I'll be there on the ground floor again. Just check out my sig.

In the meantime, I think I'll start looking through the quarter bins to see what I missed.

Thanks for reading again!

Drew

slym2none · Post by **slym2none** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 10:53:06 am

The Mighty Drew wrote:
greg wrote:Mighty Drew, Welcome!

So... we know how you got into VALIANT books...
was there a time when you got OUT?

Hmmmm... Yes. A little more than halfway through VH1. Maybe two-thirds of the way. It's difficult to remember.

Drew

Was there a corresponding event in the comics? I only ask because many people started dropping near or at "Chaos Effect" (I was one of those) and a lot of others seemd to do the same at or after "Birthquake."

Just curious...

-slym

The Mighty Drew · Post by **The Mighty Drew** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 11:14:04 am

slym2none wrote:
The Mighty Drew wrote:
greg wrote:Mighty Drew, Welcome!

So... we know how you got into VALIANT books...
was there a time when you got OUT?

Hmmmm... Yes. A little more than halfway through VH1. Maybe two-thirds of the way. It's difficult to remember.

Drew
Was there a corresponding event in the comics? I only ask because many people started dropping near or at "Chaos Effect" (I was one of those) and a lot of others seemd to do the same at or after "Birthquake."

Just curious...

-slym

Right before the "Chaos Effect, I had dropped everything. Even Magnus.

dac55 · Post by **dac55** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:33:45 pm

Welcome Drew, Stay awhile.

Good story man.

David

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:39:13 pm

The Mighty Drew wrote:
"Holy crap! Is that Magnus? THE Magnus???"

Always great to have another Magnus fan aboard. That's what got me started with Valiant as well.

SnotDrip · Post by **SnotDrip** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 9:54:31 pm

welcome Drew

Second_Death · Post by **Second_Death** » Sun Aug 06, 2006 1:33:08 am

The Mighty Drew wrote:
slym2none wrote:
The Mighty Drew wrote:
greg wrote:Mighty Drew, Welcome!

So... we know how you got into VALIANT books...
was there a time when you got OUT?

Hmmmm... Yes. A little more than halfway through VH1. Maybe two-thirds of the way. It's difficult to remember.

Drew
Was there a corresponding event in the comics? I only ask because many people started dropping near or at "Chaos Effect" (I was one of those) and a lot of others seemd to do the same at or after "Birthquake."

Just curious...

-slym
Right before the "Chaos Effect, I had dropped everything. Even Magnus.

Judging from the print run numbers I'd say a lot of readers dropped the line before chaos effect....like me

. Once again, welcome aboard!

Byrneout · Post by **Byrneout** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:09:48 am

Welcome aboard!

putz · Post by **putz** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:23:37 pm

Welcome.
Please remember to keep your legs and arms inside the car at all times.

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