OUR Questions for Valiant's Warren Simons - WARREN ANSWERS

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by Draco »

Hi Warren, in a world where inter company crossovers are more easily achieved, any crossover using the characters Valiant own would be exciting news IMO.
I'm guessing it's a no brainer that you guys have considered this. If so, how far down the line would you consider this option and are there any publisher names that stand out as having great potential to do business with?

Cheers

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by dino »

Warren, which Valiant character are you most like and why?

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by depluto »

dino wrote:Warren, which Valiant character are you most like and why?
:clap:

An older Pete Stanchek?

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by greg »

Warren - how can we help?

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by Warren Simons »

Hi all. First off, thanks for the questions. I appreciate you taking the time to put them together. At the moment I am up to my eyeballs in pitches, scripts, and character redesigns, and things are cooking in the Valiant offices. The time is fast approaching when Valiant will return.

I’ve got a great crew of creators lined up – no announcements just yet – but I’ve edited a few comics in my time, and I can tell you that things are shaping up to be pretty &^%$ing bad *SQUEE* at the moment.

While I don’t want to reveal any titles just yet, I can tell you that if we were, for example, going to launch an X-O Manowar book, I might have, hypothetically, received one of the best pitches I’ve ever received. Oh, and we might, hypothetically, have a MONSTER artist lined up. This one’s going to be a doozy, I think. But this is all hypothetical, of course.

Okay: so thank you for your questions and thank you for your patience. While I won’t be able to discuss everything -- or in many cases, anything -- I absolutely LOVE that you guys are here and have stuck around and waited for us to return. That means the world to me. We have ambitious plans up here, and I want Valiant’s titles to be the best in the industry. Everyone up here is committed to that. Okay, so here we go….


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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by Warren Simons »

FormerReader wrote: I hope it hasn't been listed somewhere already, but is the "new" valiant "new" or is it going to pick up where VH1 left off?

Hey, FormerReader, thanks for the question. Our goal is to cast a wide net and to reach as many readers as possible. With that in mind, our goal is to modernize the original Valiant characters. There is a lot of love up here for the old Valiant stories, but we don’t want to make the entry point into our books too prohibitive. We don’t want a new reader to need to wade through years of continuity to understand what’s happening in our comics. Continuity is vital, but we don’t want it to be prohibitive.

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by Warren Simons »

BruceReville wrote:

According to a previous interview it will be a New Valiant Universe - I posted a link to this interview so we can come up with some new questions and not just rehash ones already asked.

I want to know if Acclaim character Joshua Fireseed can be used in the new Valiant as he is not a Gold Key character. :hm:
Hey, Bruce, thank you for the assist with the previous question. While Joshua Fireseed is indeed a great character, we are currently concentrating on the big guns in the Valiant Universe.

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by Warren Simons »

Mike J wrote:Question: The previous Valiant universe had it's highs and lows, what has been the biggest creativity challenge for Valiant this past couple years?
Hey Mike,

I’ve only been here for about 6 months now, so I can’t speak to the past few years. That said, I know Dino and the guys had to solve a number of complex legal, personnel, and business issues, which is pretty much par for the course with an undertaking of this magnitude.

Creatively, we are in the process of architecting a Universe, so there is an enormous amount of work to be done as we prepare to publish in 2012. We are modernizing the titles, and also figuring out how these titles interact with each other. How do we reintroduce the characters effectively, and stay grounded in the core elements that made the characters so successful once upon a time? How are we visually reinventing these characters? Are my artists going to kill me? Which titles do we launch with, and which ones follow? And where will the titles be in 6 months, or three years? I have some amazing creators lined up, and they’ve done a stellar job helping to put all the pieces together. As an editor, scheduling is critical, and one of my jobs has been to convey the challenges that monthly comics present. I like to think that I’ve done so with the grace of a bull in a China shop.

Luckily, I’ve got a great framework in place. Our publisher is fond of saying that the Valiant U is the third most popular comic book Universe ever created. It’s been challenging in spots, but remarkably rewarding as well. I hope you guys dig it as much as I do.

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by FormerReader »

Warren Simons wrote:
FormerReader wrote: I hope it hasn't been listed somewhere already, but is the "new" valiant "new" or is it going to pick up where VH1 left off?

Hey, FormerReader, thanks for the question. Our goal is to cast a wide net and to reach as many readers as possible. With that in mind, our goal is to modernize the original Valiant characters. There is a lot of love up here for the old Valiant stories, but we don’t want to make the entry point into our books too prohibitive. We don’t want a new reader to need to wade through years of continuity to understand what’s happening in our comics. Continuity is vital, but we don’t want it to be prohibitive.
Thanks for the reply Warren. I've been getting caught up on with everything that changed with Valiant since the mid-90's. It sounds like there is a lot of excitement at Valiant again. I look forward to seeing what Valiant has planned for the future and how the old characters are brought back to life.

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by BruceReville »

Warren Simons wrote:
BruceReville wrote:

According to a previous interview it will be a New Valiant Universe - I posted a link to this interview so we can come up with some new questions and not just rehash ones already asked.

I want to know if Acclaim character Joshua Fireseed can be used in the new Valiant as he is not a Gold Key character. :hm:
Hey, Bruce, thank you for the assist with the previous question. While Joshua Fireseed is indeed a great character, we are currently concentrating on the big guns in the Valiant Universe.
Totally understand concentrating on the big characters first, but will there ever be a chance of him appearing ever or is there a legal matter with this character and he will never appear?
Everybody Is Right Until Someone Else Disagrees.

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons - WARREN ANSWERS

Post by myron »

wow! Questions AND responses from the person they were aimed at... :clap:

the fanboy in me is getting exited!
Why waste time learning, when ignorance is instantaneous?

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons - WARREN ANSWERS

Post by Heath »

Warren, are you going to ignore the radical fringe element of the Valiant fanbase that thinks there is anything redeeming/appealing with the Acclaim version of the Shadowman character and do what any sane person would do and offer that book back to Bob Hall?

Ok, so maybe I'm a little biased regarding Shadowman and Bob Hall's run on the book (which is my all-time favorite run of a comic book series). :lol: But I guess I can rephrase my question to something you might can hopefully answer...

Will any of the old Valiant talent be brought back in to work on the new Valiant?

And a totally different question: Are you focusing totally on existing characters, or are there any plans for new, original Valiant heroes/villains?
I would agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong.

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons - WARREN ANSWERS

Post by VEI Reborn »

Great stuff!!

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by caxiotis »

greg wrote:Warren - how can we help?
So far my favorite questioN
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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by Warren Simons »

ckb wrote:Warren,

One of the things that was so attractive about Valiant in the 1991-1993 timeframe was the "house style." No matter who the artists were you could rip a page out of any of those books and anyone could see it was unmistakably Valiant. From the hand watercolors to the panel layouts, it was all clean, crisp, and beautiful to look at.

Modern comics are the antithesis of this style. Stylized figures, computer coloring, and layout madness are typical.

Can you reveal to us your plans in this area? How can you avoid a situation like the failure of the Gold Key Dark Horse line? I'm sure they thought they were doing great stuff in regards to style and art, but it really did not resonate at all.

Thank you!

Hey ckb,

We are definitely going to do our best to avoid layout madness ;)

I tend to prefer a conservative approach to page layout and panel composition. I have always been an advocate of crisp, clean storytelling in the titles I've edited -- clarity is key.

That said, we will not have a house style that all artists must adhere to.

Warren Ellis wrote a great column a few weeks back on the broadcast of comics. In the column, he talked about a page from Howard Chaykin's American Flagg:

http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=13421" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And David Aja had four or 500 examples of brilliant storytelling in the Iron Fist title that violated all sorts of rules that a guidebook might establish.

As an editor, you want freelancers who are passionate and put their hearts into the work. We will place a tremendous emphasis on great storytelling, but I don't want to put arbitrary rules into place that will have artists looking over their shoulders. I know that the writer of a recent group of books issued a set of rules to the freelancers he was working with, and those books did not fare well either critically or commercially. It's a collaborative medium, and while rules about art can be well intentioned, they can be creatively stifling, especially if they're antiquated.

As for the Gold Key line, while I have a lot of affection for those characters, we're just going to go in an entirely different direction with the style of books we're putting together, both creatively and editorially. Our goal is to bring tremendous excitement and energy to the marketplace in 2012. Thanks for the great question!

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by Warren Simons »

greg wrote:Warren --- I doubt if you want to completely rule anything out before you've started, but surely there are some old Valiant things that are not part of the plan.

Which characters or concepts should we expect to be omitted or radically different from the original Valiant universe?
For example, is it safe to say that Punx are not part of the plan? If PSI-Lords are used at all, should we expect them to be completely re-imagined? Dr. Eclipse? Etc.
Hi Greg, this is something that we have discussed extensively at the Valiant offices. While key characters like X-O or Bloodshot might be slightly tweaked (more to come!), the key components and core elements of those characters will likely remain the same. But there are definitely a few of the lesser known characters that I'd like to overhaul entirely.

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by Warren Simons »

BruceReville wrote:Along those lines Mothergod was the Ultimate Darksied/Thanos type villian for the Valiant Universe, but how could she be incorporated into any new stories when her origins are so tied into Solar?
Bruce, I think it's important to remember that the Valiant Universe is bigger than any individual character. That is one of the great strengths of the company.

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by BruceReville »

Warren Simons wrote:
BruceReville wrote:Along those lines Mothergod was the Ultimate Darksied/Thanos type villian for the Valiant Universe, but how could she be incorporated into any new stories when her origins are so tied into Solar?
Bruce, I think it's important to remember that the Valiant Universe is bigger than any individual character. That is one of the great strengths of the company.
:thumb:
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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by Warren Simons »

Chiclo wrote:Warren - I am sorry to say that I am unfamiliar with your work. Have you mostly worked as an editor? Have you done any work as a creator? Is there any of your previous work that you would recommend I read to become more familiar with your work?
Hey Chiclo, I worked as an editor at Marvel from 2002 to 2009, where I launched and edited a number of titles, including Thor, Iron Man, Iron Fist, and Daredevil. Some of the other titles you might want to check out are Magneto: Testament, Daredevil: Battlin' Jack Murdock, Thor: Ages of Thunder, Secret Invasion: Elektra, and Angel: Revelations, to name a few. While these vary greatly in art styles, I'm proud of all of them.

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by Warren Simons »

cplsimon wrote:Boxers or briefs?
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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by Warren Simons »

caxiotis wrote:Who are some of the artist and writers VALIANT has been working with in creating the new books for 2012?
Hi Caxio. Soon ;)

I think you'll be happy.

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons - WARREN ANSWERS

Post by jedimarley »

Warren.

In this tough economical time that we are in and with the majority of us on tight comic book budgets, what steps are you and VEI taking to make your comics affordable to the mass? With comics at $3-$4 an issue, it will be hard to justify dropping a title I already buy in favor of yours. I, for one, am very selective on what I purchase each month. I'm very happy with the books that I collect and also very loyal to the titles.

Some people use a discount mail order service. But to me that's not fair to the LCBS owner.
Some people will download them at a lower price. But again, that hurts the LCBS owner.

Your thoughts?

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons

Post by 400yrs »

Warren Simons wrote:
As an editor, you want freelancers who are passionate and put their hearts into the work. We will place a tremendous emphasis on great storytelling, but I don't want to put arbitrary rules into place that will have artists looking over their shoulders. I know that the writer of a recent group of books issued a set of rules to the freelancers he was working with, and those books did not fare well either critically or commercially. It's a collaborative medium, and while rules about art can be well intentioned, they can be creatively stifling, especially if they're antiquated.

F'n A. It's nice to see that you understand that we are in the 2000s and not the 1960s. If people want to read outdated comics, that small fan base can buy reprints of old 1960s crap with 4-6 square panels per page.
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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons - WARREN ANSWERS

Post by Blood of Heroes »

Warren,

On what did you spend your poker game winnings? New boat? Down payment on a vacation home? Inquiring minds want to know.


Regards,

Greg

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Re: OUR Questions for Warren Simons - WARREN ANSWERS

Post by Elveen »

Hey Warren, 2 questions (for now :D ),

#1) I think one the very cool things about early Valiant was the cards, coupons, and send away books. What plans do you guys have in this area?

#2) How important do you think it is to have a Unity type crossover somewhat in the beginning?

Thanks, (and you know I would have taken ALL your $$$ at the poker night if we were on the same table. 8-) )

Christian


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