My Path to Valiant

[ASH74]

I was always aware of the original Valiant Universe when it first launched but I was too entrenched in Marvel and DC to try it. By the time it caught fire and my interest in the Big Two began to wane the early books were far too expensive for me to try and buy (I was in high school at the time) so I left the original VU kind of pass on by.

(True story... my local comic shop owner at the time had a 68' Vette that needed some work but ran. He traded it for three full long boxes of those early Valiant books. I remember how excited he was. I always wonder if he got his money worth before the market dropped out and those early $100+ books dropped in price to $5 and $10)

As Valiant continued to publish I would go back and grab some books here and there... the original Solar TPB by BWS and the XO Mannual with the clear acetate overlay of the armor. Ninjack #1 with the Chromium cover and art by Quesada. Bart Sear's run on XO. His Turok issues. Things like that.

Being a fan and collector of comics I always kept an eye on what was going on with companies like Valiant and was a little sad to see them disappear as so many others had.

Flash forward to the relaunch of the Valiant Universe. I saw the announcement and looked at the ads for the new books. I didn't have the funds to make room in my monthly budget for the new books. Too much Marvel and DC and Image and Dark Horse. I picked up a few of the Deluxe Editions and liked what I read but didn't keep up with them.

Over the past few years I've started to wane on Marvel and DC again. It comes and goes in cycles for me and this is a down cycle. I'm in my early 40s. My buying habits are different. DC's New 52 didn't have the lasting changes I hoped it would and Marvel's forced diversification of it's characters left a bad taste in my mouth. I buy less monthly books and more trades and hardcovers. With some extra money in my pocket I picked up the Ninjack Deluxe Edition. The original three issues with Quesada art hold a soft spot in my heart and the new concept sounded really cool.

Now here I am, a few months later, picking up Deluxe HCs and TPBs as I purge stuff from my 30+ year collection.

I like how a lot of the properties have been updated and how the Universe is small and cohesive. I've still got a couple of years worth of issues to catch up on reading and a number of hardcovers and trades to go to fill in my collection.

Hope to be around for a lot more.

[greg]

Welcome!

Be sure to let us know what you think of Valiant as you are reading it.

[TheeBaldMoose]

Welcome, Ash. Glad to have you here on the pages. Hope you enjoy everything that has been coming out, I know we have.

Also, stick around and get involved. One of the best pages I've ever been a part of

[paradise]

Great story, so welcome to VF

[Gafti]

If I'd rather have the '68 vette, does it make me a bad person?

I'm pretty new here too. Everybody here has been extremely cool to me, and I bet you'll find the same.
Welcome.

[greg]

If I'd rather have the '68 vette, does it make me a bad person?

It depends on what was in those Valiant boxes and how much work the '68 vette needs.
https://classiccars.com/listings/view/6 ... rida-33150" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can get way past $12,500 (and not need any repair work) pretty quickly with the right boxes of early Valiant books.

[ASH74]

At the time he made that deal those early Valiant books...Magnus...Harbinger...Solar... they were going for as high as $150 a book.

Three long boxes hold about 900 comics. If you average the retail out at $25 a book that could have been a $22,500 deal. (Up or down, depending on the books and quantity... possibly up)

The question is, did he manage to unload them and make a profit before the bottom dropped out. I moved away and he closed up shop as the market imploded.

[bobby97801]

Great story. Welcome

[DirtbagSailor]

Welcome!

[WhoDoo]

Glad to have ya!

[Aram]

Welcome!

[grendeljd]

A bit late, but welcome to the boards!