Motor City Comic Con This Weekend!!!

hillmanthe2nd · Post by **hillmanthe2nd** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:01 am

Just a reminder the Motor City Comic Con is this Friday, Saturday, & Sunday.

I will be there all 3 days (Friday I work as a volunteer). If anyone wants to meet up at the show and talk Valiant let me know.

sandman · Post by **sandman** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:10 am

I'll be there on Saturday and I'd like to meet up with you. What's the best way to connect up there?

Let me know!

hillmanthe2nd · Post by **hillmanthe2nd** » Thu May 13, 2004 11:45 am

sandman wrote:I'll be there on Saturday and I'd like to meet up with you. What's the best way to connect up there?

Let me know!

We could meet up at a certain time maybe in the food court or at Jim Shooters table.

sandman · Post by **sandman** » Thu May 13, 2004 1:38 pm

Why don't we plan on lunch. I should be there all day. Say 12 or 12:30? How will I recognize you? I don't really want to walk up to everyone asking who they are.

I could give you my cell # or try and describe myself. ?!?

I'll be at Shooter's table at some point in time too, but I figured lunch would give us time to share Valiant stories.

hillmanthe2nd · Post by **hillmanthe2nd** » Thu May 13, 2004 3:34 pm

How about 12:30? I will have my cell phone with me so I can call you or vice versa and I will probably have my Valiant logo hat on then.

sandman · Post by **sandman** » Sat May 15, 2004 9:36 pm

Here's my Con report:

It was a great day. I met Hillman for lunch and we talked Valiant for a while. I got to see his very nice silver XO ring. In regards to autographs, I met Sal Valetta (signed my XO#2), and Sean Chen (Rai &FF#9) and of course Mr. Shooter (more on him later). Sal seemed a bit busy when I talked to him. There weren't many people there to see him, so he was drawing in a sketchbook, but he didn't seem interested in talking. No big deal I guess. Sean was real friendly and I asked him if he'd been to the message board. He said he hadn't yet, but he wanted Shooter (or someone) to bring back Valiant. He seemed to really enjoy his time at Valiant. Now, Mr Shooter was a great guest. I stopped by his table first thing in the morning. He had 2-3 people in line, but talked to everyone, told great stories about whatever comic you had for him to sign. I asked him to sign my Unity #0 and Harbinger#1. I also asked if he would sign a few comics for Flinx from Australia. He was pleased to sign everything. He told me stories how he traced the mustang and sketched a rough outline of the kids for the cover on Harbinger #1 and David Lapham finished the cover. He also mentioned BWS came up with the idea "Time is not absolute" and he liked it so much he used it as the theme for Unity. I came back later in the day when no one was talking to him and asked if he could do a quick sketch on either my Harbinger 1 or Unity 0. He said he didn't want to ruin my books, but offered to do a drawing on the backerboard my comic was in. All I was looking for was a quick Harbinger symbol or something quick. He ended up drawing an amazing picture based on Solar on the Unity cover. I'll send a copy to Greg to post. He took 5-10 minutes drawing a picture for me and said it was fun for him. I had a great experience with Mr. Shooter. I told him about the website also and mentioned alot of other artists and authors have visited. Both he and Sean said they'd have to check it out. Weither this was just talk, I don't know. I also mentioned about the so-called resurgance and he said he has seen more Valiant comics coming to him recently.

In regards to comics at the show: I don't know if his presence brought out more Valiant, but there were quite a few. Basically, if a dealer had Valiant, they knew what they had and overpriced them accordingly. I did find a few deals, but this is what I saw:

Harbinger 0 pink $50
Harbinger 1 $40
2 $30
3 $25
4 $25
Rai 1-5 $12-16
Solar 60 $25
Bloodshot 51 $25
Last Stand $25
XO 68 $10-25 depending on condition
XO TPB blue $50
Other Pre-Unity $5-10 if not a notable issue (ie rarity or apperance)

Among the things I found and picked up:
Archer and Armstrong #0 for $1.50
Solar #10 2nd print $5
Magnus #13 $4
(this completes my Pre-unity collection except Harbinger 0 pink and Solar 10 1st print. I now have reading copies of everything pre-unity though!)
I also picked up the following for $1
Psilords 7-10
XO 50X, 59, 60, 62
Shadowman 0 non chrome.

Not a bad show. I completed my run of Archer and Armstrong and Psilords and almost completed my Pre-Unity run.

Let me know if anyone has any questions!

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Sat May 15, 2004 9:44 pm

If you find a Magnus #12 NM and it's not too expensive, let me know

sandman · Post by **sandman** » Sat May 15, 2004 9:50 pm

I already have one, but I was looking. I didn't see any Magnus 12 or Solar 10 1st printing. I didn't really search the $0.25 bins, but I figured they wouldn't be there anyways. Most of the $0.25 were filled the boom of Valiant where they made a 500,000 copies.

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Sat May 15, 2004 9:54 pm

I need a Magnus 12 to complete my collection because of the back up story in it

I'm never gonna find it here because comic book stores here didn't start ordering VALIANT till well after Unity.

whetteon · Post by **whetteon** » Sun May 16, 2004 1:07 am

That's an awesome report. I'm glad Shooter and Chen still take the time to really talk to their fans. Not that nod, a quick signature and "Next" attitude that some of the more recent talent has developed. I hope they indeed come to the website and chat with us. I know it has been awesome to see VanHook and Layton resurface and be just as enthusiast about Valiant as we are.

greg · Post by **greg** » Sun May 16, 2004 1:14 am

sandman wrote:He ended up drawing an amazing picture based on Solar on the Unity cover. I'll send a copy to Greg to post. He took 5-10 minutes drawing a picture for me and said it was fun for him.

Flinx · Post by **Flinx** » Mon May 17, 2004 7:23 am

My thanks to Sandman for getting the comics signed for me.

This fan in Australia appreciates it.

Wayne
aka Flinx

DJSpecter · Post by **DJSpecter** » Mon May 17, 2004 9:01 am

Sean was real friendly and I asked him if he'd been to the message board. He said he hadn't yet, but he wanted Shooter (or someone) to bring back Valiant.

I met with Massarsky last week, he had mentioned that he had lunch with Sean Chen and Bernard Chang a week or two before and that they had asked him to buy back Valiant. He didn't seem opposed to the idea, as he isn't really doing anything big right now. Unfortunatly, with the comic industry the same as when he left it, and no rise in sight, he's not convinced that its worth his while. Unfortunatly, it probably isn't.

By the way, my avatar, it's a gold background Ninjak poster. Does anyone know where I got it from, I can't remember. I emailed it to Greg a few weeks ago, but he didn't reply.

-Dave

DJSpecter · Post by **DJSpecter** » Mon May 17, 2004 11:43 am

Massarsky and Layton, I just noticed a difference in the book. I liked it but not as much as when Shooter was onboard.

If I understand, Shooter's "brilliance" is his ability to see a large picture, he certainly would be good in terms of an analytical vision. Massarsky, if I understand correctly didn't have anything to do with character development. He's money and business. Obviously if he bought it back, there would be someone under him with a vision.

IMHO it was him and a few others that took the company down

The industry went down not just the company, and the company was still going way way up after shooter left. The Shooter era was really very short. I'm not opposed to Shooter, just looking at things with what I think is a little bit of a broader perspective.

By the way, my avatar isn't showing because I put it on my geocities site is there any host site I could use?

-Dave

hillmanthe2nd · Post by **hillmanthe2nd** » Mon May 17, 2004 11:48 am

It was good to meet another Valiantcomics.com member (Sandman) at the show. It was very well attended all 3 days, especially friday and saturday even though the weather was crappy.

Jim Shooter was great! The Motor City con was his first comic con appearance in about 4 years. He had great stories about all the companies he worked for. He said he is currently working on developing stuff for games and did not rule out the possibility of coming back to comics. I made sure to mention this site to him. Hopefully he will stop by and check it out.

Like Sandman wrote, there were valiants and the dealers knew what to price them at - no Harbinger #1's in the bargin bins. It was interesting that there were no golds, VVSS, or other variants.

Hopefully more of us can get together at Wizard World in Chicago this year.

BloodOfHeroes · Post by **BloodOfHeroes** » Mon May 17, 2004 2:56 pm

Knightt_333 wrote:I just started not liking the books like I used to when Shooter was there. Maybe I am just a fan of Shooter's style because I flocked to the Defiant line after he was ousted from Valiant. And then years later learned of Broadway, so I picked them up (needing two issues to be complete there Shadow State #2 and Fatale #5... anybody have these ?) and liked it as well.

I wonder how much of that is the product of starting to dislike the character? I gave up some favorite titles, not over any creative shakeups, but because the books no longer "did" anything for me.

We can only speculate that a Shooter-helmed Valiant would have ALWAYS matched the magic of those issues. But I'm different, in that my favorite titles and issues are non-Shooter ones. ALPHA & OMEGA and the early RAI stuff are notable exceptions, but even Shooter's said that early Valiants were a semi-collaborative process and I think the magic continued long after his departure. BWS kept A&A going. I thought Jorge did a great job with X-O, after Bob Layton was unable to keep writing the character. I never much cared for SOLAR, although A&O, "Afraid of the Darque" and "Brave New World" were all very interesting arcs, but that was because they were more about Phil Seleski and less about MOTA (imho). I liked the nanite Rai.

Knightt_333 wrote:But, you could tell that there was trouble with those titles during those times and it proably is systemic of him being in Court and the downfall of the industry.

Not to start a flame war (cuz I like and respect Knightt and some others of like mind), but the same people who have many excuses why the quality of Broadway and Defiant never met that of (Shooter-era) Valiant are oftentimes the harshest critics of Valiant's so-called "decline." If they all (Valiant, Defiant, Broadway) fell short of Shooter Valiant (a claim I don't buy, mind you), why is one due to the lack of his presence and the others get exceptional treatment, even though he was there? If the industry as a whole was "trending downward," is that really the fault of (or a testament to) one individual? Just curious...

Knightt_333 wrote:OOPS TANGENT... anyways, it is just my personal opinion on the above. But would you agree that the latter Valiant books are just plain painful to read ? And that the stories/characters that Shooter worked on were not handled well ? I just think (opinion warning) that after Shooter left, the stories wobbled and then just went out of control. Kind of like one of those gyroscope toys.

Well, my favorite title of all time, from any company, is pretty much a post-Shooter one (minus the "Rising Spirit" solicitations), so of course I'll respectfully disagree.

BoH

BloodOfHeroes · Post by **BloodOfHeroes** » Mon May 17, 2004 4:02 pm

Knightt_333 wrote:BOH.... FLAME ON !!

Marvel boards, son. You want the Marvel boards.

Knightt_333 wrote:Just kidding, I hear what you have to say and am mixed on a lot of things. There is even the thought that is WAS Shooter that brought all of the titles down. In other words, he can start something off well but does not know how to keep the magic going yadda yadda... maybe his heart was not into the other books (Defiant/Broadway), maybe he blew his wad on Valiant. I dont know. I RECENTLY read Solar and Magnus for the first time. I was only going to collect certain Valiant titles but got Solar and Magnus REALLY cheap. So, I picked them up and read them for the first time... and liked them as well as the other various pre-Unity issues. So, I dont know... I just liked them.

I aways say that I don't much care for MRF and then I read the books and really enjoy them. Heh.

Knightt_333 wrote:There is the exception to the rule (not playing up to you either BOH) but Bloodshot was and IS my all time favorite. I liked these issues EVERY ONE OF THEM. It had its slow moments but I still liked the character and Kevin Vanhook's writing style (gotta like stories about the Mob). I liked the character so much that I even picked up all of the VH2 Bloodshot books (awesome). So Bloodshot was always good for me as was Shadowman. I liked every issue from start to finish. Now, neither one of these titles ended well but geez, which ones did ?

Yeah--Shadowman is another great case in point. It was a great read for each and every issue. And I believe I've heard that Jim Shooter wasn't that big a "fan" of the book, no?

To each his own. We can second-guess all day long, but the sad truth is the sad truth and we don't have current issues of our favorite funnybooks no mo'. And, given all the factors involved, we can never say with any degree of certainty what would have happened. All's I know is that I'd rather re-read even my least favorite Valiant titles than most any of the new stuff being put out today.

BoH

hillmanthe2nd · Post by **hillmanthe2nd** » Mon May 17, 2004 5:53 pm

Thought I would share a sketch I had done of Bloodshot by Sal Velluto.

Sal is a great artist and great person to talk to.

whetteon · Post by **whetteon** » Mon May 17, 2004 6:10 pm

Knightt_333 wrote:I have heard that Thanos is good as well... but ya know, THANOS ?

Thanos is excellent and it has become a personal monthly buy. If you liked the Infinite Gauntlet and Crusades (not a fan of the crusades myself) then I'm sure you’ll like Thanos. The whole story revolves around him trying to find redemption but still being a brilliant tactician when it comes to engaging the enemy. For god sakes, the dood went one on one with Galactus and while he didn't technically win, he did hold his own very nicely. Far longer then most of the Marvel Universe toons every hoped to accomplish even with an ultimate nullifier! When Galatus knows you personally and has you on "the list" of people to kill cause you bug him, you know your doing something right

Anyways, just thought I would geek out for a couple. Carry on

Master Dorque · Post by **Master Dorque** » Mon May 17, 2004 6:55 pm

Great info....thanks for sharing! Did you get any info from Shooter on what he's doing now? What's in the works for him? Anything worth mentioning?

lobo · Post by **lobo** » Mon May 17, 2004 9:15 pm

Knightt_333 wrote:
whetteon wrote:
Knightt_333 wrote:I have heard that Thanos is good as well... but ya know, THANOS ?
Thanos is excellent and it has become a personal monthly buy. If you liked the Infinite Gauntlet and Crusades (not a fan of the crusades myself) then I'm sure you’ll like Thanos. The whole story revolves around him trying to find redemption but still being a brilliant tactician when it comes to engaging the enemy. For god sakes, the dood went one on one with Galactus and while he didn't technically win, he did hold his own very nicely. Far longer then most of the Marvel Universe toons every hoped to accomplish even with an ultimate nullifier! When Galatus knows you personally and has you on "the list" of people to kill cause you bug him, you know your doing something right

Anyways, just thought I would geek out for a couple. Carry on
And the guy has a whole title dedicated to this ? Are they grand scale conflicts every issue ?

The first story arc was huge! The second story arc is building up to something.... I just bought issue #10 yesterday, I think I'll read it tonight!
Thanos has been a favorite of mine for a long time, specially when Starlin writes him. I'm happier than heck that a monthly is finally out, Ihope it lasts for a long time.
Are we off topic yet? Motor city something?