FCBD thread

[kjjohanson]

Figured I'd start a thread for all of us to share our experiences. I'm on my way out to Midtown.

Share what you bought today, along with any of the free editions you pick up.

One note: I don't know if this was something a store did on their own, or something Valiant was behind, but one previous year a store I dropped by handed me a free gold edition because I had inquired about a Valiant variant I was looking for. (I think this was around the Bloodshot Reborn launch.)

[TheFerg714]

This issue is awful and embarrassing.

1. Awful cover.
2. Should have had a HW2 cover, and a shorter Shadowman backup.
3. Should have had a new HW2 story to build hype for HW2. This issue was perfectly sandwiched between the prelude and #1. Its an actual waste of money to NOT do something to promote their big summer event.
4. Nothing new announced.

Valiant is on a fine line. They need to get their *SQUEE* together asap. They cannot rely on positive word of mouth exclusively. If they don't do something positive soon, they're going to lose a lot of the good will they've built up over the last few years.

How is it that *SQUEE* Power Rangers has got me more excited for their summer event than Valiant? I mean, really...

This was honestly a real sour note to start my FCBD on.

[BugsySig]

Went to the 3 LCS near me today

Store 1: The Eye Opener
Recently moved to a smaller location in the same building and it showed in their selection. Didn’t look like they’ve ordered any VALIANT issues in some time. No Shadowman, one issue of the new Q&W and one of Ninjak vs. the VU. Had one bundle of the new XO from 1-12 and XO Deluxe Vol 1. Wound up grabbing some Image TPBs. Only had the Marvel and DC FCBD books when they normally have all of them. I’m afraid they won’t be around much longer, which is a shame because they’re the closest to a traditional LCS around.

Store 2: Omni Comics and Cards
As much a collectibles and memorabilia store as a comic shop. Also no Shadowman and a random smattering of VALIANT from the last year (Renegades #1? XO #50? Wtf?). Had a lot of good sales and were giving away free T-shirt’s for every $20 spent, but the place was a *SQUEE* disaster: blocked isles, boxes and carts all over the place, impossible to find anything. Picked up some b-ball cards and cases for my son. They had all the main FCBDs except no VALIANT FCBD, and a 2 per customer limit even though they had piles of each. Got Riverdale, Dr Who and the Pokémon for my son (asked for the 3rd and they were cool with it, but still no need to limit to 2).

Store 3: Heroes and Hitters
Mostly Big 3 and kid oriented, they’re small and typically don’t have all the FCBDs available. This year they had everything and no limit! They also have giveaways, free snacks, cake and drinks, and pretty good discounts. I picked up a few more trades I needed and a couple issues of Teen Titans GO! and Star Wars Adventures for the kiddo. Unfortunately, not a single VALIANT issue or trade on the shelves.

Final thoughts...
The Good: Shadowman was sold out at both stores that had ordered it. Decent sales and a good offering of FCBD titles. As the morning went on, more and more people were filing in for the day.

The Bad: No (or barely any, especially recent) VALIANT books on the shelves and no VALIANT FCBD issues. Anywhere. That’s a sharp contrast to last year where I picked up lots of back issue variants, XO #1s, and Harbinger: Renegade #1s, among others.

The Ugly: Its obvious why the LCS is dying and small publishers are struggling. Finding anything beyond the Big 2, Image, and a few licensed property titles is next to impossible (VALIANT, Action Lab, Lion Forge...not a trace). They’re disorganized and hard to sift through to find what you’re looking for. Online shopping for trades and digital comics are going to appeal way more to the younger generation. FCBD is supposed to bring people to their LCS to boost business and create new customers, but the LCS needs to do their part and not drive people off! It was kind of sad at 2 out of 3 places today.

[Jrosen]

I was looking forward to FCBD when it was announced that Shadowman was going to be a part of it. I was really disappointed that the entire book was previews of issues that were already released. I don't understand why they didn't put in a prelude to Shadowman or a least provide a bit of new material for HW2.

This was a very big waste of time...

[Sunlight on Snow]

Aren't these meant for new readers (and not the ValiantFans.com peeps that already know everything about Valiant)?

Some exclusive content is a nice extra but I can see how this wasn't their main priority for this years' FCBD issue.

4 different teasers for HW2 is a bit much though.

MJ Kim's pin-up features Savage!

And it doesn't feature anybody who's involved in HW2!

[Sunlight on Snow]

I like the Three Stooges/Valiant/BWS homage cover of Overstreet's FCBD.

[Jrosen]

Aren't these meant for new readers (and not the ValiantFans.com peeps that already know everything about Valiant)?

Some exclusive content is a nice extra but I can see how this wasn't their main priority for this years' FCBD issue.

4 different teasers for HW2 is a bit much though.

MJ Kim's pin-up features Savage!

And it doesn't feature anybody who's involved in HW2!

If they wanted to make it for new readers, they should have gone back to the old Valiant Handbook format and updated it with the new characters from Secret Wars and the old villains from the first two Shadowman arcs. That would inform new readers on what is happening in Shadowman and HW2 and help them transition to the VEI universe. As it is, if you didn't know the VEI universe, the snippets that they provided would leave a reader partially confused, and I don't think the previews would be enough to drive new readership.

I would also say that the VEI FCBD issue was one of the lowest rated/reviewed issues out of all the FCBD issues that were released yesterday. This was in direct contrast to past years where the reviews were strongly positive.

[Sunlight on Snow]

After finally reading the HW2 Prelude yesterday evening I think Valiant missed a great opportunity here. The entire Prelude should have been this year's FCBD issue just like Unity #0 and Chaos Effect: Alpha (were freebies) in the 90s too.

FCBD'18 = HW2 Prelude + QW teaser + XO teaser + maybe the SM preview pages + Harada teaser

[Phoenix8008]

I totally didn't even know that last Saturday was FCB Day! There was no talk of it at my LCS last Wednesday. I'll have to see this Wednesday if they got any Valiant FCBD books. If so, I'm sure they'll let me have one.

[TheFerg714]

Aren't these meant for new readers (and not the ValiantFans.com peeps that already know everything about Valiant)?

Some exclusive content is a nice extra but I can see how this wasn't their main priority for this years' FCBD issue.

4 different teasers for HW2 is a bit much though.

MJ Kim's pin-up features Savage!

And it doesn't feature anybody who's involved in HW2!

Dude the pinup only had VEI'S brand new characters. Hence why Divinity was the focal point.

[nonplayer]

This issue is awful and embarrassing.

1. Awful cover.
2. Should have had a HW2 cover, and a shorter Shadowman backup.
3. Should have had a new HW2 story to build hype for HW2. This issue was perfectly sandwiched between the prelude and #1. Its an actual waste of money to NOT do something to promote their big summer event.
4. Nothing new announced.

Valiant is on a fine line. They need to get their *SQUEE* together asap. They cannot rely on positive word of mouth exclusively. If they don't do something positive soon, they're going to lose a lot of the good will they've built up over the last few years.

How is it that *SQUEE* Power Rangers has got me more excited for their summer event than Valiant? I mean, really...

This was honestly a real sour note to start my FCBD on.

I said this before but nobody read it in the dmg post. .valiant is the charaters. Dmg runs things now. So when you say valiant needs to get their *SQUEE* together. Its not valiant. Dinesh was valiant since he was one of us. Dmg is not valiant.
I agree with you DMG is dropping the ball big time. I think were all feeling it.

[Bl00dsh0t]

For existing readers of Valiant this was a disappointment - that said, the center page spread was great

For new readers wanting to get into Valiant, I think it was ok. Shadowman/HW2/XO - they're the big ticket items at the moment and solid jumping on points for potential new readers.

Like all here, I wish there was some teasers of new titles and a bonus story exclusive to FCBD or even a couple of new character profiles similar to what we saw in the handbooks previously for key characters in HW2.

[jmatt]

For the second year in a row, I forgot. My LCS didn't even have any leftover copies on Sunday. I guess that's a good sign.

[grendeljd]

I was away from home all weekend at a horror-themed convention in the DFW airport in Texas [the "Texas Frightmare Weekend"], so I didn't have a chance to participate in FCBD this year. Sounds like I didn't miss anything from the Valiant offering if there was nothing new in it.

I think having a mix of "reprint" previews of existing published/upcoming comics along with something entirely new and unique to the FCBD is the best way to go to generate real buzz & excitement for the company. New readers may not know or care if what they're reading is already in another book, but if you also give them the hook of picking up a story they won't get in any other Valiant comic, they may get equally as excited as any existing readers will be for it, and the comic will get way more attention for the company. Sounds like a win-win?

Would have been cool if there was some other short story prelude to HW2 in there that we haven't seen.

I *was* interested in trying to get the IDW [Transformers Unicron thingie] & the Chapterhouse [Captain Canuck] FCBD's, as they had new lead-in stories to event series...