The ‘tell Alien which Valiant book needs fixing’ poll

[Dallow Spicer1]

After a few disastrous years of books, Alien seem to be moving Valiant in the right direction again. XO was decent and there are interesting books on the way, including Dan Abnett back on Rai.

Ninjak wasn’t good though so it’s not all plain sailing and for reasons unknown Fred Van Lente is coming back (I can only assume Alien didn’t read Psi Lords)

Speaking of dire, the Harbinger series by Kelly and Lanzig managed to hit rock bottom in 2021, but then Max Bemis said ‘hold my beer’ and made their effort look like Alan Moore with a mind bogglingly bad Savage mini series. So for me, those characters need a top writer/artist combo to get them back on track.

Bloodshot has been constantly bad following the excellent Lemire run, with poor creative teams one after another completely failing to make the character interesting. Who can forget Tim Seeley having Bloodshot singing during a battle in one of the cringiest moments in Valiant history? Unfortunately not me

So…which character or team needs intensive care the most and why?

2 options each because I’m generous like that!

[ManofTheAtom]

My question would be, what can Alien do bring notice to VALIANT.

From Saga using breastfeeding on the cover to their first issue to TidalWave making comics about certain political figures, those surely are good examples of how to rile people up to get free publicity for one's comic books, no?

What could Alien do to get that sort of notice?

They can't kill someone and expect to get the same notice DC did when they killed Superman, but surely they could do something along the lines of what Saga did to get people talking.

Alternatively, they could do something along the lines of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns that completely changed the way comic books are made.

[Dallow Spicer1]

My question would be, what can Alien do bring notice to VALIANT.

From Saga using breastfeeding on the cover to their first issue to TidalWave making comics about certain political figures, those surely are good examples of how to rile people up to get free publicity for one's comic books, no?

What could Alien do to get that sort of notice?

They can't kill someone and expect to get the same notice DC did when they killed Superman, but surely they could do something along the lines of what Saga did to get people talking.

Alternatively, they could do something along the lines of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns that completely changed the way comic books are made.

Let’s start off with book worth reading and foremost! Since the Dinesh era ended that last thing you’d want anyone to do is read Valiant books. Imagine a new reader picking up Hallum’s XO or Van Lente’s Psi Lords and thinking that was the standard of Valiant books!
In my view, Alien needs to course correct the Valiant U which will take 12-24 months of quality books (if indeed Alien can deliver that, they’re bringing Van Lente back so if question their choices).

[Chiclo]

My question would be, what can Alien do bring notice to VALIANT.

From Saga using breastfeeding on the cover to their first issue to TidalWave making comics about certain political figures, those surely are good examples of how to rile people up to get free publicity for one's comic books, no?

What could Alien do to get that sort of notice?

They can't kill someone and expect to get the same notice DC did when they killed Superman, but surely they could do something along the lines of what Saga did to get people talking.

Alternatively, they could do something along the lines of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns that completely changed the way comic books are made.

Hiring someone like Ethan Van Sciver would get the Valiant name on many tongues.

[ManofTheAtom]

My question would be, what can Alien do bring notice to VALIANT.

From Saga using breastfeeding on the cover to their first issue to TidalWave making comics about certain political figures, those surely are good examples of how to rile people up to get free publicity for one's comic books, no?

What could Alien do to get that sort of notice?

They can't kill someone and expect to get the same notice DC did when they killed Superman, but surely they could do something along the lines of what Saga did to get people talking.

Alternatively, they could do something along the lines of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns that completely changed the way comic books are made.

Hiring someone like Ethan Van Sciver would get the Valiant name on many tongues.

Well, yeah, but we don't want him, lol.

[ManofTheAtom]

My question would be, what can Alien do bring notice to VALIANT.

From Saga using breastfeeding on the cover to their first issue to TidalWave making comics about certain political figures, those surely are good examples of how to rile people up to get free publicity for one's comic books, no?

What could Alien do to get that sort of notice?

They can't kill someone and expect to get the same notice DC did when they killed Superman, but surely they could do something along the lines of what Saga did to get people talking.

Alternatively, they could do something along the lines of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns that completely changed the way comic books are made.

Let’s start off with book worth reading and foremost! Since the Dinesh era ended that last thing you’d want anyone to do is read Valiant books. Imagine a new reader picking up Hallum’s XO or Van Lente’s Psi Lords and thinking that was the standard of Valiant books!
In my view, Alien needs to course correct the Valiant U which will take 12-24 months of quality books (if indeed Alien can deliver that, they’re bringing Van Lente back so if question their choices).

There is truth to that, yeah.

I imagine they're bringing Van Lente back on the strength of A&A far more so than because of Psi-Lords, though, heh.

[Ryan]

My question would be, what can Alien do bring notice to VALIANT.

From Saga using breastfeeding on the cover to their first issue to TidalWave making comics about certain political figures, those surely are good examples of how to rile people up to get free publicity for one's comic books, no?

What could Alien do to get that sort of notice?

They can't kill someone and expect to get the same notice DC did when they killed Superman, but surely they could do something along the lines of what Saga did to get people talking.

Alternatively, they could do something along the lines of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns that completely changed the way comic books are made.

Hiring someone like Ethan Van Sciver would get the Valiant name on many tongues.

I would be completely against hiring right-wing provocateurs just because they get a lot of youtube clicks.

Also totally against 'riling people up' with marketing stunts.

Great comics, that's it. Look at comics like Invincible, The Boys, and many others. Creators that just put their heads down and made something great. They earned their readership by making a great product for their readers month after month.

They weren't instant hits, more of a slow burn, just like pre-Unity. Investing in high quality storytelling pays off much more in the long term than the short term. Look at where Invincible, The Boys, and Walking Dead started out (as single monthly comic books) to where the franchises are now.

Marketing gimmicks for a bunch of quick clicks is less than worthless in my eyes if there isn't actually high level storytelling going on.

[Chiclo]

My question would be, what can Alien do bring notice to VALIANT.

From Saga using breastfeeding on the cover to their first issue to TidalWave making comics about certain political figures, those surely are good examples of how to rile people up to get free publicity for one's comic books, no?

What could Alien do to get that sort of notice?

They can't kill someone and expect to get the same notice DC did when they killed Superman, but surely they could do something along the lines of what Saga did to get people talking.

Alternatively, they could do something along the lines of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns that completely changed the way comic books are made.

Hiring someone like Ethan Van Sciver would get the Valiant name on many tongues.

I would be completely against hiring right-wing provocateurs just because they get a lot of youtube clicks.

Also totally against 'riling people up' with marketing stunts.

Great comics, that's it. Look at comics like Invincible, The Boys, and many others. Creators that just put their heads down and made something great. They earned their readership by making a great product for their readers month after month.

They weren't instant hits, more of a slow burn, just like pre-Unity. Investing in high quality storytelling pays off much more in the long term. Look at where Invincible, The Boys, and Walking started (a single monthly comic book) to where the franchises are now.

Marketing gimmicks for a bunch of quick clicks is less than worthless in my eyes if there isn't actually high level storytelling going on.

That was kind of the point I was hoping to land, that there could potentially be bad publicity. MotA was talking about shock value for publicity.

TidalWave is garbage. Might as well cut a deal with slick hustlers like Nicky B if you are going to use them as an example.

[Ryan]

My question would be, what can Alien do bring notice to VALIANT.

From Saga using breastfeeding on the cover to their first issue to TidalWave making comics about certain political figures, those surely are good examples of how to rile people up to get free publicity for one's comic books, no?

What could Alien do to get that sort of notice?

They can't kill someone and expect to get the same notice DC did when they killed Superman, but surely they could do something along the lines of what Saga did to get people talking.

Alternatively, they could do something along the lines of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns that completely changed the way comic books are made.

Hiring someone like Ethan Van Sciver would get the Valiant name on many tongues.

I would be completely against hiring right-wing provocateurs just because they get a lot of youtube clicks.

Also totally against 'riling people up' with marketing stunts.

Great comics, that's it. Look at comics like Invincible, The Boys, and many others. Creators that just put their heads down and made something great. They earned their readership by making a great product for their readers month after month.

They weren't instant hits, more of a slow burn, just like pre-Unity. Investing in high quality storytelling pays off much more in the long term. Look at where Invincible, The Boys, and Walking started (a single monthly comic book) to where the franchises are now.

Marketing gimmicks for a bunch of quick clicks is less than worthless in my eyes if there isn't actually high level storytelling going on.

That was kind of the point I was hoping to land, that there could potentially be bad publicity. MotA was talking about shock value for publicity.

TidalWave is garbage. Might as well cut a deal with slick hustlers like Nicky B if you are going to use them as an example.

Got it, completely agree.

Valiant used to stand for something that we all liked. All of the marketing shenanigans have always been a black eye for Valiant. It's the reason most normal fans dismiss Valiant. It's the complete opposite direction Valiant should go in, imo.

[Dallow Spicer1]

My question would be, what can Alien do bring notice to VALIANT.

From Saga using breastfeeding on the cover to their first issue to TidalWave making comics about certain political figures, those surely are good examples of how to rile people up to get free publicity for one's comic books, no?

What could Alien do to get that sort of notice?

They can't kill someone and expect to get the same notice DC did when they killed Superman, but surely they could do something along the lines of what Saga did to get people talking.

Alternatively, they could do something along the lines of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns that completely changed the way comic books are made.

Let’s start off with book worth reading and foremost! Since the Dinesh era ended that last thing you’d want anyone to do is read Valiant books. Imagine a new reader picking up Hallum’s XO or Van Lente’s Psi Lords and thinking that was the standard of Valiant books!
In my view, Alien needs to course correct the Valiant U which will take 12-24 months of quality books (if indeed Alien can deliver that, they’re bringing Van Lente back so if question their choices).

There is truth to that, yeah.

I imagine they're bringing Van Lente back on the strength of A&A far more so than because of Psi-Lords, though, heh.

Let’s reflect on what he’s done for Valiant…

A&A - average
Iver Timewalker - average
War Mother - average
Delinquents - average
Immortal Brothers - instantly forgettable
Generation Zero - sub par
Psi Lords - an abomination

[ManofTheAtom]

My question would be, what can Alien do bring notice to VALIANT.

From Saga using breastfeeding on the cover to their first issue to TidalWave making comics about certain political figures, those surely are good examples of how to rile people up to get free publicity for one's comic books, no?

What could Alien do to get that sort of notice?

They can't kill someone and expect to get the same notice DC did when they killed Superman, but surely they could do something along the lines of what Saga did to get people talking.

Alternatively, they could do something along the lines of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns that completely changed the way comic books are made.

Let’s start off with book worth reading and foremost! Since the Dinesh era ended that last thing you’d want anyone to do is read Valiant books. Imagine a new reader picking up Hallum’s XO or Van Lente’s Psi Lords and thinking that was the standard of Valiant books!
In my view, Alien needs to course correct the Valiant U which will take 12-24 months of quality books (if indeed Alien can deliver that, they’re bringing Van Lente back so if question their choices).

There is truth to that, yeah.

I imagine they're bringing Van Lente back on the strength of A&A far more so than because of Psi-Lords, though, heh.

Let’s reflect on what he’s done for Valiant…

A&A - average
Iver Timewalker - average
War Mother - average
Delinquents - average
Immortal Brothers - instantly forgettable
Generation Zero - sub par
Psi Lords - an abomination

Interesting. I thought Timewalker was good. I'm not a fan of the comedic tone in A&A, but I also thought it worked. Delinquents was just too comedic. War Mother, from what I recall, was okay. I don't think I read Immortal Brothers or Psi-Lords. Generation Zero was good too from what I recall.

[Dallow Spicer1]

My question would be, what can Alien do bring notice to VALIANT.

From Saga using breastfeeding on the cover to their first issue to TidalWave making comics about certain political figures, those surely are good examples of how to rile people up to get free publicity for one's comic books, no?

What could Alien do to get that sort of notice?

They can't kill someone and expect to get the same notice DC did when they killed Superman, but surely they could do something along the lines of what Saga did to get people talking.

Alternatively, they could do something along the lines of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns that completely changed the way comic books are made.

Let’s start off with book worth reading and foremost! Since the Dinesh era ended that last thing you’d want anyone to do is read Valiant books. Imagine a new reader picking up Hallum’s XO or Van Lente’s Psi Lords and thinking that was the standard of Valiant books!
In my view, Alien needs to course correct the Valiant U which will take 12-24 months of quality books (if indeed Alien can deliver that, they’re bringing Van Lente back so if question their choices).

There is truth to that, yeah.

I imagine they're bringing Van Lente back on the strength of A&A far more so than because of Psi-Lords, though, heh.

Let’s reflect on what he’s done for Valiant…

A&A - average
Iver Timewalker - average
War Mother - average
Delinquents - average
Immortal Brothers - instantly forgettable
Generation Zero - sub par
Psi Lords - an abomination

Interesting. I thought Timewalker was good. I'm not a fan of the comedic tone in A&A, but I also thought it worked. Delinquents was just too comedic. War Mother, from what I recall, was okay. I don't think I read Immortal Brothers or Psi-Lords. Generation Zero was good too from what I recall.

Not sure that track records warrants constant recalls when there’s tons of other writers.

[ManofTheAtom]

My question would be, what can Alien do bring notice to VALIANT.

From Saga using breastfeeding on the cover to their first issue to TidalWave making comics about certain political figures, those surely are good examples of how to rile people up to get free publicity for one's comic books, no?

What could Alien do to get that sort of notice?

They can't kill someone and expect to get the same notice DC did when they killed Superman, but surely they could do something along the lines of what Saga did to get people talking.

Alternatively, they could do something along the lines of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns that completely changed the way comic books are made.

Let’s start off with book worth reading and foremost! Since the Dinesh era ended that last thing you’d want anyone to do is read Valiant books. Imagine a new reader picking up Hallum’s XO or Van Lente’s Psi Lords and thinking that was the standard of Valiant books!
In my view, Alien needs to course correct the Valiant U which will take 12-24 months of quality books (if indeed Alien can deliver that, they’re bringing Van Lente back so if question their choices).

There is truth to that, yeah.

I imagine they're bringing Van Lente back on the strength of A&A far more so than because of Psi-Lords, though, heh.

Let’s reflect on what he’s done for Valiant…

A&A - average
Iver Timewalker - average
War Mother - average
Delinquents - average
Immortal Brothers - instantly forgettable
Generation Zero - sub par
Psi Lords - an abomination

Interesting. I thought Timewalker was good. I'm not a fan of the comedic tone in A&A, but I also thought it worked. Delinquents was just too comedic. War Mother, from what I recall, was okay. I don't think I read Immortal Brothers or Psi-Lords. Generation Zero was good too from what I recall.

Not sure that track records warrants constant recalls when there’s tons of other writers.

Yeah, but with a body of work like that, he'd be considered an architect of the VEI Universe.

[TheFerg714]

A&A - average
Iver Timewalker - average
War Mother - average
Delinquents - average
Immortal Brothers - instantly forgettable
Generation Zero - sub par
Psi Lords - an abomination

Wow, I could not disagree more. Van Lente is one of my favorite Valiant writers, especially when he's working on the Immortal Bros side of the universe.

A&A- Nearly perfect.
Ivar- Great
War Mother- Very good
Delinquents- Nothing to write home about, but very fun.
Immortal Bros one-shots- Great
Gen. Zero- Not terrible, but a mess. Just a strange direction to take these characters.
Psi-Lords- Lackluster, but also not terrible.

[syzhang28]

A&A - average
Iver Timewalker - average
War Mother - average
Delinquents - average
Immortal Brothers - instantly forgettable
Generation Zero - sub par
Psi Lords - an abomination

Wow, I could not disagree more. Van Lente is one of my favorite Valiant writers, especially when he's working on the Immortal Bros side of the universe.

A&A- Nearly perfect.
Ivar- Great
War Mother- Very good
Delinquents- Nothing to write home about, but very fun.
Immortal Bros one-shots- Great
Gen. Zero- Not terrible, but a mess. Just a strange direction to take these characters.
Psi-Lords- Lackluster, but also not terrible.

Agree with The Ferg, Van Lente is mostly great and it makes sense they would try and recapture that VEI glory

For me:

A&A - Nearly perfect.
Ivar - Perfection. Thought this was one of the best Valiant stories ever.
War Mother - Very good. Was excited to see a whole world of stories with her.
Delinquents - Fun. Loved the hobo code and song.
Immortal Bros one-shots - Good.
Gen. Zero - This was a mess. A mistake and a sign of things to come with DMG (even though I can't blame them for this one)
Psi-Lords - Very, very bad. But what do you expect when you take away the people that made the books great at VEI.

[Dallow Spicer1]

A&A - average
Iver Timewalker - average
War Mother - average
Delinquents - average
Immortal Brothers - instantly forgettable
Generation Zero - sub par
Psi Lords - an abomination

Wow, I could not disagree more. Van Lente is one of my favorite Valiant writers, especially when he's working on the Immortal Bros side of the universe.

A&A- Nearly perfect.
Ivar- Great
War Mother- Very good
Delinquents- Nothing to write home about, but very fun.
Immortal Bros one-shots- Great
Gen. Zero- Not terrible, but a mess. Just a strange direction to take these characters.
Psi-Lords- Lackluster, but also not terrible.

Agree with The Ferg, Van Lente is mostly great and it makes sense they would try and recapture that VEI glory
.
Gen. Zero - This was a mess. A mistake and a sign of things to come with DMG (even though I can't blame them for this one)
Psi-Lords - Very, very bad. But what do you expect when you take away the people that made the books great at VEI.

This doesn’t make sense, Gen zero was squarely an issue with the writing, DMG can’t be blamed unless they employed Van Lente?
Psi Lords was peak woke DMG and Van Lente was the writer so it’s on him. Yes editors take accountability for giving him free reign but ultimately it’s his work.

[syzhang28]

A&A - average
Iver Timewalker - average
War Mother - average
Delinquents - average
Immortal Brothers - instantly forgettable
Generation Zero - sub par
Psi Lords - an abomination

Wow, I could not disagree more. Van Lente is one of my favorite Valiant writers, especially when he's working on the Immortal Bros side of the universe.

A&A- Nearly perfect.
Ivar- Great
War Mother- Very good
Delinquents- Nothing to write home about, but very fun.
Immortal Bros one-shots- Great
Gen. Zero- Not terrible, but a mess. Just a strange direction to take these characters.
Psi-Lords- Lackluster, but also not terrible.

Agree with The Ferg, Van Lente is mostly great and it makes sense they would try and recapture that VEI glory
.
Gen. Zero - This was a mess. A mistake and a sign of things to come with DMG (even though I can't blame them for this one)
Psi-Lords - Very, very bad. But what do you expect when you take away the people that made the books great at VEI.

This doesn’t make sense, Gen zero was squarely an issue with the writing, DMG can’t be blamed unless they employed Van Lente?
Psi Lords was peak woke DMG and Van Lente was the writer so it’s on him. Yes editors take accountability for giving him free reign but ultimately it’s his work.

Agree! "(even though I can't blame them for this one)"

[Dallow Spicer1]

A&A - average
Iver Timewalker - average
War Mother - average
Delinquents - average
Immortal Brothers - instantly forgettable
Generation Zero - sub par
Psi Lords - an abomination

Wow, I could not disagree more. Van Lente is one of my favorite Valiant writers, especially when he's working on the Immortal Bros side of the universe.

A&A- Nearly perfect.
Ivar- Great
War Mother- Very good
Delinquents- Nothing to write home about, but very fun.
Immortal Bros one-shots- Great
Gen. Zero- Not terrible, but a mess. Just a strange direction to take these characters.
Psi-Lords- Lackluster, but also not terrible.

Out of interest which Valiant books were worse than Psi Lords?

[TheFerg714]

Out of interest which Valiant books were worse than Psi Lords?

Only a few, if we're looking at VEI: Asmus' Q&W, Unity Vol. 6, Roberts' A+A, Dead Drop.

DMG: Bloodshot Rising Spirit, Livewire Vol. 2-3, The Forgotten Queen, Seeley's Bloodshot, Hopeless' X-O, Savage: The Wild.

[Dallow Spicer1]

Out of interest which Valiant books were worse than Psi Lords?

Only a few, if we're looking at VEI: Asmus' Q&W, Unity Vol. 6, Roberts' A+A, Dead Drop.

DMG: Bloodshot Rising Spirit, Livewire Vol. 2-3, The Forgotten Queen, Seeley's Bloodshot, Hopeless' X-O, Savage: The Wild.

Yeah there’s some shockers there, I’d put Psi Lords alongside them though

[Cyberstrike]

My question would be, what can Alien do bring notice to VALIANT.

From Saga using breastfeeding on the cover to their first issue to TidalWave making comics about certain political figures, those surely are good examples of how to rile people up to get free publicity for one's comic books, no?

What could Alien do to get that sort of notice?

They can't kill someone and expect to get the same notice DC did when they killed Superman, but surely they could do something along the lines of what Saga did to get people talking.

Alternatively, they could do something along the lines of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns that completely changed the way comic books are made.

Hiring someone like Ethan Van Sciver would get the Valiant name on many tongues.

I would be completely against hiring right-wing provocateurs just because they get a lot of youtube clicks.

Also totally against 'riling people up' with marketing stunts.

Great comics, that's it. Look at comics like Invincible, The Boys, and many others. Creators that just put their heads down and made something great. They earned their readership by making a great product for their readers month after month.

They weren't instant hits, more of a slow burn, just like pre-Unity. Investing in high quality storytelling pays off much more in the long term. Look at where Invincible, The Boys, and Walking started (a single monthly comic book) to where the franchises are now.

Marketing gimmicks for a bunch of quick clicks is less than worthless in my eyes if there isn't actually high level storytelling going on.

That was kind of the point I was hoping to land, that there could potentially be bad publicity. MotA was talking about shock value for publicity.

TidalWave is garbage. Might as well cut a deal with slick hustlers like Nicky B if you are going to use them as an example.

EVS can also turn other talent that they need from Valiant who don't want to work for a company that hires an open bigot and who regardless is not a great artist to begin with.

[Chiclo]

My question would be, what can Alien do bring notice to VALIANT.

From Saga using breastfeeding on the cover to their first issue to TidalWave making comics about certain political figures, those surely are good examples of how to rile people up to get free publicity for one's comic books, no?

What could Alien do to get that sort of notice?

They can't kill someone and expect to get the same notice DC did when they killed Superman, but surely they could do something along the lines of what Saga did to get people talking.

Alternatively, they could do something along the lines of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns that completely changed the way comic books are made.

Hiring someone like Ethan Van Sciver would get the Valiant name on many tongues.

I would be completely against hiring right-wing provocateurs just because they get a lot of youtube clicks.

Also totally against 'riling people up' with marketing stunts.

Great comics, that's it. Look at comics like Invincible, The Boys, and many others. Creators that just put their heads down and made something great. They earned their readership by making a great product for their readers month after month.

They weren't instant hits, more of a slow burn, just like pre-Unity. Investing in high quality storytelling pays off much more in the long term. Look at where Invincible, The Boys, and Walking started (a single monthly comic book) to where the franchises are now.

Marketing gimmicks for a bunch of quick clicks is less than worthless in my eyes if there isn't actually high level storytelling going on.

That was kind of the point I was hoping to land, that there could potentially be bad publicity. MotA was talking about shock value for publicity.

TidalWave is garbage. Might as well cut a deal with slick hustlers like Nicky B if you are going to use them as an example.

EVS can also turn other talent that they need from Valiant who don't want to work for a company that hires an open bigot and who regardless is not a great artist to begin with.

And has difficulty meeting deadlines.

[syzhang28]

Can they answer be Dan Ward? Did you see the incredibly rude response she just posted on Facebook?

[ManofTheAtom]

Can they answer be Dan Ward? Did you see the incredibly rude response she just posted on Facebook?

Where on Facebook?

[Chiclo]

Can they answer be Dan Ward? Did you see the incredibly rude response she just posted on Facebook?

No, because I don't have Facebook because I am not a 14 year old girl and I don't have grandkids that I want to hear about.

Although, the 14 year old girl thing might not be the most current thing. I think they are on something else, like the instant grahams. And the tick tock. Whatever. I am still not on facebook.