Alien Books’ Matias Timarchi talks breathing new life into Valiant

[ManofTheAtom]

Alien Books’ Matias Timarchi talks breathing new life into Valiant

[Dallow Spicer1]

I’d say they were mostly failing at breathing new kids into Valiant so far. It’s been mostly low brow stuff from Alien.

[ManofTheAtom]

I’d say they were mostly failing at breathing new kids into Valiant so far. It’s been mostly low brow stuff from Alien.

SDCC might determine how well they're doing at engaging the audience in person I guess.

[Dallow Spicer1]

I’d say they were mostly failing at breathing new kids into Valiant so far. It’s been mostly low brow stuff from Alien.

SDCC might determine how well they're doing at engaging the audience in person I guess.

I think they need a visible frontman/woman to engage with fans on social media (ala Dinesh). Someone who can a) hype up the books and b) listen to fan feedback.
Since DMG took over (and now Alien), there’s no sense of them listening to what fans wan/don’t want. They just keep pushing out mostly sub standard books. It’s very frustrating.

[ManofTheAtom]

I’d say they were mostly failing at breathing new kids into Valiant so far. It’s been mostly low brow stuff from Alien.

SDCC might determine how well they're doing at engaging the audience in person I guess.

I honk they need a visible frontman/woman to engage with fans on social media (ala Dinesh). Someone who can a) hype up the books and b) listen to fan feedback.
Since DMG took over (and now Alien), there’s no sense of them listening to what fans wan/don’t want. They just keep pushing out mostly sub standard books. It’s very frustrating.

Someone posted a photo of themselves at the SDCC booth with Danielle Ward. I imagine she'll fill that role.

[Chiclo]

I’d say they were mostly failing at breathing new kids into Valiant so far. It’s been mostly low brow stuff from Alien.

SDCC might determine how well they're doing at engaging the audience in person I guess.

I honk they need a visible frontman/woman to engage with fans on social media (ala Dinesh). Someone who can a) hype up the books and b) listen to fan feedback.
Since DMG took over (and now Alien), there’s no sense of them listening to what fans wan/don’t want. They just keep pushing out mostly sub standard books. It’s very frustrating.

Almost like they are producing comics like they are ticking chores off a list.

[TheFerg714]

Welp... Looks like I'm gonna have to be the resident Alien defender around here... Son of a *SQUEE*...

I’d say they were mostly failing at breathing new kids into Valiant so far. It’s been mostly low brow stuff from Alien.

That's pretty harsh man. I don't entirely disagree, but honestly, it's not like I would describe much of VEI's output as "high brow." Alien has yet to hit the peaks of something like Dysart's Harbinger and Bloodshot Reborn, but I think it's a fool's game to expect the same consistent high quality as the 2012-2018 era. Like Pre-Unity, that sh!t was lightning in a bottle. Give them time. Can we just appreciate how Alien has already completely outclassed the DMG era, and it's only been like a handful of months.

I think they need a visible frontman/woman to engage with fans on social media (ala Dinesh). Someone who can a) hype up the books and b) listen to fan feedback.

Well first of all, Dani Ward has been fantastic, as far as I'm concerned. She's very visible on the Discord (and Facebook I think, but I don't use that), and gives off vibes that she truly cares about the content and the fans. The editor, Martin Casanova, has been answering questions and hyping up the books on Discord and Reddit as well.

Secondly, I feel like this is another one of those expectations things. No one is is like Dino, and it's probably not a good idea to expect that.

Since DMG took over (and now Alien), there’s no sense of them listening to what fans wan/don’t want. They just keep pushing out mostly sub standard books. It’s very frustrating.

...really..? I find this take to be borderline absurd. They're genuinely giving me almost everything I want from Valiant.

Bringing back past talent?
Concluding long-lost storylines like Abnett's Rai and The Faithless?
Easily outdoing the quality of the DMG era?
High-quality presentation and paper quality?
Long-running storylines and events that roll into eachother?
Dedication to the canon, warts and all?

What are they NOT doing that makes you feel like they're not "listening to what fans want"?

To be absolutely clear, I'll admit that nothing has exactly blown me away yet (outside of the Punk Mambo one-shot; that was pretty rad), but I am very much enjoying the ride, and can't wait for the next issue to release. Reloaded was a fun sequel with a unique tone, Britannia finally found some connections to the wider VU, the Livewire one-shot was significantly better than her ongoing, Rai received the finale that it desperately deserved, X-O Invictus is awesome and the artwork is so cool, Ninjak vs. Roku and The Darques seem very promising after their first issues, FVL is back on A&A/Immortal Bros, The Valiants/Resurgence is giving us the first proper event and line-wide connections that we deserve, and they even got Mico Suayan to draw up a sick as *SQUEE* banner.

Idk man, I think the negativity is a bit overblown on this site. To me, Alien seems like they're giving the VU a good solid try with the money/talent that they have at their disposal, and I think they deserve at least a few more months before giving up on them.

[Dallow Spicer1]

Welp... Looks like I'm gonna have to be the resident Alien defender around here... Son of a *SQUEE*...

I’d say they were mostly failing at breathing new kids into Valiant so far. It’s been mostly low brow stuff from Alien.

That's pretty harsh man. I don't entirely disagree, but honestly, it's not like I would describe much of VEI's output as "high brow." Alien has yet to hit the peaks of something like Dysart's Harbinger and Bloodshot Reborn, but I think it's a fool's game to expect the same consistent high quality as the 2012-2018 era. Like Pre-Unity, that sh!t was lightning in a bottle. Give them time. Can we just appreciate how Alien has already completely outclassed the DMG era, and it's only been like a handful of months.

I think they need a visible frontman/woman to engage with fans on social media (ala Dinesh). Someone who can a) hype up the books and b) listen to fan feedback.

Well first of all, Dani Ward has been fantastic, as far as I'm concerned. She's very visible on the Discord (and Facebook I think, but I don't use that), and gives off vibes that she truly cares about the content and the fans. The editor, Martin Casanova, has been answering questions and hyping up the books on Discord and Reddit as well.

Secondly, I feel like this is another one of those expectations things. No one is is like Dino, and it's probably not a good idea to expect that.

Since DMG took over (and now Alien), there’s no sense of them listening to what fans wan/don’t want. They just keep pushing out mostly sub standard books. It’s very frustrating.

...really..? I find this take to be borderline absurd. They're genuinely giving me almost everything I want from Valiant.

Bringing back past talent?
Concluding long-lost storylines like Abnett's Rai and The Faithless?
Easily outdoing the quality of the DMG era?
High-quality presentation and paper quality?
Long-running storylines and events that roll into eachother?
Dedication to the canon, warts and all?

What are they NOT doing that makes you feel like they're not "listening to what fans want"?

To be absolutely clear, I'll admit that nothing has exactly blown me away yet (outside of the Punk Mambo one-shot; that was pretty rad), but I am very much enjoying the ride, and can't wait for the next issue to release. Reloaded was a fun sequel with a unique tone, Britannia finally found some connections to the wider VU, the Livewire one-shot was significantly better than her ongoing, Rai received the finale that it desperately deserved, X-O Invictus is awesome and the artwork is so cool, Ninjak vs. Roku and The Darques seem very promising after their first issues, FVL is back on A&A/Immortal Bros, The Valiants/Resurgence is giving us the first proper event and line-wide connections that we deserve, and they even got Mico Suayan to draw up a sick as *SQUEE* banner.

Idk man, I think the negativity is a bit overblown on this site. To me, Alien seems like they're giving the VU a good solid try with the money/talent that they have at their disposal, and I think they deserve at least a few more months before giving up on them.

Tbh I don’t use Reddit or Discord so that’s on me. I use X and here, I'm surprised those individuals don’t have a presence on X?

Dysart’s Harbinger, Venditti’s XO, Lemire’s Bloodshot, Kindt’s Rai were all high level comics. Yes Alien are better than DMG but could they be any worse?!? That’s a low bar.

Let’s get it right, I want Alien to be a success. I seem to be the only person regularly reviewing the books on this site these days. But I’ll call it how I see it. Bloodshot Reloaded was very low brow and the latest issue of the Valiants (#3) reads like a 9 year old telling you a story they’re making up as they go along.

XO and Britannia have been solid.

Bringing back past talent? Abnett was a good call but then they ruined his Rai story by making it a tie into the Valiants. I’m not a FVL fan so that doesn’t score points with me. Milligans Britannia was decent but heard Punk Mambo was terrible.
Concluding long-lost storylines like Abnett's Rai and The Faithless? Rai’s was ruined (as above)…can’t remember what the faithless is?
Easily outdoing the quality of the DMG era? That’s not a massive achievement
High-quality presentation and paper quality? Yes, but the story content doesn’t warrant it. I’d rather have a $3.99 book in lesser paper.
Long-running storylines and events that roll into eachother? I’d broadly agree with this.
Dedication to the canon, warts and all? This was good at first but now it’s ruining the books as they force C list characters on mass into books just for the sake of it. Sometimes less is more.

I think they’re biting off more than they can chew and are too ambitious. Poor choices of characters to focus on (Punk Mambo, Livewire, Faith etc) along with some (not all) poor writers and artists.

[TheFerg714]

Dysart’s Harbinger, Venditti’s XO, Lemire’s Bloodshot, Kindt’s Rai were all high level comics. Yes Alien are better than DMG but could they be any worse?!? That’s a low bar.

I meean thisis just another one of those expectation things... I hope we get something on the level of those that you mentioned, but that's such a ridiculously high bar to ask for. I mean on one hand, I get it. I understand why one would want Alien to achieve the high-highs of VEI's heyday, but I don't think that's reasonable to ask for in Alien's literal first handful of months of publishing regular comics. For me personally, at this point, I go in expecting better than DMG. Imo Alien has been destroying that expectation. To be fair, I will say that I will probably begin to lose interest if we don't get some A+ books soon.

Also, "high level" and "high brow" have two different meanings. While I would absolutely describe Venditti's X-O as high level comics, I probably wouldn't call it high brow. Really only a handful of VEI's output deserve to be called high brow imo.

But I’ll call it how I see it. Bloodshot Reloaded was very low brow and the latest issue of the Valiants (#3) reads like a 9 year old telling you a story they’re making up as they go along.

Again, a little harsh, but I agree with the broad strokes here. Reloaded was meant to be low brow, and was all the better for it. The Valiants has just been a little... boring... I'm enjoying the wider universe connections, but I'm not gonna try to argue with you about that one lol.

Bringing back past talent? Abnett was a good call but then they ruined his Rai story by making it a tie into the Valiants.

Don't get me wrong, that Rai mini absolutely felt rushed, but to me, it was a satisfying conclusion, and I actually like that it's going to tie in to Resurgence. I've been craving a VH1 Unity-style team-up for a while now, and I feel like this is the best time for Rai to be wrangled in.

I’m not a FVL fan so that doesn’t score points with me.

How dare you.

Milligans Britannia was decent but heard Punk Mambo was terrible.

Yea, decent, but you have to admit that it was pretty rad that he FINALLY made some wider VU connections. And idk about Punk Mambo. Maybe I have brain rot, but I thought it was the sh!t.

can’t remember what the faithless is?

It was the team-up of Faith's villains, which we never really got a conclusion for. It seemed like they would eventually circle back to them after giving Faith some side-adventures, but then it just never happened.

Easily outdoing the quality of the DMG era? That’s not a massive achievement

Honesty, it is though. We were floundering out here with some truly terrible books, and about a 50/50 hit-rate while DMG was in charge. The fact that everything has been decent or better (imo) is a huge achievement.

High-quality presentation and paper quality? Yes, but the story content doesn’t warrant it. I’d rather have a $3.99 book in lesser paper.

Of course I would prefer that too, but that's simply not possible in today's climate. Almost everything is $5 nowadays, just like how almost everything was $4 during VEI's reign, and yet people complained that they couldn't push it down to $3. Seeing as it's going to be $5 no matter what, I appreciate the high quality presentation and paper quality. It makes it feel special.

Dedication to the canon, warts and all? This was good at first but now it’s ruining the books as they force C list characters on mass into books just for the sake of it. Sometimes less is more.

C-list characters like who? I kind of like the addition of Eidolon, Vexana was surprisingly pretty likable in EWs, and Marybeth (I think that's her name) is a great idea to use as the main thrust of Ninjak vs. Roku's plot. One thing I wish they would straight-up delete from the canon is that god-awful 2nd Savage series.

I think they’re biting off more than they can chew and are too ambitious.

That's a fair argument tbh. I worry about this too. They do seem to be slowing down though. Sept-Oct look to only have 4-5 issues per month, which I think is a wise move.

Poor choices of characters to focus on (Punk Mambo, Livewire, Faith etc)

...is it just a coincidence that all of those characters are women? Idk what you're getting at my guy, but all of those characters are cool and deserve their own series, and considering that you're seriously complaining about two one-shots and one 2-issue mini, I don't think Alien has done anything wrong in this regard.

Livewire and Faith haven't had their own issues in like 4.5-5.5 years respectively, and they're both major, important characters... What's the problem here?

along with some (not all) poor writers and artists.

More expectations issues. VEI's artists were insanely good, to the point where it made no sense that a company that tiny could afford the talent they had to offer. Alien has even less at their disposal, so cut them some slack. The good news is that I think the art's getting better with every month.

[Dallow Spicer1]

There’s absolutely no way DMG had a 50/50 hit rate If you enjoyed 50% of their books then more power to you, I wish I could find enjoyment that easily.

Just picking up on your point about female characters. I’m sending a bit of an agenda with Alien with the books they’re releasing. Whilst you might think Punk Mambo, Faith and Livewire are ‘top’ characters, I don’t think that view is widely shared so it strikes me as odd that Alien would release this books. Even in issue #2 of the latest Rai an almost all female team shows up, Gilad goes out of his way to make sure it’s known that he’s not in charge (one of the women are). The Valiants book also has an oddly high number of female characters in lead positions …seems almost …contrived.

Anyway to finish on a positive, just read the Darques Soulside (yes by FVL) and thought it was pretty good and the art was one of the best Alien have put out.

[TheFerg714]

Obviously we probably disagree on the specifics, but here's how I see the DMG era. That's about 50/50 in my book.

Good (14): Livewire (1st arc), Incursion, Punk Mambo, Fallen World, Rai (2 arcs), Killers, Dr. Tomorrow, Shadowman (2 arcs), A&A Forever, Bloodshot Unleashed, X-O Manowar: Unconquered, Book of Shadows

Good, but flawed (7): Psi-Lords (2 arcs), Dr. Mirage, The Harbinger (2 arcs), Armorclads, Ninjak: Superkillers

Bad (15): Bloodshot Rising Spirit (2ish arcs), Livewire (2 arcs), The Forgotten Queen, Bloodshot (3ish arcs), Roku, The Visitor, Quantum & Woody!, X-O Manowar (2 arcs), Savage, Ninjak

This whole agenda nonsense is getting a little tired man, to the point of me feeling second hand embarrassment just reading it. Sure, Alien has placed some focus on female characters, but they haven't come close to outweighing the male characters. You're really so obsessed with pointing out this *SQUEE*, that you can't see the forest for the trees. Also, I didn't say they were "top characters." "Top" characters would be X-O and Bloodshot. Maybe you could include Shadowman and Ninjak in that list, but I probably wouldn't.

I said they were "cool, major, important, and deserving of their own series." I'm sorry, but that's simply undeniable, and if you don't see that, I feel like it may just be a "you" problem, because they were treated as such during the VEI era as well.

Even in issue #2 of the latest Rai an almost all female team shows up, Gilad goes out of his way to make sure it’s known that he’s not in charge (one of the women are). The Valiants book also has an oddly high number of female characters in lead positions …seems almost …contrived.

Oh no! Not women in lead positions! The horror!

The way you see things, it will always seem contrived any time a female character fills an important role in a story. Get over it man. I prefer male-led stories too, but women are cool, especially when they're characters like Capshaw, Lula Lee, War Mother, Livewire, Faith, and Punk Mambo.

[Dallow Spicer1]

C’mon let’s not go over the top on the female thing. I think you’re blowing my observation out of proportion.

That being said, purely from a business perspective why would Alien choose secondary characters when trying to revive a flagging company? I’d say the same if they did that with secondary male characters too. For example, one of the fellas from Secret Weapons or Torque. If they company was a wild success and you can experiment then go for it…but we’re a million miles from that place.

As for your 50/50 list we can’t co-exist on a planet where you think DMG Harbinger or Psi Lords can be described as close to good

[TheFerg714]

Well I think I've made my opinions clear. I don't feel like I've blown your observations out of proportion. I really think you're being kind of silly and weird about the whole "women of Valiant" thing.

That being said, purely from a business perspective why would Alien choose secondary characters when trying to revive a flagging company?

Alien is literally giving all of their major characters their own books. We got X-O, Bloodshot, Ninjak, A&A, Eternal Warrior(s), Rai, and now Shadowman. With the exception of Harbinger/Pete/Harada, that pretty much covers all of them, so what's the problem here? You're upset because... they're giving a few minor characters (short) books as well? Really? These guys are getting one-shots, or at most 2-issue mini's. Why shouldn't characters like Antonius, The Darques, Faith, Livewire, and Mambo get books of their own? I don't think your argument holds weight here man.

I’d say the same if they did that with secondary male characters too.

Would you though? Because I can't help but notice that you haven't complained about The Darques and Britannia.

For example, one of the fellas from Secret Weapons or Torque. If they company was a wild success and you can experiment then go for it…but we’re a million miles from that place.

See, this is what I'm talking about. You're comparing characters that can lead their own titles (Livewire, Faith, Mambo) with C/D-listers (solo characters from SW, Torque). They're not in the same league, and it's odd that you think they are. Is it because they're women? Do female characters not deserve to be seen as potentially bankable or important? I'm not trying to be sassy; I'm just genuinely curious what you think. Are there any female Valiant characters that deserve to be given their own issues/series?

We disagree on Psi-Lords and The Harbinger and that's okay. Even if I were to drop them down to the bad category, it'd still end up being about 50/50.

[Dallow Spicer1]

Well I think I've made my opinions clear. I don't feel like I've blown your observations out of proportion. I really think you're being kind of silly and weird about the whole "women of Valiant" thing.

That being said, purely from a business perspective why would Alien choose secondary characters when trying to revive a flagging company?

Alien is literally giving all of their major characters their own books. We got X-O, Bloodshot, Ninjak, A&A, Eternal Warrior(s), Rai, and now Shadowman. With the exception of Harbinger/Pete/Harada, that pretty much covers all of them, so what's the problem here? You're upset because... they're giving a few minor characters (short) books as well? Really? These guys are getting one-shots, or at most 2-issue mini's. Why shouldn't characters like Antonius, The Darques, Faith, Livewire, and Mambo get books of their own? I don't think your argument holds weight here man.

I’d say the same if they did that with secondary male characters too.

Would you though? Because I can't help but notice that you haven't complained about The Darques and Britannia.

For example, one of the fellas from Secret Weapons or Torque. If they company was a wild success and you can experiment then go for it…but we’re a million miles from that place.

See, this is what I'm talking about. You're comparing characters that can lead their own titles (Livewire, Faith, Mambo) with C/D-listers (solo characters from SW, Torque). They're not in the same league, and it's odd that you think they are. Is it because they're women? Do female characters not deserve to be seen as potentially bankable or important? I'm not trying to be sassy; I'm just genuinely curious what you think. Are there any female Valiant characters that deserve to be given their own issues/series?

We disagree on Psi-Lords and The Harbinger and that's okay. Even if I were to drop them down to the bad category, it'd still end up being about 50/50.

I’m not upset

I think our point of disagreement is that you think Livewire, Faith and Mambo are A list characters and I don’t. My ‘beef’ is this …Alien should focus on a few high quality books of the A listers (XO, Bloodshot, EW etc)…and yes they have released books but the quality of Bloodshot, Rai and Ninjak (haven’t read the latest Ninjak/Roku (another female)) hasn’t been there. Eternal Warrior(s) recently released was on, A&A and Shadowman hasn’t been released yet has it?

You mention Britannia and Darques. Yes Britannia was a risk but it was actually decent. Darques #1 was very good. Liverwire & SW was rubbish. I’ve heard Faith and Punk Mambo were poor too.

So in summary, A listers but do them well!

[TheFerg714]

Let me just be clear:

Top-tier: X-O, Bloodshot
A-listers: Ninjak, Rai, Shadowman, Gilad, Harbinger/Harada
B-listers: A&A, Q&W, Faith, Divinity
C-listers: Dr. Mirage, Livewire, Punk Mambo, Britannia
D-listers: Timewalker, War Mother
E-listers: Gen. Zero, Savage, Secret Weapons
The DMG Freaks: Vexana, Psi-Lords, Killers, Roku, The Visitor, Dr. Tomorrow, Armorclads

Alien should focus on a few high quality books of the A listers (XO, Bloodshot, EW etc)…

My friend... they are literally doing that. They threw out a few random B/C-listers for some one-shots, but for the most part, they're doing exactly what you want.

and yes they have released books but the quality of Bloodshot, Rai and Ninjak (haven’t read the latest Ninjak/Roku (another female)) hasn’t been there. Eternal Warrior(s) recently released was on, A&A and Shadowman hasn’t been released yet has it?

You mention Britannia and Darques. Yes Britannia was a risk but it was actually decent. Darques #1 was very good. Liverwire & SW was rubbish. I’ve heard Faith and Punk Mambo were poor too.

I was making the point that you're getting everything you want within Alien's first year, plus a major event. The quality of this stuff is a different conversation that we've already had.

Of course these are all inherent risks. Literally every character is a risk. This is *SQUEE*!ng Valiant we're talking about. These characters basically have no name recognition.

Also, Ninjak: Superkillers was a DMG creation.

[Dallow Spicer1]

Let me just be clear:

Top-tier: X-O, Bloodshot
A-listers: Ninjak, Rai, Shadowman, Gilad, Harbinger/Harada
B-listers: A&A, Q&W, Faith, Divinity
C-listers: Dr. Mirage, Livewire, Punk Mambo, Britannia
D-listers: Timewalker, War Mother
E-listers: Gen. Zero, Savage, Secret Weapons
The DMG Freaks: Vexana, Psi-Lords, Killers, Roku, The Visitor, Dr. Tomorrow, Armorclads

Alien should focus on a few high quality books of the A listers (XO, Bloodshot, EW etc)…

My friend... they are literally doing that. They threw out a few random B/C-listers for some one-shots, but for the most part, they're doing exactly what you want.

and yes they have released books but the quality of Bloodshot, Rai and Ninjak (haven’t read the latest Ninjak/Roku (another female)) hasn’t been there. Eternal Warrior(s) recently released was on, A&A and Shadowman hasn’t been released yet has it?

You mention Britannia and Darques. Yes Britannia was a risk but it was actually decent. Darques #1 was very good. Liverwire & SW was rubbish. I’ve heard Faith and Punk Mambo were poor too.

I was making the point that you're getting everything you want within Alien's first year, plus a major event. The quality of this stuff is a different conversation that we've already had.

Of course these are all inherent risks. Literally every character is a risk. This is *SQUEE*!ng Valiant we're talking about. These characters basically have no name recognition.

Also, Ninjak: Superkillers was a DMG creation.

Not Superkillers …I meant the 2 series after (was it Jeff Parker)…I think the first series was DMG and then Alien did the same cartoony type of book…they were both bad.

I think this debate just boils down to quality…you’re happy with aliens output and I mostly aren’t. However, if they release good books then I’ll happily say it (which you can see in the review section).