"We Anticipate Being Able to Focus on Expanding": Valiant Publisher Breaks Down New IDW Deal

[Chiclo]

It sounds like Alien and DMG work together on the books (Alien has to run everything past DMG) so I imagine IDW is helping from a publisher standpoint.

Because they are the same company

Alien and DMG/Valiant are the same company? Valiant didn’t buy Alien nor vice versa.

They're not. That's just a conspiracy/delusion that keeps coming up here.

Why don’t THEY want us asking questions about DMG and Alien and how much of the same company they are? Who is paying you? Who owns Knight’ Legacy?!?! Y Ddraig Mawr Goch?! What is your relationship with the big red dragon?

[ManofTheAtom]

It sounds like Alien and DMG work together on the books (Alien has to run everything past DMG) so I imagine IDW is helping from a publisher standpoint.

Because they are the same company

Alien and DMG/Valiant are the same company? Valiant didn’t buy Alien nor vice versa.

They're not. That's just a conspiracy/delusion that keeps coming up here.

Why don’t THEY want us asking questions about DMG and Alien and how much of the same company they are? Who is paying you? Who owns Knight’ Legacy?!?! Y Ddraig Mawr Goch?! What is your relationship with the big red dragon?

Heh.

Ward and Casanova already came here and dismissed the claim that Alien and DMG are the same company. More evidence of that has also been provided, people are are just ignoring it.

[Ryan]

I mean the interview in the first post of this thread breaks it down pretty clearly. DMG hired Alien to produce their Valiant comic line. DMG still calls the shots and has final say in any major decisions, but has given over the day-to-day running of the comic book line to Alien. This has been pretty obvious since day 1 of Alien to anyone paying attention.

So while Alien and DMG aren't the 'same company', the DMG era and the Alien era of Valiant have the same leadership. I think that's what people mean.

[ManofTheAtom]

I mean the interview in the first post of this thread breaks it down pretty clearly. DMG hired Alien to produce their Valiant comic line. DMG still calls the shots and has final say in any major decisions, but has given over the day-to-day running of the comic book line to Alien. This has been pretty obvious since day 1 of Alien to anyone paying attention.

So while Alien and DMG aren't the 'same company', the DMG era and the Alien era of Valiant have the same leadership. I think that's what people mean.

That's not quite what it says.

What it lays out is a standard licensing deal no different from the one IDW has with Paramount for the Star Trek and TMNT comics. In all instances, the licensee has to consult with the licensor to get approval for what they want to do.

With VALIANT we got used to the way it was done during the Shooter era, when they decided what to do with Magnus, Turok, and Solar with no oversight.

You can be certain that wasn't true of the Nintendo, WWE, Sliders, Tick, or other licensed comics that Voyager/VALIANT and Acclaim published.

All licenses pretty much come with strings attached, it's seldom, if ever, hands off. DMG licensing VALIANT to Alien Books would be no different.

This is why most, if not all, licensed comics include a credit for the person from the licensor who oversees the license in the credits page. Just open any IDW licensed comic to see for yourself.

[Ryan]

That's not quite what it says.

What it lays out is a standard licensing deal no different from the one IDW has with Paramount for the Star Trek and TMNT comics. In all instances, the licensee has to consult with the licensor to get approval for what they want to do.

With VALIANT we got used to the way it was done during the Shooter era, when they decided what to do with Magnus, Turok, and Solar with no oversight.

You can be certain that wasn't true of the Nintendo, WWE, Sliders, Tick, or other licensed comics that Voyager/VALIANT and Acclaim published.

All licenses pretty much come with strings attached, it's seldom, if ever, hands off. DMG licensing VALIANT to Alien Books would be no different.

This is why most, if not all, licensed comics include a credit for the person from the licensor who oversees the license in the credits page. Just open any IDW licensed comic to see for yourself.

Not exactly a standard licensing deal like Star Trek, TMNT, etc. Just look at the quotes I bolded from post #2 of this thread:

Quotes from the interview:
Valiant [DMG] was looking for an editorial partner.
Valiant [DMG] retains creative and editorial decision making
Everything needs to be approved by DMG

Of course most every license will have parameters about how to use the characters, and final approval. But most of them don't retain 'creative and editorial decision making'.

At the end of the day, the same people have owned Valiant and maintained creative and editorial decision making since 2018.

[ManofTheAtom]

That's not quite what it says.

What it lays out is a standard licensing deal no different from the one IDW has with Paramount for the Star Trek and TMNT comics. In all instances, the licensee has to consult with the licensor to get approval for what they want to do.

With VALIANT we got used to the way it was done during the Shooter era, when they decided what to do with Magnus, Turok, and Solar with no oversight.

You can be certain that wasn't true of the Nintendo, WWE, Sliders, Tick, or other licensed comics that Voyager/VALIANT and Acclaim published.

All licenses pretty much come with strings attached, it's seldom, if ever, hands off. DMG licensing VALIANT to Alien Books would be no different.

This is why most, if not all, licensed comics include a credit for the person from the licensor who oversees the license in the credits page. Just open any IDW licensed comic to see for yourself.

Not exactly a standard licensing deal like Star Trek, TMNT, etc. Just look at the quotes I bolded from post #2 of this thread:

Quotes from the interview:
Valiant [DMG] was looking for an editorial partner.
Valiant [DMG] retains creative and editorial decision making
Everything needs to be approved by DMG

Of course most every license will have parameters about how to use the characters, and final approval. But most of them don't retain 'creative and editorial decision making'.

At the end of the day, the same people have owned Valiant and maintained creative and editorial decision making since 2018.

I'm pretty sure Paramount and CBS must retain their version of creative and editorial decision making.

Consider that no matter who publishes those or other licensed comics they are always pretty much the same.

Whether it was Marvel or Dark Horse that published Star Wars and, now, Alien and Predator, they are fundamentally the same thing. That is because the studios that own them manage the creative consistency from one publisher to another.

Seldom will you find licensees who can determine the creative direction they can take a licensed IP in without approval from the owners.

If tomorrow DMG changed their license from Alien to IDW, their oversight would continue, just as Lucasfilm's oversight of Star Wars and Fox's oversight of Aliens and Predator continued from Marvel to Dark Horse and back.

[Ryan]

I'm pretty sure Paramount and CBS must retain their version of creative and editorial decision making.

Consider that no matter who publishes those or other licensed comics they are always pretty much the same.

Whether it was Marvel or Dark Horse that published Star Wars and, now, Alien and Predator, they are fundamentally the same thing. That is because the studios that own them manage the creative consistency from one publisher to another.

Seldom will you find licensees who can determine the creative direction they can take a licensed IP in without approval from the owners.

If tomorrow DMG changed their license from Alien to IDW, their oversight would continue, just as Lucasfilm's oversight of Star Wars and Fox's oversight of Aliens and Predator continued from Marvel to Dark Horse and back.

Exactly. As long as DMG owns the characters and retains creative and editorial control, the comics will be more or less the same. So while they aren't 'the same company', they're more or less the same comics.

The main difference I noticed is that most of the Alien creators seem less experienced than pre-Alien DMG creators (smaller budget?). The artists seem more influenced by manga/anime (more cartoony) and less of the uncanny valley photorealism that VEI loved.

[ManofTheAtom]

they aren't 'the same company

We can finally put that to rest then.

The main difference I noticed is that most of the Alien creators seem less experienced than pre-Alien DMG creators (smaller budget?). The artists seem more influenced by manga/anime (more cartoony) and less of the uncanny valley photorealism that VEI loved.

Does it matter much, though? Look at Shooter's VH-1, it didn't have the best artists of the day.

Rob Liefeld brought that up the question of why VALIANT didn't hire better artists (better being, of course, subjective) to Shooter once. I forget what answer Shooter gave him at the moment, though.

Less experience isn't necessarily a bad thing. They're just knobs in need of polishing...

[Chiclo]

I don’t think anyone was saying that DMG and Alien were the same business entities. Can you cite sources that posters were claiming that DMG and Alien are organs of the same company?

What was said was that, in hiring many of the same decision makers from DMG, Alien was carrying forth many of the same mistake makers. The MotA of old, before the involvement of Y Ddraig Mawr Goch, railed against poor editing of Valiant books.

[ManofTheAtom]

I don’t think anyone was saying that DMG and Alien were the same business entities. Can you cite sources that posters were claiming that DMG and Alien are organs of the same company?

What was said was that, in hiring many of the same decision makers from DMG, Alien was carrying forth many of the same mistake makers. The MotA of old, before the involvement of Y Ddraig Mawr Goch, railed against poor editing of Valiant books.

He's been saying this for months.

Because they are the same company

When I see poor editing, I point it out. We've not discussed that because we're wasting time arguing the conspiracy that Alien and DMG are the same company. Until that ends, we cannot move on to anything else.

[Chiclo]

You can move on from this focus on disproving the theory at any time. You are separate person; your posts don’t have to always be in reaction to a single theme. You can even juggle two posts in different threads addressing two disparate topics at the same time. Why not call out bad editing now? Is the editing good?

[ManofTheAtom]

You can move on from this focus on disproving the theory at any time. You are separate person; your posts don’t have to always be in reaction to a single theme. You can even juggle two posts in different threads addressing two disparate topics at the same time. Why not call out bad editing now? Is the editing good?

I haven't seen any indication of the editing being bad. As I've stated before, nothing I've seen shows that what they're doing contradicts what came before when Dinesh was there or after he left. The consistency has remained. I have also said that had he stayed things would very likely have gone in a different direction than they have, but that the direction they've been going in hasn't been that bad.

The weakest point that comes to mind is the Hopeless run in X-O Manowar. It had potential, but it wasted it.

I posted my thoughts on everything I've read as I read it. I don't think anyone responded to those threads.

[syzhang28]

You can move on from this focus on disproving the theory at any time. You are separate person; your posts don’t have to always be in reaction to a single theme. You can even juggle two posts in different threads addressing two disparate topics at the same time. Why not call out bad editing now? Is the editing good?

I haven't seen any indication of the editing being bad. As I've stated before, nothing I've seen shows that what they're doing contradicts what came before when Dinesh was there or after he left. The consistency has remained. I have also said that had he stayed things would very likely have gone in a different direction than they have, but that the direction they've been going in hasn't been that bad.

The weakest point that comes to mind is the Hopeless run in X-O Manowar. It had potential, but it wasted it.

I posted my thoughts on everything I've read as I read it. I don't think anyone responded to those threads.

The comics are terrible. That's not really up for debate.

If you can't see bad editing, you aren't qualified to talk about editing.

[Chiclo]

You can move on from this focus on disproving the theory at any time. You are separate person; your posts don’t have to always be in reaction to a single theme. You can even juggle two posts in different threads addressing two disparate topics at the same time. Why not call out bad editing now? Is the editing good?

I haven't seen any indication of the editing being bad. As I've stated before, nothing I've seen shows that what they're doing contradicts what came before when Dinesh was there or after he left. The consistency has remained. I have also said that had he stayed things would very likely have gone in a different direction than they have, but that the direction they've been going in hasn't been that bad.

The weakest point that comes to mind is the Hopeless run in X-O Manowar. It had potential, but it wasted it.

I posted my thoughts on everything I've read as I read it. I don't think anyone responded to those threads.

The comics are terrible. That's not really up for debate.

If you can't see bad editing, you aren't qualified to talk about editing.

MotA, stop making syzhang be right. That never leads anywhere good.

[ManofTheAtom]

You can move on from this focus on disproving the theory at any time. You are separate person; your posts don’t have to always be in reaction to a single theme. You can even juggle two posts in different threads addressing two disparate topics at the same time. Why not call out bad editing now? Is the editing good?

I haven't seen any indication of the editing being bad. As I've stated before, nothing I've seen shows that what they're doing contradicts what came before when Dinesh was there or after he left. The consistency has remained. I have also said that had he stayed things would very likely have gone in a different direction than they have, but that the direction they've been going in hasn't been that bad.

The weakest point that comes to mind is the Hopeless run in X-O Manowar. It had potential, but it wasted it.

I posted my thoughts on everything I've read as I read it. I don't think anyone responded to those threads.

The comics are terrible. That's not really up for debate.

If you can't see bad editing, you aren't qualified to talk about editing.

Your definition of terrible is "if it's not like it was in the '90s, it's bad no matter who does it".

Nothing I saw from the Antos and Hawkins eras contradicted the world Dinesh built. He might have taken things in a different direction, but that doesn't mean that what they did wasn't consistent with what he set up.

[syzhang28]

You can move on from this focus on disproving the theory at any time. You are separate person; your posts don’t have to always be in reaction to a single theme. You can even juggle two posts in different threads addressing two disparate topics at the same time. Why not call out bad editing now? Is the editing good?

I haven't seen any indication of the editing being bad. As I've stated before, nothing I've seen shows that what they're doing contradicts what came before when Dinesh was there or after he left. The consistency has remained. I have also said that had he stayed things would very likely have gone in a different direction than they have, but that the direction they've been going in hasn't been that bad.

The weakest point that comes to mind is the Hopeless run in X-O Manowar. It had potential, but it wasted it.

I posted my thoughts on everything I've read as I read it. I don't think anyone responded to those threads.

The comics are terrible. That's not really up for debate.

If you can't see bad editing, you aren't qualified to talk about editing.

Your definition of terrible is "if it's not like it was in the '90s, it's bad no matter who does it".

Nothing I saw from the Antos and Hawkins eras contradicted the world Dinesh built. He might have taken things in a different direction, but that doesn't mean that what they did wasn't consistent with what he set up.

Projecting much?

I vastly prefer 2012 to 90s. I also don't end my bar for good at continuity. Antos and Hawkins need to learn how character arcs work, emotional story cores, how to not tell stories that have already been told, how visual storytelling works etc etc etc

[syzhang28]

double post

[ManofTheAtom]

You can move on from this focus on disproving the theory at any time. You are separate person; your posts don’t have to always be in reaction to a single theme. You can even juggle two posts in different threads addressing two disparate topics at the same time. Why not call out bad editing now? Is the editing good?

I haven't seen any indication of the editing being bad. As I've stated before, nothing I've seen shows that what they're doing contradicts what came before when Dinesh was there or after he left. The consistency has remained. I have also said that had he stayed things would very likely have gone in a different direction than they have, but that the direction they've been going in hasn't been that bad.

The weakest point that comes to mind is the Hopeless run in X-O Manowar. It had potential, but it wasted it.

I posted my thoughts on everything I've read as I read it. I don't think anyone responded to those threads.

The comics are terrible. That's not really up for debate.

If you can't see bad editing, you aren't qualified to talk about editing.

Your definition of terrible is "if it's not like it was in the '90s, it's bad no matter who does it".

Nothing I saw from the Antos and Hawkins eras contradicted the world Dinesh built. He might have taken things in a different direction, but that doesn't mean that what they did wasn't consistent with what he set up.

Projecting much?

I vastly prefer 2012 to 90s. I also don't end my bar for good at continuity. Antos and Hawkins need to learn how character arcs work, emotional story cores, how to not tell stories that have already been told, how visual storytelling works etc etc etc

And, yet, at no time have I actually seen anyone here critique anything they've done based on character, emotional story cores, or anything else other than whining that they're not doing what Dinesh would have done had he stayed.

[syzhang28]

You can move on from this focus on disproving the theory at any time. You are separate person; your posts don’t have to always be in reaction to a single theme. You can even juggle two posts in different threads addressing two disparate topics at the same time. Why not call out bad editing now? Is the editing good?

I haven't seen any indication of the editing being bad. As I've stated before, nothing I've seen shows that what they're doing contradicts what came before when Dinesh was there or after he left. The consistency has remained. I have also said that had he stayed things would very likely have gone in a different direction than they have, but that the direction they've been going in hasn't been that bad.

The weakest point that comes to mind is the Hopeless run in X-O Manowar. It had potential, but it wasted it.

I posted my thoughts on everything I've read as I read it. I don't think anyone responded to those threads.

The comics are terrible. That's not really up for debate.

If you can't see bad editing, you aren't qualified to talk about editing.

Your definition of terrible is "if it's not like it was in the '90s, it's bad no matter who does it".

Nothing I saw from the Antos and Hawkins eras contradicted the world Dinesh built. He might have taken things in a different direction, but that doesn't mean that what they did wasn't consistent with what he set up.

Projecting much?

I vastly prefer 2012 to 90s. I also don't end my bar for good at continuity. Antos and Hawkins need to learn how character arcs work, emotional story cores, how to not tell stories that have already been told, how visual storytelling works etc etc etc

And, yet, at no time have I actually seen anyone here critique anything they've done based on character, emotional story cores, or anything else other than whining that they're not doing what Dinesh would have done had he stayed.

It's all I see when people talk about the new books. I've done it plenty myself. I know you don't read the comics but do you also not read this forum?

[syzhang28]

Here's something I found in literally one second of looking:

"Garbled mess of a story
Made even worse with Fred Van Lente’s ‘funny’ quips
Forced cameos by virtually every character in the Valiant U for ‘reasons’

But when you think we’ve hit rock bottom…enter Psi Lords

1/5 amateur hour. Read at your own peril"

Falls pretty squarely in your "or anything else other than whining that they're not doing what Dinesh would have done had he stayed." bullseye...

[ManofTheAtom]

I haven't seen any indication of the editing being bad. As I've stated before, nothing I've seen shows that what they're doing contradicts what came before when Dinesh was there or after he left. The consistency has remained. I have also said that had he stayed things would very likely have gone in a different direction than they have, but that the direction they've been going in hasn't been that bad.

The weakest point that comes to mind is the Hopeless run in X-O Manowar. It had potential, but it wasted it.

I posted my thoughts on everything I've read as I read it. I don't think anyone responded to those threads.

The comics are terrible. That's not really up for debate.

If you can't see bad editing, you aren't qualified to talk about editing.

Your definition of terrible is "if it's not like it was in the '90s, it's bad no matter who does it".

Nothing I saw from the Antos and Hawkins eras contradicted the world Dinesh built. He might have taken things in a different direction, but that doesn't mean that what they did wasn't consistent with what he set up.

Projecting much?

I vastly prefer 2012 to 90s. I also don't end my bar for good at continuity. Antos and Hawkins need to learn how character arcs work, emotional story cores, how to not tell stories that have already been told, how visual storytelling works etc etc etc

And, yet, at no time have I actually seen anyone here critique anything they've done based on character, emotional story cores, or anything else other than whining that they're not doing what Dinesh would have done had he stayed.

It's all I see when people talk about the new books. I've done it plenty myself. I know you don't read the comics but do you also not read this forum?

See how you're not paying attention? I already caught up to everything I was missing. Do YOU read the forum?

[syzhang28]

The comics are terrible. That's not really up for debate.

If you can't see bad editing, you aren't qualified to talk about editing.

Your definition of terrible is "if it's not like it was in the '90s, it's bad no matter who does it".

Nothing I saw from the Antos and Hawkins eras contradicted the world Dinesh built. He might have taken things in a different direction, but that doesn't mean that what they did wasn't consistent with what he set up.

Projecting much?

I vastly prefer 2012 to 90s. I also don't end my bar for good at continuity. Antos and Hawkins need to learn how character arcs work, emotional story cores, how to not tell stories that have already been told, how visual storytelling works etc etc etc

And, yet, at no time have I actually seen anyone here critique anything they've done based on character, emotional story cores, or anything else other than whining that they're not doing what Dinesh would have done had he stayed.

It's all I see when people talk about the new books. I've done it plenty myself. I know you don't read the comics but do you also not read this forum?

See how you're not paying attention? I already caught up to everything I was missing. Do YOU read the forum?

Was thinking I'd wait a decade or two and then read, just like you.

[syzhang28]

Your definition of terrible is "if it's not like it was in the '90s, it's bad no matter who does it".

Nothing I saw from the Antos and Hawkins eras contradicted the world Dinesh built. He might have taken things in a different direction, but that doesn't mean that what they did wasn't consistent with what he set up.

Projecting much?

I vastly prefer 2012 to 90s. I also don't end my bar for good at continuity. Antos and Hawkins need to learn how character arcs work, emotional story cores, how to not tell stories that have already been told, how visual storytelling works etc etc etc

And, yet, at no time have I actually seen anyone here critique anything they've done based on character, emotional story cores, or anything else other than whining that they're not doing what Dinesh would have done had he stayed.

It's all I see when people talk about the new books. I've done it plenty myself. I know you don't read the comics but do you also not read this forum?

See how you're not paying attention? I already caught up to everything I was missing. Do YOU read the forum?

Was thinking I'd wait a decade or two and then read, just like you.

That shouldn't stop me from having opinions about things I haven't read though in the meantime right? Just like you.