My disappointment with Sting (post Harbinger 25) (Spoilers)

[RobInOttawa]

I'm slowly making my way through the Valiant VH1 universe. My favorite Valiant character besides Jack Boniface is Peter Stancheck (Sting). In the Harbinger series, he was a very interesting and relatable character who may or may not be gay.

I always wanted to know what became of Peter Stancheck after his battle with Harada in Harbinger #25. After reading the Visitor series, I think some questions should be left unanswered. I feel that Valiant really let me down in this case.

The writers took a great character and reduced him to something generic. His dialog as the Visitor was so plastic and cheesy "comic-book" like instead of the more realistic dialog that he had in the Harbinger series. I also really can't see Sting as the type of person who would be wearing a spandex "alien costume" that looks like a cross between Superman and Spawn. People made fun of Zepher for wearing a cape. I can't see Jim Shooter liking the direction that the writers took with Sting.

I also didn't care for Sting as "the Harbinger" but at least this angle could have been explored further and would make more sense. In an ideal world, the Harbinger comic title would have continued and not be cancelled to make way for "BirthQuake". The original Harbinger team was my favorite but I also liked the new Harbinger kids.

Zepher could have tried reuniting with Flamingo and Kris to look for Peter to go after the Harbinger. Eventually they would find out that he is the Harbinger and would try to undo his brainwashing with the help of other Valiant characters like Solar or the Eternal Warrior. Once Peter was reunited with his team-mates, he would have to deal with what had happened to him and the fact he had killed innocent people for his "father."

[magnusr]

I can't see Jim Shooter liking the direction that the writers took with Sting.

Shooter himself theorised that the title delibertely was stripped of everything he could have legally claimed (as Harbinger was based on his pre-Valiant concepts).

/Magnus

[Heath]

The writers took a great character and reduced him to something generic.

That pretty much sums up most of post-Shooter Valiant.

[wrunow]

Maybe that's why the new owners didn't bother going after the rights to Visitor, they may have felt that everything "good" about Harbinger happened prior to issue 25 and the rest really didn't matter and best be forgotten.

I own some Visitor pages because I liked the art, but the stories were bad.

[ManofTheAtom]

Visitor had potential, but it tried to be something it shouldn't have been.

[Daniel Jackson]

Maybe that's why the new owners didn't bother going after the rights to Visitor, they may have felt that everything "good" about Harbinger happened prior to issue 25 and the rest really didn't matter and best be forgotten.

Yeah, let someone else waste their money creating a book with that lame character.

[Squirrel]

MY problem with Sting is that he broke up The Police !! I loved that band!! ERRRRRRR....what? wrong sting? Oh, sorry

[ZephyrWasHOT!!]

I'm slowly making my way through the VALIANT VH1 universe. My favorite VALIANT character besides Jack Boniface is Peter Stancheck (Sting). In the Harbinger series, he was a very interesting and relatable character who may or may not be gay.

I always wanted to know what became of Peter Stancheck after his battle with Harada in Harbinger #25. After reading the Visitor series, I think some questions should be left unanswered. I feel that VALIANT really let me down in this case.

The writers took a great character and reduced him to something generic. His dialog as the Visitor was so plastic and cheesy "comic-book" like instead of the more realistic dialog that he had in the Harbinger series. I also really can't see Sting as the type of person who would be wearing a spandex "alien costume" that looks like a cross between Superman and Spawn. People made fun of Zepher for wearing a cape. I can't see Jim Shooter liking the direction that the writers took with Sting.

I also didn't care for Sting as "the Harbinger" but at least this angle could have been explored further and would make more sense. In an ideal world, the Harbinger comic title would have continued and not be cancelled to make way for "BirthQuake". The original Harbinger team was my favorite but I also liked the new Harbinger kids.

Zepher could have tried reuniting with Flamingo and Kris to look for Peter to go after the Harbinger. Eventually they would find out that he is the Harbinger and would try to undo his brainwashing with the help of other VALIANT characters like Solar or the Eternal Warrior. Once Peter was reunited with his team-mates, he would have to deal with what had happened to him and the fact he had killed innocent people for his "father."

Your name looks familiar..............

[bamaphilosopher]

I totally agree. I was so excited about the Visitor when it first came out, thought it was a real alien, and I was really, really let down with what they did with it. I agree with MOTA that it could have been a cool concept, but they seriously messed it up. Your take on having them go after Pete as the Harbinger--that would have been good. Too bad they didn't go in that direction.

I liked the new Harbingers, too, but I wish they had put more about Sting in that book and not taken him out of the title.

[tarheelmarine]

Don't forget to check out his appearance in Timewalker as well.