VH2 Magnus...worth it?

bamaphilosopher · Post by **bamaphilosopher** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 12:01 am

Hey, folks! I almost bought a near-complete VH2 run of Magnus (minus 2 issues) for a buck each, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. The concept just looks too totally different to me.

Are these stories ANY good? Be honest now. I don't want to be a VH2 collector (I'm just a few issues away from finishing VH1, and I want to stop there), I just like the earlier Magnus stuff and like Magnus as a character. If it's ANY good, I might go back and buy them at some point. Thanks in advance!

dellamorte · Post by **dellamorte** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 12:08 am

I'm sure most will disagree with me but I liked Vh2 magnus a lot. It was well written with nice art throughout the series. I'm sure you could pick up a full run on ebay for less than a buck each and I would say go for it. As long as you go in knowing it's not Vh1 Magnus (and this goes for all Vh2 books) you can have a lot of fun with the series. Better than a lot of the stuff Vh1 produced in the middle of it's run.

Valiant OCD · Post by **Valiant OCD** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 12:25 am

Forgive my ignorance, but do the Vh2 Magnus books continue with the Vh1 origin? a multiple personality split by a scientist and so on....? If these books stand on thier own then fair enough, but if not reading them might only be a let down.

bamaphilosopher · Post by **bamaphilosopher** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 12:33 am

Hey, OCD--a multiple personality split by a scientist? That would be Solar, not Magnus. Close, though--another Gold Key character. You remind me of Aram calling Solar Magnus all the time in the Archer and Armstrong 2-part BWS issues with Solar.

I don't know if they even did a VH2 Solar. But even if they did, I don't care. In terms of VH2, all I'd be interested in is Magnus, and maybe X-O. The rest, since they redid everything, I'm not sure I'd care...

depluto · Post by **depluto** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 12:39 am

dellamorte wrote:I'm sure most will disagree with me but I liked Vh2 magnus a lot. It was well written with nice art throughout the series. I'm sure you could pick up a full run on ebay for less than a buck each and I would say go for it. As long as you go in knowing it's not Vh1 Magnus (and this goes for all Vh2 books) you can have a lot of fun with the series. Better than a lot of the stuff Vh1 produced in the middle of it's run.

I buy any of the last few issues for $1 or so every time I see them. And I almost never see them.

Valiant OCD · Post by **Valiant OCD** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 1:20 am

Richmond West wrote:Hey, OCD--a multiple personality split by a scientist? That would be Solar, not Magnus. Close, though--another Gold Key character. You remind me of Aram calling Solar Magnus all the time in the Archer and Armstrong 2-part BWS issues with Solar.

sorry, Brain fart. But the Steranko stuff still applies.

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 1:35 am

VH 2 Magnus is a perfect example of everything that was wrong with VH 2, specially the issue with Bull Magnus, Alien Magnus, Virus Magnus, and Sister Magnus.

This issue alone is a great example of how Nicieza was turning VALIANT into a lame copy of DC, as well as a perfect guide on how NOT to write VALIANT comics.

The take had some interesting ideas, like Magnus seeing Solar as a God, but one good idea or two doesn't make up for the rest of the comic book cliches the series relied on.

Towards the end of the series things got so bad that they started bringing all the ideas they got rid of back, like Leeja and the President.

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 1:22 pm

ManofTheAtom wrote:VH 2 Magnus is a perfect example of everything that was wrong with VH 2, specially the issue with Bull Magnus, Alien Magnus, Virus Magnus, and Sister Magnus.

This issue alone is a great example of how Nicieza was turning VALIANT into a lame copy of DC, as well as a perfect guide on how NOT to write VALIANT comics.

The take had some interesting ideas, like Magnus seeing Solar as a God, but one good idea or two doesn't make up for the rest of the comic book cliches the series relied on.

Towards the end of the series things got so bad that they started bringing all the ideas they got rid of back, like Leeja and the President.

That's pretty much my take on it too.

bamaphilosopher · Post by **bamaphilosopher** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 9:41 pm

Hmm...I appreciate your opinions. Yeah, I think I'll wait.

One day, if I find them cheap, REAL cheap, I may consider it, since I'm going to collect the ibooks Magnus series that's coming out. I'd just like to be a Magnus "expert," especially because I'd LOVE to write novels for ibooks one day (if they'll ever take a chance on an aspiring writer). Even though ibooks is doing their own continuity and ignoring Acclaim, it would be fun to put in a few "in jokes."

But yeah, if they suck that bad, I'll wait and see if I can get the whole run, all at once so I don't have to waste time searching for missing issues, and I'll make sure they're CHEAP! (Less than a buck an issue...)

bamaphilosopher · Post by **bamaphilosopher** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 9:45 pm

Hey, Knight, are the VH2 X-O's any good?

I don't think I'll go with Bloodshot. He wasn't one of my favorite characters to begin with, and while I'm sure they're well-written, I just don't think I'm that into VH2. Magnus and X-O would be the only characters that might even interest me, if I could get them all on the cheap.

400yrs · Post by **400yrs** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 10:23 pm

If you want to check out a good series from the acclaim era, check out Quantum and Woody. Yeah, they weren't VH1 heroes, but the stories were funny and well-written. It was one of the books along with Astro City and Usagi Yojimbo that got me back into collecting comics several years ago.

400yrs · Post by **400yrs** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 11:09 am

Knightt_333 wrote:I only recently finished my Astro City run... I could read those books again and again. Too bad that this series came back and is now so not regular. MONTHS between books and here I am panting for every new book of Astro City that I can get...

Yeah, it's tough waiting for them, but Busiek has his reasons.

bamaphilosopher · Post by **bamaphilosopher** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 2:32 pm

Fair enough! Thanks, Knight...I'll avoid the X-O's too.

I was thinking about getting the Magnus stories so I could be a real Magnus "expert" and could make some in jokes if I got to do some writing. But alas, ibooks isn't taking unsolicited submissions (see my other thread), so I guess there's no point in me collecting any VH2 at this time. I may consider it one day...

Thanks for the advice! I figured the VH2 stuff is mostly not that good, with a couple of exceptions, so I don't think I'll get into it.

betterthanezra · Post by **betterthanezra** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 2:38 pm

I thought that Tom Peyer did a fine job with Magnus VH-2 there were of course issues that were not that well done. Overall they were pretty fun to read.
I still think that Mike McKone & Mark McKenna's art in the first 6 issues were some of the best VH-2 had to offer. (hense why I continue to buy the orig. art from there run on that book)

-Brian

valiantdude · Post by **valiantdude** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 7:15 pm

i thought the vh2 blood shot was way cool, the art was incredible, the stories were good, and i thought it was a way better take on th charachter than the fluffy vh1 version, and in the first issue there is a letter from Kevin VanCrappywriter about how much better the new version was than the old one. I wonder what would have happened if bob layton had not had him write such a high percentage of post-unity valiant comics. I always thought his stories were just garbage, like he was the poor,and i mean poor man's JIm Shooter

bamaphilosopher · Post by **bamaphilosopher** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 7:27 pm

Hey, valiantdude!

I won some Bloodshot VH2 issues as part of a VH1 Bloodshot run I was finishing, so I'll check them out and see if I think they're any good.

Be careful what you say about Kevin Vanhook, though...he reads these boards! (At least, he used to...)

Ah, just in fun...I'm sure Mr. Vanhook is a big boy. I didn't like his writing on the Unity: the Lost Chapter especially, and I've said so.

Zero_UK · Post by **Zero_UK** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 7:24 am

ManofTheAtom wrote:VH 2 Magnus is a perfect example of everything that was wrong with VH 2, specially the issue with Bull Magnus, Alien Magnus, Virus Magnus, and Sister Magnus.

This issue alone is a great example of how Nicieza was turning VALIANT into a lame copy of DC, as well as a perfect guide on how NOT to write VALIANT comics.

The take had some interesting ideas, like Magnus seeing Solar as a God, but one good idea or two doesn't make up for the rest of the comic book cliches the series relied on.

Towards the end of the series things got so bad that they started bringing all the ideas they got rid of back, like Leeja and the President.

I am a Magnus purist. I have all of the Gold Key issues but two in immaculate condition (several cost me £45 each, thats $90). Indeed it was because of Magnus that I started collecting VH1 comics when they came out.

For me, even most of VH1 is outside of true continuity (from the Malev war onwards).

I have two of the VH2 Magnus and enjoyed them very much. I will be buying the rest and they will form a part of my Magnus collection, just not part of the 'inner-core'.

Zero

riftt · Post by **riftt** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 12:27 pm

I finished reading the vh2 Magnus run last night.

Overall, I did not like the series from beginning to end. Magnus himself was very unlikeable and Peyer never got a handle on what direction he wanted to take him or who he wanted him to be. The character design was awful (cropped red hair?!) and the book suffered from rotating artists.

I think there was too much creative freedom given to Peyer who did not show that he had a good handle over issues such as plotting, story arcs, and the general make-up of how a comic works. He had to continually spell things out in the letter pages because people could not follow his stories.

It seemed as if Peyer kept wanting not to do a superhero book but didn't know how - like he was a big Cerebus fan but could only write a Power Pack.

I thought that the one good/solid issue was near the end that centered around Whitnut's father and his robot heart.

Misc. vh2 question: I noticed this in X-O as well. In the third-to-last issues the fabian article in the back states "as i talked about last issue, our month-to-month titles are being suspended..." only problem is that the previous month's column was a thing tooting Priest's horn and said nothing about titles cancelled. I also felt it was shady that there was no final fabian column, but rather some dumb p.o.s. talking about strategy guides.

DJSpecter · Post by **DJSpecter** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 2:38 pm

What do we have here? Magnus, X-O, Bloodshot.

From the top. (keep in mind I only held out until "copy-cat cover" month when I said to myself: "Son (cuz, I call myself son) you've got to clean up this mess. And get yourself a computer. And get one of those fancy ones with the TV card." (Editor's note: Gateway came out with a desktop with a TV card in '95. I bought a really old one.)
After I said that to myself, I went off to camp asked my LCS to hold all my Valiants (mostly because I wanted to see the troublemakers have sex, boy was that a dissappointment). When I returned and read those books, I realized that I'm not a "comics" collector. I was a "Valiant" collector. And these books were nothing like the Valiant books I fell in love with. On the death bed of the previous runs I always had hope (although X-O and Magnus were running my hope thin anyway). But with the new look and the fear that these characters were already winding down, I quit comics forever aside from the occasional VH1 back issue or promo item. And I will read other books if they are lying around. (I work with two Batman fanatics. You wouldn't believe how much "Batman the animated series" I'm forced to watch.)

That was an obscenely long story. (Especially since it only served as a preface.)

Magnus- The time travel ellement was incredibly confusing. Who he was, when he came from, and why he even keeps 1-A (sheep) with him are questions that I never got answered. I don't think he really understood what his mission was. He just liked to break things, and hoped that in the process he would break the right ones.

X-O- intriging concept. Perhaps this book, as many of the other books of VH2, reveals that it is much harder to think of a new name than a new concept. The origin and physics of this armor are not answered, but this also goes in the grain of VH2 and against the grain of VH1: This is a superhero universe. The laws of physics need not apply (see also Ninjak, where a 13 year old american boy can suddenly transform into a 30 year old jap (and back again)).

Bloodshot- I really liked the old bloodshot. This book shows that it is much easier to make a pardey than to make an original. Gosh Darn it, you mean there's a guy named Lazarus? And a character that can regenerate quickly named Bloodshot? maybe I didn't give this title enough of a chance, but it really rubbed me the wrong way.

-Dave

cptfishstick · Post by **cptfishstick** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 5:15 pm

Even though I prefer the V1 Universe a million times over, The V2 universe still has lots to offer. About half of the X-O manowar from V2 was really quite good. Quantum and Woody was killer. I don't know about magnus, but thats not alot of money, and if you don't like it just resell it on ebay for the amount you paid for it.

The Spider · Post by **The Spider** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 5:24 pm

I actually liked the VH2 Magnus comics. Since I already know this is an alternate universe I'm fine with it. Only problem I have is with the rotating artist thing that happened after McKone left.

The Spider · Post by **The Spider** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 5:30 pm

DJSpecter wrote:
Magnus- The time travel ellement was incredibly confusing. Who he was, when he came from, and why he even keeps 1-A (sheep) with him are questions that I never got answered. I don't think he really understood what his mission was. He just liked to break things, and hoped that in the process he would break the right ones.

It wasn't 1-A, it was Good Shepard (was that the name? Can't remember), who was in the mentor role sort of how 1-A was Magnus' mentor. However, Good Shepard was evil. VH2 Magnus kept Good Shepard's head just so Shepard could watch as Magnus destroyed his future, or something.

VH2 Magnus starts out as a guy who believed he could change the future by breaking technology in the past (and like you pointed out, probably hoped that in the process he'd break the right ones), but as the story goes along, he learns 1) He's been looking at the situation all wrong (this starts with the issue from copycat cover month), and 2) Learns the truth about himself, which allows him to accept technology somewhat, and use it to fight against Good Shepard.

DJSpecter · Post by **DJSpecter** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 5:55 pm

Thanks, that explains alot, I guess I just wasn't ready to invest in a new universe.

ZephyrWasHOT!! · Post by **ZephyrWasHOT!!** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 6:33 pm

Where the hell did Bama go??

myron · Post by **myron** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 7:13 pm

ZephyrWasHOT!! wrote:Where the hell did Bama go??

to write a book...

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VH2 Magnus...worth it?

VH2 Magnus...worth it?

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