Sanman's tale
Moderators: Daniel Jackson, greg
Sanman's tale
Back in 1992, when I was in high school, my bestfriend and I had very similar interests. So when he recommended picking up X-O, I grabbed #1-3 (#3 had just been published). In a time when DC and Marvel were producing the poorest quality books ever, I found in my possession the best comics that I had yet to read in my life.
Unfortunately, as a high school student with no job and a modest allowance, I was unable to pick up the earlier pre-Unity books. Though I do have a distinct memory of wanting to trade some of my dad’s silver age Superman comics for a Harbinger #1—thinking that it was my generation’s Action #1—but my mom would not let me.
I did buy what I could afford and quickly Valiant became my publisher of choice. The summer when Unity came out was a blast and to this day I can’t help but compare other large comic events to it.
I remember reading Archer & Armstrong #0 at a funeral, anxiously anticipating the trades, and putting together my set of Valiant Era cards—chase cards and all. Through the VH-1 era I actively read X-O, Shadowman, Archer & Armstrong, Eternal Warrior, Bloodshot and gave other titles a try along the way.
However, as we all know too well, things changed at Valiant and I lost interest as Bart Sears, Norm Breyfolge, and Dan Jurgens began penciling the books. Not too soon after I began to see the value of my Valiant comics bottom out. Adding insult to injury, Acclaim’s later VH-2 universe with characters so far removed from my heroes quenched any remaining interest—or so I thought.
Fast forward to sometime around 2003—when going through some of my older comics I found my hands on that set of Valiant trades. Over several consecutive evenings I reread each one and rediscovered what I first loved about the Valiant universe. Recognizing that the now "affordable" pre-Unity books would be a great addition to my collection I began filling in the gaps. I paid only $12.00 for Harbinger #1 with the coupon—what a steal!
Fast forward again to August 2005—KATRINA! I lived in the New Orleans area and during the time of evacuation I began to "cherry pick" my collection. Among the books that were preserved were my near complete set of pre-Unity comics and trades though I probably lost twice as many later issues in the flood. Still, I took satisfaction in what I was able to save and became more determined to find the remaining pre-Unity books which were only about six issues.
Today, the early Valiant books have a special place in my collection and I anxiously wait in the hope that Valiant Entertainment will bring back some old high school friends.
Unfortunately, as a high school student with no job and a modest allowance, I was unable to pick up the earlier pre-Unity books. Though I do have a distinct memory of wanting to trade some of my dad’s silver age Superman comics for a Harbinger #1—thinking that it was my generation’s Action #1—but my mom would not let me.
I did buy what I could afford and quickly Valiant became my publisher of choice. The summer when Unity came out was a blast and to this day I can’t help but compare other large comic events to it.
I remember reading Archer & Armstrong #0 at a funeral, anxiously anticipating the trades, and putting together my set of Valiant Era cards—chase cards and all. Through the VH-1 era I actively read X-O, Shadowman, Archer & Armstrong, Eternal Warrior, Bloodshot and gave other titles a try along the way.
However, as we all know too well, things changed at Valiant and I lost interest as Bart Sears, Norm Breyfolge, and Dan Jurgens began penciling the books. Not too soon after I began to see the value of my Valiant comics bottom out. Adding insult to injury, Acclaim’s later VH-2 universe with characters so far removed from my heroes quenched any remaining interest—or so I thought.
Fast forward to sometime around 2003—when going through some of my older comics I found my hands on that set of Valiant trades. Over several consecutive evenings I reread each one and rediscovered what I first loved about the Valiant universe. Recognizing that the now "affordable" pre-Unity books would be a great addition to my collection I began filling in the gaps. I paid only $12.00 for Harbinger #1 with the coupon—what a steal!
Fast forward again to August 2005—KATRINA! I lived in the New Orleans area and during the time of evacuation I began to "cherry pick" my collection. Among the books that were preserved were my near complete set of pre-Unity comics and trades though I probably lost twice as many later issues in the flood. Still, I took satisfaction in what I was able to save and became more determined to find the remaining pre-Unity books which were only about six issues.
Today, the early Valiant books have a special place in my collection and I anxiously wait in the hope that Valiant Entertainment will bring back some old high school friends.
Last edited by sanman on Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:15 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Daniel Jackson
- A toast to the return of Valiant!
- Posts: 38007
- Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2004 8:33 pm
Re: Sanman's tale
They're working on it. Welcome aboard.sanman wrote:Today, the early Valiant books have a special place in my collection and I anxiously wait in the hope that Valiant Entertainment will bring back some old high school friends.
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JustCallMeAric
- ...remember that they are just paper.
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IanAlexavier
- Valiant. Back to basics.
- Posts: 6370
- Joined: Sat Sep 17, 2005 3:06 pm
- Location: SE Michigan, 21 bound books done.. many more to go...
There's no way for anyone to estimate just how many comics were lost between Katrina and Rita but I know of one shop that literally went under and another two which suffered substantial back stock losses.Chiclo wrote:Welcome to the boards.
A few times, we've wondered how many comics were lost to Katrina.
I have known several collectors who lost everything but most who had collections of any real value at least evacuated with something. The worst story of personal loss that I know involves a comic shop owner from St. Bernard Parish who lost complete runs of all the Spider-Man titles plus the Amazing Fantasy #15.
I personally lost about three long boxes of bargain bin books of which maybe 50 I wish I had evacuated with in retrospect. Some of the other comics I preserved include complete runs of the Mirage TMNT, ONeal/Adams Green Lantern, New Teen Titans, each Kirby 4th world title, and both Batman and Detective that consecutively span to the early 70's.
Ironically my comic book collection is probably better because of the storm as I lost many books that I simply did not want and have expanded my collection with some really nice books.
I also evacuated with several boxes of vintage toys but that's another post...
Last edited by sanman on Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:22 am, edited 2 times in total.
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96Valiantfan
- You gotta have Faith!
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- Location: Waterbury CT.
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Lightning Strike
- Silent from '04 to '07, then he strikes!
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- Location: Physically: USA---Spiritually: Ireland
Re: Sanman's tale
Welcome to the board 
