Comics Bulletin Interview w/ Fred Pierce of Valiant Revival

JonesyAZ · Post by **JonesyAZ** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 1:05 pm

Just saw this on the Comics Bulletin website:

http://www.comicsbulletin.com/features/ ... 240417.htm

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 1:21 pm

Thanks for the link:

Fred Pierce: "The Valiant universe will truly be the world outside your window and Valiant stories will be even more sophisticated, complex and character driven while still being a hell of a lot of fun. Oh and wait until you see what we’re doing with interconnectivity between the characters of the Valiant universe. "

Sounds good.

kevinbastos · Post by **kevinbastos** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 1:58 pm

Excellent. Thanks. Hopefully this year-delay will really make the line POP!

JonesyAZ · Post by **JonesyAZ** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 2:20 pm

Howdy all,

When you access the interview, there are some other interviews and/or Valiant-related topics on the same site.

David_Cody · Post by **David_Cody** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 4:15 pm

WOW, I can't wait. I'm in...all the way.

dhudson1 · Post by **dhudson1** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 6:09 pm

david_albuq wrote:WOW, I can't wait. I'm in...all the way.

I call!

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 6:41 pm

As I truly suspected...hard, quiet work behind the scenes. Here's to it paying off

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 8:09 pm

Great article.

IanAlexavier · Post by **IanAlexavier** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 11:24 pm

xodacia81 wrote:As I truly suspected...hard, quiet work behind the scenes. Here's to it paying off

bingo!

robb77 · Post by **robb77** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 4:28 am

good stuff

yardstick · Post by **yardstick** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 7:09 pm

...Fred is extremely exited about next year's Valiant revival and can't wait to get their comics into the hands of readers...

Where's he going? Out to pick up lunch for the office?

yardstick · Post by **yardstick** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 7:16 pm

Jason Sacks: The original Valiant line was much loved by fans. How will you be striving to revive that spirit of excitement?

Fred Pierce: By focusing on what made Valiant great to begin with – telling great stories with some of the best characters in comics! We are committed to great creative and every decision we make as a company is made with that goal in mind.

great creative what...?

check out the simons interview too:

viewtopic.php?p=729701#729701

Yanes: I’m sure there are many things going on at Valiant that you can’t talk about yet, but what are some of the things being developed that you can talk about and that fans need to look out for?

WS: We have some terrific announcements coming up, so check back with me in a few months and you’ll get the update. We believe that we’re going to make some noise come 2012 by focusing on amazing creative. Hang tight — we’re on our way.

amazing creative........ but we can tell you what it is that is amazing creative...?

yardstick · Post by **yardstick** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 7:18 pm

Jason Sacks: The original Valiant line was much loved by fans. How will you be striving to revive that spirit of excitement?

Fred Pierce: ...Oh and wait until you see what we’re doing with interconnectivity between the characters of the Valiant universe. You’ve never seen anything like what we’ve got planned!

I believe I speak for us all when I say:

and

yardstick · Post by **yardstick** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 7:22 pm

Sacks: There have been several revivals of the Valiant characters that have not really grabbed readers' attention in the way that the original line did. What lessons did you learn from those revivals?

Pierce: There was one other version of the Valiant Universe called the Acclaim Comics Universe, in which the original Valiant Universe was re-imagined by video game company Acclaim Entertainment. The Valiant characters were drastically changed to make them better-fit Acclaim’s needs in video games. While critically unsuccessful in comics, the re-imagined versions had remarkable success in video games launching several game franchises including Shadowman and Turok. We’ve looked at the Acclaim Universe very carefully and while it’s impossible to know for sure what happened behind closed doors, from a consumer stand point I think that universe strayed too far from the great high concepts and core make up of the characters that made Valiant so successful. As everyone knows, creating great characters is very difficult and Valiant is one of only three universes to do it successfully. To this day fans remember and love the Valiant universe for this reason.

I think this means that the acclaim versions of these characters are out.

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:10 pm

yardstick wrote:
Sacks: There have been several revivals of the Valiant characters that have not really grabbed readers' attention in the way that the original line did. What lessons did you learn from those revivals?

Pierce: There was one other version of the Valiant Universe called the Acclaim Comics Universe, in which the original Valiant Universe was re-imagined by video game company Acclaim Entertainment. The Valiant characters were drastically changed to make them better-fit Acclaim’s needs in video games. While critically unsuccessful in comics, the re-imagined versions had remarkable success in video games launching several game franchises including Shadowman and Turok. We’ve looked at the Acclaim Universe very carefully and while it’s impossible to know for sure what happened behind closed doors, from a consumer stand point I think that universe strayed too far from the great high concepts and core make up of the characters that made Valiant so successful. As everyone knows, creating great characters is very difficult and Valiant is one of only three universes to do it successfully. To this day fans remember and love the Valiant universe for this reason.
I think this means that the acclaim versions of these characters are out.

Could be, but some of the ideas they came up with did work. I think it would be foolish to simply cast everything Acclaim did to the curb just because some of it was dreck.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:23 pm

Yanes: It seems that many comic book companies are beginning to look at their titles as a cheap source of Research & Development for television, film, and videogame projects. How do you feel viewing books as R&D affects the creative process?

WS: At Marvel, many of the books I worked on were turned into movies or video games, but the monthly comics also had to sell if they were to survive. If they didn’t hit their numbers or make their margins, they went away. It’s the same thing at Valiant. While we have ambitious plans for the work in other media, we’re a comic book company first and foremost. Our goal is to make the best comics every single month.

Anyone else really glad these guys got Valiant?

400yrs · Post by **400yrs** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:53 am

Ryan wrote:
Yanes: It seems that many comic book companies are beginning to look at their titles as a cheap source of Research & Development for television, film, and videogame projects. How do you feel viewing books as R&D affects the creative process?

WS: At Marvel, many of the books I worked on were turned into movies or video games, but the monthly comics also had to sell if they were to survive. If they didn’t hit their numbers or make their margins, they went away. It’s the same thing at Valiant. While we have ambitious plans for the work in other media, we’re a comic book company first and foremost. Our goal is to make the best comics every single month.
Anyone else really glad these guys got Valiant?

They certainly are saying the right things, but I will reserve judgment for when products actually come out. I.e. Time will tell.

superggraphics · Post by **superggraphics** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:59 am

The world outside your window quote sounds familiar. Anyone remember where that was said originally?

G

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 1:12 am

superggraphics wrote:The world outside your window quote sounds familiar. Anyone remember where that was said originally?

G

Jim Shooter back of the comics?

Or....... MOTA.

StarBrand · Post by **StarBrand** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:37 am

superggraphics wrote:The world outside your window quote sounds familiar. Anyone remember where that was said originally?

G

The New Universe.

Chiclo · Post by **Chiclo** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:38 am

Elveen wrote:
superggraphics wrote:The world outside your window quote sounds familiar. Anyone remember where that was said originally?

G
Jim Shooter back of the comics?

Or....... MOTA.

I remember Shooter writing an editorial where he used the exact phrase. He was talking about how DC was less real and believable, Marvel was more real than DC and Valiant was real enough that it would be governed by the same rules that our world is. He talked about buildings in the DCU being flat on the bottom and occasionally readers would get to see the bottoms of the buildings and how flat and smooth they were.

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:44 am

Chiclo wrote:
Elveen wrote:
superggraphics wrote:The world outside your window quote sounds familiar. Anyone remember where that was said originally?

G
Jim Shooter back of the comics?

Or....... MOTA.
I remember Shooter writing an editorial where he used the exact phrase. He was talking about how DC was less real and believable, Marvel was more real than DC and Valiant was real enough that it would be governed by the same rules that our world is. He talked about buildings in the DCU being flat on the bottom and occasionally readers would get to see the bottoms of the buildings and how flat and smooth they were.

Like when Superman would lift up a whole house from one corner of it? And there would be no plumbing, electrical, etc. dangling from under it? I had a problem with that, even as a little kid. I could suspend disbelief to accept that Superman could fly and was strong enough to lift the weight of a house... but the structural integrity of a house would never survive being lifted by just one corner. And what about all the plumbing? It's just magically severed at the foundation and magically reattaches?

Chiclo · Post by **Chiclo** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:47 am

Heath wrote:
Chiclo wrote:
Elveen wrote:
superggraphics wrote:The world outside your window quote sounds familiar. Anyone remember where that was said originally?

G
Jim Shooter back of the comics?

Or....... MOTA.
I remember Shooter writing an editorial where he used the exact phrase. He was talking about how DC was less real and believable, Marvel was more real than DC and Valiant was real enough that it would be governed by the same rules that our world is. He talked about buildings in the DCU being flat on the bottom and occasionally readers would get to see the bottoms of the buildings and how flat and smooth they were.
Like when Superman would lift up a whole house from one corner of it? And there would be no plumbing, electrical, etc. dangling from under it? I had a problem with that, even as a little kid. I could suspend disbelief to accept that Superman could fly and was strong enough to lift the weight of a house... but the structural integrity of a house would never survive being lifted by just one corner. And what about all the plumbing? It's just magically severed at the foundation and magically reattaches?

Exactly that sort of thing.

I am glad that I could articulate it well enough for someone to catch on.

Michael Woods · Post by **Michael Woods** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 9:45 pm

Every interview I've read so far has been great and given me a lot of hope that this relaunch is going to be fantastic.

dino · Post by **dino** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:08 pm

Daniel Jackson wrote:
yardstick wrote:
Sacks: There have been several revivals of the Valiant characters that have not really grabbed readers' attention in the way that the original line did. What lessons did you learn from those revivals?

Pierce: There was one other version of the Valiant Universe called the Acclaim Comics Universe, in which the original Valiant Universe was re-imagined by video game company Acclaim Entertainment. The Valiant characters were drastically changed to make them better-fit Acclaim’s needs in video games. While critically unsuccessful in comics, the re-imagined versions had remarkable success in video games launching several game franchises including Shadowman and Turok. We’ve looked at the Acclaim Universe very carefully and while it’s impossible to know for sure what happened behind closed doors, from a consumer stand point I think that universe strayed too far from the great high concepts and core make up of the characters that made Valiant so successful. As everyone knows, creating great characters is very difficult and Valiant is one of only three universes to do it successfully. To this day fans remember and love the Valiant universe for this reason.
I think this means that the acclaim versions of these characters are out.
Could be, but some of the ideas they came up with did work. I think it would be foolish to simply cast everything Acclaim did to the curb just because some of it was dreck.

Quoted for truth.