VALIANT Summer & Beyond: New Titles/Creative..MAJOR SPOILERS

[The Dirt Gang]

The reality of the current comic book marketplace is that there are limited options of getting a sales bump for an ongoing series without relaunching it with a new number 1. At least VEI is trying a different approach.

Interesting point. I do prefer this approach to relaunching with a new number 1 (not that this is necessarily VEI's intention). Although, I think with a good writer who cares what it is called. In the end, it's about the story inside the book.

[BugsySig]

Bloodshot and Hard Corps has me worried. Are we at the Rai and The Future Force title-rescue stage already?

1. How many issues does BS sell every month? Because we now know the VEI print-run break-even for a book.

2. The name change is a sign of market weakness and it could affect the sales of other VEI titles. If they need to shake up BS just add Hard Corps style characters and leave the name of the book the same. Nobody that turned their nose up at Bloodshot is gonna say "Oooh, now he's teamed up with Hard Corps? I have to buy this!" Apart from board members, nobody even knows who Hard Corps is; it can only be a drag on the book from a marketing perspective.

3. Hard Corps was kinda lame from start to finish. And the fact that Bloodshot, as a money-making prospect, has to be rescued by melting it into lameness in less than a dozen issues doesn't bode well. I hope the creative team proves me wildly wrong. But taking a floundering title (from a sales perspective) and hitching it to a title that didn't exactly set the world on fire the first time around is making me skittish.

4. I dearly wish VEI would have the courage to invent new IP instead of insisting on resurrecting stuff that didn't fly for very long in the 90s. Fat lotta good Chainsaw did for BS, right?

I numbered your comments to more easily reply, hope that's ok

1. Just over 10k/month. Still a very solid number for a non Big 2 book or Image hit, but we have no way of knowing what the "break even" point is for VEI at this time.

2. The book is maintaining its numbering, so there shouldn't be any, "A new #1 already? That's just a ploy to sell books." Also, while HARD Corps is not as well known as some other properties, the majority of VALIANT readers are going to be introduced to them for the first time during Harbinger Wars. Instead of spinning them into their own series, why not add readers to Bloodshot who may want to give HC a try after the crossover?

3. VEI has not disappointed me yet in any of their revivals (OK, maybe mildly with Shadowman, but I feel that turning around with Arc 2). I would give the benefit of the doubt to them, and Josh Dysart in particular, to create a compelling HARD Corps concept and characters.

4. VEI and their investors have a lot of money in those IPs. While I think new titles/concepts are coming, I understand them wanting to earn their $ back on those IPs first before venturing into unknown territory. It also helps boost sales of their back library in the form of digital or hardcover collections.

[FormerReader]

At a certain point, the old brand works against you. I look at something like Chrysler and think "I wouldn't be caught dead in a Chrysler." It would take mountains of sterling reviews over 10 years to get me to trust the brand again. Why chain that anchor around your neck when you could simply get a fresh start with a different name?

Chrysler is having some of it's best sales ever though right now. I get your point, but one could also say that they have the opputunity to take a concept that was done poorly the first time and with proper execution could be made it a very strong product. The Camaro for instance. Not that I like it, but there was a reason it was canceled in 2002. Look at Camaro sales now.

[jmatt]

3. VEI has not disappointed me yet in any of their revivals ...I would give the benefit of the doubt to them, and Josh Dysart in particular, to create a compelling HARD Corps concept and characters.

I'll grant you that. What they've done with Bloodshot in HW is so terrific that it makes ya wonder why 90s Valiant kept it so relatively tame. I truly do hope that they are able to put a fresh spin on HardCorps and make me eat my words.

[BugsySig]

3. VEI has not disappointed me yet in any of their revivals ...I would give the benefit of the doubt to them, and Josh Dysart in particular, to create a compelling HARD Corps concept and characters.

I'll grant you that. What they've done with Bloodshot in HW is so terrific that it makes ya wonder why 90s Valiant kept it so relatively tame. I truly do hope that they are able to put a fresh spin on HardCorps and make me eat my words.

No, he's not, Christos Gage is. I was referring to them debuting in Harbinger Wars, so Dysart is the one introducing the concept. I have a lot of faith in Gage though, too.

And based on HW #2 it sounds like HC and BS have some history. They could be influential in reconnecting him to his past.

[hawkeyeps]

3. VEI has not disappointed me yet in any of their revivals ...I would give the benefit of the doubt to them, and Josh Dysart in particular, to create a compelling HARD Corps concept and characters.

I'll grant you that. What they've done with Bloodshot in HW is so terrific that it makes ya wonder why 90s Valiant kept it so relatively tame. I truly do hope that they are able to put a fresh spin on HardCorps and make me eat my words.

No, he's not, Christos Gage is. I was referring to them debuting in Harbinger Wars, so Dysart is the one introducing the concept. I have a lot of faith in Gage though, too.

And based on HW #2 it sounds like HC and BS have some history. They could be influential in reconnecting him to his past.

Yeah I got that too, like HARD Corps was what PRS used to do before they developed Bloodshot.

Such a big freaky history to be explored here, really intriguing.

[Shadowman99]

I'm not all that keen on the new title 'Bloodshot: Hard Corps', but I really like what Valiant have done with Bloodshot so far. I never read the retro series or Hard Corps, but I've been really impressed with Bloodshot, and I'm not an 'action comic' sort of guy at all. But I really trust Valiant with this change to the Bloodshot franchise: People may or may not have neccessarily liked Chainsaw Team for example, but there was a very definite reason that they were included in the book again during the PRS raid sequence, and for me, Valiant handled that situation with class and skill.

I can only imagine that the integration of Hard Corps into the Bloodshot storyline is going to absolutely make complete sense in terms of the story and its future direction, and I think that the merging of titles will be done well.

Honestly, I'm a little sad about the merger because I've really been enjoying Bloodshot as it is, and would have liked to have seen him lone-wolf it and remain the focal character for maybe another year or so before any major changes, but Valiant clearly think that this is the right time for a major change to the story, and I trust them with that decision.

To be frank, with all the seeds that have been sown throughout the storyline so far I think that it's clear that this merging of titles has been planned since day one: I really don't think it has anything to do with trying to pick up the book's sales figures.

But as for the title change... I can see how it makes perfect sense to rename the comic regarding the storyline, but I really just don't *like* the title personally. It also occurrs to me that this might be a problem in the future: If Bloodshot (for whatever reason) ends up in a situation where he's not working with Hard Corps anymore, will we see another title change? I'd like to think that, seeing as a title change is a very definite move, Bloodshot is going to be paired with Hard Corps for the remainder of the title's run, but I wonder if this title may end up becoming restrictive, in terms of Bloodshot not being able to go off and have adventures of his own without the Hard Corps being involved, due to the title.

Of course, there are a hundred things that could be done with this book regardless of the title, and I really have good faith that Valiant will continue to deliver a killer book for as long as there are people there to read it

[jmatt]

Honestly, I'm a little sad about the merger because I've really been enjoying Bloodshot as it is, and would have liked to have seen him lone-wolf it and remain the focal character for maybe another year or so before any major changes,

I thinjk there's a definite possibility we'll see Bloodshot and Hard Corps split into their own titles again.

And now that I'm thinking about it, perhaps they chose the merger not because Bloodshot sales were slipping but perhaps to jump-start an audience for Hard Corps. That'd be pretty smart, if so.

[Zaphod]

Not crazy about renaming Bloodshot, but I can see why they might do it. I can also see how in 12 months we might just as well see the titles split into separate entities.

I enjoyed the original H.A.R.D Corps books, it had some good character moments and the storytelling didn't really go down hill until about #20. To be fair, most Valiant titles took the plunge around that time.

'Planet Hulk' is one of my favorite arcs, so I am very excited for EW.

[mp6pack]

In regards to the Bloodshot/Hard Corps merger. I'm worried as well. I will say I have faith in the vision that Valiant is going. It can also be very interesting to see how they relate the two titles. I'm thinking that maybe Bloodshoot will be the new softcore or dispatch, or whatever it was called. ( mind fart). Just a thought.

Overall, I'm optimistic.

[Baramos]

Well since everyone else is being so pessimistic, I'll be optimistic!

Bloodshot!

H.A.R.D. Corps!

Two great tastes...that taste great together!

[Shadowman99]

...perhaps they chose the merger not because Bloodshot sales were slipping but perhaps to jump-start an audience for Hard Corps. That'd be pretty smart, if so.

That's not a bad idea at all actually. Introduce 'new' characters to an already ongoing book, and then split the titles again when it's likely that a certain amount of readership will stick with them, and buy two lines monthly instead of one.

It's sort of like giving Hard Corps a rolling start rather than a stationary one, to use motor racing terminology, and could work really nicely for that purpose, although I do think that splitting the titles again further down the line might annoy some people if it were to happen.