Off and on since Magnus #1 in 1991
Moderators: Daniel Jackson, greg
- bamaphilosopher
- You gotta have Faith!
- Posts: 927
- Joined: Thu Nov 18, 2004 5:49:04 pm
- Valiant fan since: Magnus #1, 1991
- Favorite character: X-O Manowar
- Favorite title: Harbinger
- Favorite writer: Joshua Dysart, Jim Shooter
- Favorite artist: Lupacchino, BWS, Lapham
- Location: Childersburg, AL
Off and on since Magnus #1 in 1991
Hey, all! I think I told my story on this site about ten years ago, but I'll tell it again since I just returned.
I feel so fortunate that one of my friends talked Magnus up to my roommate, who then got me interested in looking at it, so when the very first Valiant VH1 title came out, Magnus #1, we all three got a copy. My roommate in college had gotten me into comics, and we mostly collected DC, mainly Batman and Superman. We both graduated in May 1991, and Magnus came out shortly thereafter in July 1991.
With Valiant, I was hooked from the first page. After that, I bought everything Valiant. I never did have to go back and get back issues later like some people did, thank goodness. Solar, I bought it, loved it. Then I picked up X-O and Harbinger. Loved them too. And of course, I bought Shadowman as well. I talked my roommate into getting the other titles, too, with me, and we had such a blast discussing them. And a couple of our friends read Magnus and Rai. Then Archer and Armstrong and Eternal Warrior, leading into Unity.
When Unity came along, Valiant suddenly started getting hotter and hotter, but I very much mourned the loss of Jim Shooter, whose writing had hooked me from the start.
Nevertheless, I kept buying all Valiant issues, and so did my roommate for a time. But I was disappointed in so many of the titles, like H.A.R.D. Corps, Secret Weapons, Psi-Lords...the only thing I think I still liked was Eternal Warrior, Bob Hall's Shadowman, Tim Truman's Turok, and Second Life of Dr. Mirage.
But then, somewhere between Chaos Effect and Birthquake, I read a really sucky Archer and Armstrong issue, and was complaining about it to my former roommate.
He looked at me with shock and said, "You're still buying Valiant?" And he revealed he had quit a couple of months before.
Since he had quit, I looked at the quality and realized it wasn't there anymore, and I quit too. I was very sad...it was a hard decision, because I had loved Valiant so much. But at that point, the entire line was sucking really bad, and getting worse.
I remember I had to tell him that Acclaim was buying Valiant...we had both stopped reading at that point. I said I couldn't believe they paid 70 million for it. He said, ah, they'll probably make that up on the first few videogames out of it. At that point, we really didn't much care anymore. But, I kept my pre-Unity and Unity issues in thick mylar, because I still loved them. My former roommate told me soon thereafter that he had outgrown comics.
Ten years later, when this site came along, I got on here and started talking with everyone. I realized then that VH1 had ended, and that through ebay, I could get the entire VH1. So I did that. But then I kind of lost interest, because there was nothing new to get into.
A few years later, one of my philosophy students showed me how to use CBR and read digital comics, and I was able to get tons of comics online. I downloaded the VH1 line at that time, so I wouldn't have to touch the comics. But then there was nothing left to do.
So, I quit going to this site. I regret that, because I had no idea about the VEI relaunch at the time.
Then, about six months ago, toward the end of 2013, while I was on amazon, I found one of the new Harbinger trade paperbacks and learned Valiant had restarted. So I thought, hmm, I'll try it. I bought the first two Harbinger trades and the first two XO Manowar trades.
The magic was back! These were as good as the Jim Shooter issues!
So I found a local comic shop, about an hour away, and had them help me get all the back issues and get caught up. And anything I didn't get from them, I got from ebay.
Enthused again, I also bought some of the variant covers I liked from ebay, and even went back and got some things I never had before, like a Unity 0 red and a Chaos Effect alpha red. I figured out my favorite cover ever was the Lupacchino Harbinger 7 with Flamingo, and finally found three of them on ebay.
And I've been buying thick mylar bags. I've placed all my pre-Unity and Unity, plus the special rare VEI covers, in this mylar, so I never have to touch them again.
I have to accept the fact that I can't get every variant cover. But any that I like, I try to get.
I haven't tried to get my former roommate back into them, since he told me those many years ago that he had outgrown comics. I guess I never have.
Well, so I'm back! And I've decided to write Kindle worlds stories too, in hopes of writing for Valiant someday. After all, a guy can dream, and since the time I collected VH1, I became a writer and self-published some of my books, plus had my dissertation published. So, now that I'm more confident in my writing, I'm super glad they have Kindle worlds as an outlet for fan fiction.
So, that's my story. Who knows, maybe I'll write for Valiant one day. I sure hope so.
Thanks for reading this. And thanks to Valiant, past and present, for the awesome stories!
Richmond West
(bamaphilosopher)
I feel so fortunate that one of my friends talked Magnus up to my roommate, who then got me interested in looking at it, so when the very first Valiant VH1 title came out, Magnus #1, we all three got a copy. My roommate in college had gotten me into comics, and we mostly collected DC, mainly Batman and Superman. We both graduated in May 1991, and Magnus came out shortly thereafter in July 1991.
With Valiant, I was hooked from the first page. After that, I bought everything Valiant. I never did have to go back and get back issues later like some people did, thank goodness. Solar, I bought it, loved it. Then I picked up X-O and Harbinger. Loved them too. And of course, I bought Shadowman as well. I talked my roommate into getting the other titles, too, with me, and we had such a blast discussing them. And a couple of our friends read Magnus and Rai. Then Archer and Armstrong and Eternal Warrior, leading into Unity.
When Unity came along, Valiant suddenly started getting hotter and hotter, but I very much mourned the loss of Jim Shooter, whose writing had hooked me from the start.
Nevertheless, I kept buying all Valiant issues, and so did my roommate for a time. But I was disappointed in so many of the titles, like H.A.R.D. Corps, Secret Weapons, Psi-Lords...the only thing I think I still liked was Eternal Warrior, Bob Hall's Shadowman, Tim Truman's Turok, and Second Life of Dr. Mirage.
But then, somewhere between Chaos Effect and Birthquake, I read a really sucky Archer and Armstrong issue, and was complaining about it to my former roommate.
He looked at me with shock and said, "You're still buying Valiant?" And he revealed he had quit a couple of months before.
Since he had quit, I looked at the quality and realized it wasn't there anymore, and I quit too. I was very sad...it was a hard decision, because I had loved Valiant so much. But at that point, the entire line was sucking really bad, and getting worse.
I remember I had to tell him that Acclaim was buying Valiant...we had both stopped reading at that point. I said I couldn't believe they paid 70 million for it. He said, ah, they'll probably make that up on the first few videogames out of it. At that point, we really didn't much care anymore. But, I kept my pre-Unity and Unity issues in thick mylar, because I still loved them. My former roommate told me soon thereafter that he had outgrown comics.
Ten years later, when this site came along, I got on here and started talking with everyone. I realized then that VH1 had ended, and that through ebay, I could get the entire VH1. So I did that. But then I kind of lost interest, because there was nothing new to get into.
A few years later, one of my philosophy students showed me how to use CBR and read digital comics, and I was able to get tons of comics online. I downloaded the VH1 line at that time, so I wouldn't have to touch the comics. But then there was nothing left to do.
So, I quit going to this site. I regret that, because I had no idea about the VEI relaunch at the time.
Then, about six months ago, toward the end of 2013, while I was on amazon, I found one of the new Harbinger trade paperbacks and learned Valiant had restarted. So I thought, hmm, I'll try it. I bought the first two Harbinger trades and the first two XO Manowar trades.
The magic was back! These were as good as the Jim Shooter issues!
So I found a local comic shop, about an hour away, and had them help me get all the back issues and get caught up. And anything I didn't get from them, I got from ebay.
Enthused again, I also bought some of the variant covers I liked from ebay, and even went back and got some things I never had before, like a Unity 0 red and a Chaos Effect alpha red. I figured out my favorite cover ever was the Lupacchino Harbinger 7 with Flamingo, and finally found three of them on ebay.
And I've been buying thick mylar bags. I've placed all my pre-Unity and Unity, plus the special rare VEI covers, in this mylar, so I never have to touch them again.
I have to accept the fact that I can't get every variant cover. But any that I like, I try to get.
I haven't tried to get my former roommate back into them, since he told me those many years ago that he had outgrown comics. I guess I never have.
Well, so I'm back! And I've decided to write Kindle worlds stories too, in hopes of writing for Valiant someday. After all, a guy can dream, and since the time I collected VH1, I became a writer and self-published some of my books, plus had my dissertation published. So, now that I'm more confident in my writing, I'm super glad they have Kindle worlds as an outlet for fan fiction.
So, that's my story. Who knows, maybe I'll write for Valiant one day. I sure hope so.
Thanks for reading this. And thanks to Valiant, past and present, for the awesome stories!
Richmond West
(bamaphilosopher)
Last edited by bamaphilosopher on Wed Apr 02, 2014 10:32:30 pm, edited 4 times in total.
For my Valiant: Kindle Worlds stories, check out my amazon author central page, http://www.amazon.com/Richmond-West/e/B ... 204&sr=8-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Sort by price low to high, and the Valiant Kindle Worlds stories will pop to the top.
Sort by price low to high, and the Valiant Kindle Worlds stories will pop to the top.
- FormerReader
- I spoke with Dino and he said you can divulge all information to me.
- Posts: 3754
- Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2011 10:15:58 pm
- Location: Florida
Re: Off and on since Magnus #1 in 1991
Welcome back Richard!
- AnthonyF
- Cruisin' in Darpan's Winnebago
- Posts: 695
- Joined: Sun Mar 24, 2013 9:38:02 pm
- Valiant fan since: 1993
- Favorite character: TOYO HARADA
- Favorite title: HARBINGER
- Favorite writer: Joshua Dysart
- Favorite artist: Clayton Henry
Re: Off and on since Magnus #1 in 1991
Glad to have you back, thanks for sharing!!
- lorddunlow
- I think you might be a closeted Canadian.
- Posts: 13562
- Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2010 11:51:31 pm
Re: Off and on since Magnus #1 in 1991
Welcome - aw screw it. You've been on here longer than me.
Blah blah blah... Something about stinking Canadians... blah blah blah
Blah blah blah... Something about stinking Canadians... blah blah blah
*SQUEE* your science, I have a machine gun.
- bobby97801
- Just jumpin' through time arcs, that's all.
- Posts: 1723
- Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2012 9:42:18 am
- Favorite character: X-O Manowar
- Location: vancouver, washington
Re: Off and on since Magnus #1 in 1991
Welcome back
- Daniel Jackson
- A toast to the return of Valiant!
- Posts: 38007
- Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2004 8:33:38 pm
Re: Off and on since Magnus #1 in 1991
Nice story.
- grendeljd
- innerSPACE does whatever I tell them
- Posts: 8160
- Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2012 6:51:43 am
- Valiant fan since: 1991
- Favorite character: Aric
- Favorite title: Harbinger
- Location: On the 7.5th floor of LesterCorp, headed through the back door to John Malkovich's brain.
Re: Off and on since Magnus #1 in 1991
Welcome back! Best of luck to you pursuing your dream of writing
I like to draw stuff... http://grendeljd.deviantart.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
My wife likes to draw stuff too, and she is better than me! [I'm very proud of her]... https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sara-Dec ... ref=stream" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
My wife likes to draw stuff too, and she is better than me! [I'm very proud of her]... https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sara-Dec ... ref=stream" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
- bamaphilosopher
- You gotta have Faith!
- Posts: 927
- Joined: Thu Nov 18, 2004 5:49:04 pm
- Valiant fan since: Magnus #1, 1991
- Favorite character: X-O Manowar
- Favorite title: Harbinger
- Favorite writer: Joshua Dysart, Jim Shooter
- Favorite artist: Lupacchino, BWS, Lapham
- Location: Childersburg, AL
Re: Off and on since Magnus #1 in 1991
Thanks, grendel! As soon as this semester's over, I'm going to finish my second Kindle Worlds story, then start pitching ideas to them. I figure if I just keep at it, maybe it'll happen one day.grendeljd wrote:Welcome back! Best of luck to you pursuing your dream of writing
For my Valiant: Kindle Worlds stories, check out my amazon author central page, http://www.amazon.com/Richmond-West/e/B ... 204&sr=8-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Sort by price low to high, and the Valiant Kindle Worlds stories will pop to the top.
Sort by price low to high, and the Valiant Kindle Worlds stories will pop to the top.
- doodlebird
- Nanite-powered posting
- Posts: 1440
- Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:41:11 pm
- Valiant fan since: Solar #1
- Favorite character: Armstrong
- Favorite title: Harbinger / A & A
- Favorite writer: was Shooter
- Favorite artist: Lapham, Starlin, Henry, and...
- Location: Lake Worth, FL
Re: Off and on since Magnus #1 in 1991
Re-welcome !
Support Valiant and get prizes at the contest here
http://www.valiantfans.com/forum/viewto ... =1&t=43222
Support Valiant and get prizes at the contest here
http://www.valiantfans.com/forum/viewto ... =1&t=43222
read me, HC/TPB me; sign me, sketch me, slab me.
S.SAHLE
S.SAHLE
- leonmallett
- My mind is sharp. Like a sharp thing.
- Posts: 9444
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:39:01 am
- Valiant fan since: 2006
- Favorite character: Shadowman (Hall version)
- Favorite title: Shadowman (under Hall)
- Favorite writer: Fred Van Lente
- Favorite artist: Clayton Henry
- Location: hunting down paulsmith56 somewhere in the balti belt...
Re: Off and on since Magnus #1 in 1991
It has been good to see you return.
VEI - I look forward to you one day publishing MORE than 9-10 books per month