Is VEI dead or dying?

[terreth]

It's been almost 11 months since the announcement for the A&A hc. With major delays and no explanations surrounding that book and not a peep since, is VEI fading away?

with shooter's definitive statement of not working with VEI, and the exciting Dark Horse news, i am almost to the point where i don't care if VEI dies. shooter built the valiant universe on the cornerstone of magnus and solar, and he has the chance to do that again. yeah, we will miss out on some cool characters, but what he is cooking up may be even better this time around. I believe in the creator more than the creations.

I think quite a few people are starting to feel similar.

True (in my case anyway)

[KenClarkson4Prez]

Wouldn't you feel a bit gutted if you saw it though and Solar was conveniently called something like Sun-Man or Nucle-aids with a rip-off suit.

No thank you.
The Gold Key/Dell stuff is gone. No point in trying to rip it off or make hald assed replacements.

maybe, but why make him a superhero? just make him a superpowered guy, with no costume identity or cheesy nickname. maybe that would be hard to market to the summer blockbuster public, but i think creatively it could be done very easily.

i do agree though, it probably won't happen.

Personally I always thought Valiant was a little too grounded to make massive blockbusters from(in comparisson to other comic companies). For example Solar/Phil would have to be a lot younger, sexier and cooler. He'd need a massive bad guy to fight off against, rather than spider aliens. And he'd need some jail bait. all massive needs for big summer films.

couldn't agree with you more. however, VEI seems to have (had?) its sights set on hollywood, so concessions would have to be made to the story. i guess i am just trying to keep the "essence" intact in my hypothetical, knowing that some things will have to be amped up.

[leonmallett]

Wouldn't you feel a bit gutted if you saw it though and Solar was conveniently called something like Sun-Man or Nucle-aids with a rip-off suit.

No thank you.
The Gold Key/Dell stuff is gone. No point in trying to rip it off or make hald assed replacements.

maybe, but why make him a superhero? just make him a superpowered guy, with no costume identity or cheesy nickname. maybe that would be hard to market to the summer blockbuster public, but i think creatively it could be done very easily.

i do agree though, it probably won't happen.

Personally I always thought Valiant was a little too grounded to make massive blockbusters from(in comparisson to other comic companies). For example Solar/Phil would have to be a lot younger, sexier and cooler. He'd need a massive bad guy to fight off against, rather than spider aliens. And he'd need some jail bait. all massive needs for big summer films.

couldn't agree with you more. however, VEI seems to have (had?) its sights set on hollywood, so concessions would have to be made to the story. i guess i am just trying to keep the "essence" intact in my hypothetical, knowing that some things will have to be amped up.

The things is that Hollywood would almost certainly be disintersted. It wouldn't be the story they would seek, but the marketable (ie through merchandising) character.

Yes your idea could be done, but it is never going to be likely.

What is more likely is that VEI take a property they own (ie as they tried with Harbinger) rather than a specific storyline.

[Drift]

Wouldn't you feel a bit gutted if you saw it though and Solar was conveniently called something like Sun-Man or Nucle-aids with a rip-off suit.

No thank you.
The Gold Key/Dell stuff is gone. No point in trying to rip it off or make hald assed replacements.

maybe, but why make him a superhero? just make him a superpowered guy, with no costume identity or cheesy nickname. maybe that would be hard to market to the summer blockbuster public, but i think creatively it could be done very easily.

i do agree though, it probably won't happen.

Personally I always thought Valiant was a little too grounded to make massive blockbusters from(in comparisson to other comic companies). For example Solar/Phil would have to be a lot younger, sexier and cooler. He'd need a massive bad guy to fight off against, rather than spider aliens. And he'd need some jail bait. all massive needs for big summer films.

couldn't agree with you more. however, VEI seems to have (had?) its sights set on hollywood, so concessions would have to be made to the story. i guess i am just trying to keep the "essence" intact in my hypothetical, knowing that some things will have to be amped up.

The things is that Hollywood would almost certainly be disintersted. It wouldn't be the story they would seek, but the marketable (ie through merchandising) character.

Yes your idea could be done, but it is never going to be likely.

What is more likely is that VEI take a property they own (ie as they tried with Harbinger) rather than a specific storyline.

If that is the case, you know we will end up with VH2style stuff

[leonmallett]

The example is there - look at any comic-book superhero movie adaptation; none are 100% faithful to the character or specific storylines.

Instead Hollywood does its own thing trying to distill the character or whatever into what they believe to be right for a movie interpretation.

Superman fans - be glad we didn't get the Jon Peters Superman as an example of this:

Linky to what would have been really horrible

[Daniel Jackson]

Superman fans - be glad we didn't get the Jon Peters Superman as an example of this:

Linky to what would have been really horrible

It's funny to listen to Kevin Smith tell that story. Sad to think that movie execs are that out of touch though.

[leonmallett]

Superman fans - be glad we didn't get the Jon Peters Superman as an example of this:

Linky to what would have been really horrible

It's funny to listen to Kevin Smith tell that story. Sad to think that movie execs are that out of touch though.

Sad or sacry.

I generally liked Superman Returns except for one thing - the kid. It added nothing to the film, there was enough drama in Lois having a new relationship without the pointless kid being needed to add more urgency. Yet no-one thought to say "Bryan, what the heck are you doing, man?!?".

Oh well.

[sanman]

With Gold Key, Shooter and Dark Horse--good times ahead...



but meanwhile over at VEI...

[sanman]

Superman fans - be glad we didn't get the Jon Peters Superman as an example of this:

Linky to what would have been really horrible

It's funny to listen to Kevin Smith tell that story. Sad to think that movie execs are that out of touch though.

Sad or sacry.

I generally liked Superman Returns except for one thing - the kid. It added nothing to the film, there was enough drama in Lois having a new relationship without the pointless kid being needed to add more urgency. Yet no-one thought to say "Bryan, what the heck are you doing, man?!?".

Oh well.

I thought the whole thing was miserable actually. Most of the time I see fans trying to explain why Returns did not outright suck.

I think WB should have waited for Smallville to end and let Tom Welling wear the cape. And while the last season was arguably decent if not good, a third film could be in preproduction by now if they had gone in that direction originally. Now it appears that Superman is in limbo.

But we are grossly straying off topic...

[VEI Reborn]

It's been almost 11 months since the announcement for the A&A hc. With major delays and no explanations surrounding that book and not a peep since, is VEI fading away?

with shooter's definitive statement of not working with VEI, and the exciting Dark Horse news, i am almost to the point where i don't care if VEI dies. shooter built the valiant universe on the cornerstone of magnus and solar, and he has the chance to do that again. yeah, we will miss out on some cool characters, but what he is cooking up may be even better this time around. I believe in the creator more than the creations.

I think quite a few people are starting to feel similar.

True (in my case anyway)

I also agree.

Maybe we will get lucky and VEI will sell all the rights to DH

[400yrs]

It's been almost 11 months since the announcement for the A&A hc. With major delays and no explanations surrounding that book and not a peep since, is VEI fading away?

with shooter's definitive statement of not working with VEI, and the exciting Dark Horse news, i am almost to the point where i don't care if VEI dies. shooter built the valiant universe on the cornerstone of magnus and solar, and he has the chance to do that again. yeah, we will miss out on some cool characters, but what he is cooking up may be even better this time around. I believe in the creator more than the creations.

I think quite a few people are starting to feel similar.

True (in my case anyway)

I also agree.

Maybe we will get lucky and VEI will sell all the rights to DH

I think that has kind of been the best case scenario all along. DH can make the comics and VEI can option the characters to Hollywood. I doubt DH would need / want them though.

[VEI Reborn]

It's been almost 11 months since the announcement for the A&A hc. With major delays and no explanations surrounding that book and not a peep since, is VEI fading away?

with shooter's definitive statement of not working with VEI, and the exciting Dark Horse news, i am almost to the point where i don't care if VEI dies. shooter built the valiant universe on the cornerstone of magnus and solar, and he has the chance to do that again. yeah, we will miss out on some cool characters, but what he is cooking up may be even better this time around. I believe in the creator more than the creations.

I think quite a few people are starting to feel similar.

True (in my case anyway)

I also agree.

Maybe we will get lucky and VEI will sell all the rights to DH

I think that has kind of been the best case scenario all along. DH can make the comics and VEI can option the characters to Hollywood. I doubt DH would need / want them though.

That would be killer though. Maybe Jim would want Harbinger back

[hulk181man]

I think that has kind of been the best case scenario all along. DH can make the comics and VEI can option the characters to Hollywood.

[superman-prime]

VE1 can option their stuff to DH and take the liability out of their hands

[Daniel Jackson]

VE1 can option their stuff to DH and take the liability out of their hands

I think that would have happened by now if they were going to do something like that. They've known about losing the GK characters for quite awhile now, so I'm sure the idea has crossed their minds.

[superman-prime]

if DH is a true winner when they relaunch dont doubt that could happen a inclusive universe is better then a split one and optioning does not take their rights away just a lot of the risk not a bad deal

[Crow331]

VE1 can option their stuff to DH and take the liability out of their hands

Retailers still have such a bad taste in their mouth from the old Valiant, the best thing DH can do is distance themselves from VEI, if they want their new universe to succeed. That's really what it's going to be, a new universe created by Jim Shooter with the GK3 thrown in for familiarity. Bring in the VF fans with the GK3 and then you create a new universe/characters to introduce new readers. It's really the smartest thing to do. DH definitely knows what they're doing.

I doubt they license any characters from VEI, especially once Jim starts creating new characters, there will be no need. I'll miss X-O and Shadowman for sure, but new books with the GK3 and a new universe with Jim Shooter behind them is more important to me at this point than the crickets we've heard from VEI.

[superman-prime]

if they launch all their stuff then get say 8 - 10 issues in i dont see a issue with adding some others later on and a lot stuff would love to see rai and others added later on and after they are up and going no problem and Shooter made most of them so i dont see a issues with him wanting to have them play in his new pond

[dellamorte]

If Dark Horse had any interest in the Valiant characters I think they would have just bought them at auction. Richardson, like Shooter has a love of the old Gold Key stuff. I don't expect to see any deal between DH and VEI.

[superman-prime]

time will tell

[Elveen]

time will tell

Walter is here? Cool.

[StarBrand]

if DH is a true winner when they relaunch dont doubt that could happen a inclusive universe is better then a split one and optioning does not take their rights away just a lot of the risk not a bad deal

Shooter could come up with a new universe and save Dark Horse the licensing fees.

[iggy101us]

if DH is a true winner when they relaunch dont doubt that could happen a inclusive universe is better then a split one and optioning does not take their rights away just a lot of the risk not a bad deal

Shooter could come up with a new universe and save Dark Horse the licensing fees.

That's what I was thinking.
Why pay someone else when Shooter can creater new characters with no incremental costs?

[VEI Reborn]

if DH is a true winner when they relaunch dont doubt that could happen a inclusive universe is better then a split one and optioning does not take their rights away just a lot of the risk not a bad deal

Shooter could come up with a new universe and save Dark Horse the licensing fees.

I agree. I was just holding on to the last string of hope before I give up

[Daniel Jackson]

if DH is a true winner when they relaunch dont doubt that could happen a inclusive universe is better then a split one and optioning does not take their rights away just a lot of the risk not a bad deal

Shooter could come up with a new universe and save Dark Horse the licensing fees.

I agree. I was just holding on to the last string of hope before I give up

The thing is, how many times can a person strike gold in regards to creating new characters? Look at the material from Defiant and Broadway. While I enjoyed a lot of the stuff he came up with, it pales in comparison to what he did with Valiant. I think it's not very likely that Jim will be able to duplicate that again. Imagine asking Lee and Kirby to make another Marvel Universe just as good as the original. Both have done a lot of things since that time and neither has come up with anything close to the magic of the early days of Marvel.

I think Jim will probably do a great job revamping the GK characters, but as far as creating another comic universe that has the same impact as Valiant, that would certainly be an unprecedented accomplishment.