Newest Rian Hughes Design teases...

[betterthanezra]

Cool whatever it is

-Brian

[jmatt]

If it is Hard Corps, I hope it is drastically reworked as a concept. It was one of the titles I bought but was never incredibly excited to read. I viewed it as 'filler' around all of the 'real' titles.

But it's always nice to see a tease about upcoming work.

[FormerReader]

If it is Hard Corps, I hope it is drastically reworked as a concept. It was one of the titles I bought but was never incredibly excited to read. I viewed it as 'filler' around all of the 'real' titles.

But it's always nice to see a tease about upcoming work.

I think the concept is cool. It was like many Valiant titles after Unity. They had a good premise, but weren't executed properly. If this is executed well (which Dino and company have done so far) it could be a great book!

[Blood of Heroes]

I'm very excited for a HARD Corps book.

[jmatt]

I think the concept is cool. ... They had a good premise, but weren't executed properly. If this is executed well (which Dino and company have done so far) it could be a great book!

I found a few of the titles post-Unity to be too derivative of already existing premises.

These guys are Harbingers, they have cool powers. These guys can mimic a few Harbinger powers (Hard Corps). And these guys are the future version of those guys that can mimic Harbinger powers (Psi-Lords).

This guy has an X-O armor, he can do amazing things. These guys have suits modeled on the X-O armor, they have much more limited abilities (Armorines). And these guys have suits that are kind of like those other guys (Secret Weapons).

This guy can tap into an unseen cosmic force know as necromantic energy (Darque). And look, to a lesser degree so can this guy (Dr. Mirage).

And with notable exception, the Brothers Anni-Padda. Aram and Gilad, immortality and super-regeneration; the exception being that, by definition, they can't be derivative of a common origin, although their powers are the same in two separate titles.

Post-Unity VH1 was too reliant on recycling their already established 'super-hero' premises with a twist. I hope VEI avoids this trap and isn't afraid to invent new 'magics', origins and book concepts.

[tetrisdork]

Looks like a letter 'C' and a letter 'O' to me! Gotta be HARD Corps spinning out of Harbinger Wars! Awesome!

Guess the letters seal it. Just going by the curve it could have been more awesome:

or another possibility:


/Magnus

Quick question from a Valiant newbie: what the hell was Valiant Vision? All I'm thinking of is the joke answer of seeing everybody as a Valiant character with the glasses from They Live.

[hawkeyeps]

I think the concept is cool. ... They had a good premise, but weren't executed properly. If this is executed well (which Dino and company have done so far) it could be a great book!

I found a few of the titles post-Unity to be too derivative of already existing premises.

These guys are Harbingers, they have cool powers. These guys can mimic a few Harbinger powers (Hard Corps). And these guys are the future version of those guys that can mimic Harbinger powers (Psi-Lords).

This guy has an X-O armor, he can do amazing things. These guys have suits modeled on the X-O armor, they have much more limited abilities (Armorines). And these guys have suits that are kind of like those other guys (Secret Weapons).

This guy can tap into an unseen cosmic force know as necromantic energy (Darque). And look, to a lesser degree so can this guy (Dr. Mirage).

And with notable exception, the Brothers Anni-Padda. Aram and Gilad, immortality and super-regeneration; the exception being that by definition they can't be derivative of a common origin, although their powers are the same.

Post-Unity VH1 was too reliant on recycling their already established 'super-hero' premises with a twist. I hope VEI avoids this trap and isn't afraid to invent new 'magics', origins and book concepts.

So true, but the flip side of the coin is go nuts with new stuff and then it's like Acclaim.

I think the key is to handle the concept correctly and Valiant's formula of a little of the old with a little of the new is working quite well- Livewire being a perfect example.

[FormerReader]

I think the concept is cool. ... They had a good premise, but weren't executed properly. If this is executed well (which Dino and company have done so far) it could be a great book!

I found a few of the titles post-Unity to be too derivative of already existing premises.

These guys are Harbingers, they have cool powers. These guys can mimic a few Harbinger powers (Hard Corps). And these guys are the future version of those guys that can mimic Harbinger powers (Psi-Lords).

This guy has an X-O armor, he can do amazing things. These guys have suits modeled on the X-O armor, they have much more limited abilities (Armorines). And these guys have suits that are kind of like those other guys (Secret Weapons).

This guy can tap into an unseen cosmic force know as necromantic energy (Darque). And look, to a lesser degree so can this guy (Dr. Mirage).

And with notable exception, the Brothers Anni-Padda. Aram and Gilad, immortality and super-regeneration; the exception being that, by definition, they can't be derivative of a common origin, although their powers are the same in two separate titles.

Post-Unity VH1 was too reliant on recycling their already established 'super-hero' premises with a twist. I hope VEI avoids this trap and isn't afraid to invent new 'magics', origins and book concepts.

I agree with you 100%. Later Valiant relied on early Valiant's ideas far too much. I did like Hard Corps though. If they don't bring back Psi-Lords or Armorines I will be okay with that though.

[FormerReader]

Looks like a letter 'C' and a letter 'O' to me! Gotta be HARD Corps spinning out of Harbinger Wars! Awesome!

/Magnus

Quick question from a Valiant newbie: what the hell was Valiant Vision? All I'm thinking of is the joke answer of seeing everybody as a Valiant character with the glasses from They Live.

If i remember correctly you are partially right. It was an attempt at 3D and resulted in lousy art.

[jmatt]

If i remember correctly you are partially right. It was an attempt at 3D and resulted in lousy art.

I thought it was a cool effect but you couldn't read a whole book with the glasses on. I re-read my Psi-Lords not too long ago and would pop on the glasses for a good splash page here and there.

[Phoenix8008]

Looks like a letter 'C' and a letter 'O' to me! Gotta be HARD Corps spinning out of Harbinger Wars! Awesome!

/Magnus

Quick question from a Valiant newbie: what the hell was Valiant Vision? All I'm thinking of is the joke answer of seeing everybody as a Valiant character with the glasses from They Live.

If i remember correctly you are partially right. It was an attempt at 3D and resulted in lousy art.

It was a specific coloring scheme that made things look 3d when viewed through special 'Valiant Vision' glasses. I think it made the 'warmer' colors (red, orange, yellow) look closer and the 'cooler' colors (blue, green, etc) look further away. So the premise was used mostly in Solar and Psi-lords where the lead characters were in red or orange so that they stood out and the backgrounds were more yellow, then green, then blue and purple to create the effect of the 3d through the glasses.

[hawkeyeps]

Looks like a letter 'C' and a letter 'O' to me! Gotta be HARD Corps spinning out of Harbinger Wars! Awesome!

/Magnus

Quick question from a Valiant newbie: what the hell was Valiant Vision? All I'm thinking of is the joke answer of seeing everybody as a Valiant character with the glasses from They Live.

If i remember correctly you are partially right. It was an attempt at 3D and resulted in lousy art.

Well, I think it was more lousy coloring than the art.

The way the effect worked is it brought warm colours like red to the front and cool colours like blue to background, it worked on all kinds of things not just the comics, it was pretty funky (check out the A&A #11 cover, it looks great in V vision).

That said if you didn't have the glasses and are just reading the issue you would be like WTF?

Psi-Lords (gangnam style!) and Destroyer (dark Solar) used this a lot, I even have a few V vision promo posters from that era.

Unfortunately this was just before the comics "dark age" of the late 90s early 00s.

[jmatt]

I did like Hard Corps though. If they don't bring back Psi-Lords or Armorines I will be okay with that though.

Most of them had a little charm that could make them interesting to a mild degree. I couldn't wait to dig into Magnus -- but Armorines? Didn't really care.

Hard Corps had some interesting character inter-play. Psi-Lords actually got interesting when their home world was ruined by Ravenrok. And while the Armorines tried to distinguish each character with a painted tag on each suit of armor, they were all pretty much inter-changeable once they were in action, all with the same armor and abilities. And although Secret Weapons tried to change that up by giving each character only one ability, I couldn't really make myself care that much. Meh.

[hawkeyeps]

I agree "meh" was why VH1 died and deservedly so, it was real down hill slope I bailed out at "Birthquake".

That said I am now fishing this crap out of dollar bins and that's kinda fun even if I never read it.

[BugsySig]

I did like Hard Corps though. If they don't bring back Psi-Lords or Armorines I will be okay with that though.

Most of them had a little charm that could make them interesting to a mild degree. I couldn't wait to dig into Magnus -- but Armorines? Didn't really care.

Hard Corps had some interesting character inter-play. Psi-Lords actually got interesting when their home world was ruined by Ravenrok. And while the Armorines tried to distinguish each character with a painted tag on each suit of armor, they were all pretty much inter-changeable once they were in action, all with the same armor and abilities. And although Secret Weapons tried to change that up by giving each character only one ability, I couldn't really make myself care that much. Meh.

HARD Corps just needs to be done right. Aging, gritty war veterans who become the very thing they are created to control? That's pretty cool, and can be very different from anything else out there. I agree an adiustment to their abilities may be in order so as not to be repetative, though.

Of course, I think this is just a re-introduction (a la Ninjak) and not a new title as of yet. If this was the next title over Rai (or even Eternal Warrior or Ninjak) I would be very surprised and severely-mildly disappointed.

I totally agree on Psi-Lords and Armorines--Best left as supporting/background/special appearance characters than getting their own title.

I've made my thoughts about a Scret Weapons book (as an espionage thriller starring Ninjak) clear before--Gimme! And I think Dr. Mirage could be a launching pad for many of the concepts of humanity and power that Solar once addressed.

[greg]

The general concept for the movie 2008 "WALL-E" matches the 1994 concept for Psi-Lords.
Society leaves Earth for generations on a spaceship, eventually returning... though one group is superpowered while the other is supersized.

WALL-E is a sentient robot... now, where have we run into that concept before... **cough-cough-Magnus-cough**

[Chiclo]

It would make a lot of sense for Hard CORPS to spin out of Harbinger Wars.

And Rai can get in line behind Psi-Lords for relaunched properties!

[greg]

It would make a lot of sense for Hard CORPS to spin out of Harbinger Wars.

And Rai can get in line behind Psi-Lords for relaunched properties!

Rai is only behind Psi-Lords if you put them in alphabetical order... which VEI isn't doing or we'd still be waiting for X-O.

[FormerReader]

And Rai can get in line behind Psi-Lords for relaunched properties!

Not funny. At all.

[myron]

Looks like a letter 'C' and a letter 'O' to me! Gotta be HARD Corps spinning out of Harbinger Wars! Awesome!

/Magnus

Quick question from a Valiant newbie: what the hell was Valiant Vision? All I'm thinking of is the joke answer of seeing everybody as a Valiant character with the glasses from They Live.

If i remember correctly you are partially right. It was an attempt at 3D and resulted in lousy art.

Well, I think it was more lousy coloring than the art.

The way the effect worked is it brought warm colours like red to the front and cool colours like blue to background, it worked on all kinds of things not just the comics, it was pretty funky (check out the A&A #11 cover, it looks great in V vision).

That said if you didn't have the glasses and are just reading the issue you would be like WTF?

Psi-Lords (gangnam style!) and Destroyer (dark Solar) used this a lot, I even have a few V vision promo posters from that era.

Unfortunately this was just before the comics "dark age" of the late 90s early 00s.

Carol Van Hook said the Valiant Vision color scheme used to make here sick to her stomach when she was coloring them...there's an old thread about it around here somewhere...

[FormerReader]

Carol Van Hook said the Valiant Vision color scheme used to make here sick to her stomach when she was coloring them...there's an old thread about it around here somewhere...

Funny, reading those issues make me sick to my stomach.

[jmatt]

HARD Corps just needs to be done right.

I don't disagree and so far VEI has changed enough of what we saw in VH1 to keep it interesting. But the book would need a fantastic writer and a new wrinkle to make it exciting, imo.

It's weird. I never thought the notion of some kind of brain implant allowing the mimicry of Harbinger powers was all that believable from a scientific standpoint. If you're going to try to sell me the concept that a scientifically engineered brain implant can impart the abilities of flight and stun-ram, then I need more convincing than simply declaring 'it can'.

But I would be delighted to completely suspend my need to have it be 'realistic' if there was some kind of cosmic or godly or magical premise underlying such powers; the only caveat being that said premise was told in a sufficiently compelling manner.

[Spylocke]

I would like the power switching of a revamped H.a.r.d. Corps if there were some limitations and horrible side effects of the process so it seems less like they hit the power lottery and more like a steep cost for power. I could totally buy a newer version of the Hammerhead/Flatline dynamic if they made Flatline a first or second generation North Korean or Afghan immigrant.

H.A.R.D. Corps could offer an interesting look at the Valiant universes military-industrial complex from the inside. Maybe even have a corporation with a military arm that isn't evil. I think it has a lot of potential as a new title. Other than a Rai title with a Vine version of Spylocke a new Hard Corps title is what I'd like to see the most. Wait. Also a Livewire and Stronghold book. Hmm. The more I think the more stuff I'd like to see come out so I'll just shut up now.

[MarrowMan]

If Sears is doing an X-O Cover, you think VEI could get Jim Lee to do a Variant for HARDCorps ?

[BugsySig]

I would like the power switching of a revamped H.a.r.d. Corps if there were some limitations and horrible side effects of the process so it seems less like they hit the power lottery and more like a steep cost for power. I could totally buy a newer version of the Hammerhead/Flatline dynamic if they made Flatline a first or second generation North Korean or Afghan immigrant.

H.A.R.D. Corps could offer an interesting look at the Valiant universes military-industrial complex from the inside. Maybe even have a corporation with a military arm that isn't evil. I think it has a lot of potential as a new title. Other than a Rai title with a Vine version of Spylocke a new Hard Corps title is what I'd like to see the most. Wait. Also a Livewire and Stronghold book. Hmm. The more I think the more stuff I'd like to see come out so I'll just shut up now.

Something akin to Nick Spencer's THUNDER Agents, where the powers/technology will kill you if used too much, or takes away your humanity in some way I could deal with that quite well. In fact, lets get Nick Spencer to write it!