Armor Hunters is Coming...

[grendeljd]

Looks very cool to me - love that logo, and the tag line. I'd suspect its a story-arc &/or mini series title.

I'd love to see it set in 4001 - one possible interpretation of that vague line, if set in 4001, could be a group put together by the Eternal 'King' Gilad, to hunt down Shanhara... Perhaps sparked by a legend of where it lies hidden. A race in the future to find what may still be the most powerful tech on the planet...

[leonmallett]

My gut feeling is mini series; some kind of Vine return and the launch of Armorines from the events. Not too dissimilar from the HARDCorps launch maybe.

While the text of the logo fits the VEI trade dress, I honestly think Armorines is a snappier title than Armor Hunters, so i hope this a reflection of a limited series that will act as a story spine.

[Shadowman99]

I like the "bend the knee or take the head" tag on this teaser

Not sure if I should be reading anything into it or just take it at face value..

I guess it could be taken from 2 different vantage points ...

bow to me or you will lose your head

or

you can either bow to your enemy .. or you can fight (and take off their head)

Speaking of vantage points, you could y'know... bend the knee and suck the head. Just putting that out there.

My guess is on event/crossover as oppose to new title. And probably set in the future timeline as well, to bolster that universe and flesh it out a bit.

[hunter_peterson]

I like the "bend the knee or take the head" tag on this teaser

Not sure if I should be reading anything into it or just take it at face value..

I guess it could be taken from 2 different vantage points ...

bow to me or you will lose your head

or

you can either bow to your enemy .. or you can fight (and take off their head)

Speaking of vantage points, you could y'know... bend the knee and suck the head. Just putting that out there.

My guess is on event/crossover as oppose to new title. And probably set in the future timeline as well, to bolster that universe and flesh it out a bit.

I think you're right and this is the next Harbinger Wars type event, centered around the salvaging of Vine tech from the Earth's ring. And it would be very cool if other aliens were interested in the Vine tech, especially if they have earthbound populations as well...

[pixierosa]

I'm looking forward to a new storyline. It does seem to me that this topic would lend itself better to a miniseries rather than an ongoing. How many months of "we are racing to get the armor before the others/battling for armor" can be done before it gets stale? Guess the story could focus on what's being done with the armor, but hunting as a main theme would grow old.

Though unlikely, it could be that the armor is not being hunted, but that there are "hunters" (bounty hunters? mercs?) who use the armor in their work. Like Boba Fett.

It does look like wolf-class armor. I figured with all of the space wreckage in orbit now, multiple countries and agencies would be trying to get a hold of new technology. We know the Vine hybrids had infiltrated the British government; surely they did the same in other countries. Humanoid bodies in Vine armor could very well be hybrids (at first). Given the hive mind, they are likely to have more intimate knowledge of how to use the armor than standard joes.

I don't mind the concept of the hand/sword logo at all, but I'm not a fan of the chunky font.

Go Valiant! It's good to see them marketing themes that aren't necessarily from their origin (I know, Armorines, but these seems teased to be different).

[Keith]

Looks like we have another teaser... can someone else post the image?

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/12/17/ ... is-coming/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[leonmallett]

Thanks.

The design reminds me a little of the current Vine-style suits which are bulky, although the 'head' area is different.

Vine coming to reclaim what is 'theirs'? X-O fights back maybe? Armorines would be perfect.

I do hope this is another mini and not just an in-title arc.

[Keith]

Thanks.

The design reminds me a little of the current Vine-style suits which are bulky, although the 'head' area is different.

Vine coming to reclaim what is 'theirs'? X-O fights back maybe? Armorines would be perfect.

I do hope this is another mini and not just an in-title arc.

I was thinking another species, maybe even something of a Celestials magnitude. Perhaps even the original creators of the X-O armor? They've been looking for the armor for a very long time, and Aric's recent activities have drawn them to Earth.

[leonmallett]

Thanks.

The design reminds me a little of the current Vine-style suits which are bulky, although the 'head' area is different.

Vine coming to reclaim what is 'theirs'? X-O fights back maybe? Armorines would be perfect.

I do hope this is another mini and not just an in-title arc.

I was thinking another species, maybe even something of a Celestials magnitude. Perhaps even the original creators of the X-O armor? They've been looking for the armor for a very long time, and Aric's recent activities have drawn them to Earth.

More in the mix? That always adds dramatic tension.

[vaevictis]

I am thinking this will be a mini-series and the Armor Hunters are the Torment that were first shown in Planet Death. I also think it will lead into an Armorines book.

[BugsySig]

Thanks.

The design reminds me a little of the current Vine-style suits which are bulky, although the 'head' area is different.

Vine coming to reclaim what is 'theirs'? X-O fights back maybe? Armorines would be perfect.

I do hope this is another mini and not just an in-title arc.

I was thinking another species, maybe even something of a Celestials magnitude. Perhaps even the original creators of the X-O armor? They've been looking for the armor for a very long time, and Aric's recent activities have drawn them to Earth.

Was thinking the same. The "head" of the robot almost looks like Shanhara when in its orb state.

I am thinking this will be a mini-series and the Armor Hunters are the Torment that were first shown in Planet Death. I also think it will lead into an Armorines book.

Also agree with this. The Torment came to mind as soon as I saw it. Not sure why, but they did.

[Shadowman99]

[BugsySig]

Cary Nord posted this interesting pic on Instagram:

http://instagram.com/p/iAmgK-JXIK/

[Shadowman99]

Cary Nord posted this interesting pic on Instagram:

http://instagram.com/p/iAmgK-JXIK/

Oo! I know! It's a robot!

[grendeljd]

Thanks.

The design reminds me a little of the current Vine-style suits which are bulky, although the 'head' area is different.

Vine coming to reclaim what is 'theirs'? X-O fights back maybe? Armorines would be perfect.

I do hope this is another mini and not just an in-title arc.

I was thinking another species, maybe even something of a Celestials magnitude. Perhaps even the original creators of the X-O armor? They've been looking for the armor for a very long time, and Aric's recent activities have drawn them to Earth.

Was thinking the same. The "head" of the robot almost looks like Shanhara when in its orb state.

I am thinking this will be a mini-series and the Armor Hunters are the Torment that were first shown in Planet Death. I also think it will lead into an Armorines book.

Also agree with this. The Torment came to mind as soon as I saw it. Not sure why, but they did.

Good thinking - could be The Torment. I think we need to see more if them as a new entity in the Valiant U.

Alternatively, could these be Malev's?

[Phoenix8008]

Cary Nord posted this interesting pic on Instagram:

http://instagram.com/p/iAmgK-JXIK/

Oo! I know! It's a robot!

I'm guessing a medical corpsman maybe. Armorine I bet.

[Shadowman99]

Cary Nord posted this interesting pic on Instagram:

http://instagram.com/p/iAmgK-JXIK/

Oo! I know! It's a robot!

I'm guessing a medical corpsman maybe. Armorine I bet.

Weren't the original Armourines humans in armour though?

Not a far cry to suggest that VEI armourines may be 100% mechanised of course.

[leonmallett]

Something that occurred to me; assuming this is an event like Harbinger Wars was, and not simply a story arc, would it be the ideal time for X-O Manowar #0 as a lead-in?

Of course the above assumption could be very faulty ( ), and this could be a lot of hype around a single title story arc, but I am now hoping for that zero issue along with Armor Hunters as a mini series and Armorines as a new spin-off series.

[Newton]

Hmm my gut reaction is negative to this. I hope it is better than it looks. I am starting to feel like a few too many titles are coming out a bit too fast

[leonmallett]

Hmm my gut reaction is negative to this. I hope it is better than it looks.

Truth in the quality will be in the reading, so we can only hope for the best.

I am starting to feel like a few too many titles are coming out a bit too fast

If VEI don't push on and grow, they would be criticized from some quarters (including myself).

That said, is it 'too fast' as in you feel there is a quality reduction? Or 'too fast' for some other reason?

[Phoenix8008]

Something that occurred to me; assuming this is an event like Harbinger Wars was, and not simply a story arc, would it be the ideal time for X-O Manowar #0 as a lead-in?

Of course the above assumption could be very faulty ( ), and this could be a lot of hype around a single title story arc, but I am now hoping for that zero issue along with Armor Hunters as a mini series and Armorines as a new spin-off series.

I'd love to see an X-O #0 as a lead in to this, especially if the villain is the Torment. Now that they've started doing 'split' zero issues, you could even call is "X-O Manowar #0 : Shanhara" like they did with the Archer specific A&A #0!

[Newton]

That said, is it 'too fast' as in you feel there is a quality reduction? Or 'too fast' for some other reason?

So far I have not been disappointed with the quality, but I have a fear that the quality will decline rapidly if they grow the number of titles faster than they can outline a good overarching strategy and story for the line. I think we are already starting to see this a bit with Shadowman being the best example IMO.

I saw this happen with VH1 once they hit the number of titles VEI is planning for this year. Granted there were other factors going on behind the scenes, but that is the risk you run trying to grow at a fast pace.

[leonmallett]

That said, is it 'too fast' as in you feel there is a quality reduction? Or 'too fast' for some other reason?

So far I have not been disappointed with the quality, but I have a fear that the quality will decline rapidly if they grow the number of titles faster than they can outline a good overarching strategy and story for the line.

Fair comment, but the counterpoint would be that the point of diminishing quality return could still be a way off in terms of number of books.

Not all books are going to hit well with all the potential audiences, espsecially as a line does grow.

I think we are already starting to see this a bit with Shadowman being the best example IMO.

I think Shadowman is a strange beast for VEI; sales have been well within the overall range, yet it feels anecdotally like there has been more vocal criticism of this book (on this board at least) than any other VEI book.

Further, for its first 8 issues, Shadowman was among only 5 or 6 VEI books each month. Same for issue 10. So for the most part a slate of issues has not arguably counted against it because for those first 8 issues, the other books were existing titles. Therefore quality stood on its own merits, especially as each book at that time had a specific writer in, although the artist merry-go-round is another thing!

The need for fill-ins would have to have been known for at least 2 or 3 months (probably more) in advance to get published and turned around in time; the fill-ins seemed to follow the decision for a new direction than anything else, but while sustaining publishing so as not to have a hiatus, so I am not sure Shadowman stacks up as evidence of decline in correlation to number of titles published on balance.

I saw this happen with VH1 once they hit the number of titles VEI is planning for this year. Granted there were other factors going on behind the scenes, but that is the risk you run trying to grow at a fast pace.

How fast is fast though? Hard to think of an equivalent or comparable publisher that has started up in recent years, and has relied on its own IP and has sustained regular publishing.

Ultimately, I think the key is not a set number of books as being the risk, but sustainability; whether in sales, or overall perception of quality, or some mix of factors perhaps.

[Newton]

Well one thing is for sure.. VEI deserves the benefit of the doubt for now Overall I have been quite satisfied with everything.

[leonmallett]

Well one thing is for sure.. VEI deserves the benefit of the doubt for now Overall I have been quite satisfied with everything.