My Valiant story-I could've been a contender

[Mark]

When the Valiant line started, like so many of us back then that loved the books, we became passionate and patriotic to the cause. I remember trying to buy every single Valiant book there was just because the stories(Shooter) were amazing and the Universe just seem to be what I was looking for.

At the same time, I decided to leverage my knowledge of computers with my love of comics. As such, I developed along with a co-worker, a comic book related bulletin board. The internet as a tool for all was in its infancy and still for most people an unknown entity. America On-Line was advertising as a new way of connecting. The world was changing.

The difference with this bulletin board compared to other boards was that we developed this as a full screen application. It effectively was Wizard Magazine(again, think early days) but on line. We took this to comic shows and comic shops and asked people to pay a fee if they wanted to sign up. They did. Our local newspaper printed a story on us and we were up and running, modifying this weekly.

Then we added a feature called BUY/SELL where people could post what they wanted to buy or sell and we were connecting others in this way.

And then it hit us.

Why not offer this as an exclusive to a comic company? We would allow this to be a dedicated resource for them, the company would pay us a modest fee for the service. We could post pages, issues, advertise, etc.
There was only one company to offer this to-Valiant.

So I called Valiant and spoke to their Director of Marketing.

What is sad and I so apologize for this is I cannot remember his name. What I do remember is he was incredible to work with, a great guy to talk to and a real professional. We demo'd the bulletin board to him. He really liked it. He made some suggestions to us which we then took to heart and customized the board. We effectively made it a Valiant Board. During this time, he sent me a few VVSS books which I still have to this day.

Finally, it was agreed to give us the green light to present but all indications were that it was a formality. We had been green lit inside and it was time to present to all of the decision makers. We looked forward to the big day!

Then it happened. We received a phone call that the meeting would have to be cancelled. Apparently, a larger company was taking over Valiant, purchasing them and everything was on hold. People would be losing their jobs. It was a big shape up where in everything was changing. Valiant as a publishing line was coming to an end.

We all know the rest of the story.

At that point, all of the effort we had put into the board just about stopped. It was getting harder and harder to keep writing all the screens, reviews, content and pay the bills without some additional cash. We though about putting this on the Internet but our real jobs consumed our time. Besides, who wants an application to buy or sell things online anyway?(Yeah, I know, I know......)

Well, I still have all my Valiants. From a prior post, I really only need about a half dozen or so books to have a complete NM set. But Valiant will always have a warm spot in my comic room and in my heart.

Thanks for reading, all.

Mark

[Daniel Jackson]

Interesting story, thanks for posting that.

[robb77]

Cool post and welcome to the board

[96Valiantfan]

Welcome

[comicsyte95]

Welcome!

[iggy101us]

Welcome.

I'd rather pay fees to MarkBay than eBay.

[iggy101us]

So I called Valiant and spoke to their Director of Marketing.

What is sad and I so apologize for this is I cannot remember his name.

Seymour Miles? He was the VP of Ad Sales and Marketing.

[caniac]

Awesome story man...welcome!

[Elveen]

Cool post bro.

[myron]

nice post...keep it up and welcome

[Mark]

So I called Valiant and spoke to their Director of Marketing.

What is sad and I so apologize for this is I cannot remember his name.

Seymour Miles? He was the VP of Ad Sales and Marketing.

It wasn't him! Perhaps, it was someone in charge of publicity for Valiant? I know if I hear the name, I will know it.

[Mark]

Welcome.

I'd rather pay fees to MarkBay than eBay.

Thanks...and given the latest valuation, so do I!!!

[iggy101us]

So I called Valiant and spoke to their Director of Marketing.

What is sad and I so apologize for this is I cannot remember his name.

Seymour Miles? He was the VP of Ad Sales and Marketing.

It wasn't him! Perhaps, it was someone in charge of publicity for Valiant? I know if I hear the name, I will know it.

Marty Stever, Vice President Marketing
Paul Fairchild, Direct Sales Manager

[magnusr]

It wasn't him! Perhaps, it was someone in charge of publicity for Valiant? I know if I hear the name, I will know it.

Iggy's suggestion for Paul Fairchild sounds good. There's also Fred Pierce.

/Magnus

[Mark]

It wasn't him! Perhaps, it was someone in charge of publicity for Valiant? I know if I hear the name, I will know it.

Iggy's suggestion for Paul Fairchild sounds good. There's also Fred Pierce.

/Magnus

I think it was Paul! That just sounds right!
Whatever happened to those guys? anyone know? did they stay in the Industry?

Mark

[caxiotis]

Welcome

[hotwings1979]

Welcome to the board!