Valiant Comics Relaunch Question

superggraphics · Post by **superggraphics** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 11:34 pm

Will the Valiant Comics relaunch books fare better in sales figures than the Dark Horse Comics/Gold Key Heroes books and why? What say you?

G

magnusr · Post by **magnusr** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 11:42 pm

superggraphics wrote:Will the Valiant Comics relaunch books fare better in sales figures than the Dark Horse Comics/Gold Key Heroes books and why? What say you?

G

They could if the launch is handled as well as it looks right now. It all depends on the buzz which depends on marketing and ultimately the quality of the books.

/Magnus

400yrs · Post by **400yrs** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 11:44 pm

Boy, that's a really tough guess to make. It depends on a whole lot of things.

The DK books actually started off with impressive numbers on Doc Solar 1 and Magnus 1, but slid even faster than usual.

IMO and this is a complete guess based on very little information and all speculation ..... I think VEI numbers will start off a bit better than DK providing they advertise adequately. I do not think they will tank as bad as the DK books, but they will slide like all books.

The question is whether the product is good. If it is good and on time, will they be able to wait about 18 months for the books to be out before having to pull the plug before it can catch on.

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 11:53 pm

I think they will do better. Why?

I think a lot of the comic buying public (somewhat older to middle aged dudes) will remember the magic of Valiant.

Of course, quality will dictate success.

ian_house · Post by **ian_house** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:16 am

I think they need to do alot better than the DK line. 20,000ish for Solar 1 and then a very sharp decline (implying overprint for this 1st issue) down to less than 10,000 VERY fast.

Elveen, why didn't people remember the magic of Valiant with the DH line, as they were debatably more Valiant than VEI are? Shooter and the 2 biggest characters from the VU, as opposed to some liscences this time around.

I really hope VEI try to lead the way with a character a few people are going to know, as I think something like Ninjak would fall flat without a name to back it up.

IanAlexavier · Post by **IanAlexavier** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 8:02 am

The one thing that sticks in my mind about the DH line is that the books had BEAUTIFUL DYNAMIC covers... then when people looked inside they were disappointed? Is this accurate? I only have one issue.

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 8:04 am

IanAlexavier wrote:The one thing that sticks in my mind about the DH line is that the books had BEAUTIFUL DYNAMIC covers... then when people looked inside they were disappointed? Is this accurate? I only have one issue.

The covers were indeed better than the interiors, but it sort of fit the feel of the original GK books, which had pretty lousy-mostly-interiors but some of the best covers to grace any comics at any time.

betterthanezra · Post by **betterthanezra** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 8:16 am

I think they will do well. I think VEI has better characters than even they even think they do. If done right they could sell very well.

Of course the complete opposite could also happen.

-Brian

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:05 am

I think they'll do well too. As much time as they have spent planning and preparing, there shouldn't be any issues with late books. And the DK books failing might even help them out. The absence of those characters from the new Valiant won't be as big of a deal. They were given a chance and couldn't stand on their own.

Jersen · Post by **Jersen** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:11 am

I have to say that I'm actually more excited than I thought I would be. The reason why I thought I might not be more excited was because I knew it would be Valiant without it's 2 flagship characters.

However, some of the interviews I've read about the approach they're taking and the speculation on what they're going to build the universe around has me very pumped about the potential for what they can do. I want to see this take off and become very successful.

iggy101us · Post by **iggy101us** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:40 am

I think initially the numbers will be less than Dark Horse GK books. Readers and retailers may view the Dark Horse re-launch as the original Valiant re-launch part 1 and the VEI re-launch as the original Valiant re-launch part 2. Seeing the declining trend of the DH GK line, retailers may be reluctant to pre-order too many VEI books.

How many VEI books will sell after the first few issues, of course, will depend on the quality of the comics. If the quality is there and the comics are being published regularly, readership should climb steadily. I believe a big part of DH’s declining numbers was due to the irregular release schedule.

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:42 am

Let's just hope that VEI does not suffer from the same scheduling problem that Dark Horse had. I think that was one of biggest things that hurt the DK line.

kevinbastos · Post by **kevinbastos** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:15 am

iggy101us wrote: I believe a big part of DH’s declining numbers was due to the irregular release schedule.

Amen, iggy!

I can say that MANY of the people I'd pumped them up to - including local shop - laughed a bit at the schedule.

On the other hand, I hope this year-long planning for launch IS following the lack of success in the Dark Key line.

I can remember being ticked off when a mainstream comic would publish the filler issue - especially during the middle of a storyline. ONCE - I can remember West Coast Avengers putting out TWO filler issues IN A ROW in the middle of a storyline. At least new comics came out, though.

Turok has published two issues in the last year. Two.

Doctor Solar - the 'flagship' published seven.

Magnus started as a comic, then switched angles to a limited run - after issue two, perhaps?

The Occultist jumped onto the bandwagon and so the total is fourteen.

This year-long prep - hopefully is to AVOID THAT problem.

orbitalshift · Post by **orbitalshift** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:29 am

For me Calleros art in Solar #1 was the death nail. In my mind it tainted the entire line. Magnus was passable, but just barely. It was much better than Callero, but no where near what I'd hoped for. Turok was the high point, but waiting 6 months for an issue is just silly. Samson was just ok too. They all had a rough unfinished look I didn't like. Though the style kinda worked with Turok.

If VEI can capture that Shooter feel that the early Valiants had, they may do well. Shooter stories, to me, have direction and purpose and ultimately change the status quo.

Certainly seems they are making an effort to build interest way more than DH ever did.

Makes me wish Jim had stayed there, but there was likely much more going on behind the scenes, that we will never know.

dave · Post by **dave** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 11:54 am

I think that they will do very well. They have planned this well and they have surrounded themselves with good people.

DH did not promote the DK books all that much after the initial wave. DNV will have nothing else to promote so that shouldn't be a problem.

I'm expecting good things.

That said, no books could succeed in today's market with a release schedule like the DH books had.

StarBrand · Post by **StarBrand** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:01 pm

Good idea for discussion. It seems VEI really has all their ducks lined up, so I'll go with yes. That being said, I thought Dark Horse would do a better job on thier launch, as far as running things.

FormerReader · Post by **FormerReader** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:07 pm

It could be a good lesson learned for Valiant seeing what happened to the DH line. This could just as easliy happen to them if they don't plan ahead of time.

That being said, I haven't bought a comic since '94 besides the Valiant issues I just started buying recently on this website and I'm pretty excited to see what they can do.

kevinbastos · Post by **kevinbastos** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:09 pm

Sorry - forgot the Might Samson line

Perhaps not that surprising...

17 books.

In total.

StarBrand · Post by **StarBrand** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:40 pm

kevinbastos wrote:Sorry - forgot the Might Samson line

Perhaps not that surprising...

17 books.

In total.

A few more to come, still.

StarBrand · Post by **StarBrand** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:42 pm

FormerReader wrote:It could be a good lesson learned for Valiant seeing what happened to the DH line. This could just as easliy happen to them if they don't plan ahead of time.

I agree, along with checking out the early struggles the Atlas relaunch is having getting their books out. If the new Valiant doesn't get their books out on time, that will take a huge chunk of sales away, maybe something like 50%, taking a wild guess. It's imperitive they put their books out on time. They need dependable artists.

etos45 · Post by **etos45** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:09 pm

I'm going to have to agree with everyone else and say that the release schedule killed the DH line. I'll also say the art. Granted, neither of these two really bothered me because I usually only pick my comics up every month or two anyways, and the art of a comic isn't a deal breaker for me as long as the story is good

The biggest problem I had with the DH line was that I really didn't like the direction Solar was taking and I didn't care much for the Turok issues. Magnus was pretty good, I guess, but even it couldn't hold a candle to the Valiant Magnus. My favorite of the books was Mighty Samson. I would have really liked to have seen where he was going with that.

As a whole, though, I just don't think it was Shooter's best work. Then again, since he didn't really get the time to flesh out the stories, I guess it's not fair to compare them.

Now, as for VEI, I think they are going to have a similar challenge as DH did because they are going to have to reinvent something that is already familiar to most of the initial readers. That's going to leave them pretty open to critiques because if it's too different then people are going to complain that they aren't enough like the characters they loved. On the flip side, if it's too much like the originals, people will complain that they've already read these stories. Finding that balance will be the biggest trick.

kevinbastos · Post by **kevinbastos** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:55 pm

StarBrand wrote:
kevinbastos wrote:Sorry - forgot the Might Samson line

Perhaps not that surprising...

17 books.

In total.
A few more to come, still.

Planned to come, perhaps?

SJS4 · Post by **SJS4** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:31 pm

I think the biggest thing that will matter to me, as a fan, is which characters they start out with. I don't think its possible (or even advantageous) for them to immediately begin publishing a series for all the main characters, so they will have to decide which ones to launch with.

I had my favorites of course, just like most people. It should be interesting to see which characters they "lead with" on the initial launch.

StarBrand · Post by **StarBrand** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:39 pm

kevinbastos wrote:
StarBrand wrote:
kevinbastos wrote:Sorry - forgot the Might Samson line

Perhaps not that surprising...

17 books.

In total.
A few more to come, still.
Planned to come, perhaps?

Dr Solar 7 just came out last week, and I believe they'll put out issue 8 so they can do a TPB. I believe they'll also finish four issues of Mighty Samson and Turok.

iwantvaliant · Post by **iwantvaliant** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:36 pm

I would also just like to say how important it is to get the books out on time. Turok #1 was their best selling book and it took 5 months for issue two to come out. GET THE BOOKS OUT ON TIME!!

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