Anyone else underwhelmed?

[KenClarkson4Prez]

Ok, judging from the universal praise I am seeing, I expect to be alone or nearly alone on this. I really haven't been blown away by anything I have read in the new books. They are pretty decent, but the original Valiant created a gold standard that no comic has ever come close to in my book. Perhaps part of my feeling is based on the fact that the initial stories in the original XO, Harby and A&A were perfection. The issues we have seen so far are rewrites/updates of those original runs. I realize a fresh start was needed, I just strongly prefer the style and structure of the originals and it is a little tough to accept changes to perfection. I feel the same way whenever I see a classic movie remade for modern audiences.


I bought it when it came out and I still haven't read the new A&A yet. That book (along with Magnus) was my favorite of the original line. I have more invested in that title that the other 3. Maybe I will get more excited once I start reading completely new stories, or see more connection between titles. I don't mean this as a criticism, and have no idea what they could "do better". I feel like I have given them a chance and am not close to giving up on them. There is still loads potential there, I am just not there yet. I feel the same ennui that I felt towards the Shooter Dark Horse stuff. It is cool to be buying books again, I'm just waiting to be blown away.

[MarrowMan]

It's an unfortunate truth that comic book stories and structures are just different now. I too enjoyed the originals for what they were An over-arching story with sub stories/plots/etc underlying that arch that have a beginning/middle/conclusion. It just doesn't work that way anymore. It'll be close to this time next year (if you're patient) that the stories will come to a head (In my opinion) If you stick it out.

[KXXX]

I'm not really digging X-O so far, to be honest. It's short on dialogue and some things have developed too quickly.

[Zaphod]

I am guessing this is going to be a minor nit-pick (that I've already brought up) but I was re-reading The first Unit TPB last night and I really really REALLY miss the time coding.

I've made it this far and abandoned getting back what was lost and simply trying to look at this as what it is, a reboot.

Most reboots are bad, I am still holding out judgement on this one but at the price point not for long.

[SJS4]

Meh, everyone has their own preferences for how to tell a story. Personally I am very much enjoying X-O and Harbinger. I am curious to see where Bloodshot and A&A go.

Overall though I think it is probably too early to judge how good they will be. IMHO, the quality of the orgiinal pre-unity Solar/Harbinger/X-O were really only evident once Unity hit and just after. It takes a while to tell a good story. I am hopeful about VEI so far, but it could all go wrong in a couple of issues for all I know. I am enjoying the rid ein the mean time though.

[tchalla8]

What's helping me enjoy it is not comparing it to VH1, but to what else is out there in the market these days. When you do that, VEI looks like gold.

[KenClarkson4Prez]

I suppose thats the way to go. I read so few other titles though, I really don't have many points of reference.

What's helping me enjoy it is not comparing it to VH1, but to what else is out there in the market these days. When you do that, VEI looks like gold.

[FormerReader]

What I think so far is all the stories have been good and I look forward to reading the next issues. Are they as good as pre-unity? No maybe not.

We all hold those issues in high regard. The problem with that for all of us is it makes it hard to follow up those issues. They have been good stories to date, but they are different and we all have remove any preconceptions we have otherwise we may find ourselves let down.

[BugsySig]

If you are underwhelmed (which i have been with XO so far) while there is universal praise, it is more a reflection on the industry as a whole today. I try to compare the new launch with other shared universes so as to avoid the pitfall of comparing to say Saga or TWD or even Vertigo books. As someone who has bounced around between Marvel, DC and Dynamite over the past few years I can say VALIANT has been very good in comparison to most of the books those companies produce today and in the recent past.

That being said, they pale in comparison thus far to the original, but as others stated, it is a much different industry than 20 years ago. I would also preach patience as it is easy to look back on several years worth of books and find fault with 3 or fewer issues of the relaunch. I would revisit this in a year and see if we are underwhelmed or not.

[Newton]

The VEI books are as exciting to me now as the VH1 stuff was when I first started reading them then I think. Granted I did start VH1 right after Unity.

Maybe my expectations are different than yours, but for me the balance of respecting the original material + bringing some new ideas to the table is being handled about as well as I could have hoped.

I think VEI and its creators are working magic and that is coming from someone who is fairly critical about most things (such as movie remakes). If anything, I probably like the new books more than the average person on the boards seems to.

[The Dirt Gang]

I wouldn't say I've been underwhelmed. They haven't lived up to the first time I read Unity #1 (my first Valiant book) as a 15 year old kid, but I wouldn't expect them to. That issue blew me away. As there were no comic book shops in my town, I could only buy Marvel and DC comics from the local Wal-Mart, and Unity #1 floored me. I'd never read anything like it. I repeatedly read the timeline on the back page and kept thinking about all that I had missed.

Of course, I couldn't afford all the pre-Unity titles at the time, so it took me years to track them all down. I bring this up to say, I have a lot of history/nostalgia with those books and I doubt anything will ever live up to that period of my life in terms of my relationship with comics. However, I've read a lot of great books that I would definitely put up there close to those pre-Unity books. I still think they are great reads but I also recognize that mountain of history and nostalgia that deepens my feelings for those books. I don't feel the same about comics in general that I did back then.

That being said, it seems only natural that these might be slightly underwhelming, we've all had years to build up our expectations. The decompressed storytelling in modern comics can at times be somewhat frustrating. Part of why I probably like this new Harbingers and A&A best is they feel less decompressed. But I still think VEI is turning out a quality product and I look forward to seeing how these first arcs end and they begin to tie the universe together.

Actually, the only book I've really been underwhelmed by thus far is Shadowman. I believe I'm in the minority but I think he looks like if Chapel were a hair and make-up person in Hollywood.

[tchalla8]

Another thing to note...while the stories have yet to complete capture us like the originals, I'm loving seeing some of my favorite characters being drawn by some of the best artists in the industry. Love seeing modern renderings of these icons. Not to take away from the artists of VH1, but art has come a long way in 20 years.

[graybola]

I gotta say I disagree. The only complaint I have is that I cant read the entire first story arc at one time and have to wait for a month at a time. The changes that have been made were necessary and, for me at least, do not change the characterizations.

I read the original titles when they came out in the 90's and loved them! I think we are used to being able to pick up harbinger 1-7 and reading a complete story and not used to waiting for a month in between issues.

Either way, I have waited almost 20 years for something like this to happen and am on board till its over.

[Rufusharley]

Ok. I love the old valiant. That being said some of it reads old and dated and cheesy.

Ive heard nothing but praise for the new stuff. And , as it's been said many times already, the key to success is new readers. Ones who've perhaps never even read classic valiant stories

[MarrowMan]

[dhudson1]

One big difference is many of the people here got into the original Valiant after the fact, so people were able to read the entire story arc at one time. This made for a different experience than the wait a month we now have to face.

Plus, it is easy to look at the originals with rose-colored glasses. They were not all perfect, even the pre-unity was not perfect, but it was exciting.

I like the direction things are going. You can tell there is thought behind the direction they are taking the stories, seeds being planted that we may not yet understand.

I do have a little problem with today's decompressed story style, but that is in all comics, not just Valiant. It's almost as if writers think why tell a story in 1 - 2 issues when 5 - 6 will do just as well. Personally, I think this is a bit lazy, don't need to develop as many story ideas in a year this way, but again, this is the entire industry.

[dhudson1]

What's helping me enjoy it is not comparing it to VH1, but to what else is out there in the market these days. When you do that, VEI looks like gold.

[dhudson1]

I'm not really digging X-O so far, to be honest. It's short on dialogue and some things have developed too quickly.

Too quickly, I think it has been very decompressed, especially when compared to the original.

[400yrs]

The issues we have seen so far are rewrites/updates of those original runs. I realize a fresh start was needed, I just strongly prefer the style and structure of the originals and it is a little tough to accept changes to perfection. I feel the same way whenever I see a classic movie remade for modern audiences.

It sounds like you much prefer original things. In that case, yeah, you should be underwhelmed. As you said, these are rewrites / updates to this point. That's a necessity. They are trying to capture the comic reading public, not the few of us on this site. I definitely get what you are saying, but maybe that will change after they re-lay this ground work for all readers.

For me, the test of what is better between this stuff and pre-unity is what I would rather pick up and read. And with the one exception being A&A #0 vs VEI A&A #1, I'd pick these VEI books over the pre-unity books any day. That stuff, while still good, is somewhat dated.

Maybe I will get more excited once I start reading completely new stories, or see more connection between titles.

Probably.

[nutflush76]

I have liked all the stories OK so far. I really like the direction they are taking Harbinger in and am least impressed by Bloodshot so far. But, it's still early.

as far as being blown away, most of us are cynical 35+ year olds. When we read the original valiant stuff, we were all young and impressionable teenagers. Valiant was something new. A shared universe? Real time-continuity? Dead means dead? These were all concepts we had never seen before and were groundbreaking at the time.

Now all of that has been done before.

It's also a line that is trying to appeal to the pluggged-in generation. When we started reading valiant we had our NES systems to entertain us, VCRs, and we played outside. Now kids have their PS3s, DVRs, and spend most of their free time on the computer. it's a different world and these books are going to reflect that.

[MarrowMan]

I have liked all the stories OK so far. I really like the direction they are taking Harbinger in and am least impressed by Bloodshot so far. But, it's still early.

as far as being blown away, most of us are cynical 35+ year olds. When we read the original valiant stuff, we were all young and impressionable teenagers. Valiant was something new. A shared universe? Real time-continuity? Dead means dead? These were all concepts we had never seen before and were groundbreaking at the time.

Now all of that has been done before.

It's also a line that is trying to appeal to the pluggged-in generation. When we started reading valiant we had our NES systems to entertain us, VCRs, and we played outside. Now kids have their PS3s, DVRs, and spend most of their free time on the computer. it's a different world and these books are going to reflect that.

I resemble this remark

[jmatt]

I'm just waiting to be blown away.

Well, much of satisfaction is based on expectations. If you expect to be blown away in less than three months of publishing, then yes, it's likely you'll feel underwhelmed.

It's like when a bunch of friends tell you how unbelievably awesome a movie is. Then you go see it and think 'meh'. If you set the satisfaction bar too high, everything will fall short.

[MoonChild]

This covo brings up a good point though. There's a strong demand for straight to trade format.

[xodacia81]

I have liked all the stories OK so far. I really like the direction they are taking Harbinger in and am least impressed by Bloodshot so far. But, it's still early.

as far as being blown away, most of us are cynical 35+ year olds. When we read the original valiant stuff, we were all young and impressionable teenagers. Valiant was something new. A shared universe? Real time-continuity? Dead means dead? These were all concepts we had never seen before and were groundbreaking at the time.

Now all of that has been done before.

It's also a line that is trying to appeal to the pluggged-in generation. When we started reading valiant we had our NES systems to entertain us, VCRs, and we played outside. Now kids have their PS3s, DVRs, and spend most of their free time on the computer. it's a different world and these books are going to reflect that.

This made me nostalgic.

[erwinrafael]

Not me. A lot of the originals feel dated now, with the exception of BWS A&A (that is, from #3-12) and some of the Bob Hall Shadowman stuff, specially with the verbose style that sometimes I had to skim through the text when I reread the books.