Question about the direction of the Valiant Universe

cjv · Post by **cjv** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 8:57 am

When Shooter starter Valiant, he obviously was trying to retain a "real world" feel to the comic. Even the "super heros" didn't act like super heroes, it wasn't common place to see people flying around, etc.

However, as the universe progressed, more and more "super hero" type characters were appearing. Whether it was guys like Bloodshot who had enhanced abilities, teams like HARD Corp which were army/government/corporation funded, etc.

I was just wondering how many of the titles were originally planned for? Was something like Armorines part of the original concept, or was it planned for while Shooter was there?

What titles were added after he left? Not meaing just new titles, but whole new concepts that were never even thought of while Shooter was there. I would guess Geomancer was, but were there any others?

I know alot of books went in directions that were probably never anticipated (I am thinking of Shadowman and Harbinger here), but I am curious as to how far in advance some of this stuff was planned.

Sector3600 · Post by **Sector3600** » Thu Apr 08, 2004 2:20 pm

IMO Shooter was the driving force behind the Valiant Universe.

RAI #0 was published under his term of influence, and many say that this one issue "the bridge to the future" was the end result for the core Valiant titles: Rai, Solar, X-O, Harbinger/HARD Corps, Shadowman, Archer & Armstrong, Eternal Warrior.

But it introduced Bloodshot as a major player, which as you should know, got his own series. Also I believe that Turok was planned because that was part of the original deal in forming Voyager Communication to present Dell/Gold Key characters. Then HARD Corp had a cameo. In addition, Turok's appeared to X-O in Rai #0 which suggested to me that Turok was going to be a bigger part of the post Unity Valiant.

So Armorines, Timewalker, Psi-Lords, Ninjak, Dr. Mirage and the rest came after Rai #0.

Some say that RAI #0 hinted at HARD Corps "becoming" something different which post-Shooter led to Starwatchers then later Psi-Lords.

The fate of Turok, didn't seem to be addressed in Rai #0

The question would be how much did Bob Layton keep around after Jim Shooter's departure

One may say that if you liked it, it was Jim's or Bob's doing...
if you disliked it, one could say it was Bob's or Jim's doing

I enjoyed Valiant, not for its "collectablility" but its readability...it was one of the best consistent reads across the board until 'Birthquake'.

I guess its biggest draw for me was the continunity...

Jaknife · Post by **Jaknife** » Fri Apr 09, 2004 11:06 pm

i agree competely. everything ties in somehow. multiple heroes fight the same bad guys. like ax fought the harbingers, bloodshot, etc. or sosa getting burned by shadowman, and coming back in bloodshot. the end kind of stopped this really. they didnt see much of eachother any more. darque inheriting the necromantic power from solars previous world was pure genius. i always hated how, like in marvel comics, a bad guy could be tearing up new york city, and only spiderman would respond. they only see each other i major crossovers, whereas valiant has them meet up, as reality would. you live in new york, and have powers, chances are you wil meet someone else with powers.

BloodOfHeroes · Post by **BloodOfHeroes** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 5:50 pm

Jaknife wrote:i agree competely. everything ties in somehow. multiple heroes fight the same bad guys. like ax fought the harbingers, bloodshot, etc. or sosa getting burned by shadowman, and coming back in bloodshot. the end kind of stopped this really. they didnt see much of eachother any more.

Kevin VanHook had vampires in BLOODSHOT. Later, in THE VISITOR, we found out that Ninjak was responsible for their creation.

In fact, all of THE VISITOR helped to explain some Rai #0 statements.

Ah, good stuff. I'm not sure what it'll take to get me back to funnybooks. Although Future Comics' PEACEKEEPER is about the closest thing to tempting in a LOOOONG time.

Any recs? I dumped everything 7 months ago and haven't missed any of it.

BoH

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 7:38 pm

Sector3600 wrote:Rai 0 introduced Bloodshot as a major player, which as you should know, got his own series.

It should be noted that Shooter's version of Bloodshot would have been named Rising Spirit. How many other things about Bloodshot changed after Shooter left? It's all speculation on my part, but I would imagine quite a bit.

BloodOfHeroes · Post by **BloodOfHeroes** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 9:31 pm

Ryan wrote:
Sector3600 wrote:Rai 0 introduced Bloodshot as a major player, which as you should know, got his own series.
It should be noted that Shooter's version of Bloodshot would have been named Rising Spirit. How many other things about Bloodshot changed after Shooter left? It's all speculation on my part, but I would imagine quite a bit.

You can read my interview with Jim Shooter about Bloodshot (but then check out my interviews with Kevin VanHook & Don Perlin, minimally) on my website. Just click on the appropriate button, below.

BoH