My Valiant Story, Slowly recreating what you guys already did

[ChronoMagnus]

So my valiant story starts about 8 years ago, in 2016.

I had been reading comics on and off since high school in the mid 2000's, usually in TPB form. But in the 2 years prior to finding valiant I started collecting a lot of DC comics and regularly going to my local shop for the weekly issues. I dabbled here and there with digital, but it never really stuck, but one night I downloaded a free TPB from comixology on my phone, it was X-O Manowar vol. 3 book 1. First, I was actually pretty impressed with the guided panel reading that the app offered, but I was more impressed with how engrossed I became with the story. I tore through that book in one sitting, staying later than I should have, and finding myself on my computer to learn about what Valiant was.

I discovered the history, the original run of Valiant from the early '90's, and I knew I wanted to read that before I continued with the modern era. Well 8 years later I am about halfway through reading them, and I have collected nearly the entire original run, barring alternative covers or something I may have just missed.

While my collection grew I developed an intention to read them in release order, so that I could experience the story in the way a fan in the 90's may have. And that was a bit a task... I periodically pull up my list of unread books, try to read the tea leaves about when a book was actually released, and then order them by that, with a bit of variation so I pull out entire storylines together. Now that I found this site after nearly a decade I see that many people here have already done the effort of putting out lists of reading order, publishing and continuity from I have seen. I am glad to no longer need to recreate this work. Thank you all.

As I have finished my collection of the original run, I am now considering my next steps. Should I go for the Acclaim, late 90's early 2k books, or just go straight to the 2010's reboot? My goal isn't to just get the books, its to enjoy the search. I like to visit LCS's when I travel for work and dig around for issues I am missing. I may do some online shopping fill a gap once I am close to completing a run, but I like to start by finding what I can out in the wild.

Anyway, thank you all for keeping this site going for so long so that I could eventually find it. I attached a picture of my fledgling collection, and some pages I particularly enjoyed so far.

[mkb28]

Welcome to Valiant Fans! What a great First Story! You and I have a lot of similarities. I collected Batman only and then I saw a copy of X-O Manowar Volume 3 in my comic shop and I was hooked. Like you, I traveled for my job and could visit comic stores all over the Midwest. I pieced together the entire V1 run and had them bound into hardcover books. Now they sit on my bookshelf and I am less than halfway through reading them. I only collected Acclaim’s Quantum and Woody books in a hardcover bound book and I have the entire VEI books in HC or TPB. I don’t buy floppies all that much anymore.

Good luck with your collection and enjoy the Valiant ride!

Michael
Mkb28

[ChronoMagnus]

Something about the way Robert Venditti wrote the story of Aric getting the X-O armor to kick off the new Valiant books is just gripping.

I really like Aric and X-O from volume 1, but the rewritten origin was just perfect.

Welcome to Valiant Fans! What a great First Story! You and I have a lot of similarities. I collected Batman only and then I saw a copy of X-O Manowar Volume 3 in my comic shop and I was hooked. Like you, I traveled for my job and could visit comic stores all over the Midwest. I pieced together the entire V1 run and had them bound into hardcover books. Now they sit on my bookshelf and I am less than halfway through reading them. I only collected Acclaim’s Quantum and Woody books in a hardcover bound book and I have the entire VEI books in HC or TPB. I don’t buy floppies all that much anymore.

Good luck with your collection and enjoy the Valiant ride!

Michael
Mkb28

[magnusr]

Should I go for the Acclaim, late 90's early 2k books, or just go straight to the 2010's reboot? My goal isn't to just get the books, its to enjoy the search. I like to visit LCS's when I travel for work and dig around for issues I am missing. I may do some online shopping fill a gap once I am close to completing a run, but I like to start by finding what I can out in the wild.

Well, many Acclaim books will require searching, so that will probably be fun. As for reading, Acclaim is a side-step and the reboot is a natural next step.

Anyway, thank you all for keeping this site going for so long so that I could eventually find it. I attached a picture of my fledgling collection, and some pages I particularly enjoyed so far.

Nice choice.

/Magnus

[nycjadie]

Congrats, man! My first issue was Solar 1 off the comic shop shelf, but have revisited Valiant many times since then. What's great about Valiant is your collection will never be over, really. There are so many rarities and things that will keep you busy, and if you are crazy like me, you try to get all the issues in 9.8 and signed copies as well.

My favorite title in the Acclaim run is Shadowman. They are worth hunting down. The 2012-2017 years are also really great.

Enjoy!