Bloodshot '99 Concept Pitch

[Ryan]

I was thinking about this a few months ago after reading VanHook's story in Bloodshot B&W and made this concept drawing. I'm a little too busy now to do anything more with it, but it was a fun idea so thought I would share it here:

BS99_cropped_pre.jpg

Here's the gist of the pitch: In the vein of X-Men '97, Batman '66, and many others, Bloodshot '99 would continue a beloved vintage continuity, namely the 90's Valiant continuity aka VH1.

Bloodshot '99 would be 12 issues (in 3 issue segments like Beyond is doing) starting in January of 1999 of the VH1 continuity.

The issues would happen in real-time (1 issue = 1 month) and feature somewhat self-contained adventures that also serve to re-introduce the world of VH1 and what's going on in 1999. There would be a building overarching story as well that would draw in other Valiant '99 characters and eventually culminate in the massive 1999 event that would involve the Lost Land, Master Darque, The Campaigner, the Spider aliens, and all of the major Valiant '99 heroes.

Since I'm fantasizing here anyway, let's say Bob Hall on pencils, me on inks, and Jayjay Jackson coloring it in watercolors using the old pre-Unity Valiant method.

What say ye? It would get me interested in Valiant comics again at least

[Ryan]

Use the classic corner compass logo trade dress to clearly distinguish between "Valiant Beyond" and this "VALIANT '99" imprint.

Print it with glossy covers and a matte interior paper stock that would resemble the VH1 presentation.

One cool thing about setting it in 1999 is that you would have access to pretty much all of the major characters without contradicting what's come before or Rai 0.

It could also work as a great coda to VH1, since throughout most of post-Unity there was always a lot of foreshadowing of 1999 as being a year of great importance for the Valiant universe. It would be a great way to cap off that universe and give closure if that's what was wanted.

To me ideally it would work as a jumping off point to continue the adventures of characters in that universe. Have a VALIANT 2000 that continues in real-time (one month in the real world = one month in the books), then VALIANT 2001, 2002, ect. building off of the 1999 event.

Also in the 1999 event using the Lost Land a new Rai could be introduced from early in the lineage, the first Rai or one of the early ones. Then that could spinoff a new Rai title that's set in the VH1 3000s, exploring the origins of Rai, the real Harbinger Wars, and that unexplored time period of VH1.

Well that's the kind of stuff that would get me interested in Valiant again anyway.

[ManofTheAtom]

How do you address the ending of Bloodshot #51?

[Ryan]

How do you address the ending of Bloodshot #51?

Screenshot 2025-01-31 204403.png

All it shows is an explosion and Bloodshot's seeming unconscious arm poking out from under the snow. There's no indication of how extensive his damage is other than he seems to be unconscious.

His powers include miraculous healing, so it wouldn't be a stretch for him to have survived the explosion.

Sure, it's suggested that he could be dead, but that's a common cliffhanger trope since the beginning of action stories. It's far from a definitive death. Even the "THE END...?" is unsure of itself.

It might be serious damage though that would require a rescue and weeks of healing. That could be alluded to if it seems necessary.

[magnusr]

I do wish there was a market for stories like this.

/Magnus

[ManofTheAtom]

How do you address the ending of Bloodshot #51?

Screenshot 2025-01-31 204403.png


All it shows is an explosion and Bloodshot's seeming unconscious arm poking out from under the snow. There's no indication of how extensive his damage is other than he seems to be unconscious.

His powers include miraculous healing, so it wouldn't be a stretch for him to have survived the explosion.

Sure, it's suggested that he could be dead, but that's a common cliffhanger trope since the beginning of action stories. It's far from a definitive death. Even the "THE END...?" is unsure of itself.

It might be serious damage though that would require a rescue and weeks of healing. That could be alluded to if it seems necessary.

Okay. I'd go with the final death of Angelo Mortalli and have the US government harvest his nanites and inject them into Ray Garrison.

[Ryan]

I do wish there was a market for stories like this.

/Magnus

For sure. It's never been tested by Valiant so it's hard to predict what kind of market there would be for the vintage universe. I know there used to be a lot more fans, but at this point who knows if they could get their attention again.

[Ryan]

Okay. I'd go with the final death of Angelo Mortalli and have the US government harvest his nanites and inject them into Ray Garrison.

Cool. That's not the way I'd go. I'd keep it more in line with Rai 0, where we see Mortalli die in 2028. But hey to each their own head canon.

[Ryan]

One thing about the Angelo Mortalli version of Bloodshot is that he was always quite popular. His book always sold well and even though all the numbers went down towards the end he retained a pretty large fanbase until the end. In terms of raw numbers of readers much higher than any reboot characters have had. Of course that's partly due to there just being less comic readers overall now.

I've said this on here a bunch of times already, but I always thought the VEI version made the character less interesting by making him virtually invulnerable. Sure it makes for cool splash pages of him getting torn apart, but it kills all the suspense in any story. I like that the Mortalli version was just a guy who was really fast and could heal better than an average person.

It would be cool to introduce a Ray Garrison character in the world though. Perhaps as a rival who gets the same blood transfusion but it actually works, just like it did with Mortalli. He would have to have a different Harbinger ability that allowed him to survive, not controlling machines.

Just like it would be cool to introduce a more realistic version of Michael LeRoi to the VH1 universe as a supporting character in Shadowman following VH1 rules.

[ManofTheAtom]

Okay. I'd go with the final death of Angelo Mortalli and have the US government harvest his nanites and inject them into Ray Garrison.

Cool. That's not the way I'd go. I'd keep it more in line with Rai 0, where we see Mortalli die in 2028. But hey to each their own head canon.

But how do you explain his blood becoming the Blood of Heroes before it was injected into Rai, though?

It went from Bloodshot to Ax to the Anti-Grannies to Grandmother to Rai. When was it injected into others?

I think Bloodshot #51 and Rai #0 open things up to say that Angelo died in the former and then his blood was passed on to others until it got to the last Bloodshot Ax killed in the latter, thus creating the original lineage the blood gets its name from.

[ManofTheAtom]

One thing about the Angelo Mortalli version of Bloodshot is that he was always quite popular. His book always sold well and even though all the numbers went down towards the end he retained a pretty large fanbase until the end. In terms of raw numbers of readers much higher than any reboot characters have had. Of course that's partly due to there just being less comic readers overall now.

I've said this on here a bunch of times already, but I always thought the VEI version made the character less interesting by making him virtually invulnerable. Sure it makes for cool splash pages of him getting torn apart, but it kills all the suspense in any story. I like that the Mortalli version was just a guy who was really fast and could heal better than an average person.

It would be cool to introduce a Ray Garrison character in the world though. Perhaps as a rival who gets the same blood transfusion but it actually works, just like it did with Mortalli. He would have to have a different Harbinger ability that allowed him to survive, not controlling machines.

Just like it would be cool to introduce a more realistic version of Michael LeRoi to the VH1 universe as a supporting character in Shadowman following VH1 rules.

Either Leroi or Garrison could have been part of VH 1 for sure.

[Ryan]

But how do you explain his blood becoming the Blood of Heroes before it was injected into Rai, though?

It went from Bloodshot to Ax to the Anti-Grannies to Grandmother to Rai. When was it injected into others?

I think Bloodshot #51 and Rai #0 open things up to say that Angelo died in the former and then his blood was passed on to others until it got to the last Bloodshot Ax killed in the latter, thus creating the original lineage the blood gets its name from.

It doesn't bother me that it's referred to as the Blood of Heroes instead of the Blood of Hero. The plural form obviously just sounds better. Using the plural form in a proper title doesn't always refer an actual plural, just like the singular form could also be used in a title or team name even though it refers to multiple people. Proper nouns don't always follow the plural and singular rules that regular nouns follow.

But again, I'm not trying to talk anybody out of their own head canon retcons. Have a blast man. These are literally just ideas out of my sketchbook that would make Valiant exciting to me.

[ManofTheAtom]

But how do you explain his blood becoming the Blood of Heroes before it was injected into Rai, though?

It went from Bloodshot to Ax to the Anti-Grannies to Grandmother to Rai. When was it injected into others?

I think Bloodshot #51 and Rai #0 open things up to say that Angelo died in the former and then his blood was passed on to others until it got to the last Bloodshot Ax killed in the latter, thus creating the original lineage the blood gets its name from.

It doesn't bother me that it's referred to as the Blood of Heroes instead of the Blood of Hero. The plural form obviously just sounds better. Using the plural form in a proper title doesn't always refer an actual plural, just like the singular form could also be used in a title or team name even though it refers to multiple people. Proper nouns don't always follow the plural and singular rules that regular nouns follow.

But again, I'm not trying to talk anybody out of their own head canon retcons. Have a blast man. These are literally just ideas out of my sketchbook that would make Valiant exciting to me.

Cool.

[Ryan]

Cool.

I get it, man. In any VH1 continuation, you'd want to try to fix the continuity glitches that you find glaring. That would be a top priority for you, and that's cool.

To me there's way too many glitches to try to fix everything at the beginning. My top priorities would be to get the most popular and beloved versions of these characters back in action and moving forward, hooking the readers on new adventures, but told in the classical way using pre-U realism.

If this was a real thing, of course there would have to be a full thorough annotated re-read of VH1 and then make a detailed bible of events that happened in VH1 between '96 and '99.

I always hate when there's been a time gap for a character and it seems like nothing happened just because the stories weren't being told. There would definitely be differences in the '99 characters vs where they were left off in '96 or '95, and then those would be revealed or become clear over the course of the story. But yeah my 'sketchbook daydreams' don't have the time to get into that level of detail unfortunately .

[mkb28]

Well done, Ryan! I would buy the deluxe hardcover version if/when it comes out.

[ManofTheAtom]

Cool.

I get it, man. In any VH1 continuation, you'd want to try to fix the continuity glitches that you find glaring. That would be a top priority for you, and that's cool.

To me there's way too many glitches to try to fix everything at the beginning. My top priorities would be to get the most popular and beloved versions of these characters back in action and moving forward, hooking the readers on new adventures, but told in the classical way using pre-U realism.

If this was a real thing, of course there would have to be a full thorough annotated re-read of VH1 and then make a detailed bible of events that happened in VH1 between '96 and '99.

I always hate when there's been a time gap for a character and it seems like nothing happened just because the stories weren't being told. There would definitely be differences in the '99 characters vs where they were left off in '96 or '95, and then those would be revealed or become clear over the course of the story. But yeah my 'sketchbook daydreams' don't have the time to get into that level of detail unfortunately .

Well, since your take is already going back in time, why '99? Why not start in '92 and make it something like Untold Tales of Spider-Man? New stories told between panels and issues of the original series. That way you don't even have to deal with something like #51.

[Ryan]

Well done, Ryan! I would buy the deluxe hardcover version if/when it comes out.

Thank you! That'll be coming any day now...

[Ryan]

Well, since your take is already going back in time, why '99? Why not start in '92 and make it something like Untold Tales of Spider-Man? New stories told between panels and issues of the original series. That way you don't even have to deal with something like #51.

For me, doing the Untold tales style would be too limiting and restrictive, to have to keep all the stories in between the old ones wouldn't interest me.

1999 is an unexplored area of Vh1 continuity where all of the main characters would still be in their primes. It's also a significant year in Vh1 due to all the foreshadowing throughout Vh1 of a major event coming in 1999. Even if keeping to the events of Rai 0, there would still be a lot of different places it could go and explore many of the unanswered questions of Vh1.

Like X-Men '97 it would be a continuation of the continuity. It could easily just be Valiant '97 and start right after Vh1 ended, but I think its more interesting to skip those years right to the important year of '99. Bloodshot '99 just sounds cooler too

Bloodshot #51 doesn't bother me that much, he doesn't even look very dead. He's gotten out of tougher situations than that before. The ones that would need to be addressed more are Shadowman #43 and X-O #68.

[Ryan]

Oh and one more thing setting it in 1999 would also create a clearer distinction between this 'classic' version of the characters and the modern versions that are coming out as well, whether that's new VEI universe stories or the Beyond universe.

The classic trade dress would also set them apart. A bonus would then be to use the same trade dress to tie it in to new omnis and compendiums of the 90's material. With fat compendiums they could finally reprint all the post-Unity stuff that's never been reprinted, and since BS '99 would be incorporating all that continuity it would be relevant again. Win-win.

I've definitely also had a lot of thoughts over the years of what it would be like to continue Vh1 in the current year. There's a lot of cool possibilities, but of course less of the main characters would be available or in their primes, so you'd have to start using younger lineage versions of some of the characters.

Could still be cool, but there's so many of the prime years of Vh1 that have never been explored or fleshed out, that seems more interesting.

[ManofTheAtom]

Cool.

[Ryan]

Another recent precedent for this kind of comic being successful, Batman '89:





It's spawned two 6 issue mini-series so far and now even a prose novel series by John Jackson Miller.

Yes, it's from a movie (Burtonverse) but the idea is basically the same. Continuing a fan-beloved continuity that has laid dormant for decades, use the vintage logos and trade dress to make it clearly separate from the modern continuity.

[ManofTheAtom]

Yeah, but the question remains the same, why '99? That's an odd choice. Why not '96 since that's when the series ended?

Your Batman sample continues from where the first Burton movie left off, ignoring the sequels, both his and Schumacher's.

[Ryan]

Yeah, but the question remains the same, why '99? That's an odd choice. Why not '96 since that's when the series ended?

Your Batman sample continues from where the first Burton movie left off, ignoring the sequels, both his and Schumacher's.

1999 is an unexplored area of Vh1 continuity where all of the main characters would still be in their primes. It's also a significant year in Vh1 due to all the foreshadowing throughout Vh1 of a major event coming in 1999. Even if keeping to the events of Rai 0, there would still be a lot of different places it could go and explore many of the unanswered questions of Vh1.

Like X-Men '97 it would be a continuation of the continuity. It could easily just be Valiant '97 and start right after Vh1 ended, but I think its more interesting to skip those years right to the important year of '99. Bloodshot '99 just sounds cooler too

I think I explained it pretty clearly why I chose that. In this proposal, since it's limited 12 issues, I chose to focus on picking up the Vh1 characters a few years after we've last seen them and then conclude with the '99 event that everything was originally building towards but we never got to see.

If I only had 12 issues to tell a Vh1 story, that's what I would do in this example. Feel free to disagree.

The Batman '89 example is only in the broad sense (a new series continuing a vintage, fan-favorite continuity). Obviously it's not exactly the same.

[Ryan]

Certainly if there were no budget or real-world constraints, I could just propose to continue Vh1 right from where it left off with 8 ongoing titles.

But that's just not realistic or practical in any way. This proposal follows the release format that Valiant Beyond is planning to do: 12 issue series that are broken up into three issue mini arcs.

Given that restriction, the first three issue arc would be catching up with Bloodshot in medias res, in the midst of action in January 1999 in his home base of NYC. As the story goes we're backfilled with some of what's happened in the last 3 years. EW and Geomancer (Geoff) may appear.

The second three issue arc would build off of the first's conclusion, going into a bigger story that would involve traveling to different areas and re-introducing more of the Vh1 characters like Shadowman, X-O, Harbinger, etc.

Third arc would begin pieces of the larger conflict that would become the 1999 event. The last arc would be the main conflict and conclusion of the '99 event with massive ramifications, people dying, universe-altering, etc. No multiverse shenanigans though, pure Vh1.

[ManofTheAtom]

Certainly if there were no budget or real-world constraints, I could just propose to continue Vh1 right from where it left off with 8 ongoing titles.

But that's just not realistic or practical in any way. This proposal follows the release format that Valiant Beyond is planning to do: 12 issue series that are broken up into three issue mini arcs.

Given that restriction, the first three issue arc would be catching up with Bloodshot in medias res, in the midst of action in January 1999 in his home base of NYC. As the story goes we're backfilled with some of what's happened in the last 3 years. EW and Geomancer (Geoff) may appear.

The second three issue arc would build off of the first's conclusion, going into a bigger story that would involve traveling to different areas and re-introducing more of the Vh1 characters like Shadowman, X-O, Harbinger, etc.

Third arc would begin pieces of the larger conflict that would become the 1999 event. The last arc would be the main conflict and conclusion of the '99 event with massive ramifications, people dying, universe-altering, etc. No multiverse shenanigans though, pure Vh1.

Cool.

Might as well go full in and just call it VALIANT '99 and make it about all the characters leading up to the event.

12 issues, as you say, but split each issue between two characters. Make each issue 48 pages too.