Merry Christams!

Merry Christmas from All Things Valiant. Our team (me) has had a great first year (four months) and have a lot planned for 2011 (more of the same really) so keep visiting! To celebrate the holiday season below is an unpublished image of Archer, Armstrong and the Visitor in front of the Harbinger Facility by Bernard Chang.

Official X-O Manowar convention costume?

See? Didn't I tell you this wasn't going to become an art blog?!

Check out this old school photo I found a scan of. It features a pretty interesting real life X-O Manowar costume and three kids holding (from left to right) X-O Manowar #0 gold variant, H.A.R.D. Corps #1 gold variant and X-O Manowar #0 gold variant again.

I have no confirmed information about it but here is what I think we can safely assume.

• These three guys are dorks
• This was taken at a convention of some sort (note the background and the fact that three underage dorks are holding gold editions that were routinely given away at cons by Valiant)
• It is 1993 (note the pimp ass fanny packs - not one but TWO! - and the copies of X-O Manowar #0 and H.A.R.D. Corps #1 which were both released that year.)
• The X-O Manowar costume is either a mediocre official suit or a bomb ass amateur one.

Original Art - Rai and the Future Force #12 cover

I promise this is not going to turn into an art blog. Since my PC passed on I've been stuck with an old Mac and I have no idea how to make it work. Until I get back on a PC full time the posts are going to be light.

Here's a scan of the black and white ink art for the cover to Rai and the Future Force #12 by Sean Chen. Check it out:

Of note is the fact that the ink cover contains more art that was published. Nothing exciting but compare the inks to the published cover on the left side and bottom.

Original Art - Unity #1 cover

What happened to the updates? Nothing for almost a month! What'd ya want, the sites free!!

Here's a scan of the black and white ink art for the cover to UNITY #1 by Barry Windsor-Smith and Bob Layton. Check it out:

A classic!

UPDATE: I've just learned that the cover is available for purchase for approx. $10k at www.coolinesartwork.com. Quick, before someone else gets it!

UPDATE 2: I've now got a scan without the title bars or price box:

and for comparison here is the published version:

Valiant Market - Deathmate Prologue page 3 original art

This is the second post in my Valiant market series (the first is here). I am purposefully not making these a habit because I don't want the Valiant back market to take over this blog. But once again I was surprised and happy to see that the recent auction of an original art page from Deathmate Prologue by Barry Windsor-Smith and Jim Lee sold on eBay for $787.00 (plus $10 shipping).

Once again, it's very rare for a Barry Windsor-Smith Deathmate page to hit the market as there are only 11 pages that he and Jim Lee worked on for their portion of the Deathmate Prologue. This page was clean, prominently featured Solar: Man of the Atom and is a key emotional scene. I expected big bucks but almost $800+ was again beyond my most optimistic guesses. Its nice to see that the market for key Valiant art is so healthy.

The seller also went to great lengths to let the bidders know that two panels from this page were also used in the Deathmate Trading Cards Set produced by Upper Deck.

Promo - Harbinger #25 post card

Check out this promotional post card featuring the full cover image without logos and price box of Harbinger #25.

I have no idea how this was distributed but when I find out I will update this post.

Foreign Valiants - Italian Shadowman Vol. 3 #1

I'm on a roll with Foreign editions of Valiant Comics. Here is a scan of the the magazine style Italian edition of Shadowman Volume 3 #1 by Cult Comics. According to the cover, the comic has game level maps and guides, comic pages, information about the second Turok video game, the Armorines video game and the new Tomb Raider comic book.

And here is a scan of the back cover with the following text:

un uomo arrivera' dall'ombra, lottera' contro il male, combattera' il crimine, nelle citta' piu' oscure, tra le paludi e i deserti, fre gli spiritie e il mondo reale.

un uomo arrivera' dall'ombra, shadow man e' il suo nome, camminera' attraverso la luce e il buio, la vita e la morte per fermare l'apocalisse, per salvare la sua anima

Which approximately translates to:

A man will come from the shadows, he will fight' against evil, and fight the crime in the city. More dark, among the swamps and deserts, fresh spirit and the real world.

A man will come from the shadows, Shadow Man is his name, Walking through the light and darkness, life and death to stop the apocalypse, to save his soul.

Foreign Valiants - German Shadowman Vol. 3 #2

Following up from the last post (The German release of Shadowman Volume 3 issue #1), here is a scan of the magazine style German release of Shadowman Volume 3 issue #2 by a company called Dino Comics. This one also has 60 pages of voodoo and horror, a poster and a contest (for a Sony PlayStation no less). I don't recognize the cover to this one though. Must be a promotional piece from the video game.

Foreign Valiants - German Shadowman Vol. 3 #1

It's the official comic book to the video game of the year - says so right on the top ("der offizelle comic zum videogame des jahres"). It has 60 pages of voodoo and horror, a poster and a contest. And it reprints the variant cover to the English version of Shadowman Volume 3 #1. Check out the below scan to the magazine style German release of Shadowman Volume 3 issue #1 by a company called Dino Comics.

Pretty cool huh? Not as cool as the Italian Solar, Man of the Atom #0 but still pretty cool

Mags - Comics Values Monthly #84

I've previously posted a scan of Comics Values Monthly #79, now here's another scan from the same magazine - Comics Values Monthly #84. This issue features a Deathmate cover with the H.A.R.D. CATS characters (the amalgam of Valiant Comics H.A.R.D. Corps and Image Comics Wild CATS) that I have never seen before. Check it out:

Magnus Pins Galore!!

Just had this sent in via email! Now I know why there is such a shortage of Magnus Robot Fighter freebie giveaway pins that were being handed out by Dark Horse Comics at the San Diego Comic Con this year...someone is hoarding them all!!

For anyone who is confused, click here.

Mags - Hero Illustrated #1 Platinum

A few days ago I posted a scan of the cover to Hero Illustrated #1 which features a Second Life of Doctor Mirage cover. Well today, I have a scan of the Platinum edition of Hero Illustrated #1. It's exactly the same magazine except the purple foil is now silver (or platinum). I love how the Second Life of Doctor Mirage cover looks with the silver. Check it out:

No idea how this was given out. Probably to retailers and related to the number of Hero Illustrated #1's bought. When I do find out I'll update this post so keep checking back.

For comparison, here's the regular cover again:

Trivia - Expanded Rai #0 was planned?

I've only done one trivia post (BWS on Shadowman #10) in the past and now its time for another. Did you know ... that the Rai Trade Paperback was originally going to come polybagged with a special expanded edition of Rai #0?! According to a section in the Valiant Special Edition of Comic Shop News called "Valiant's Vision for the Future" it was. Check out the scan below:

Ultimately, the Trade Paperback printed Rai #0 as published within the book and came polybagged with the Rai Companion...no where near as cool.

Mags - Comic Shop News: Valiant Special

Found a scan of another edition of Comic Shop News that features a Valiant Comics cover. Last time it was #499 with a Quantum & Woody cover, this time its the Valiant Special Edition of Comic Shop News. Check it out:

The interior is the usual compilation of interviews, promotional art and announcements of new products. There are a few bits and pieces of interest and I'll be posting them soon.

Original Art - Bloodshot #7 cover

Another scan of black and white ink art for the collection. This time the cover to Bloodshot #7 featuring the first appearance of Ninjak in costume. Check it out:

And here is the cover as printed:

What's interesting about the comparison is that you can see that the original art wasn't tall enough and that the colorist had to extend the art to make space for the title and price box. Note the painted style and lack of ink lines in the leaves above the title.

Wizard Top Ten - Wizard #17: Valiant has seven in ten!

 Incredible. I can see Marvel Comics placing seven books in the top ten with a couple of Spider-Man books, a few X-Men books, an Iron Man, an Avengers and maybe a Captain America. It would take a real event for DC to get close to seven. But Valiant? Well it happened.

Valiant had Magnus Robot Fighter #12 (the first appearance of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter), Bloodshot #1, Eternal Warrior #4 (the first appearance of Bloodshot), Rai #4, Rai #3, Harbinger #4 and Shadowman #8 (the first appearance of Master Darque).

Credit to www.ValiantEntertainment.com for the scan.

Magnus Robot Figher Pin / Badge (SDCC 2010)

After searching for months and months, I finally got my hands on one of the Magnus Robot Fighter freebie giveaway pins that were being handed out by Dark Horse Comics at the San Diego Comic Con this year.  I've heard that while there were tons of bags of free Solar, Man of the Atom badges there was only one small bag of Magnus ones.  No one else I know has one.

Anyway, I had to pay $30 for it and wanted to ask what every out there thought. Did I get ripped off? Does anyone else even have one?

I've updated my San Diego Comic Con 2010 report to include a picture of the badge - yes, until now I didn't even have a picture of one!

UPDATE: Verdict is in and its unanimous...I got ripped off...

Valiant Quality Apparel

Valiant Comics and Planet Studios partnered for a number of years producing a line of very high quality Valiant Comics clothing (my favorite being the Valiant Comics logo baseball hat). As far as I know there is no master list of exactly what was produced. I'm going to attempt to compile such a list (with pictures) here. Bookmark this blog post as it will constantly be updated.

Credit to Sonic Dan's Valiant Webpage for the scan.

Mags - Hero Illustrated #1

Hero Illustrated is the magazine that tried to give Wizard Magazine a run for its money by spending crazy amounts on advertising and giving away the most valuable comics in history - the first issue came with a scratch and win card that automatically awarded prizes ranging from Harbinger #1 with coupon (the most in demand issue of the modern era as Hero Illustrated called it) to Amazing Spider-Man #1 (the most in demand issue of the silver era as Hero Illustrated called it).

The inaugural issue of Hero Illustrated featured a pretty amazing foil embossed (remember those days?) Second Life of Doctor Mirage cover.

And a cool article about the series.

Credit to www.ValiantEntertainment.com for the scans.

Wizard Top Ten - Wizard #31: Ninjak is #1

Growing up I used to live for the next issue of Wizard Magazine - yes, there was a time when Wizard wasn't a POS! My favorite part of a new issue was the "Top Ten Comics of the Month". Maybe that's why I love Valiant Comics so much, because when Wizard was good Valiant dominated the top ten. Every now and then I'm going to showcase a scan from the article, today I've got a scan of numbers 1 - 4 from Wizard Magazine #31.

As you can see the number one hottest comic in the world back then was Ninjak #1. It was even more popular than the hologram cover Wolverine issue where he gets his adamantium pulled out! (It's weird to think back to a time before we knew Wolvie had bone claws...)

Credit to www.ValiantEntertainment.com for the scan.

Rai and the Future Force Lithograph

Got an interesting Valiant Comics item here. It's an official Rai and the Future Force lithograph signed by artist Sean Chen. I've never seen this image before which is neat. It features The 43rd Rai, Eternal Warrior, Tekla, Magnus Robot Fighter, Kazuyo Nakadai in the X-O Commando armor (wife of the 42nd Rai), Spylocke and the the Malev Emperor.

I have no idea how this was made avaliable, how much it costs, how many were made or if it was part of a larger collection of lithographs so check back to this post for future updates.

Mags - Advance Comics #35

Here's another entry into the Valiant Magazine's collection - Advance Comics #35.  This issue features an X-O Manowar cover by Barry Windsor-Smith. Take a look:

Mags - Comic Buyers Guide #1065

Got another Valiant Comics related magazine for you today - Comic Buyers Guide #1065 which has a Chaos Effect cover.

Original Art - Harbinger #3 cover

Following on from the last post (Harbinger #4 original black and white ink art), here is the original ink art for Harbinger #3 by David Lapham.

And here is the raw file sans photoshop corrections. You'll notice that Flamingo's left foot has been slightly changed.

Finally, here is the cover as printed: 

Original Art - Harbinger #4 cover

I'm trying to put together a complete collection of black and white ink art posts of every pre-UNITY Valiant comic. So far I've got X-O Manowar #1, X-O Manowar #2, X-O Manowar #4 and Harbinger #6. Here is another post in that series. This time it's the cover art Harbinger #4 by David Lapham

And here is the raw file sans photoshop corrections.

Finally, here is the cover as printed:

And as a bonus, here is the original color art to Harbinger #4. I'm not 100% sure this is the color art to the comic as most of the early Valiant Comics covers were re-colored for printing as trading cards in the Valiant Era I and Valiant Era II trading card sets. This piece may be the re-colored version used in printing the trading card.

Promo - Darque Brew

One of the most famous Valiant Comics promotional items is the Darque Brew bottle of beer. Valiant (or Acclaim as it was called then) sent comic book retailers across America incentive/thank you Christmas packages that included a bottle of specially packaged beer in a box with a label that reads "Valiant Comics Darque Brew" and a greeting card that reads "Happy Holidays from your friends at Acclaim Comics". Occasionally, these were accompanied with a letter from Valiant discussing the upcoming event books and promotions. 

The bottles were brewed exclusively for Valiant in 1994 by the Capital Brewing Company. These bottles have become sought after collectors items, especially when they come complete with the greeting card. Valiant had planned to issue 6 different bottles (I believe one per Christmas) which would then be collected in a six pack holder that would accompany the sixth bottle. Only one other bottle was ever produced - Armstrong Ale - promoted Archer & Armstrong.

UPDATE: You can now see pictures and read description of Armstrong Ale in my Armstrong Ale post.

Valiant logo tee (bootleg?)

Looks like the same seller who is selling the Bloodshot / Rai chest logo tee shirts also has a tee shirt featuring the Valiant logo from the 90s.

Rai / Bloodshot tee shirt (bootleg?)

Found this probably illegal tee shirt of the Rai / Bloodshot chest logo on zazzle.com.

The seller's own description bascially admits that it's a knock off

This shirt COULD be the Japanese flag... but if you read Valiant Comics in the early 90s you know that this is a Rai and/or Bloodshot tee. I always wanted one so I just made one.

It's still pretty damn sweet. Click here to buy one.

Commission - Valiant Characters among greatest super-heroes by Anthony Castrillo

I have no idea what this was commissioned for. The artist only says that it was done quickly without any prelims for a Valiant fan project and a good cause. It doesn't matter, because its awesome!

The image is of the Valiant characters (not all drawn perfectly but we can overlook that): Archer, Armstrong, X-O Manowar, Solar: Man of the Atom, Magnus Robot Fighter, Shadowman, Bloodshot, Eternal Warrior, Solar the Destroyer, Turok, the Harbinger kids and even a spider alien hanging out with the great comic book characters of all time. I'm not going to be able to name them all but I'll try: Superman, Batman, Hulk, Captain America, Wolverine, Cyclops, Spider-man, Vampirilla, Nightwing, Joker, Ant-man, Mr. Fantastic, The Thing, Bone, Doctor Doom, Silver Surfer, Thor, Mickey Mouse (?)...

If anyone has any idea what this was used for please let me know.

Fan Art - Shadowman #43 cover recreation

Another gorgeous piece of fan art by Anthony Castrillo (Timewalker). This time we have a recreation of the cover to Shadowman #43 originally by artist Bob Hall.

And for comparisons sake here is the printed cover by Bob Hall

Mags - Comic Shop News #499

I'm on a magazine kick so here's another one. Comic Shop News #499 with a not published anywhere else (as far as I know) Quantum & Woody cover.

Mags - Advance Comics #71

Two in one day! Here's another issue of Advance Comics, this time issue #71. It has an X-O Manowar cover and has an interesting article about how X-O Manowar will become a weekly comic for a short period.

Mags - Advance Comics #59

Here's another entry into the Valiant Magazine's collection - Advance Comics #59.  This issue features a Ninjak cover by Joe Quesada and a pretty cool article about the Ninjak title. Take a look:

Valiant Market - UNITY #0 page 8 original art

Occasionally, I'm going to make a post about a recent sale that is of interest. I'm going to refrain from doing too many because I don't want this blog to get caught up in the prices Valiant books are fetching in the back market or for anything said here to effect price speculation. With that said, I was surprised and happy to see that the recent auction of an original art page from the seminal UNITY issue #0 by Barry Windsor-Smith and Bob Layton sold on eBay for $836.77 (plus $10 shipping).

It's rare for a Barry Windsor-Smith Valiant page to hit the market let alone one of the 16 pages that make up UNITY #0. This page was clean and prominently featured Solar: Man of the Atom so I expected big bucks but $800+ was slightly beyond my most optimistic guesses. It's nice to see that the market for key Valiant art is so healthy.

Mags - Comic Buyers Guide #1019

I love Comic Buyers Guide and have been reading it for years. Here's just one of the many issues they have produced with a Valiant Comics cover.

This issue has a "Deathmate, Doctor Mirage & More"  cover with pictures of the covers of both Deathmate: Prologue and The Second Life of Doctor Mirage #2.

Also check out this picture of the article inside which talks about the upcoming Deathmate Tour, the Valiant Validated Signature Series and Valiant Apparel.