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.