Summer of Valiant 2012 Teasers

Valiant has exhibited some incredible design work (they went out and got Rian Hughes to design their covers and probably these too) and I'm going to showcase a little bit of that here with the four Summer of Valiant 2012 teasers they released to announce the launch titles they returned with.

X-O Manowar by Jelena Kevic Djurdjevic

Harbinger by Doug Braithwaite

Bloodshot by Arturo Lozzi

Archer & Armstrong by David Aja

Secret Valiant Production Blog?

Now this is very interesting!

We know that Valiant Comics will be publishing new stories in 2012 and we have a good sense that they will be rebooting the Universe thanks to a quote from Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani.

“We have been planning the reintroduction of the Valiant titles for some time and I’m excited to announce our scheduled launch for 2012” said Dinesh Shamdasani. “Cutting-edge characters and stories were the core tenets of the original Valiant and are the core tenets of the new Valiant.”

But we've heard little since then, other than some surprising rumors about certain big name creators being involved and a steady yet vague stream of social media posts on Twitter and Facebook.

Now comes the exposure (or perhaps planned leak?) of an anonymous Tumblr named Man Of War which contains some very juicy and hastily taken (or meticulously planned to look hastily taken?) photos that look very much like the inner workings of the Valiant Comics offices.

At first glance the photos look pedestrian - shots of an average looking office, text book pages, boxes of tee shirts and even what appear to be previously released images. But upon closer inception we find a wealth of new information and imagery not previously released or even meant to officially exist!

Take a look for yourself at Man Of War or at the example below (more thorough analysis of all the pictures will follow in a subsequent post).

This was posted on October 7th, a full 4 months after the below image accompanied the initial announcement that Peter Cuneo had come on board as Chairman of Valiant and that Valiant would return in 2012.

They look the same, don't they? That's because they are. However, look closely and you'll notice that there are not two copies of that image in the Tumblr photo. The one underneath is slightly different. In that one you can see the white of a hand and the blood splatter sword. Did David Aja draw a reveal to go along with the Rai #0 homage silhouette? Tres interesting no?

So who is leaking these photos?

• A freelancer who occasionally visits the Valiant offices? 

No, the posts are too consistent and look to be shot after hours (see the night sky in the photos with windows?)

• How about an overly excited intern? 

Possibly, but then why haven't they been taken down now that the Tumblr has been exposed?

• Valiant Comics themselves?

Also, possible. If it is them then this is very cutting edge tech they are using (they've already showed that they are more than adept with Twitter and Facebook, racking up thousands of followers without any real announcements or images). I can't recall another comic book publisher that uses Tumblr. I hope it is Valiant and I hope they keep using cutting edge resources like this.

UPDATE: An eagle eye'd reader pointed out that the Tumblr's name, Man Of War, is clearly a link to the Valiant character, X-O Manowar. Don't know how I missed that!

Valiant Comics returns in 2012!

For my first update in quite a while I give you the best news you've heard since you were told about All Things Valiant: Valiant Comics will return to publishing comic books in 2012!

Now we don't know exactly when, which titles (though we can guess) or with which creative teams but we do know that a formidable team of executives have come together to make this happen - Peter Cuneo (former Marvel CEO and Vice Chairman), Fred Pierce (former Wizard Entertainment President), Warren Simons (critically acclaimed former Marvel Editor) and co founders Gavin Cuneo, Jason Kothari and Dinesh Shamdasani. Check out the press releases here and here. As well as the homage to Rai #0 that accompanied the release:

Now for several years we've been hearing rumblings of work being done behind the scenes and the founders wanting to take their time and bring Valiant Comics back to publishing in the strongest fashion and give it the best chance of sticking around. We've heard that Bill Jemas (former Marvel Vice President), Jim Shooter (former Marvel & Valiant Editor-in-Chief), Jeff Gomez and Bob Layton were all involved at various times. I don't like to post rumors, press releases or management announcements and avoided those updates but this, this is too exciting! The greatest universe of comic book characters to hit the stands in 40 years is now on its way back and we fans have cause to believe that its coming back with enough talent to set off the second Valiant big bang!!

Just check out these quotes:

“We have been planning the reintroduction of the Valiant titles for some time and I’m excited to announce our scheduled launch for 2012” said Dinesh Shamdasani. “Cutting-edge characters and stories were the core tenets of the original Valiant and are the core tenets of the new Valiant.”

“Valiant owns and controls a universe of some of the most recognizable characters in the comic world” added Peter Cuneo. “To this day, despite interruptions in its history, Valiant has retained an extremely passionate fan base. We are keenly focused on bringing the original Valiant Universe back for these fans as well as introducing these powerful characters and stories to new readers.”

And to top it all off we have a hint of the potential caliber of artists and writers that will help bring us new Valiant Comics in the above image by none other than superstar artist David Aja (who just happened to have been the artist on the seminal and very acclaimed Immortal Iron Fist with a certain editor named Warren Simons).

Bring me back to the Valiant Era baby!!