Valiant, Alien Books announce a publishing partnership

Alien Books will take over publishing comics for Valiant, with plans to increase the overall number of titles featuring Valiant characters.

Valiant Entertainment has announced a publishing partnership with Alien Books, where Valiant is essentially outsourcing their publishing to the fledgling publisher. According to Popverse, the deal will see Alien Books “take over all publishing of Valiant properties.”

This is not completely unexpected; the surprising part — and good news for fans of the characters — is that Valiant’s comic line isn’t just fading away. For the past couple years Valiant’s output has declined considerably, with the publishing line seemingly on life support as they published somewhere between 0-2 titles per month. The press release said Alien would “expand Valiant’s publishing capabilities,” with clarifications from Popverse and the Beat both saying this is pretty much the end of Valiant publishing their own comics (and graphic novels and the like). The Beat adds that “some remaining Valiant staffers will stay on to work on the transition.”

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GlobalComix adds Valiant comics to their library

The growing digital comics platform adds 1,600 new comics from the publisher to their library.

GlobalComix has announced they’ve entered into a partnership with Valiant Entertainment, bringing more than 1,600 comics — including Faith, Eternal Warrior, Shadowman and more — to the digital comics platform.

“Since its foundation in 1989, Valiant Entertainment’s deep character development and rich storytelling have been hallmarks of the Valiant Universe,” said Christopher Carter, CEO & Founder of GlobalComix. “It’s that attention and care that has made Valiant Entertainment one of the most successful publishers in the history of comics. We are honored to partner with them to bring the Valiant Universe to comics fans around the world through GlobalComix.”

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Mail Call | New release dates for the Milestone revival

Catch up on news and announcements from Dark Horse, Vault Comics, DC, Z2 and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

DC Comics has modified their plans for the upcoming Milestone Media relaunch. The three launch titles — Static, Icon and Rocket, and Hardware — will no longer arrive digitally before they come out in print. Instead, they’ll be released in both formats on the same day, as well as on DC Universe Infinite. Both Static and Icon and Rocket will come out later, but Hardware will be published earlier than originally announced. The new dates (and creative teams for each title) are:

  • Static: Season One, written by Vita Ayala, with layouts by CHRISCROSS, finishes by Nikolas Draper-Ivey with covers by Khary Randolph launches in print and digital on June 15.
  • Icon and Rocket: Season One, co-written by Reggie Hudlin and Leon Chills, with art by Doug Braithwaite and covers by Taurin Clarke launches in print and digital on July 27.
  • Hardware: Season One, written by Brandon Thomas, with art by Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz with covers by Mateus Mahanini, launches in print and digital on August 10.
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Mail Call | John Ridley makes his Marvel debut in January

A round-up of news from Marvel, IDW, Top Shelf and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently. Hit the links for more information.

Academy Award winner John Ridley has several projects in the works at DC right now, but DC’s not the only publisher he’s doing work for. Marvel has announced that the writer of 12 Years A Slave will have a story in Wolverine: Black, White and Blood #3. The anthology series will feature short stories about the popular mutant, told in black and white … and red. Jorge Fornés is the artist on his story.

“I can think of no better way to kick off my writing relationship with Marvel Comics than by contributing to a truly fantastic anthology series centered around Wolverine,” Ridley told Marvel.com. “Equally exciting is having the story illustrated by Jorge Fornés. I look forward to writing more stories set in the Marvel Universe, and with their roster of iconic characters.”

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Mail Call | ‘X-O Manowar’ returns, ‘Death Metal’ one-shots and more

A round-up of news from DC, Marvel, Image Comics, Valiant and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently. Hit the links for more information.

The Dark Nights: Death Metal event grew again this week, as DC announced two new anthology one-shots for November prior to releasing their full November solicitations.

The first one is focused on Lobo and is titled Dark Nights: Death Metal Infinite Hours Exxxtreme! #1. It will feature “Uncle Lobo” telling “familiar yet freaky stories of the DC Universe, exactly as he remembers them: with blood and guts and exxxtreme gratuitous violence.” The creators involved include Frank Tieri, Becky Cloonan, Dale Eaglesham and more, with a cover by Kyle Hotz.

If that one isn’t ridiculous-sounding enough, the second one, Dark Nights: Death Metal The Multiverse Who Laughs “offers the curious—and the brave—a glimpse into the nightmare realities that the Batman Who Laughs has created in tales by creators who know what it means to have a truly twisted sense of misfit humor.” As you can tell by the cover, one of those worlds features evil super pets. It includes stories by Amanda Conner, Patton Oswalt, Jimmy Palmiotti, Scott Snyder, Brandon Thomas, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, Chad Hardin and more.

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Valiant recruits Parker + Pulido for a new ‘Ninjak’ comic

The new title will launch next year.

Valiant Entertainment’s Ninjak will return in a new title next year from the creative team of Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido.

Ninjak, for the uninitiated, is Collin King, superspy/ninja, as the name implies. He was created in 1993 by Mark Moretti and Joe Quesada, and has headlined his own title several times since. The most recent version was written by Matt Kindt and published by Valiant in 2015.

Pulido’s always an interesting artist to watch, as he has such a unique style, and Parker’s really good at pulpy adventure stories. So this is a great match-up.

“I love how Javier’s mind works,” Parker said. “He comes up with the most brilliant panel progressions and layouts, and very striking compositions that look so simple but you have to be a next-level talent to attempt a lot of what he does.”

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Comics Lockdown: The latest on comics and COVID

Featuring news from Valiant, Archie Comics, MICE and more.

As the news that Diamond Comics Distributors is putting shipments on hold as of April 1 reverberated throughout the comics industry, reactions came from many quarters. Here’s a roundup of as many as I could find, with more (I’m sure) tomorrow:

Let’s start with some perspective: At Comichron, John Jackson Miller looks at the history of the comics retail market and offers some hope for the future.

At ICv2, editor, comics market analyst, and former distributor Milton Griepp gives his perspective.

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‘Savage’ returns at Valiant from Bemis + Stockman

Kevin Sauvage returns in a new miniseries this June.

Valiant has tapped Max Bemis and Nathan Stockman to tell the next chapter in the story of Savage, a Kazar/Tarzan-esque boy who grew up on a remote island populated by dinosaurs and other terrifying things. The new miniseries will kick off in June.

Savage is the biggest story I’ve ever told. As in it’s my aesthetic turned up to eleven and crammed into the skin of a summer blockbuster film,” Bemis said in a press release. “If you dig the more fun and up-tempo stuff I’ve done like Worst X-Man Ever, this is the book you’ve been waiting for.”

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Valiant revives ‘Shadowman’

Cullen Bunn and Jon Davis-Hunt tapped to bring horror back to Valiant.

Valiant’s Shadowman will return in May with a new series by Cullen Bunn, Jon Davis-Hunt, Jodie Bellaire and Clayton Cowles.

“We’re taking Shadowman in some directions he’s never been taken before,” Bunn said in a press release. “He’s confronting a growing supernatural threat that is popping up all over the world. We are introducing the concept of the Blight, which is a weakening of the veil between our world and the Deadside. And these Blights occur in places of great sorrow and misery and evil.”

Bunn added, “We’re also introducing a new villain who will be changing the face of the supernatural in the Valiant Universe.”

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Dan Abnett pens a song about ‘Rai’

The Valiant title gets a theme song, courtesy of its writer and the band A Sound of Thunder.

Valiant Entertainment will revive Rai on Wednesday with a new title, by Dan Abnett and Juan José Ryp. But Abnett isn’t just writing the series; he also wrote a Rai theme song that’s been recorded by the metal band A Sound of Thunder.

You can hear a snippet of the song, titled “Break Free,” below:

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‘Quantum & Woody’ returns by Hastings and Browne

Valiant brings back the popular duo in January.

Valiant Entertainment has announced the return of one of their most popular titles, Quantum & Woody.

The duo — and the goat, of course — will return in January from Christopher Hastings, Ryan Browne, Ruth Redmond, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou and editor Heather Antos.

“They hunt a serial kidnapper, they clash with a brain monster, they stop government assassinations, they go undercover at a haunted high school, they take on a new mentor, and perhaps most excitingly… they get some new powers,” Hastings said about the new title.

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It’s all about the hair in Valiant’s ‘Roku’ miniseries

Cullen Bunn and Ramón F. Bachs take the deadly assassin on a globe-trotting adventure.

Roku, the former-lover-turned-adversary of Valiant’s Ninjak, will star in her own four-issue miniseries, courtesy of Cullen Bunn, Ramón F. Bachs, Stéphane Paitreau and Dave Sharpe.

“Roku is perhaps the deadliest assassin in the Valiant Universe, and this is her first solo series,” Bunn said on his blog. “I’m sending her on a globe-trotting adventure where she will not get a chance to catch her breath. This is The Killer meets Hard-Boiled meets Replacement Killers meets John Wick… with psychic assassins.”

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