• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

History of Valiant Comics
0

11 posts in this topic

I've been listening to the history of comics for the past few weeks before bed and was learning about Valiant comics last night.  It seems like the rights to the Valiant Universe was last sold in the Acclaim Entertainment's estate liquidation in 2005.  Has there ever been any documentation as how much the rights were valued at that time?   

 

Sounds like the two entrepreneurs who got it, created  Valiant Entertainment and have done a great job with the IP.    Anyway, i was just really curious if was like 30 million or 100 million or much much lower...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Wolverinex said:

I've been listening to the history of comics for the past few weeks before bed and was learning about Valiant comics last night.  It seems like the rights to the Valiant Universe was last sold in the Acclaim Entertainment's estate liquidation in 2005.  Has there ever been any documentation as how much the rights were valued at that time?   

 

Sounds like the two entrepreneurs who got it, created  Valiant Entertainment and have done a great job with the IP.    Anyway, i was just really curious if was like 30 million or 100 million or much much lower...

The price was much lower when the Acclaim Entertainment liquidation/auction occurred... probably more like $750,000.  That was day one.  Since that time, the investment has been enormous, so it's a little like they bought "land" for $750,000 and they had to build everything themselves afterward including the cost of clearing the squatters off the property (who had zero rights, but they had a lawyer, so it wasn't cheap to get them out of the way).  Once that was all done (somewhere around 2007-2009), they had to get an architect in there and start building something tangible.  They launched regular monthly comics in 2012.  The 2015 investment in Valiant by DMG was at least $110 million, and it did not buy DMG a majority stake... so you can guess what the value would be now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, valiantman said:

The price was much lower when the Acclaim Entertainment liquidation/auction occurred... probably more like $750,000.  That was day one.  Since that time, the investment has been enormous, so it's a little like they bought "land" for $750,000 and they had to build everything themselves afterward including the cost of clearing the squatters off the property (who had zero rights, but they had a lawyer, so it wasn't cheap to get them out of the way).  Once that was all done (somewhere around 2007-2009), they had to get an architect in there and start building something tangible.  They launched regular monthly comics in 2012.  The 2015 investment in Valiant by DMG was at least $110 million, and it did not buy DMG a majority stake... so you can guess what the value would be now.

Sweet. that's an amazing story.  Kudos to the guys for creating a new company.    Just started reading X-o Manowar and it's fantastic.  Is it a retelling of the 90's story? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Wolverinex said:

Sweet. that's an amazing story.  Kudos to the guys for creating a new company.    Just started reading X-o Manowar and it's fantastic.  Is it a retelling of the 90's story? 

Valiant is keeping what they liked about the 1990s stories, but updating/changing whatever makes for better stories in 2012+.  So, X-O Manowar is still Aric, the Visigoth, taken from his home (by aliens) in the year 400, transported into space where he steals an alien armor and then returns to Earth in the present day.  That's a match/retelling of the 90s origin, but, the story changes pretty quickly from there. 

X-O Manowar #1 relaunched in 2012, and then started over with #1 for 2017 (he's not on Earth in the 2017 series, but he is the same guy from the 2012 series).  Which series are you reading?

Edited by valiantman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, valiantman said:

Valiant is keeping what they liked about the 1990s stories, but updating/changing whatever makes for better stories in 2012+.  So, X-O Manowar is still Aric, the Visigoth, taken from his home (by aliens) in the year 400, transported into space where he steals an alien armor and then returns to Earth in the present day.  That's a match/retelling of the 90s origin, but, the story changes pretty quickly from there. 

X-O Manowar #1 relaunched in 2012, and then started over with #1 for 2017 (he's not on Earth in the 2017 series, but he is the same guy from the 2012 series).  Which series are you reading?

I'm reading the 2012 series right now... and really enjoying it.  Do I need to read the 90s version too?  I would like to see what  Jim Shooter's hand in the original stories.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, Wolverinex said:

I'm reading the 2012 series right now... and really enjoying it.  Do I need to read the 90s version too?  I would like to see what  Jim Shooter's hand in the original stories.

I loved the original line, but when you read the new stuff and then go back and read the old stuff it doesn't hold up so well. I would say catch up on all new Valiant before going back and reading the original line. Big tip: every so often, Comixology will have a digital sale of the old stuff at $1 a pop, or there will be a Humble Bundle that includes a lot of Valiant collections. Watch for those as a way to catch up cheap (unless you really like owning the physical copies). And Jump right in with the new X-O series. It's great!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree, since there won't be any more of the old stories... you can hold off on those until you have gotten caught up on the new stuff.  That way you'll be able to contrast what's different about the older stories with the newer stories as the baseline.  During the years that it wasn't sure if Valiant would ever return, there was only one Valiant... it was mostly loved for its first two years of books (Jim Shooter was only there for about a year-and-a-half)... and it was very "90s".

Now that (new) Valiant is in its sixth year, the new stories (still growing monthly) have become what Valiant means.  The older books are the origins/inspirations and many of the first appearances, but they aren't Valiant today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
0