Comic readers who grew up in the ’90s almost certainly remember Valiant Comics, the revolutionary comics publisher spearheaded by former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, but what many fans may not realize is that Valiant Comics is back with a running start under new publisher Alien Books. One of their first projects is the ambitious anthology miniseries Black, White & Bloodshot, which brings together some of the greatest comic writers and artists of this generation to create a multitude of stories featuring their iconic character Bloodshot. To celebrate the launch of the Kickstarter, I got the opportunity to talk to Alien Books director and head of this revolutionary relaunch Matias Timarchi about their plans for the franchise and their process in creating a comic bound to be an instant classic. Before getting into the interview, I want to warn you fans of the ’90s that this Kickstarter only has a day left, so back it now if you want a chance to experience your favorite childhood hero written and drawn by your favorite creators
VISIT THE BLACK, WHITE & BLOODSHOT KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN HERE
Q: Valiant is known for publishing a very specific and recognizable style of superhero comics. What made Alien Books go in this radical new direction for the franchise in Black, White & Bloodshot?
Matias Timarchi: I am a big fan of anthologies, both as a reader and as someone who gets to hire the writers and artists to work on them. The Batman: Black & White anthology was tremendously impactful and in the decades since, other publishers have been doing similar projects while adding in a single color like Red or Green. When we looked at the Valiant characters and how an anthology might work with them, it became painfully obvious that Bloodshot would fit perfectly in this format and not just because of the pun in the title.
Q: Black, White & Bloodshot has a true who’s who of comic talent, from Brian Azzarello to Marc Guggenheim to Tim Seeley. What kind of response did Alien Books get when approached with this idea?
MT: There was a lot of excitement to be involved in the project! Everyone across the board has been a pleasure to work with and supportive of our Kickstarter as well, that’s why the creators involved in BLACK, WHITE & BLOODSHOT will all take home a percentage of the final campaign, as an extra way of thanking them for their time and support.
Q: Brian Azzarello recently criticized DC Comics for now wanting homogeneity in their works. What kind of creative freedom do creators have on their short stories in Black, White & Bloodshot?
MT: With any book, and especially with an anthology like this one, we want to work with creators who will bring their unique styles and takes to the characters. If everyone is telling the same type of story, with the same style of artwork, where’s the excitement in that? By allowing Brian and Eduardo, the team behind 100 Bullets, and a mangaka like Shintaro Kago, to put their own stamps on Bloodshot, that’s going to make the stories worth reading. That’s going to bring in new readers and make people excited about Valiant Comics.
Q: Alien Books has taken steps to reprint some of Valiant’s greatest recent series produced under the previous publishers. What kind of decisions go into choosing what gets a new re-release?
MT: We heard from retailers that there was not an easy way for readers to get into Valiant Comics, as many of the previously released collections were long out of print. Since our goal is to grow our readership on our new titles, we determined that spotlighting the amazing stories that were published by Valiant beginning in 2012, in a more accessible and affordable format, would help us achieve that goal.
It was an easy choice to start with some of the more prominent characters like X-O MANOWAR, FAITH and BLOODSHOT, and then move through the rest of the line with fan-favorites like ARCHER & ARMSTRONG, HARBINGER, SHADOWMAN and more, as we aimed to collect the most important story-arcs and provide entry points into this amazing shared universe of heroes.
Q: The Valiant Comics Origins collection is a fantastic way for new fans to read the early foundational stories of Valiant’s greatest heroes at an exceptional price point. Is there the possibility for Alien Books to continue the Origins series to release the issues published after the contents of the trade paperbacks?
MT: We’ve started with an ambitious plan to release 12 of these Origins collections so that we can cover the entirety of what Valiant has produced over the last decade and get these stories back into print for new and lapsed readers to discover. Our current plan is to see how this initial wave of books performs in the market and if the support from readers is there, we’ll explore how we can do more of them. If you want to see these Origins books continue, the best thing to do is pick up a copy or twelve.
Q: Further expanding on the last question, Valiant has many acclaimed story arcs throughout their history. Is it possible for us to be seeing trade paperbacks like the Origins Collection but specifically for these acclaimed story arcs and company-wide crossovers?
MT: So this is something that we have already been doing, as late last year we released an incredible Eternal Warrior Classic Omnibus edition, a very beautiful book, collecting the first twenty-five issues of the original series from the 90s. We’re very proud of that edition. We also have the Valiant Classic Collection series which has reprinted the original ARCHER & ARMSTRONG, NINJAK and BLOODSHOT stories from the 90s in softcover format. Whether or not we do more of these types of projects all depends on the support from readers and retailers. If we think the market is there, we will do more!
BLACK, WHITE & BLOODSHOT #1 (of 4)
Enter the world of Bloodshot in this brand-new Black, White, and Blood anthology! Meet Bloodshot, the world’s deadliest assassin! A super soldier engineered with Nanites, a versatile nanotechnology that allows Bloodshot to repair the damage inflicted on his body, change his appearance, and control machines.
From the creative minds of some of the world’s most renowned creators like Shintaro Kago, Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso, Ariel Olivetti, Kevin VanHook, Marc Guggenheim, Tim Seeley, Danny Earls, Fernando Dagnino, David Baille, Timmy Heague, Luciano Saracino, Guillermo Fajardo, Joao Azeitona, Renato Guedes, Mico Suayan and many more!
(From the solicitations, courtesy of Alien Books)
