Post by G on Dec 16, 2008 12:58:47 GMT -5
You know, Ive seen a lot of Valiant purists 
who seem to loathe the Acclaim version of Valiant comics. Now I agree, when compared to volume 1 of true Valiants, they don't hold up at all. But let's face it, true Valiants pretty much ended in 1996 and could have stayed dead no problem and that would have been it. Would you have been okay with that? Would the Valiant purist been okay with that? What if there was no more to buy and collect than just those? I'm sure a lot of the Valiant purists would say they would have been just fine with that. And yet, they seem eager for Volume 3 to really get rolling.
But, I've got to admit, I actually kind of like some of my Acclaim Valiants. No, I dont care how they changed some of the characters. Namely Magnus and Harbinger and maybe Bloodshot. The look and characters are totally different. And I must also admit the stories just dont have the same punch and leave you missing the old days. But a lot of people seem to forget the Valiant's magic really started fading once Unity ended. It was a slow decline to being almost invisible. So, really the great period of truly great Valiants was really very short lived.
So saying that, there is a whole lot of true Valiants that werent all that great either. So enter Acclaim. No, these aren't all that great either, but I also think they aint all that bad. Just like I dont feel like after Unity Valiants aint all that bad either. They both could have been better in my opinion. But for the most part, I have enjoyed collecting Acclaim/Valiants. I like some of their covers. Their variants were pretty cool. Their preview books were nice. And some of their print runs makes collecting these down right difficult to get! And having a difficult hunt is always fun to me. And, I think they gave it a good shot at what they tried to do. They really had the cards stacked up against them from the start. The purist probably wouldnt have been satisfied no matter what they did. The expectations and desires were just too high and probably very unrealistic too. Once magic like Valiant happens, its not like you can just do it again. You can no longer catch people by surprise with the same characters. If you do exactly everything Valiant did the 1st time around again.....it's already been done before! Also remembering the market, it was horrible back then and no surprise at all they failed. They really had a lot going against them. And honestly, I think under all the circumstances, they ended up with a product that I don't really mind filing away with all the rest of my Valiants. I just dont have the disdain for them that some do. I think I'm likely to dig Volume 2 of Valiant more than what has happened so far with Volume 3.
I'm still ready for something new to come around and be the next evolution in comics. The next big thing. We are long overdue. The great period of Valiants is roughly 17-18 years in the past and holding on or expecting to revive it into something great again seems highly unlikely to me. The time is prime for something great to happen that is different and it just hasn't happened. But regardless, sometimes I think Acclaims get a bad rap. And me personally, I'm cool with what they attempted to do. I do know they weren't great. But I also think they gave it a worthy shot.
who seem to loathe the Acclaim version of Valiant comics. Now I agree, when compared to volume 1 of true Valiants, they don't hold up at all. But let's face it, true Valiants pretty much ended in 1996 and could have stayed dead no problem and that would have been it. Would you have been okay with that? Would the Valiant purist been okay with that? What if there was no more to buy and collect than just those? I'm sure a lot of the Valiant purists would say they would have been just fine with that. And yet, they seem eager for Volume 3 to really get rolling. But, I've got to admit, I actually kind of like some of my Acclaim Valiants. No, I dont care how they changed some of the characters. Namely Magnus and Harbinger and maybe Bloodshot. The look and characters are totally different. And I must also admit the stories just dont have the same punch and leave you missing the old days. But a lot of people seem to forget the Valiant's magic really started fading once Unity ended. It was a slow decline to being almost invisible. So, really the great period of truly great Valiants was really very short lived.
So saying that, there is a whole lot of true Valiants that werent all that great either. So enter Acclaim. No, these aren't all that great either, but I also think they aint all that bad. Just like I dont feel like after Unity Valiants aint all that bad either. They both could have been better in my opinion. But for the most part, I have enjoyed collecting Acclaim/Valiants. I like some of their covers. Their variants were pretty cool. Their preview books were nice. And some of their print runs makes collecting these down right difficult to get! And having a difficult hunt is always fun to me. And, I think they gave it a good shot at what they tried to do. They really had the cards stacked up against them from the start. The purist probably wouldnt have been satisfied no matter what they did. The expectations and desires were just too high and probably very unrealistic too. Once magic like Valiant happens, its not like you can just do it again. You can no longer catch people by surprise with the same characters. If you do exactly everything Valiant did the 1st time around again.....it's already been done before! Also remembering the market, it was horrible back then and no surprise at all they failed. They really had a lot going against them. And honestly, I think under all the circumstances, they ended up with a product that I don't really mind filing away with all the rest of my Valiants. I just dont have the disdain for them that some do. I think I'm likely to dig Volume 2 of Valiant more than what has happened so far with Volume 3.
I'm still ready for something new to come around and be the next evolution in comics. The next big thing. We are long overdue. The great period of Valiants is roughly 17-18 years in the past and holding on or expecting to revive it into something great again seems highly unlikely to me. The time is prime for something great to happen that is different and it just hasn't happened. But regardless, sometimes I think Acclaims get a bad rap. And me personally, I'm cool with what they attempted to do. I do know they weren't great. But I also think they gave it a worthy shot.
