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Post by G on Sept 13, 2010 23:44:59 GMT -5
I read my copy of Magnus #1 and it took me two reads to get through it. All in all I think it was a better production than Solar in both terms of story and art but in the big scheme of things, it wasn't very good. With all the fanaticism that IS Valiant, it's hard to believe people are raving over this like it is the 2nd coming of Valiant. To be honest, I put this on par with the stuff that Acclaim put out. It's not really any better and it's not really any worse. It's just mediocre and I'd have to say if I was a fanatical Valiant fan (which I'm not), I would be disappointed with this offering.
I was doing my preorders on comics the other day and I happened across the sales page for Solar #4. Part of me wanted to buy it. It had a pretty decent cover. But I had already wrote off this new Valiant stuff. I think I preordered a 2nd issue on one of them and then just decided it's not going to be good enough to keep buying it. If it is disappointing so much on 1st issues, do I really think this is going to wind up be spectacular in any way??? Honest, my feeling was no. So I stopped ordering it. Then the other day I see Solar #4. The cover looks pretty nice. It almost enticed me to buy it, but then I thought, nah.....I'm not going to buy this book just to own a cover. I decided against it and felt good about it. I could be wrong, but I don't see this relaunch being very successful down the road. Not when I'm already disappointed.
I'm honestly enjoying other books a lot more than these. Valiant fans that act like these are great ought to be ashamed of themselves. I think they are in denial.
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Post by defiant1 on Sept 14, 2010 0:39:42 GMT -5
I read my copy of Magnus #1 and it took me two reads to get through it. All in all I think it was a better production than Solar in both terms of story and art but in the big scheme of things, it wasn't very good. With all the fanaticism that IS Valiant, it's hard to believe people are raving over this like it is the 2nd coming of Valiant. To be honest, I put this on par with the stuff that Acclaim put out. It's not really any better and it's not really any worse. It's just mediocre and I'd have to say if I was a fanatical Valiant fan (which I'm not), I would be disappointed with this offering. I was doing my preorders on comics the other day and I happened across the sales page for Solar #4. Part of me wanted to buy it. It had a pretty decent cover. But I had already wrote off this new Valiant stuff. I think I preordered a 2nd issue on one of them and then just decided it's not going to be good enough to keep buying it. If it is disappointing so much on 1st issues, do I really think this is going to wind up be spectacular in any way??? Honest, my feeling was no. So I stopped ordering it. Then the other day I see Solar #4. The cover looks pretty nice. It almost enticed me to buy it, but then I thought, nah.....I'm not going to buy this book just to own a cover. I decided against it and felt good about it. I could be wrong, but I don't see this relaunch being very successful down the road. Not when I'm already disappointed. I'm honestly enjoying other books a lot more than these. Valiant fans that act like these are great ought to be ashamed of themselves. I think they are in denial. How much less likely is it that the average modern comic collector will stay interested? You have more knowledge about what Jim can do than most people. The new art is like a cross between Mignola and Miller and I don't think either of them draw worth a damn. df1
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Post by G on Sept 14, 2010 1:23:24 GMT -5
How much less likely is it that the average modern comic collector will stay interested? You have more knowledge about what Jim can do than most people. The new art is like a cross between Mignola and Miller and I don't think either of them draw worth a damn. You know, I was expecting a heck of a lot more in terms of art. You think back to Magnus 1-12, Solar 1-10, Rai 1-7, there was some pretty nice books there. I remember when I first seen these books, they struck me as different. The looked great as a set. They looked great individually. They had a classic look about them even when they had just arrived. They looked ready to be hot right off the presses. Then I see what is coming out today and I swear the Marvels I'm buying look better than this. It looks the same as anything else. Damn, couldn't you put a big name on these books? If someone like Epting worked on these, I'd probably be drooling over them. Not the case with these run of the mill guys. Just ain't excited by them. Then you read it. Once again, those books I mention above, very memorable, right off the bat. Reeling in type of books. Creating interest. I honestly fell asleep reading Magnus #1 this time. This is disappointing even for Jim Shooter. I hate saying that part. I respect him more than Valiant, but this is a letdown so far. He didn't start these off with a bang. It feels these are only going to be supported by Valiant fans over the haul. I doubt many noobies are gonna stick with this kind of stuff. Too many other hot books taking interest away from this. I don't think the Valiant faithful can keep this going. I'm almost wondering if there should be a "Shooter is leaving" watch eventually. If I was putting these out, I'd be feeling like..."The thrill is gone". I'm so ready for him to do something so not Valiant related and so not beneath his talents. He should come to peace with his past glory. He's almost type-casting himself. I like the idea of Seven better than this. That even looks fresher. I think Shooter needs to stop rehashing his past. Take a lead from Stan Lee. He's not reinventing Marvel, he's just continues to move forward. I'm actually thinking his new books look better than Shooters.
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Post by defiant1 on Sept 14, 2010 5:01:13 GMT -5
With all the talent Jim knows, it doesn't make sense for them to use "no name" artists. Dark Horse isn't even trying to appeal to Valiant fans. They are trying to appeal to non-existent Gold Key fans.
df1
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Post by cyberstrike on Sept 14, 2010 11:03:01 GMT -5
With all the talent Jim knows, it doesn't make sense for them to use "no name" artists. Dark Horse isn't even trying to appeal to Valiant fans. They are trying to appeal to non-existent Gold Key fans. df1 It's simple "no name" artists are cheaper than "big name established" artists are.
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Post by G on Sept 14, 2010 11:59:25 GMT -5
With all the talent Jim knows, it doesn't make sense for them to use "no name" artists. Dark Horse isn't even trying to appeal to Valiant fans. They are trying to appeal to non-existent Gold Key fans. df1 It's simple "no name" artists are cheaper than "big name established" artists are. Established names = More people giving it a shot. But you know, I guess they just think the Valiant name is enough....Since those guys are so rabid and all.
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Post by cyberstrike on Sept 14, 2010 16:03:12 GMT -5
It's simple "no name" artists are cheaper than "big name established" artists are. Established names = More people giving it a shot. But you know, I guess they just think the Valiant name is enough....Since those guys are so rabid and all. Just selling the books to nostiglic Jim Shooter/Gold Key/Valiant fans are not going to keep these titles around for long. The art for Dr. Solar #2 looks bland and IMHO it not any better than #1. DH seems to want Magnus, Robot Fighter and Turok, Son of Stone as a series of continuing mini-series. Frankly if any of these books last 18 months I'll be surpirsed.
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Post by defiant1 on Sept 14, 2010 17:45:50 GMT -5
With all the talent Jim knows, it doesn't make sense for them to use "no name" artists. Dark Horse isn't even trying to appeal to Valiant fans. They are trying to appeal to non-existent Gold Key fans. df1 It's simple "no name" artists are cheaper than "big name established" artists are. That is EXACTLY what it looks like. A cheap half-ass relaunch. df1
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Post by defiant1 on Sept 14, 2010 18:09:35 GMT -5
It's simple "no name" artists are cheaper than "big name established" artists are. Established names = More people giving it a shot. But you know, I guess they just think the Valiant name is enough....Since those guys are so rabid and all. I really think Dark Horse has had their back against the wall. They live off licensed properties. Publishing a licensed property means they have to pay for the rights to use the characters and they don't own what they publish. The licensed characters should give them a marketing edge, but their overall quality and production values are so poor, their sales are well below where they should be. They milk off creators' names with clout but don't know how to market their product beyond buying a character license or pasting those creator names on the cover of their books. When Marvel publishes Spider-Man, it adds value to the character and that character's license is a secondary source of income. Dark Horse loses twice. They pay to use the character and then that money is never an investment back to the worth of the company. Of course I get told how wonderful Mike Richardson is doing because of his Hollywood deals. Does that mean he wants his company to perform poorly? Does he want to finance a backward slip in sales until the books can't make money? The "no name" art is one sign Dark Horse is being cheap. The poor advertising is another. Their requests for Jim to trim down his scripts is another. Their pushing of reprint material and hardbacks is another. The company really needs a flagship line to just stay where they are in the sales charts. Buffy is going away eventually. That's their biggest selling title. The newest number I heard is that Magnus #1 sold around 17,000 copies. That's only 2/3 rds what Solar did the month before. Magnus should theoretically be a better known character. It'll be interesting to see how bad sales dropped on Solar #2. In my opinion, the art was better on #1. Both are marginal at best for a Jim Shooter script. df1
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Post by defiant1 on Sept 14, 2010 18:16:23 GMT -5
Just selling the books to nostiglic Jim Shooter/Gold Key/Valiant fans are not going to keep these titles around for long. The art for Dr. Solar #2 looks bland and IMHO it not any better than #1. DH seems to want Magnus, Robot Fighter and Turok, Son of Stone as a series of continuing mini-series. Frankly if any of these books last 18 months I'll be surpirsed. I agree they won't survive. Dark Horse is doing EVERYTHING wrong. Completely Bass Ackwards. df1
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