Why You MUST READ VALIANT at 13th DIMENSION

By CLAY N. FERNO

Valiant Comics‘ Must Read Valiant Greatest Hits Volume 1 is out now and the oversized comic is priced at $5.99 to get you into the increasingly popular Valiant Universe for the price of two regular comic books! Superheroes, space travel, top talent and an unflinching editorial eye for quality makes for a rich universe. Are you one of those fans that thinks the X-Men have too many books and The Avengers are cool on the big screen, but Avengers Mansion seems like a Spanx-filled flop house? Come on over to the Valiant side, there’s room for everyone over here and it all makes sense together!

Let us first take a look at the offerings in Greatest Hits Vol. 1. Back in MY day, we called this a 100-Page Giant. We’ll keep it short so you can start working on your Shadowman and Ninjak cosplays by the end of the article.

We start off with Valiant’s Iron-Prince-Out-Of-Water, X-O Manowar #5. The Visigoth from ancient Romania was taken away from the Vine aliens to toil on their farms before escaping and bonding with their most powerful weapon, the X-O Manowar armor. This issue reintroduces Ninjak, kind of like a Ninja Boba Fett. Killer issue!

Quantum and Woody #1 deals with two knucklehead step brothers who step into their late Dad’s  science lab when, of course, a life-altering scientific accident leaves them just as annoying to each other but all the more powerful! Who’s responsible for their Dad’s murder? What’s all this about a goat? For fans of snarky humor but also butt kicking!

[READ MORE at 13th DIMENSION]

Triple Shot: THE X-FILES #1, HARBINGER #13, MARA #5 (of 6) at FORCES OF GEEK

We’ve got a peek inside the military industrial complex this week at Triple Shot.

Mara and Harbinger books both show the importance of a best laid plan while we marvel at the return of X-Files: Season 10 and a Pentagon break-in that could doom Mulder and Scully.

THE X-FILES #1
WRITER: Joe Harris
ART: Michael Walsh
COLOR: Jordie Bellaire
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Chris Carter
Publication Date: June 19, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: IDW Publishing
UPC: 82771400475500111
Buy it HERE


What better way to revisit the X-Files than in comic book form?

Do you want to believe in good comics?

IDW has teamed up with Executive Producer Chris Carter to tell new tales of Mulder and Scully set in the present day.

FBI Deputy Director Skinner pays a visit to the home of Mr. and Dr. Blake—the pseudonyms of Mulder and Scully in the Witness Protection Program or new identities formed after they were last seen in X-Files: I Want to Believe. 

Skinner warns the couple that FBI archives and personnel have been compromised, including the X-Files. Scully is concerned about the safety of her son, William, who was put up for adoption in case his records were also compromised. 

Mulder, struggling to work on his memoir gets a call from Skinner’s hotel room, eking out that he is in danger there. Mulder heads to rescue him, leaving Scully vulnerable to a similar attack by hooded mystery men and women. With Scully away from the boys will she also get to make a plea for help, or will she succumb to the attack by the young girl patient she was treating earlier?

This book captures the voice of the show and the actors and is setting us up for a great mystery. Are the people who adopted Scully’s son William responsible for the attacks? Michael Walsh’s art reminds us of Chris Samnee or the work Antonio Fuso is doing on G.I. Joe: Cobra Files, a simplified but sophisticated line with good storytelling.

This book is highly recommended for fans of the show!

HARBINGER #13
WRITER: Joshua Dysart
ART: Khari Evans & Trevor Hairsine
Publication Date: June 19, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: Valiant Comics
UPC: 85899200304801321
Buy it HERE


The Harbinger Wars continue in this, the first crossover event for the new Valiant Universe.

Psiot Peter Stanchek leads fellow teenage super powered kids in the fight against master Toyo Harada, head of The Harbinger foundation.

This issue leads the fight to Vegas for big action, as well as a trip down Harada’s past to his first Harbinger War in 1969 at Project Rising Spirit R & D Headquarters in flashbacks.

Peter and his crew lay a well thought out plan to attacking the oncoming Bloodshot and rescue the kids under Bloodshot’s watch. What they don’t plan on is that the kids aren’t exactly looking to be rescued and that Bloodshot is way more powerful than they can imagine. The man/machine has more firepower than the five Harbingers combined, they barely slow him down.

This Harbinger Wars tie-in was action packed and we get to see how all of these teams and powered beings deal interact with each other in the Valiant Universe. While not a fan of huge crossovers in the Big Two books, the clarity of focus for these stories in a much smaller universe makes for compelling storytelling.

MARA #5 (of 6)
WRITER: Brian Wood
ARTIST: Ming Doyle 
COLOR: Jordie Bellaire
Publication Date: June 19, 2013
Price: $2.99
Publisher: Image Comics
Buy it HERE


Mara Prince is the ultimate sports hero, or rather was until her secret superpowers started to manifest themselves in front of a global audience.

She has since rejected moves made on her by the military to be the ultimate weapon.

In the penultimate issue of this acclaimed mini-series the stakes are higher.


The military has her brother detained for the crime of being her brother and is tested with violence to see if he can withstand the same punishment that is superpowered sister can (he cannot, he has not manifested any powers). 

What we see here in this issue is an increasingly used psychological theme in comics with a nigh-invulnerable lead character (powers like Superman for example). Seen in The Mighty(Tomasi/Samnee/Snejbjerg) and Irredemable (Waid/Krause/Barreto) are tales of heroes being callous with their powers or more simply turning from good to bad. It is hinted that Mara’s story could end similarly or that we will be surprised at Mara’s actions in the conclusion of the story.

Wood and Doyle have created a strong female lead here not typical of the genre and we look forward to the end of this story to be able to recommend the trade to our friends. There is no doubt that no matter what the outcome of issue 5 will be, this story will sell well in trade on art alone.

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for June 19, 2013

COMICS

Do you want to believe that IDW can produce the faithful next season of X-Files? Jim Carroll (Basketball Diaries) once told me in real life that, “Scully is hot”, and he was right. Here’s to X-Files Season 10 #1. O.K., Mulder’s hot too. … New publisher Black Mask Comics run by Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) and Brett Gurewitz (guitarist-songwriter Bad Religion, owner Epitaph Records) unleashes two comics today, #OCCUPYCOMICS anthology issue 2 and a story about vigilante animal rescuers in Liberator #1. 30% off the proceeds go to animal rescue initiatives! … Read Harbinger #13 8-Bit Variant by the pool as Harbinger Wars continues in Summer of Valiant ‘13. … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

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TRIPLE SHOT: MISS FURY #1, INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK #6 & HARBINGER WARS #1

Sometimes triple shot might mean to you 3 shots of espresso over ice, with caramel, whipped cream and salt. 

Before exclaiming “Ew!”, you gotta realize that too much of a good thing is still many good things all jammed into one big awesome thing. 

This week’s stack of comics is the $8 coffee drink of the springtime, worth every delicious penny.

MISS FURY #1

WRITER: Rob Williams 
ART: Jack Herbert
COVER: Alex Ross
Publication Date: April 3, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
UPC: 72513020398400111
Buy it HERE

The Shadow, Green Hornet, The Spider and more are fighting The Justice Party over in the pulp superhero book,Masks.

They are joined by a proto-Catwoman (Black Cat, Hellcat, take your pick) Miss Fury to add a bit of feline finesse to the team.

Here at the new #1, we’re given a fresh origin story of the character and some insight into her powers.

The story opens in 1943 atop the roof of a museum wherein lies the Rwandan Diamond Crown. Miss Fury takes on a cadre of goons and a time traveling Nazi. She’s saved by Harmon, an O.S.S. (CIA) man who she promptly punches before falling through a skylight and into a time portal, waking up in modern day Manhattan.

At this point we’re given her African safari origin story and hallucinogenic ritual that grants her powers before returning to America to find out her father is dead, leaving Marla Drake all of his fortune. Miss Drake returns changed from her experience abroad and sets her eyes on stealing the crown. The cat burglar gene runs strong in her trope!

The burglar aspect of the story is not the strong point, the real hook is the Butterfly Effect time travel reveal at the end. Why is Miss Fury traveling through Nazi time portals and what kind of world does she confront in the present? Read issue #2 to find out. This book for fans of Black Cat, Catwoman, Doctor Who and of course Dynamite’s Masks team book!
 

INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK #6

WRITER: Mark Waid
ART/COVER: Walter Simonson
COLORS: Andreas Mossa
Publication Date: April 3, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: Marvel Comics
UPC: 75960607908700611
Buy it HERE

Alright, we’ve been blowing up Mark Waid a bit here but for good reason.

He’s cranking out the hot stuff lately. While Waid’s storytelling is intelligent and moves the industry forward in ways (Daredevil, Thrillbent) the real news about this issue is his collaboration with longtime Thor artist Walter Simonson on art in Indestructible Hulk #6.


The setup for this book is that Dr. Bruce Banner is working for S.H.I.E.L.D. as a research scientist and top brainy guy. You know who also works for S.H.I.E.L.D.?

The Hulk.

While we’re not certain on the overtime pay for a split personality, we do know how Hulk is employed. When something needs a good smash, send Hulk in, and he smashes away. It’s controlled chaos, Hulk used as a weapon for the government. Only now realizing this is pretty similar to the current Venom premise, whereby Flash Thompson is given monitored access to the Venom symbiote to give him powers as a super soldier.

What better use of Walter Simonson’s talents than to put him on a Hulk book and to include our good friend Thor Odinson. That’s right, boys and girls, Banner travels to Jotunheim (you may remember the land of the Frost Giants from the Thor movie) to gather up some legendary energy source of some kind or another. Who cares? The excitement explodes on the facing page when the Thor we grew up with in the 80s swoops down with Mjolnir to ask what they are doing there.

It seems the Son of Odin does not recognize his friend Banner, and Bruce is also wondering in his narration why Thor is not wearing his modern costume. Perhaps we have a doppelganger Thor here?

At this point the Frost Giants show up, and attack Thor and the team. Banner is encapsulated in ice, a familiar place for an Avenger, before getting super pissed and having his growth spurt. Luckily it’s easier for him to fight Frost Giants as Hulk, but he can’t do it without assistance. The Asgardian at this point is separated from his mighty hammer.

I started off getting Waid’s first issues, with Lenil Yu on art and it was great, but dropped off. If we get two masters on one book for a while this will be a no-brainer and an easy recommendation to anyone that’s not on the Wednesday comic book cycle.

HARBINGER WARS #1

WRITERS: Joshua Dysart
STORY: Joshua Dysart & Duane Sweirczynski
ART: Clayton Henry, Clayton Crain, Mico Suayan
COVER: Lewis LaRosa
Publication Date: April 3, 2013
Price: $3.99
UPC: 85899200308600111
Buy it HERE

The relaunch of Valiant Comics was an industry shot in the arm with it’s Summer of Valiant last year.

A strong suit of the ‘90s Valiant Universe was it’s similarity to the Marvel Universe, as there was a shared history of the fictional universe, with diverse characters and story lines ranging from aliens to psionicly powered children, ninjas and voodoo.


This made for easy crossovers and guest appearances in the books.

Miming the success of these crossovers, we have had Ninjak appear in X-O Manowar in the reboot and now we have the first official event comic or crossover in the modern takes on the characters in Harbinger Wars #1.

The Harbingers are close to an X-Men type team with super powered kids of all different ‘psionic’ abilities, lead by corporate mastermind Toyo Harada. The Harbinger Foundation has been colluding with the government’s Project Rising Spirit program to imprison some of the most powerful young psiots and use them for deadly immoral missions.

A new cast of young psiots are introduced with cool codenames like Chronos, The Telic, Traveler and Hive (we’re Legion of Superheros fans here, Chronos-Boy has a nice ring to it, too!). Of course we see Harbinger Peter Stanchek here with his rebels and he even has an encounter/vision of The Bleeding Monk (still the creepiest).

Bloodshot, a product of Project Rising Spirit liberates some of the imprisoned psiots from their facility, and Harada is in hot pursuit of losing his precious weapons.

It’s Bloodshot teaming with the rebels to protect these kids, as Toyo Harada and the rest of the Harbinger team players are seeking revenge. And this is the action only in issue #1 of four.

Amazing art, story and crossing over of characters we have been waiting for since last summer in these fine looking books. Starting Valiant launches an 8-bit campaign with pixelated covers of all of their books. Only weeks away is Harbinger Wars: Battle for Las Vegas, an 8-Bit Game tied into the series coming to Android and iOS. I can’t wait to shoot guns as Bloodshot!

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for February 6, 2013

COMICS

Toyo Harada, Head of Harada Global Conglomerates leads the young psiots and hyper-telekinetics in the Harbinger Foundation. Sometimes his motivations are for the betterment of all, other times for profit. For the first time, learn of Toyo’s survival of Hiroshima and his first encounter with the Bleeding Monk in the highly collectible Harbinger #0. … We couldn’t possibly fall for such a ridiculous marketing stunt from DC Comics that produces a different state flag cover for each state to debut Justice League #1, right? We won’t even mention the rare MA state variant. Megatron returns to find the Decepticons under control of Starscream. All is revealed in this unseen tale about Megatron’s reaction to the coup and how Starscream endures the wrath in Spotlight: Megatron. … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

Pass the Daily Dig along! Your friends can sign up here!

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for June 6, 2012

COMICS
Todd McFarlane returns to his flagship book as the writer and cover artist for the Image Comics 20th Anniversary in Spawn 220. Jim Downing uses his hell-born powers to unlock secrets twenty years in the making! … Way back in January we told you about the Infinite breakup of Kirkman and Liefeld. The trade of issues 1-5 has been printed and we we’ve been waiting for The Infinite issue 6 to find out just how the evil time-traveling Imperius is! … The summer of Valiant Comics continues with the debut of Harbinger #1 from NYT best-selling author Joshua Dysart (Unknown Soldier) and Harvey Award nominee Khari Evans!. Peter can read minds and alter matter, but what is the true price of such power? … Mind altering picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

Pass the Daily Dig along! Your friends can sign up here!