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Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2021 1:55:13 GMT
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Post by defiant1 on Dec 31, 2021 6:52:16 GMT
My appreciation of Valiant ended when Jim Shooter was ousted in 1992 or so. Despite that, DMG appears to be worse than Acclaim. Acclaim spent $65 million and drove the company into bankruptcy. |
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Post by Admin on Dec 31, 2021 18:15:29 GMT
The Ultimate Warrior worked with Acclaim on numerous video games and he said he was shocked when Acclaim went under.
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Post by defiant1 on Dec 31, 2021 23:45:20 GMT
The Ultimate Warrior worked with Acclaim on numerous video games and he said he was shocked when Acclaim went under. My understanding is that they felt they needed to be like Image comics at the time. All flashy art driven stories.
I have a hand written letter from colorist JayJay jackson explaining exactly why Jim was ousted from Valiant and how anyone who was friends with him was walked out at the same time. The letter looks like an early draft of what was later printed in Forbes magazine.
I knew Jim was ousted before most people, because an Atlanta area comic shop (Dark Adventure) had been on the phone with them almost daily. One day while in their store, the owner hung up the phone and said that something wasn't right. He mentioned that something had changed and Jim no longer worked there. He had been in planning stages to do a comic book show dedicated to Valiant. The coinvention took place without Jim and that was where I met Bob Layton and marketing guy Jon Hartz. Jon was married to someone in Neal Adams' exstended family and he has credits on a Continuity Comics Samuree issue. That's probably why Valiant published some Continuity characters after Continuity quit publishing comics.
Badsically, Acclaim just didn't know what they were doing. I think DMG is the same way.
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Post by Admin on Jan 6, 2022 1:08:07 GMT
Bob Layton lied right to my face at the Chicago Comic Con in 1995. Valiant had a creator owned imprint, Windjammer, that never got off the ground. There was suppose to be a book from them called the City Knights. It never came out. I think Val Semeiks was suppose to draw it. I asked Layton about it and he gave me a BS line of it's like you change the director of a major Hollywood film. I go , you change the creative team to a Creator Owned book ?!? And then I walked away. He killed all credibility with me after that.
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Post by defiant1 on Jan 8, 2022 18:49:37 GMT
Bob Layton lied right to my face at the Chicago Comic Con in 1995. Valiant had a creator owned imprint, Windjammer, that never got off the ground. There was suppose to be a book from them called the City Knights. It never came out. I think Val Semeiks was suppose to draw it. I asked Layton about it and he gave me a BS line of it's like you change the director of a major Hollywood film. I go , you change the creative team to a Creator Owned book ?!? And then I walked away. He killed all credibility with me after that. At the Dark Adventure Con in late 1992, Bob Layton & Jon Hartz were doing a trivia contest and giving out Gold variants of H.A.R.D.Corps #1's as prizes. They were also answering questions and elaborating about their characters. I asked Bob a question about Harbinger. This was right after Jim Shooter was ousted from his own company with Bob Layton playing the role of Judas. Bob's face goes blank. He stumbles with his words and says something to the effect that he doesn't know and "Harbinger was Jim's baby." With a slight look of panic, he looked over at Jon Hartz who had a cold stoic face. Jon started rambling about something generic and it got Bob off the hook for saying more. I genuinely believe that Bob felt bad about what had happened to Jim and that Jim being ousted was not what he expected. By all evidence, he was complicit and a back stabber to Jim who got him the job. Bob has gone double down and exploited his past role at Valiant. The irony is that if your read interviews with him discussing the demise of Future Comics, all his words echoed something you'd hear Jim Shooter say. Even though Bob betrayed Jim, you can still tell he learned a lot from Jim.
For the record, Bob Layton was no founder of Valiant Comics as it has been stated on the Wikipedia. Bob was a hired hand who was burning bridges at Marvel Comics & needed a job. On his first day in the Valiant offices (hoping for a job) he told me he drew the cover to Captain N #1 "in the lawyer's office" (pressumably Steve Massarsky).
I left that Valiant Con without without a H.A.R.D.Corps #1 variant because I felt the process to get one was too demeaning. They were treating their fans (figuratively speaking) like show dogs and making them jump through hoops to get one. I had more self-respect than that to get one. Some people walked out with multiple copies. I did get a copy of Captain N #1 signed by Bob, but I don't remember how I coordinated that. I don't know if I bought one at the show of had it in a box in my car already.
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Post by Admin on Jan 9, 2022 2:25:16 GMT
If this ever comes out, this will probally be the last appearance of Bob Layton.
Layton also got screwed over on his payout for Valiant's shares he owned when Acclaim filed for bankruptcy. He didn't get rich for stabbing Jim Shooter in the back.
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Post by defiant1 on Jan 15, 2022 19:13:26 GMT
He said he got rich from Valiant, but lost it all at Future Comics... I do believe that much.
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Post by Admin on Jan 16, 2022 3:05:13 GMT
What did Future Comics release, like 12 issues ?
I have them all, but haven't read them since they came out. They were not bad. B level comic books.
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Post by defiant1 on Jan 16, 2022 4:54:57 GMT
What did Future Comics release, like 12 issues ? I have them all, but haven't read them since they came out. They were not bad. B level comic books. They only had about 4 titles. One only came out as an introductory ashcan.
As far as actual issues, I'm not sure. It appears that some issues have multiple rereleases. I can't remember if it's multiple price variants or multiple printings over several months. The variants on the early issues is little known info. I discovered it by accident.
I felt like they were trying to be Charlton, not Valiant. It was all cheesy stuff.
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