Last week, Valiant held their second annual ‘Valiant Summit,’ where they announced seven upcoming titles and were joined by creator Fred Van Lente, Jody Houser, Matt Kindt, and Rafer Roberts. We have a full reporting of the day here, but I got to speak to Valiant Editor in Chief Warren Simons for a few minutes after the event about what the announcements, their publishing line, and how they decide which of their characters to put the spotlight on.
This is your second annual Valiant summit; last year it was at Twitter HQ in California, but this year you brought it to New York. Why come back to New York after a successful one out in San Francisco last year?
Warren Simons: We’re based in New York. The company’s in New York. New York is my home, it’s where I grew up, it’s where I lived for a very long time. We love New York, it’s in our blood. We thought it would be a great time, and a great place to do it here.
You guys are not the biggest publisher, but what you put out is quality.
WS: I appreciate that, thank you.
With seven new titles, that’s going to up how many you’re putting out each month, correct?
WS: Well, it’s not going to be seven in addition to the ten that we’re doing. We’re not jumping to seventeen books, we’ll still hover around the same number that we’re publishing every month. Some things will be limited series that will go away, some things will be like “Divinity,” which naturally will end after four issues, and then continue in December. We’ll have gaps. I’m not sure what the maximum number of books we’re going to get up to will be, but it will be about ten, eleven, that type of number. We’ll still be able to maintain a focus on hopefully quality above all else. Fingers crossed.
What kind of challenges come with putting out only a handful of books that do feature superheros in a market where it seems to be over-saturated with capes at the moment?
WS: We work in an extraordinarily competitive marketplace. The direct market is absolutely crazy. I heard someone say not too long ago that the most books that have ever been published are being published right now. It’s an incredibly competitive time. We’re very confident that we can run with anyone as far as story goes. We’re very confident that pound for pound, our stories can stand up against any publishers. There’s obviously a number of extraordinarily talented, brilliant, awesome writers in the marketplace right now not working at Valiant. Whether that’s with Jeff Lemire is doing with “Descender,” or with Jason Aaron is doing on “Southern Bastards,” or Brian Vaughan is doing on “Saga.” You could go down the list ;hat Matt [Kindt]’s doing with “Dept H.”
You have a whole host of really extraordinarily talented people out there putting out good work, but I think that pound for pound the work we’re putting out with Valiant whether it’s by Jeff [Lemire] or Matt, or Rafer [Roberts] or Jody [Houser]. When you pick up a Valiant book you can be sure that it’ll be a good read. That’s what we strive for. We don’t always succeed, but that’s what we strive for more than anything else.
With these seven new books, a few of these are brand new characters. What goes into deciding to take the risk on bringing in a new character when you already have so many that are tested in the marketplace?
WS: It’s a great question. I think innovation is key. I think it’s a good time for us to begin to put out books like “Divinity.” For example, “Divinity” is a new book. It’s a new character, it’s a new title. The overwhelming success that we saw with it encouraged us to, not just do another Divinity book … For example, Faith was always a team member in “Harbinger,” but Faith never had her own book. But seeing the success of Faith … It’s good to innovate, it’s good to try new things and have fun and not always continue to work on what’s come before, even if it has been successful.
One of the things I’ve noticed was Valiant … The even books are extremely accessible, and that’s actually–
WS: That makes me happy to hear.
That’s actually how I got into Valiant comics was through “The Valiant.” That’s when I got really hooked into everything.
WS: Awesome.
I’m wondering, when you’re putting together these events, what goes into deciding what characters are going to be in the spotlight, and how so you make them so accessible to new readers?
WS: To answer your second question first … Every character has a core concept, or a core idea. Whether that’s Bloodshot, or Captain America, or Superman, and continuity in many ways can be a crutch. You can build a story, as long as the story is about something other than the story that’s come before, you’ll generally be in good shape. That doesn’t mean you can’t tell a story about what’s come before, but it means that if only the story is about what’s come before, and you’re not selling the book or tell the about a comic … People want to understand what it means to be a human being, what the human experience means. If you’re able to do that, via the story, I think you’ve got a head start than if you’re just telling the 700th time about the time that Superman fought Lex Luthor.
If that sheds new light on who that character is, then it’s a great story, and it’s worthwhile. But it’s just about the time that came before, it can be a crutch, and I think that’s where a lot of books in the industry fall down today, is because it doesn’t tell us anything about what the inexperienced is. There are no universal themes that speak to people. It’s just a rehashing of a fight that came before. I think that we try to focus on what those stories are that will speak to people.
Accessibility is something that we prize above all else, and that’s what we really focus on.
Lastly, of the seven new books that you’ll be launching in the later part of this year, what’s your personal favorite? If you were a reader, which would you be most excited about?
WS: That’s a good question. It’s like having seven children, I love them all in their own way. There’s something that I’m excited about for every book. I’m excited to see Savage fight dinosaurs, I’m excited to see what Jeff’s going to do with “Bloodshot USA,” I’m excited to see what Jody is going to do with Faith, and her new super villain, which is awesome. I’m excited about what Fred [Van Lente]’s going to do with “Generation Zero.” There’s something about all of these books … Peter [Milligan]’s voice will be in “Britannia” what Matt will do with “Divinity.” There’s something that I love about each of them that I think I’ll really enjoy about each of them, even if it’s not … I try to look at them all as my children. They all have great faults and great strengths as well.
