Via Major Spoilers, Valiant Entertainment have announced they will licensing out new comic books to New York-based publisher Alien Books. Alien will begin publishing a new line-up of Valiant Universe comics in 2024, which will bear the logos of both companies. Per Popverse, “a number of Valiant staff will be moving over to Alien in order to smooth the transition.”
Matias Timarchi, director of Alien, said, “Our goal is to expand the entire Valiant Universe by crafting new books that will delight longtime fans while also innovating to engage a new generation of readers interested in webtoons, manga, and digital storytelling experiences. We are immensely proud that Valiant has selected us as their new partners for this thrilling venture, and we are excited to embark on a new chapter in Valiant’s illustrious history.”
Russ Brown, Valiant’s President of Consumer Products, Promotions & Ad Sales, added, “We remain fiercely committed to publishing Valiant comics and expanding our publishing line in ways we’ve never seen before. In partnership with Alien Books, we see an opportunity to push the boundaries of comic book publishing to help develop our incredible IP in exciting new ways for a rapidly expanding global audience.”
The move signals a new era for Valiant, whose output has declined drastically since its revival in 2012. The publisher, which was bought by production company DMG Entertainment in 2018, suffered major lay offs last year (during what was intended as the ‘Year of Valiant’ no less), and now only releases one monthly comic at a time. Its current series, “X-O Manowar Unconquered” (which was announced all the way back at the start of 2022), will conclude with its sixth issue in August, while its next, Jeff Parker and Mike Norton’s four-issue “Ninjak Superkillers,” will begin in September.
Alien, which was founded around 1998, is a newcomer to the single-issue market, previously relying on platforms like Kickstarter and Zestworld. It specialized in translating comics from Italy, Spain, France, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and other countries. Earlier this year, they set up an office in New York, and partnered with Fairsquare Comics to distribute their titles, beginning with the first issue of Howard Chaykin’s new series “Sunshine Patriots” last week. Per ICv2, “the new deal will not affect Alien’s distribution agreement with FairSquare.”
