Valiant Comics prepares for yet another super summer

Brian Truitt, USA TODAY | USATODAY

Valiant Comics had a pretty epic summer season last year, relaunching the 1990s brand with a slew of acclaimed and entertaining books.

And the follow-up in 2013? More new titles, huge story lines, origin issues and the start of a build-up the next big thing.

X-O Manowar writer Robert Venditti was a part of getting Valiant off the ground in 2012, and spending time at the company's booth at Chicago's C2E2 last month, "it was amazing to see how far the company has come in the past year — not just in terms of the amount of titles they've released, but in terms of awareness among readers and press as well," he says.

"I'm very proud to be able to say I've been with them from the beginning."

And he's a part of the five major initiatives Valiant is beginning this summer:

Quantum and Woody

The old '90s series about the "world's worst superteam" is back and under the care of writer James Asmus and Tom Fowler when it relaunches in July.

Estranged adopted siblings Eric and Woody Henderson reconnect when their father is murdered, and in a most superpowered way: A scientific accident gives them powers and a reason to fight crime.

What makes them the absolute "worst," though? "Aside from the constant bickering, under-cutting of each other, and lack of understanding their own powers, you'll see that these guys can't catch a break," Asmus says. "They're more likely to take a wrong turn than decisive action."

Most of the formula is the same as the original series "because it kicks open tons of opportunities for smart, funny and wildly entertaining stories," the writer admits. "We're updating the feel a bit, and the style for sure. But the original series didn't run very long so there are still a ton of new places to take these guys before we jump the shark.

"Though, now that I mention it, I probably need to choose a time to have them actually jump a shark."

There will be a definite tongue-in-cheek tone to the book. But while they're exploring the crazier side of the Valiant Universe, Asmus promises that he and Fowler are rooting all the humor, emotion and action in the characters.

"Making sure everyone actually cares about their story keeps us from going off the rails creatively, and hopefully keeps fans invested month to month in a deeper way," he says. "But there is still plenty of madness and goat-sploitation."

Yes, there will be goats. A throwaway gag used in an early issue of the original series, a goat captured fans' imaginations and came to represent the series for many.

Asmus is also in "the Goat Boat," he says. "He's the secret sauce — to be used sparingly but adding a lot. And I'm very happy to say that the backstory I wanted to tell for the goat seems to have guys at Valiant excited!

"Just like the series itself, it will hopefully be ridiculous, explosive and surprisingly emotional all in the same story. After all, that's what made me a fan of Quantum and Woody to begin with."

X-O Manowar

X-O issue 15 begins a four-part story line in July called "Occupation State" that finds Aric — the Visigoth wielder of the alien Manowar armor — returning to Earth, taking over Romania and setting it up as the new nation state of Dacia.

He was supposed to be king of the Visigoths one day, following in the footsteps of his uncle, Alaric I — that was before he was taken into space by the alien race of the Vine. He still sees that leadership role as being his by birthright, though, and the upcoming arc will show his reign finally come to pass.

Heroism will be in the eye of the beholder here, Venditti says. "Certainly, there'll be those who see Aric as a threat — maybe even a villain — but Aric doesn't much care what his opponents think. His concern is for his own people, and he'll do anything to give them the future he feels they deserve."

Showing the Manowar's implications for Earth at large is something that Venditti – paired on the new arc with artist Lee Garbett — has done since the series started.

"You can't have a guy in an alien suit of armor crash down in the Colosseum and not have the world know about it," Venditti says. "Aric hasn't dueled with one-off villains. He's taken down MI6 and had dogfights with the Italian air force. He's very much a player on the world stage."

The United Nations doesn't exactly approve of Aric's power play, and the Eternal Warrior is sent in to stop him, a meeting that's been hinted at since the opening pages of the first issue.

"This clash has been a long time coming, and I hope readers will be surprised by how it plays out," Venditti says.

The arc leads to a major story line called "Unity" in the winter, according to the writer. "It'll be the biggest thing to hit any Valiant Universe ever. And X-O Manowar will most definitely be in the thick of it."

Bloodshot No. 0

In an August zero issue illustrated by Chriscross, Matt Kindt (Mind MGMT) pens the definitive origin through the years of the most lethal soldier in Project Rising Spirit's Bloodshot program, and one that goes all the way back to World War II.

"There's something really liberating about a character like Bloodshot who is basically a guy that you can do anything with and to. He can take a lot of punishment so I was excited to put him through years and years worth," says Kindt, adding that 1970s Bloodshot is "the absolute coolest."

The main attraction to the character for Kindt is the tremendous capacity for dealing — and taking — violence, and he's actually had a complicated relationship with it in his work: While he was raised on action movies in the 1980s and '90s, Kindt began to examine what it is about violence that is so creatively appealing.

"Ultimately it has to have a purpose," he says. "The action, the violence, it all needs to be tied to something that's character-driven — something with an emotional core.

"Bloodshot has that and I think that's the most interesting part of his character. He's an enigma. So finding out what is really driving him is going to be fun."

Not only is he a cold-blooded killing machine, but he's also a man being jerked in different directions by his handlers, getting injected with memories of family and kids that are constant switched up on him.

"In a way, he's really a kind of tragic figure — or a composite of several tragic figures. Those memories are real, but are they his? And if not, whose are they? And yes, I get to delve into that," Kindt says.

"I'd like to say that I'm really enjoying the search for what makes Bloodshot human. Does he have a soul? A conscience? Are any of his memories real? And I am enjoying exploring that. But I can't lie — writing action scenes for a guy that's nearly indestructible is absolutely the most fun part."

Bloodshot and H.A.R.D. Corps

While Kindt deals with Bloodshot's past, writers Christos Gage and Joshua Dysart take over the regular Bloodshot series beginning with issue 14, now renamed Bloodshot and H.A.R.D. Corps and featuring artist Emanuela Lupacchino.

In a story arc spinning of Harbinger Wars, Toyo Harada, the founder of the Harbinger Foundation, has captured Bloodshot and attempts to reprogram the super-rare nanites within him. Meanwhile, the H.A.R.D. Corps have the unenviable task of breaking Bloodshot out.

"He's definitely not happy about it. Bloodshot's presence in our first issue is not huge, but thereafter, he's back and he's mad," Gage says.

"It's definitely going to be big, but will have a different feel than Harbinger Wars. More personal, I'd say, though still with high stakes and widescreen action."

Adds Dysart: "It'll be rich with character development, strong in thematic intent and dripping in over-the-top visuals."

Gage is looking forward to tackling the H.A.R.D. Corps, a group of people who agree to undergo a process to gain superhuman powers that their bodies aren't equipped for and knowing there will be some negative — and potentially fatal — side effects.

"Are they desperate? Naive? Patriotic? Crazy? All of the above?" says Gage, whose early favorite is a new character called Lioness, "a single mother and military veteran who is doing this to give her family a better life while realizing that may mean a life without her."

Like any conflict-engagement unit, this is about the group itself working together, finding each other's strengths and relying on them to make it through the day, Dysart says.

"I'm most excited to explore how these characters act in the face of strikingly unusual and extreme circumstances. These aren't grunts, these aren't superheroes. These are just people, caught up in madness."

Eternal Warrior

Itching for high adventure, dysfunctional family drama and mind-bending world-building courtesy of one of comics' most notable names? Well, writer Greg Pak's Eternal Warrior series debuting in September might be just for you.

"We're getting a wild opportunity here to peel back a few layers and peer into the hidden workings of the Valiant Universe," Pak says.

Gilad, who first appeared in Archer & Armstrong No. 5, serves the Earth at the behest of the mysterious Geomancer, according to Pak, but he'll dig deeper into what that means.

Plus, Pak aims to explore this world being just one of many "houses" that exist in secret with champions to go with them, "each with its own sphere of influence and each in potential conflict with the other," he says.

"All will be revealed in the fullness of time. But I will say that one of the glories of working on a book starring an immortal is that you have a great opportunity to explore the story from many levels and in multiple eras."

The fact that Gilad's immortal is a hugely interesting aspect of the character for Pak.

"He's seen entire civilizations rise and fall. But more importantly, everyone he's ever known and loved has died," he says. "The gods only know how many lovers and wives he's lost, how many children he's seen grow old and die. What has that done to his heart and soul?

"And as our story begins, what's his reaction when he discovers that he might not be so alone after all — that a pair of his children may actually have survived?"

Gilad's always fostered a warrior's code of conduct, but the two kids he discovers alive and active in the world are ne'er-do-wells and brother-and-sister war criminals.

"As you might suspect with a father like the Eternal Warrior, both are terrifyingly dangerous," Pak says. "The conflict they bring to Gilad's doorstep will plunge him into the middle of a potentially world-altering crisis and drive a metaphorical blade right through his most vulnerable organ — his all-too-human heart."