It’s been a long time since I’d heard of the revived Valiant Comics, the company originally co-founded by Jim Shooter. Now, according to Comic Book Club Live, IDW, which isn’t doing so well themselves in whatever sales they still have, will distribute Valiant’s products:
In a surprise move, which makes a lot of sense when you think about it, IDW Publishing is teaming up with Alien Books, the publisher of the Valiant Universe, to distribute their books.
What does that mean? Per a press release provided to Comic Book Club, “Alien Books will reach new heights within the industry through IDW’s distribution, marketing pushes, sales analysis, and logistical support while retaining creative control of its ambitious editorial plans, including the upcoming relaunch of the iconic Valiant Universe in the Valiant Beyond initiative.”
What that more specifically means is that IDW will be taking over distribution of Alien Books’s entire slate, including Valiant and several OGNs, to both comic book stores and book stores. Alien will still operate as an independent entity, but IDW will see the benefit of the Valiant Universes’s superhero lineup, one area in which IDW is currently lacking.
It almost sounds like they’re merging, but what’s the use at this point? They’re both old news from long ago. And a number of years ago, Valiant hired the woke editor Heather Antos as an employee, for all the good it did them in the long run. So both companies may have a woke problem, and this is joint venture isn’t going to help them much at all if they don’t produce anything of merit at this point, and let’s recall IDW lost the license for GI Joe. I hope any and all independent creators who may have once worked for IDW have withdrawn from working with them now.
There’s no use in getting one’s creator-owned products published with IDW, nor with Valiant if nothing’s changed.
Originally published here.
Avi Green
Avi Green was born in Pennsylvania, and moved to Israel at the age of 9. His first comic was the Fantastic Four. He considers himself a conservative-style version of Clark Kent, and his blog the Four Color Media Monitor is where he says "if we're going to try and stop the misuse of our favorite comics and their protagonists by the companies that write and publish them, we've got to see what both the printed and online comics news is doing wrong." His blog focuses on both the good and the bad, the newspaper media and the online websites. Unabashedly. Unapologetically. Scanning the media for what's being done right and what's being done wrong. Follow him on X @AviGreen1
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