Valiant comics revives stale industry with originality
Publisher does
not shy from
showing grisly,
deathly scenes
Courtesy of Voyager Communications
Valiant started publishing
comic books two years ago with
the revival of "Magnus-Robot
Fighter." Although that book,
which was followed by another
Gold-Key character “Solar-Man
of the Atom," did not set the
comic book world on its ear, it
did lay the groundwork for things
to come. About a year after Val
iant had begun publishing, they
had their first major crossover:
“Unity." The story dealt with a
woman named Erica Pierce who
was trying to reshape the world
the way she thought it should be
shaped. “Unity" proved to be a
huge hit and thrust Valiant into
the limelight. Today they are
considered the hottest company
going — a fresh breath in the
long stagnant world of stale comic
books.
Valiant’s best and most origi
nal comic by far is.“Archer and
Armstrong." It is written and
drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith.
Smith is, quite simply, the best
artist currently working in main
stream comics. Amazingly
enough, artists who cannot even
come close to touching Smith’s
mastery of the medium are re
vered while Smith is seemingly
overlooked. It is hoped that “Ar
cher and Armstrong" will thrust
Smith back to the forefront and
give him the popularity he en
joyed back in the 70s when he
was working on “Conan."
“Archer and Armstrong" is the
story of Archer, a young man
who was killed by his parents
but returned from the dead to
avenge himself. He escaped to
the East, where he lived in a
temple and learned to be a mas
ter of hand-to-hand combat. But
when he returned to the United
States, he discovered his parents
had been in jail for some time,
and he lost nis chance for re
venge. Then he meets up with
Armstrong.
Armstrong is a 10,000-year-old
drunken bum who is being pur
sued by a religious sect. The sect
thinks Armstrong is Satan and
their goal in life is to kill him.
(Although itseems nearly impos
sible to kill him, since he has
been shot and stabbed, yet al
ways keeps going.) They kid
nap both Archer and Armstrong
and take them to Italy, where
they plan to kill Satan and his
sidekick. In reality, they are be
low the Vatican and when Ar
cher andArmstrong escape, they
stumble into the Pope’s sleeping
chamber. The series, so far, has
been detailing their attempts to
get back to the United States.
“Archerand Armstrong" is one
of the best comics books put
out. Besides being funny and
witty, the characters are very
realistic. These aren’t heroes
looking for villains; they’re a
couple of guys who wander
around while stuff happens to
them. That’s the only way to
describe this book. The comic is
well worth checking out, even
for those who don’t normally
read comic books.
With the release of “Blood
shot,” Valiant introduced their
first vigilante. Bloodshot has
been injected with living blood,
which heals him quickly, gives
him great strength and allows
him to control machines. Blood
shot is trying to figure out how
he became the way he is (he has
no memory of his past life), and
along the way he runs into most
of the Mafia living in New York.
This book is very violent,
which is slowly becoming a
trademark of Valiant’s books.
Unlike Marvel or DC, which only
hint at someone being shot and
killed, Valiant holds nothing
back.
Death seems real and per
manent in Valiant’s universe, and
creates the feeling that anyone
can die, even the hero. This
reality is something that is seri
ously lacking at other compa
nies where they kill someone
and then bring them back on
almost a monthly basis.
“Bloodshot” is a pretty good
book, but it reveals Bloodshot’s
past in a disjointed way. If you
like knockdown, drag-out fight
scenes, this book is for you.
The only problem with the
majority of Valiant back issues is
that they are very quickly pricing
themselves out of range for many
collectors. Many early issues,
which are only 2 years old or
less, are nearing that $100 mark.
The very low print runs on those
books (some as low as 35,000
copies, compared with the
500,000 copies of “Amazing
Spiderman” that are circulated
monthly), and the great demand
causes die escalating prices. It is
hoped that Valiant will start to
reprint earlier issues as trade
pa perbacks so thateveryonecan
get and enjoy these excellent
books.
WliUunsJ. Harms is an Arts and Enter
tainment reporter and a Diversions
contributor
Ihe I
Breathless
g
MARCH 301 Vjr
7:30 PM "
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in Lincoln 475-1212
For Info.
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A CONTEMPORARY I
PRESENTATION |
Joy
Continued from Page 9
made any decision about the birth
of my baby. I knew that having an
abortion was not what I wanted.
This was my body, my baby. I could
actually feel the baby’s movements.
My baby was a person, a product of
myself. At that point, I made an
important decision to keep my baby.
I started to think about not know
ing any of my blood relatives (I was
adopted), and my baby was the
only person I could really relate to
my being, my existence.
I had to take the next respon
sible and sensible step, one which
would be in the best interest for
myself as well as my unborn child.
This meant that I had to tell my
mother. This would be the hardest
thing that I had ever done in my life.
When approaching my mother
aboutmy pregnancy,sneexplained
to me that having a baby was not
the worst thing in the world. She
went on to say that she was glad
that I didn’t decide to have an
abortion. After listening to my
mother, a very heavy weight was
lifted from my shoulders. I now
knew that I couldgo on and that my
life was not overly mother con
tinued to hold (Tie.
Michael Louis was born Feb. 1,
1984, barely three months before
the expected delivery date. He
weighed 2 pounds, 5 ounces. The
Lora had truly blessed him with
amazingly good health considering
how small ne was at delivery.
This beautiful little baby was
mine. I wondered how any mother
could ever give such a beautiful
treasure away. I decided that from
that day on I would always love,
take care of and be responsible for
my son.
Photo courtesy of Yolanda Avidano
Yolanda Avidano gets a hug from her 9-year-old son, Michael.
The birth of my son had changed
me in more ways than one. I have
grown to be more responsible, more
caring and more patient. I then
began to look at myself for the first
time and realized that I was impor
tant and that I now had a true
bloodline connection. And I will
always want my baby to know that
his mother loves him very much
and that he also is very important.
The bi rth of my baby marked the
beginning of my life, and my life
has been brightened with a pur
pose ever since.
♦
Honestly speaking, I don’t think
I would be wnere I am right now if
I didn’t have my son by my side.
Michael Louis is a bright, caring,
gentle, soft-spoken and loving little
oy. He’s my pride and joy. My son
has brought so much happiness
into my life, just by being by my
side. He means so much to me. I
want the world for him.
As each day passes I watch my
little boy mature into this witty
young man. He displays his love
and affection for me every day.
Being a single parent has been
hard, but what in life isn’t hard that
is worth having. Michael Louis and
I have a strong love we share with
each other. The caring affection my
son shows me through his patience
makes me proud lobe his mother.
The Lord has truly blessed me
with a little boy who is a reflection
of me, and I want to thank you,
Lord, forgiving me the opportunity
to bring forth my bundle of joy.
Yolanda Avidano Is a sophomore home
economics major and a Diversions con
tributor.