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Reviews
The Valiant by Paolo Rivera, Jeff Lemire, Joe Rivera, Matt Kindt, Dave Sharpe, Dave Lanphear
henniebooks's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you so much, Diamond Book Distributors, for sending me a free copy of this graphic novel!
The art was great and the writing style as well, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.
The art was great and the writing style as well, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.
jakram's review against another edition
3.0
Valiant universe in an 80's action movie style. Exciting, if a bit hollow.
malapatasg's review against another edition
3.0
Lo he leído sin conocer nada más del universo donde se desarrolla y la falta de trasfondo ha hecho que los personajes me parezcan bastante planos. A estas alturas no espero que una historia de superhéroes me sorprenda, pero está bien para echar un rato y el malo tiene su punto interesante.
sean_from_ohio's review
3.0
Paolo Rivera delivers unbelievably fantastic artwork throughout this entire book. Stunning visuals and some creepy antagonists. The art was dynamic. The story however was mundane. It was a four issue fight that ended with a shrug. It seemed like the point was to change two characters in the Valiant universe. The writers here are some of comics' best and that's not on display here. I've said this before but the Valiant characters work better on their own and separate from each other. Overall, a stunning book to look at and a simple story.
dward1930's review against another edition
4.0
Swear that the immortal enemy was on the verge of saying "I am inevitable." Valiant do not give the sometimes typical happy ending but it does give us an open ending like so many graphic novels.
gonza_basta's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this comic a lot in a sort of unexpected way, even if it is usually not my cup of tea. The story was linear and enjoyable and the illustrations were appropriated. Recommendable.
Diamonds Book mi ha mandato per caso questo fumetto ed in modo altrettanto inaspettato a me é piaciuto parecchio, anche se questo genere di solito non mi fa impazzire. La storia era lineare ed i disegni quelli giusti per raccontarla. Da leggere!
Diamonds Book mi ha mandato per caso questo fumetto ed in modo altrettanto inaspettato a me é piaciuto parecchio, anche se questo genere di solito non mi fa impazzire. La storia era lineare ed i disegni quelli giusti per raccontarla. Da leggere!
tmaluck's review against another edition
3.0
I keep seeing this book praised as a supposed perfect jumping-on point for getting into Valiant's universe, but I disagree. I think this event is an example of Valiant's 4-issue story pattern not giving the characters enough room to breathe. The story is told with Kindt+Lemire's usual efficiency, but for a threat as huge and world-shaking as The Immortal Enemy, he kind of comes and goes too quickly.
Also, despite the historical contexts in the first issue, by the end I couldn't help but ask, "Why is the Geomancer so important?" Is it because last time Earth lost one, the Black Plague ravaged Europe? Humanity kinda bounced back from that. I feel like a heartless supervillain for saying that, but seriously, I wasn't invested in Kay the Geomancer's survival. Her brief rapport with Bloodshot was okay, but was cut short. More blanks needed to be filled. Even by the end of the story, UPDATE: read Archer & Armstrong Vol. 2 to get the deets on Geomancer.
And another thing! One of the coolest things about "The Delinquents" and "Divinity" was how each book subverted the tropes of splashy action shots and all-out finale brawls to take much more interesting routes and creative layouts. When this book recruits all of Valiant's major cast to take turns slamming The Immortal Enemy, the fight looks cool (shoutout to the Riveras Junior and Senior for excellent artwork) but ultimately serves no purpose beyond the novelty of a massive team-up... that, again, ends too quickly and doesn't feature enough character moments to flesh out everyone's contributions. On the other hand, being done-in-four prevents reader burnout or exhausting any given angle.
I would call this an interesting event for Valiant, and definitely worth reading among their books, but it's far from a strong introduction to that universe. I have some grievances with the story and fleshing out of characters (or lack thereof), but the art (as broken down in the bonus pages, which I always enjoy, especially the Valiant style of showing off the stage-by-stage process with everyone's commentary) is a consistent pleasure to look at, whether it's the Enemy's creepy face-splitting visages, playful use of sound effect lettering, or plain ol' clean, detailed line work.
Also, despite the historical contexts in the first issue, by the end I couldn't help but ask, "Why is the Geomancer so important?" Is it because last time Earth lost one, the Black Plague ravaged Europe? Humanity kinda bounced back from that. I feel like a heartless supervillain for saying that, but seriously, I wasn't invested in Kay the Geomancer's survival. Her brief rapport with Bloodshot was okay, but was cut short. More blanks needed to be filled. Even by the end of the story,
Spoiler
everyone's like "eh, too bad" and moves on. And we get a Geomancer from the future? Was there really a conflict or need to fight at all?And another thing! One of the coolest things about "The Delinquents" and "Divinity" was how each book subverted the tropes of splashy action shots and all-out finale brawls to take much more interesting routes and creative layouts. When this book recruits all of Valiant's major cast to take turns slamming The Immortal Enemy, the fight looks cool (shoutout to the Riveras Junior and Senior for excellent artwork) but ultimately serves no purpose beyond the novelty of a massive team-up... that, again, ends too quickly and doesn't feature enough character moments to flesh out everyone's contributions. On the other hand, being done-in-four prevents reader burnout or exhausting any given angle.
I would call this an interesting event for Valiant, and definitely worth reading among their books, but it's far from a strong introduction to that universe. I have some grievances with the story and fleshing out of characters (or lack thereof), but the art (as broken down in the bonus pages, which I always enjoy, especially the Valiant style of showing off the stage-by-stage process with everyone's commentary) is a consistent pleasure to look at, whether it's the Enemy's creepy face-splitting visages, playful use of sound effect lettering, or plain ol' clean, detailed line work.
ogreart's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting team-up of many of the Valiant heroes, called to action by the Eternal Warrior, to help him protect the Geomancer. I liked that it went a little deeper than just a smash the bad guy type of book.