Valiant to Launch Six New Series Under "Valiant Next" Label

Valiant Entertainment today announced their next big publishing initiative -- Valiant Next -- which will see six new titles launch throughout the winter of 2014 and spring of 2015.

The initiative launches with the already-announced The Valiant by Jeff Lemire, Matt Kindt and Paolo Rivera -- and both Kindt and Lemire remain key to the Valiant Universe going forward.

January will see Fred Van Lente and Clayton Henry launch Ivar, Timewalker, spinning out of the events of Van Lente's Archer & Armstrong as well as The Valiant itself.

February will see both Divinity #1 -- a four-issue miniseries like The Valiant -- launching from Matt Kindt and Trevor Hairsine, and Imperium by Joshua Dysart and Doug Braithwaite launch. While Imperium stays firmly rooted in existing Valiant properties, Divinity will introduce some new concepts unique to Kindt to the universe.

Kindt will also launch Ninjak #1 wity Clay Mann in March, and Lemire will head up Bloodshot Reborn with Mico Suayan in April.

"We've spent two years building an award-winning publishing line, pouring our hearts into re-imagining X-O Manowar, Harbinger and the rest of the Valiant Universe for the modern day. Now it's time to take it to the next level," said Valiant CEO and Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani. "Valiant Next taps into the same creative energy that made Valiant one of the most legendary comic book companies of all time. When I was a kid, one of the best things about Valiant was picking up an issue with a brand new character, like X-O Manowar or Ninjak. I'm excited that we're doing that again now with series like Divinity and Imperium. And that's only a fraction of what we have coming next."

"Jeff Lemire, Matt Kindt and Paolo Rivera are delivering an absolute monster of a book with THE VALIANT and it's the perfect title to lead off VALIANT NEXT," said Valiant Editor-In-Chief Warren Simons. "This is our most ambitious initiative yet, and everyone's bringing their A-game. The creative team of ARCHER & ARMSTRONG reuniting to launch Ivar, Timewalker. Clay Mann on Ninjak – his first ongoing series at Valiant. Mico Suayan tearing it up with Jeff Lemire on Bloodshot Reborn. Joshua Dysart and Doug Braithwaite together for the first time for the devastating events of Imperium. Not to mention the introduction of an all-new, all-powerful force in Divinity from the minds of Matt Kindt and Trevor Hairsine. It's a kick-ass time to be a Valiant fan."

You can see full descriptions and initial art for all of the titles below (except The Valiant, which you can find here), and in just a few minutes, we'll publish our interview with Dysart, discussing Imperium a bit more in-depth.

Written by FRED VAN LENTE
Art by CLAYTON HENRY
ONGOING SERIES | BEGINNING JANUARY 2015

From the award-winning team that brought you ARCHER & ARMSTRONG, New York Times best-selling creators Fred Van Lente and Clayton Henry present a centuries-spanning race against the clock!

At this very moment in Geneva, Switzerland, history is being made. A thousand meters underground inside the Large Hadron Collider, researcher Neela Sethi is about to discover time travel – and jeopardize her life in the process. But she doesn't know that yet. Ten minutes from now, every deadbeat chrononaut, wannabe conqueror, and misguided protector of the timestream will be banging down her door. Good thing that the legendary Ivar, Timewalker, got there first…right? Now it's down to history's most jaded, most tempestuous time traveler to stop the worst of everything that is, was, and will be...before time runs out!

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DIVINITY #1 (of 4)
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by TREVOR HAIRSINE
PRESTIGE FORMAT LIMITED SERIES | BEGINNING FEBRUARY 2015

At the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union – determined to win the Space Race at any cost – green lit a dangerously advanced mission. They sent a man farther into the cosmos than anyone has gone before or since. Lost in the stars, he encountered something unknown. Something that...changed him.

Long thought lost and erased from the history books, he has suddenly returned, crash-landing in the Australian Outback. The few that have been able to reach him believe him to be a deity -– one who turned the scorched desert into a lush oasis. They say he can bend matter, space, and even time to his will. Earth is about to meet a new god. And he's a communist.

How long can it be before the first confrontation between mankind and DIVINITY begins?

From New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt and blockbuster artist Trevor Hairsine comes a shocking new vision of 21st century science fiction in an all-new prestige format limited series.

IMPERIUM #1
Written by JOSHUA DYSART
Art by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
ONGOING SERIES | BEGINNING FEBRUARY 2015

A daring new superhero saga from New York Times best-selling creator Joshua Dysart – writer of of the Harvey-Award nominated series Harbinger – and superstar artist Doug Braithwaite!

Toyo Harada is the most dangerous human being on the planet. Imbued with incredible powers of the mind, he has spent his life guiding humanity from the shadows. But today he is a wanted man. His powers are public knowledge, his allies have turned to enemies, and he is hunted by every government on the planet.

Instead of surrendering, Harada has one last unthinkable gambit to play: to achieve more, faster, and with less, he will build a coalition of the powerful, the unscrupulous and the insane. No longer content to demand a better future, he will recruit a violent legion from the darkest corners of the Earth to fight for it. The battle for utopia begins now.

NINJAK #1
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by CLAY MANN
ONGOING SERIES | BEGINNING MARCH 2015

Then: Meet inexperienced MI-6 recruit Colin King on his first mission in the field as he learns the basics of spycraft and counterintelligence, and develops a volatile relationship with his first handler.

Now: Colin King is Ninjak, the world's foremost intelligence operative, weapons expert, and master assassin. And he's hunting the Shadow Seven – a secret cabal of shinobi masters with mysterious ties to his training and tragic past.

For the first time, Ninjak's past and future collide in the pages of an all-new ongoing series from New York Times bestselling writer Matt Kindt and superstar artist Clay Mann!

BLOODSHOT REBORN #1
Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Art by MICO SUAYAN with JEFF LEMIRE
Colors by DAVID BARON
ONGOING SERIES | BEGINNING APRIL 2015

From New York Times best-selling writer Jeff Lemire and red-hot rising star Mico Suayan, Valiant delivers an all-new ongoing series for Valiant's most unrelenting hero!

Bloodshot's nanites made him a nearly unstoppable killing machine. His enhanced strength, speed, endurance, and healing made him the perfect weapon, and he served his masters at Project Rising Spirit – a private contractor trafficking in violence – very well.

Now, Bloodshot is a shadow of his former self. He lives in self-imposed exile, reeling from the consequences of his past life and the recent events that nearly drove him mad. But when a rash of shootings by gunmen who appear to look just like Bloodshot begin, his guilt will send him on a mission to stop the killers, even if it means diving headlong into the violence that nearly destroyed him.