Valiant Announces “Valiant First” Initiative, Launches New Series Throughout 2014

Valiant Entertainment today announced a new initiative that will see the release of a number of new ongoing and miniseries, including some featuring characters not yet seen since the Valiant relaunch.The publisher call the program the “next phase” of their publishing strategy and describes the Valiant First program as “a brand new publishing initiative primed to unleash a major #1 new series debut monthly throughout 2014, beginning this May with Rai #1″ and carrying through at least until September.Titles announced this morning include Rai, Armor Hunters, Armor Hunters: Bloodshot, Armor Hunters: Harbinger and a Quantum & Woody/Archer & Armstrong team-up book titled The Delinquents.Armor Hunters, of course, is the big, X-O Manowar-centric event story that the publisher has been teasing for the last couple of months. Its first issue launches in June, with the Bloodshot and Harbinger one-shots hitting in July and then The Delinquents in August.”The defining goal of Valiant First is to give readers clear and accessible jumping-on points into Valiant’s award-winning publishing line,” said Valiant Executive Editor Warren Simons. “Over the past two years, Valiant’s approach to the craft and business of comics has been widely imitated throughout the industry. We’re incredibly flattered by that fact, but we also see it as a challenge. Our response is to raise the bar even higher. We’ve been building momentum with a slew of awards and the best reviewed line of books on the market – but 2014 is where you’ll see us double our game without doubling the size of our publishing line.”In the coming weeks, Valiant will also be announcing a number of sales incentives and promotional offerings – the largest in Valiant’s history – for comic shops worldwide to coincide with the launch of each Valiant First title.”Over the next year, we’ll be working one-on-one with retailers to put our books in customer hands, and to generate new fans with each release. Already, we’re planning to introduce an expansive array of sales incentives, returnability offerings, and promotional materials. Look for details to follow as Valiant First hits the ground running,” said Hunter Gorinson, Valiant’s Director of Marketing, Communications & Digital Media.For sneak peeks inside eachValiant First release, follow Valiant First on Tumblr for exclusive looks at costume designs, in-process artwork, and more top secret snippets from Valiant HQ.You can check out the solicitation text and covers below.