Valiant Entertainment Reportedly Lays Off Employees

In another shocking move in the comic book publishing world, ComicBook.com has learned that Valiant Entertainment has laid off several editorial employees today, but how many remains to be seen. Valiant Entertainment Publisher Fred Pierce is reported to be among those that are no longer with the company, and we’ve heard that others have also exited. Pierce had previously been acting as the Publisher for the brand since 2009, around the time that it was revived with all-new comics and a new parent company. Bleeding Cool was first to report the news, revealing that Senior Editor Lysa Hawkins has also seemingly left Valiant. 

Home to characters including X-O Manowar, Quantum & Woody, Harbinger, Faith, Ninjak, Rai, Shadowman, Archer & Armstrong, and Bloodshot, Valiant has had a turbulent existence. First arriving on the scene in the 1990s, publishing Gold Key characters like Magnus, Robot Fighter, Turok, and Solar, Valiant quickly built up a following when it began to roll out some of its original characters who were created by the likes of Jim Shooter, Barry Windsor-Smith, Joe Quesada, and Christopher Priest, with some of their success in the late 1990s and early 2000s coming from video games based on their characters.

The summer of 2012 marked one of the biggest years ever for the company as it was revived and began publishing titles again. Valiant Entertainment’s relaunch at that time resulted in high-profile creators coming on to work on the characters that had been out of print in single issue comics for years. Writers and artists including Robert Venditti, Matt Kindt, Dan Abnett, Cullen Bunn, Jeff Lemire, Justin Jordan, Patrick Zircher. Major crossovers between the heroes would also be released at this time, with their breakout character Faith, a plus-sized hero from the Harbinger titles, among their most popular

Renewed interest in the characters resulted in feature film and television deals being made over the years. At any given point from 2015 on there was a Valiant title in the works at one of the major studios in Hollywood, with plans for a full cinematic universe ala Marvel Studios considered at one point. The only adaptation to make it to the screen was the Vin Diesel-starring Bloodshot, which was released in theaters days before the COVID-19 pandemic began in earnest and eventually shut down the country and the world. 

In recent years Valiant has continued to publish comics, announcing back in February another new reboot of some titles for 2022 including Book of Shadows, a series featuring Shadowman, Punk Mambo, Eternal Warrior, Doctor Mirage, and a surprise character that was released back in July; plus Bloodshot Unleashed in September and X-O Manowar Unconquered in November. Valiant was also one of many publishers to leap into the NFT game earlier this year.