Kevin Maguire Won't Draw Quantum & Woody Without Priest & Bright's Blessing

Valiant Entertainment, publishers of critically-acclaimed comics like Archer & Armstrong and Harbinger, have been dealing with creator conflicts going back years and decades. They took on a company that was full of toxic assets and legal questions, and even once they owned the property free and clear they've been plagued with questions about the nature of that acquisition, and the treatment of the creators who built the original Valiant. Kevin Maguire, the co-creator of onetime Valiant title Trinity Angels, has been outspoken about the lack of resolution on some of these conflicts in the past. "We Acclaim creators signed contracts before we started working on our projects that had a clause saying we could buy the rights to the material back for half the profits the material made in the previous 3 years," he explained in a message board post on Bleeding Cool. "Several years after Acclaim went under, Priest and Bright tried to get the Quantum & Woody rights and were told that the contracts we signed were never submitted to a different division of Acclaim and were thus considered invalid. Someone else came in and bought up all the Valiant/Acclaim leaving us with nothing. I've been following what Priest/Bright were doing because I wanted the rights to Trinity Angels back. But the legal fees it would cost to get it back would just be too much for us. I'm pretty sure Priest/Bright are not pleased with the new Quantum & Woody, but I don't know that for a fact. As I said, I know if they went in and re-vamped Trinity Angels, I would be furious. There are only three properties that sprung completely from my imagination-Strikeback, Trinity Angels, and Tanga. I consider them my children and would not abide anyone else giving voice to those characters." In response to a new video interview with Valiant CEO Dinesh Shamdasni taken at the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo, those concerns came up. Pressed on Maguire's comments about Trinity Angels, Shamdasani reassured CBR's Jonah Weiland that they had "been in touch" with Kevin Maguire, saying that they had been talking to him about covers for Archer & Armstrong and Quantum & Woody. Maguire took to his Facebook account to clarify that claim, saying that while they had indeed asked him about doing some covers, that communication hadn't extended to other aspects of the relationship, including the idea that Trinity Angels is available digitally on ComiXology through Valiant. "I just watched this," Maguire said. "Yes, they've been in touch with me about Archer & Armstrong covers since late October. They even asked me if I would do a Quantum & Woody variant cover. I said I would if Christopher Priest and Mark Bright had signed off on the revamp. The editor of the book told me he had no idea whether Priest/Bright gave their blessings and said he'd find out and get back to me on that. I haven't heard anything since. This is part of what really frustrates me about this. They've been in touch with me for 6 months and never told me they were going to release Trinity Angels and, despite many e-mails, they still haven't told me what the digital royalty plan is. So, when he says he's reached out to me, that's about the extent of it." He later added, "You'll also notice that Mr. Shandasani never says that Priest and Bright were enthusiastic about the Quantum and Woody relaunch. Just that they've been in touch with them. If Priest and Bright WERE okay with it, you'd think that was the first thing he'd mention." Maguire isn't the only former Valiant creator to express frustration over the current publishing situation, nor the first to wonder aloud about what, if any, input Priest and M.D. Bright had into the Quantum & Woody relaunch (arguably the most significant Valiant title that's closely associated with one particular creative team), although as yet nobody has become frustrated enough to bring their feelings to the front page of comics news sites or a lawsuit. Whether that will remain true as Valiant continues to expand remains to be seen.