Acclaim Comics
Acclaim Comics was the comics division of the computer game company Acclaim Entertainment . Acclaim Comics emerged from the acquisition of Valiant Comics by Acclaim in late 1993 . Valiant Comics continued to exist as its own label until the beginning of 1996 ; from 1996 to 1999 , Acclaim Comics published adventures with the heroes from the Valiant universe under the name Valiant Heroes by Acclaim Comics .
Beginnings
Valiant Comics had been bought by Acclaim for $ 65 million and had turned out to be a huge losing deal almost immediately. In order to escape contractual obligations, Acclaim stopped all Valiant titles and started new series with the Valiant heroes, who had completely new creative teams and also told their own stories that had nothing to do with the old Valiant comics.
Valiant Heroes 2
Fabian Nicieza, the successor to Bob Layton as Editor in Chief of the publishing house, started Valiant Heroes 2 (VH2) with reinterpretations of the classic Valiant heroes Bloodshot , Turok , Ninjak , XO Manowar and Shadow Man . There were also new series, including Trinity Angels , Troublemakers and Quantum & Woody . In addition, it was decided to produce quarterly special editions dedicated to old fan favorites such as Timewalker , Eternal Warrior or Archer & Armstrong . For the restart of the Valiant universe, Nicieza brought some of the best comic book authors of the time on board. Kurt Busiek , Garth Ennis , Brian Augustyn and Mark Waid wrote for VH2 .
But the start of the series in 1997 was disastrous. After the collapse of the American comic market in the mid-90s, the Acclaim titles sold even worse than the original Valiant titles in the end. Editions of only 12,000 units were the norm, and many fans couldn't get used to the reinterpretations of their heroes. Only Quantum & Woody by Christopher Priest (comic book writer) and Mark Bright achieved both critical and some commercial success, but it was too little to save Acclaim Comics. Nicieza's reinterpretation of Turok was also positive for Acclaim, they were able to use the character successfully for some computer games. But the success of the computer games did not reflect on the comics and the pressure Acclaim Entertainment put on Acclaim Comics increased.
The VH2 series were discontinued soon after. The decision was made at such short notice that many titles ended very abruptly with no ongoing stories to complete. Acclaim should continue to produce comics, but no longer monthly series, but mainly one-shots and mini-series. Nicieza left the company four months after the workforce at Acclaim Comics was reduced from 24 to 7 people and moved to Acclaim Entertainment headquarters.
Decline
Acclaim Comics published several series under the new editor-in-chief Walter Black. NIO and Deadside , as well as resuscitation attempts by Quantum & Woody and Shadowman. The Unity 2000 miniseries was supposed to link the old and new Valiant universe. The founder of Valiant Comics, Jim Shooter , was brought in as an author. The miniseries was designed by Jim Starlin .
But the last rebellion was short-lived, and in 1999 Acclaim Comics finally stopped all remaining series. Shadowman and Unity 2000 were left unfinished. Announcements for the missing booklets and an Acclaim Comics Web Anthology kept popping up into 2000, but none of them ever appeared. After the bankruptcy of Acclaim Entertainment in 2004 , the Valiant licenses were bought by IDT Entertainment. Only Solar and Magnus Robot Fighter had been abandoned by Acclaim in 2003 and reverted to Western Publishing .
List of VH2 titles
- Acclaim Adventure Zone
- Armed & Dangerous (Mini Series)
- Armed & Dangerous Special
- Armed & Dangerous: Hell's Slaughterhouse (Mini-Series) [Vol. 2 by Armed & Dangerous]
- Armorines Vol. 2
- Bloodshot Vol. 2
- Concrete jungle
- Darque Passages
- Deadside
- Doctor Tomorrow
- Eternal Warriors
- Goat: HAEDUS
- Harbinger: Acts of God
- Magnus Robot Fighter Vol. 2
- Man of the Atom
- Master Darque
- NOK
- Ninjak Vol. 2
- Operation: Stormbreaker
- Quantum & Woody
- Revelations
- Shadowman Vol. 2
- Shadowman Vol. 3
- Solar: Hell on Earth
- Trinity Angels
- Troublemakers
- Turok
- Unity 2000
- Valiant Heroes Special
- XO Manowar Vol. 2