In the early 80s the Marvel universe seemed over-bloated to the point where they brought out a monthly handbook. It kept the fans updated on who was dead, current storylines, affiliations etc. But it never focused on why Wolverine knows nearly every team. Essentially, these monthly encyclopedias didn’t have the depth needed to understand the relationships between the characters. Still it was serviceable. Now with the internet, you can go to a comic book’s website and click on a character for their information. Years later Valiant comics has come out with their own compendium based on their universe. Yes, there’s the Eternal Warrior and X-O Manowar, but there a slew of characters you wouldn’t think would be connected to each other and that makes for an interesting read.
Handbooks aren’t set up to be read linearly. You’re supposed to jump around and see what interests you. Perhaps you’ll want to get to know a character based on their history without having to purchase all those back issues. What Valiant does with this work is not only give biographical information, they bring the reader up to date on current storylines and reveals that everyone in this universe knows each other. They’ve either allied themselves, betrayed or used each other and it seems nearly everyone is weary of Ninjak. Before you know it you want to find out how Bloodshot is connected with the teens in the newly released ‘Generation Zero,’ or how the team Unity was formed. Since this world is relatively small in comparison to DC and Marvel they have the advantage to make this handbook relevant. What’s more there’s mention to the trade paperback that if you want to know more about why Toyo Harada has several complicated relationships you can still get a copy. In the past, even now all you have is the word of a website. You can’t call the company on continuity issues, or suddenly missing characters unless the story arc was so convoluted (AKA the Ben Reilly/Peter Parker clone storyline), or badly received that the whole industry is still buzzing about it. With the young age of this company and a small number of titles, Valiant is able to use this work as a showcase of their characters. Essentially, the compendium makes itself necessary to understand the next phase of this world. If you want to know more about Faith, then you should look up the Harbinger Renegades. If you want to understand Livewire, you should also look up Unity, Imperium and Harada.
Each character is intrinsically connected to each other like an umbilical cord tied into a gorgon knot. And with the next series of titles coming out, you’ll want to keep track of what’s going on now. The ‘Valiant Universe Handbook 2016’ will help you keep afloat. Besides you have to be curious about Bloodsquirt.
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