Comics

First Look Inside Valiant’s New Series ‘Rai’ #1

Published

10 years ago

February 24, 2014

Valiant Comics has an awesome initiative for 2014 in which they will be releasing a brand new #1 issue every single month in an effort to entice new readers. This May sees the debut of “Rai” from Matt Kindt and Clayton Crain, which revives the first original hero from the old days at Valiant.

In addition, Valiant is also launching a promotion for retailers who can win limited pullbox variant covers of the new series. Check out all the details below.

From the press release:

In support of the Valiant First publishing initiative, Valiant is proud to announce the Valiant First Pullbox Preview – a brand new wave of promotional preview books shipping from March to August to Valiant’s top 500 retail partners worldwide! Valiant’s Pullbox Preview editions will come bundled in shrink-wrapped packages of 20, and can be distributed to comic shop patrons and pullbox subscribers. Valiant will also be making additional bundles available to retailers for reorder via Diamond.

Hitting stores on March 12th alongside Unity #5, the first Pullbox Preview edition will feature a fully lettered preview of Rai #1 by superstar creators Matt Kindt and Clayton Crain, plus the first look at master storyteller Doug Braithwaite’s stunning interior pencil art for Armor Hunters #1 (of 4), a complete checklist reading order for the entire 18-part Armor Hunters crossover event, and much more!

“Over the course of the past two years, Valiant has made it our mission to arm our retail partners with some of the very best promotional tools and incentives in the business. Now, with the highly anticipated Valiant First rollout set to begin this May with Rai #1, Valiant is redoubling its efforts yet again with the new Pullbox Preview program. Beginning this March, fans can head to their local retailer each month and pick up the first of many all-new, free looks inside the biggest Valiant releases of the year with our new Pullbox Preview promotional comics,” said Valiant Publisher Fred Pierce.

What do you read first? Throughout 2014, Valiant will be rocketing to the top of your read pile with a major #1 issue debut monthly by some of the most talented creators in comics. Each month, Valiant is committed to delivering compelling and accessible new entry points to its award-winning publishing line – all while releasing no more than nine core titles per month by the end of the year. A combination of new ongoing titles, unprecedented crossover collisions, and high-profile mini-series, these are the titles that will have you reading Valiant FIRST when you head home from the comic shop!

MAY
RAI #1 by Matt Kindt (Unity, Mind MGMT) & Clayton Crain (X-Force)

JUNE
ARMOR HUNTERS #1 by Robert Venditti (X-O Manowar, Green Lantern) & Doug Braithwaite (Unity, Justice)

JULY
ARMOR HUNTERS: BLOODSHOT #1 by Joe Harris (X-Files: Season 10) & Trevor Hairsine (X-Men: Deadly Genesis)

JULY
ARMOR HUNTERS: HARBINGER #1 by Joshua Dysart (Harbinger Wars) & Robert Gill (Batgirl)

AUGUST
THE DELINQUENTS #1 by Fred Van Lente (Marvel Zombies), James Asmus (Thief of Thieves) & Kano (Gotham Central)

SEPTEMBER
THE DEATH-DEFYING DR. MIRAGE #1 by Jen Van Meter (Hopeless Savages) & Roberto de la Torre (Daredevil)
Head to your local comics retailer this March to get your first look at the landmark comics initiative of 2014 in the pages of the Valiant First Pullbox Preview – featuring an advance preview of Rai #1 by Matt Kindt and Clayton Crain! And look for subsequent issues spotlighting Valiant First’s most important releases to arrive each and every month.

Lonnie Nadler

2 Comments

Comics

‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics

Published

1 week ago

April 18, 2024

Meagan Navarro

Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.

Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.

In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”

The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”

Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”

“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.

Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”

Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.