History YMMV / ValiantComics

* FanDisservice: Evil sorcerer Master Darque sure was naked a lot. He shouldn't have been. He really shouldn't.

* MagnificentBastard:
** Original run: Toyo Harada of ''Harbingers'' is the brilliant BigBad whose powers as a Harbinger awakened at an early age. Deciding to claim and remake the world, Harada recruits Harbingers to mold them with his ideals, performing brilliant gambits to continuously achieve his ends and staying a step ahead of the Harbinger rebellion led by Peter Stanchek. Rarely at a loss, Harada even plays off alien invaders without them being aware of his actions to defend 'his' earth and even manages to nearly conquer the world.
** ''Valiant Entertainment'': In the reboot, Toyo Harada is more brilliant and ruthless than ever. A survivor of Hiroshima whose powers awakened when the Atom Bomb was dropped, Harada believes he must conquer the world to save it from himself. Recruiting young Harbingers via ruthless methods, even murder Peter Stanchek's friend and faking an accidental overdose, Harada dominates the airwaves as a seeming philanthropist and humanitarian to manipulate people, and constantly stays a step ahead of villain and hero alike. A man of bold conviction, a glimpse to the future even reveals Harada manages to conquer the world and makes it a utopia at the cost of freedom, before leaving the world to his rival Peter when he knows his life is at its end, trusting Peter to uphold his legacy even if Peter does not realize it.

** Similarly, ''ComicBook/ShadowMan'' is better known for the Acclaim-created videogame duology than for the original comic character. To the extent that the actual ''ComicBook/ShadowMan'' article is devoted solely to the videogame and only mentions the concept's origin as a comic character as an almost throw-away bottom line.

* DorkAge: Aside from a few enduring fan favorites like ''ComicBook/QuantumAndWoody'', the time when the company was owned by the now defunct video game developer Creator/{{Acclaim}} and rebooted as "Acclaim Comics", focusing on turning the characters into source material for video games, is not remembered fondly.

*** Ninjak was no longer a British ninja superspy, but a child who transformed into a character from a video game.

* DorkAge: Aside from a few enduring fan favorites like ''ComicBook/QuantumAndWoody'', the time when the company was owned by the now defunct video game developer Creator/{{Acclaim}} and rebooted as "Acclaim Comics" is not remembered fondly.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: One thing Acclaim has shown us, is that it's a ''BAD IDEA'' to pull a full on ContinuityReboot after only 7 years.

* AdaptationDisplacement: The most well known version of ''ComicBook/{{Turok}}'', that is the N64 game, was based on the Acclaim era reboot of the title.

* FandomRivalry: Fans of Valiant HATE Creator/ImageComics with a passion, partly because of ''ComicBook/{{Deathmate}}'', partly because they feel cheated that Image is still around and Valiant (which they view the the far superior company) isn't, or at least wasn't until recently.
** It should be noted that many of those that still despise Image seem to be unaware (or deliberately ignore) that the the Image that existed in the early 90s was a very different animal from the critically acclaimed, respected publisher of creator-owned horror, SF, fantasy, and noir crime comics that exists today. The few super-hero titles that remain are from the studios and creators that did not participate in the ill-fated ''ComicBook/DeathMate'' crossover. Ironically, some of them are big fans of ''ComicBook/TheWalkingDead'', ''ComicBook/{{Saga}}'', and other fan-beloved series that are examples of what the modern Image is.

** It should be noted that many of those that still despise Image seem to be unaware (or deliberately ignore) that the the Image that existed in the early 90s was a very different animal from the critically acclaimed, respected publisher of creator-owned horror, SF, fantasy, and noir crime comics that exists today. The few super-hero titles that remain are from the studios and creators that did not participate in the ill-fated ''ComicBook/DeathMate'' crossover. Ironically, some of them are big fans of ''The Walking Dead'', ''Saga'', and other fan-beloved series that are examples of what the modern Image is.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: One thing Accliam has shown us, is that it's a ''BAD IDEA'' to pull a full on ContinuityReboot after only 7 years.

* ''Creator/ValiantComics'':

** It should be noted that many of those that still despise Image seem to be unaware (or deliberately ignore) that the the Image that existed in the early 90s was a very different animal from the critically acclaimed, respected publisher of creator-owned horror, SF, fantasy, and noir crime comics that exists today. The few super-hero titles that remain are from the studios and creators that did not participate in the ill-fated ''DeathMate'' crossover. Ironically, some of them are big fans of ''The Walking Dead'', ''Saga'', and other fan-beloved series that are examples of what the modern Image is.

** Mostly [[AvertedTrope averted]] with the 2012 reboot. While some are pretty bummed about certain changes from the classic era, [[ScrewedByTheLawyers (the loss of the Gold Key properties being one of the biggest gripes)]], for the most part everyone seems glad just to have the company back in the first place.

** It should be noted that many of those that still despise Image seem to be unaware (or deliberately ignore) that the the Image that existed in the early 90s was a very differeny animal from the critically acclaimed, respected publisher of creator-owned horror, SF, fantasy, and noir crime comics that exists today. The few super-hero titles that remain are from the studios and creators that did not participate in the ill-fated ''DeathMate'' crossover. Ironically, some of them are big fans of ''The Walking Dead'', ''Saga'', and other fan-beloved series that are examples of what the modern Image is.

** It should be noted that many of those that still despise Image seem to be unaware (or deliberately ignore) that the the Image that existed in the early 90s was a very differeny animal from the critically acclaimed, respected publisher of creator-owned horror, SF, fantasy, and noir crime comics. The few super-hero titles that remain are from the studios and creators that did not participate in the ill-fated ''DeathMate'' crossover. Ironically, some of them are big fans of ''The Walking Dead'', ''Saga'', and other fan-beloved series that are examples of what the modern Image is.

* CultClassic: Go to San Diego ComicCon and ask around about Valiant comics.
* ExecutiveMeddling On a truly epic, and company killing scale:
-->"Hey guys! You know what would be a [[WhatWereYouThinking good idea]]? Let's [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney buy out a comic company]], fire everybody there, [[ContinuityReboot start the Continuity over from scratch]], and [[FollowTheLeader bring in all the stuff that Marvel and D.C. has]] that they don't! [[TheyJustDidntCare Who cares if the fans don't want any of that]]?"
** It's even more apparent how far the meddling must have gone when one realizes many of the initial batch of writers on the Acclaim titles...Creator/MarkWaid, Creator/KurtBusiek, Creator/GarthEnnis, Creator/WarrenEllis, Creator/{{Christopher Priest|Comics}}, etc. would seem to be the ''ideal'' writers to create a fresh, exciting new super-hero universe.
*** Well, the original X-O Manowar was Visigothic warrior that get abducted by spider aliens and steals their power armor. Very original, and unique, and that's why it's fans liked it. The Creator/MarkWaid reboot was basically ComicBook/CaptainAmerica in the Comicbook/IronMan suit, not bad, but not what the fan where used to, and better suited to an entirly new book than X-O Manowar.
*** Waid was basically given a situation begun in the all-but-forgotten X-O/Iron Man crossover, where the coda inexplicably has an alternate Aric find alternate armor at the end but ''not'' go to the future via abduction. So he had to spin off a book from a hook in a book hardly anyone read...because...well...just because.
*** The reason was there was an Iron Man/X-O Manowar game coming out by Accliam around the same time as the reboot. A game that sucked.
-->"Hey guys! We just got the license from Marvel to make an ComicBook/IronMan game! Let's milk this for all it's worth! I know! Let's have a pointless crossover! ([[SarcasmMode because that turned out so well]] [[ComicBook/{{Deathmate}} in the past]].) We can make the game and the comic tie-in! Say? Weren't we also going to reboot soon? No problem, let's just make the crossover part of the reboot to avoid confussion.
** Though signs of serious creative decay could be seen in the entire line some years before the purchase by Acclaim. Probably it began around the time of the ill-conceived ''ComicBook/{{Deathmate}}'' crossover with Creator/ImageComics (yes, Creator/RobLiefeld was involved). After that, "kewl" artist and speculator-driven concepts began to infest even their best titles.
*** [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DeathMate.jpg Oh yes, Deathmate]]
*** It should be noted that only two of the studios comprised Image at the time actually participated in the crossover - Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studios and Jim Lee's Wildstorm Studios. The other Image creators (Erik Larsen, Todd [=MacFarlane=] and Jim Valentino) either had no interest in the Valiant titles, or thought the crossover sounded like a really bad idea. How right they were!
*** At its core, ''Deathmate'''s failure was due to the ScheduleSlip that all of the Image studios (Jim Lee's studio wasn't as egregious, but Liefeld's and [=MacFarlane=]'s became infamous for it) suffered from. One could argue the other creators had enough trouble working on their own titles to participate in a crossover with a rival company, no less a company that at the time had supplanted Image from its #3 publisher slot (which Image itself had taken from DarkHorseComics).
*** One can possibly trace the inevitable downfall back even earlier, to the point where the venture capitalists who helped fund the company pushed Jim Shooter out of his job. Since he was the one pushing hardest for strong plots and a certain degree of internal consistency, his absence opened the door to many of the gimmick-driven problems that would ultimately kill the company.

* FandomRivalry: Fans of Valiant HATE Creator/ImageComics with a passion, partly because of ''ComicBook/{{Deathmate}}'', partly because they feel cheated that Image is still around and Valiant (which they view the the far superior company) isn't.

* AdaptationDisplacement: The most well known version of Turok, that is the N64 game, was based on the Acclaim era reboot of the title.
** Similarly, ShadowMan is better known for the Acclaim-created videogame duology than for the original comic character. To the extent that the actual ShadowMan article is devoted solely to the videogame and only mentions the concept's origin as a comic character as an almost throw-away bottom line.

* FandomRivalry: Fans of Valiant HATE ImageComics with a passion, partly because of DeathMate, partly because they feel cheated that Image is still around and Valiant (which they view the the far superior company) isn't.

* TooGoodToLast: Sadly.