Valiant Entertainment has revealed their plans to celebrate their 25th anniversary. As first reported by CBR, the publisher’s summer long celebration will kick off on Free Comic Book Day 2015 with the “Valiant 25th Anniversary Special.” Valiant will follow that release up with a summer of new releases highlighting the publisher’s first quarter century of existence.
The 25h anniversary special, which arrives on May 2, will feature a new Bloodshot story set between the events of “The Valiant” and “Bloodshot Reborn” from writer Jeff Lemire and artist Butch Guice. Robert Venditti and Rafa Sandoval will also contribute an introduction to “X-O Manowar” and an all-new tale of “Dead Hand.” Additional content featuring material from “Ninjak,” “Imperium,” “Divinity,” “Ivar, Timewalker,” “Rai” and other special guests will be included.
Also kicking off in May will be a new series of anniversary variant covers by Rafa Sandoval highlighting the heroes and villains that have made up Valiant’s line over the past 25 years.
“Valiant 25th Anniversary Special” cover by Rafa Sandoval; “Valiant Universe Handbook” cover by Butch Guice
Following the Free Comic Book Day offering, Valiant will release the “Valiant Universe Handbook: 2015 Edition” and a new trade paperback collection called “Valiant: Zeroes & Origins.” The TPB will collect some of Valiant’s notable zero issue introductions for tiles like “X-O Manowar,” “Bloodshot,” “Harbinger” and “Shadwoman” and feature work from Joshua Dysart, Matt Kindt, Lewis LaRosa, Clay Mann, Peter Milligan, Mico Suayan, Robert Venditti and others.
“Valiant has always been about creating stories that will stand the test of time 25 years from now, not reflecting on the successes of 25 years ago,” said Valiant Publisher Fred Pierce in the company’s announcement. “As a member of the Valiant team across more than two decades, I can say that our 25th anniversary is an incredibly exciting turning point for us as one of the premier storytelling companies in comics. All summer long, we’ll be revealing glimpses of where Valiant is headed next with special initiatives in print, digital, and licensing for one of our largest and most coordinated efforts to date.”
