Valiant Unveils New Logo

The compass logo has been used by Valiant Comics even before there was a Valiant Universe, first appearing on the wrestling and Nintendo comics they produced in the late 1980′s, before appearing on Magnus Robot Fighter in 1991.

Since then, the compass, in one form or another has always served as Valiant’s  logo (except for a brief time after Acclaim bought the company, when it was replaced with a stylized “V” logo).

The compass returned in 1996, in a new form, with the launch of  Acclaim Comics in 1996. This logo was to signify the synergy between Acclaim and Valiant, merging the letters “A” and “V” into the points of the compass, with the wording “Acclaim Comics Valiant Heroes”

Since the founding of Valiant Entertainment in 2007, a compass logo has been used that harkened back to the original but seen from a different angle.  It has been used ever since, starting with the Harbinger, the Beginning hardcover collection, and for all the publicity surrounding the upcoming relaunch.

That is until now.  From Valiant Entertainment:

VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT Unveils New Logo

To officiate its return to monthly publishing this May, Valiant Entertainment is proud to unveil a new interpretation of the iconic Valiant compass logo by award-winning graphic designer Rian Hughes. The newly redesigned logo — along with Valiant’s new distinctive trade dress, also designed by Hughes — will first see print on May 2nd with the release of X-O Manowar #1 by New York Times best-selling author Robert Venditti (The Surrogates) and Eisner Award-winning artist Cary Nord (Conan).

 

“It is always a challenging and interesting project to design the visual identity of a publisher from the ground up in every detail — logo, trade dress, title logos — and to cohesively pull all these elements together so one strong visual identity emerges. Rebooting the Valiant line’s design has been one such great project. The Valiant characters have a strong fanbase and heritage, and so the new logos are fresh and modern as befits a forward-looking publisher while still paying tribute to the originals, just as has been done with the characters themselves,” said Hughes, whose previously published work includes logos and design pieces for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, MTV Networks, Virgin Airlines, Penguin Books, Archaia Entertainment, and the BBC, among many others.

This new logo will first be seen on May’s X-O Manowar #1 (above is the variant cover with full trade dress, by David Aja).  It will continue to appear on all new Valiant projects, including all new monthly titles that are part of the Summer of Valiant,  X-O Manowar #1 in May, Harbinger #1 in June, Bloodshot #1 in July, and Archer & Armstrong #1 in August.

“Rian and our Executive Editor Warren Simons put an incredible amount of energy into making sure that the new logo and the look of the books themselves accurately reflect our perspective on what the Valiant Universe was and can be,” said Dinesh Shamdasani.

 

“The day that Valiant titles return to the shelves of comics shops worldwide is one that fans have been eagerly awaiting for some time,” said Kothari. “This powerful, yet versatile new logo is the perfect way to signify a new era for Valiant both as a company and a premier creative brand.”

The new logo is just the latest in a series of things Valiant has done  to coincide with its “Summer of Valiant” relaunch.  Most recently, the publisher announced that it would be the first to produce animated, QR code-augmented covers for X-O Manowar #1 and Harbinger #1, as well as a series of “Pullbox Exclusive Variant” covers available only to comic shop customers who subscribe to Valiant’s new #1 issues.

For more information, visit Valiant’s Website and keep reading Comicbooked.com!

Here are ALL FOUR X-O Manowar #1 covers, in full trade dress!

The standard cover by Esad Ribic.

The PULLBOX Variant, by Cary Nord

The David Aja Variant

The QR Voice Variant, by Jelena Kevic-Djurdjevic