***UPDATE****
Thanks to all of us tweeting and yelling at Valiant and comicbook.com, Ninjak vs The Valiant Universe will stay where it’s at (for now) So, make sure everyone watches the series and continues to support the project!!
Something wicked this way comes and I’m not liking it all that much. Back in January we reported that Valiant had been acquired by DMG Entertainment and honestly, we were on board with the idea. Maybe DMG would finally get going on the Bloodshot movie, which it seems like it has with Vin Diesel in the title role. Though, Valiant never OFFICIALLY announced this in a Press Release. It also seemed a little weird that their current CEO at the time, Dinesh Shamdasani, got pushed aside seemingly for no reason. Dinesh had been instrumental in bringing the company back to life back in 2012. He brought a new crop of talented artists and writers and quickly became one of our favorite publishers. The character refreshes took from the 90s and made everything familiar and yet so exciting at the same time. The company was constantly selling out of their comics and they were branching out in to other forms of media including a deal with Sony Pictures to produce movies and a partnership with Bat in the Sun Productions to bring the characters to life in a webseries called Ninjak vs the Valiant Universe.
Ninjak vs the Valiant Universe first was teased to us back in October 2016 with an announcement at New York Comic Con. Almost a year later we got our first look at a trailer that looked pretty fantastic and an expected Winter 2017 release. Given that it was partnering with Bat in the Sun, the idea would be to put the series on YouTube. Then, we hear that we would get a prequel comic that would last for four issues in 2018, seemingly after the show would premiere. So, we wait, January comes around and we get our first issue of the prequel comic. Okay it’s great, super excited for the series. Then, via an image on TWITTER tweeted out from Emerald City Comic Con, we get the information that the series will be making it’s debut on comicbook.com. Yes, the same website that’s recently been acquisition-ed from CBS. The same site that doesn’t allow you to visit an article without a pop up in your face. It’s not until many days later does Valiant even release an official Press Release of the announcement.
Finally, we find out that the show will air all six episodes from April 21st-26th. Fantastic. Yet, there’s no word that the series will only be available until the 26th, in which the next day they will be promptly taken down. WHAT!? You’re going to debut your web series on a restrictive website that hides Valiant news amidst paid-for ads and Team Rocket Pokemon news (not that there’s anything wrong with Pokemon). Seriously? Comicbook.com has never really given a crap about smaller publishers like Valiant, and instead focuses on The Big Two; yet you choose to premiere your show there. On top of it, you will no longer even be able to get the show after today. No official word if it’ll be available for purchase, be put up on YouTube, nothing.
I have a feeling that DMG is only interested in going after the movie side of things and that’s it. It’ll let the publisher continue to put out comics like it does so that the characters can be established, but past that, who cares? This was going to be a huge way to introduce Ninjak and the rest of the Valiant Universe in a cool and unique way that’s never been seen before; but instead if boggled down by Pokemon and Pop Ups. As a long-time supporter of Valiant, I’m very disappointed and hope that this isn’t a sign of more injustices to come. I want to see my favorite characters up on the big screen, but I want quality and not quantity. I want them to keep reinventing themselves as a publisher who offers more interactivity with the fans. It’s something that Dinesh knew and practiced every single day. If you had a question, he’d answer it. There was a connection to the readers that other publishers didn’t do and it’s what made them unique. Now, I fear, it’s going to be bogged down by corporate BS and never reach a new audience in a way it’s supposed to.
Let’s just hope I’m wrong.
