The return of Valiant Comics has produced some of 2012's most enjoyable comics, but their contribution to our industry goes far beyond the printed page. They are preserving artifacts of a time once thought lost to us. Witness: The Valiant Third Anniversary Video from 1994, a half-hour look at what life was like in the original Valiant during the boom of the '90s!

Most of it is a pretty simple "here's how comics get made" type of thing, featuring creators like Kevin Van Hook, Sean Chen and even current Valiant publisher Fred Pierce, but more important than that are the shots of Valiant Editor Bob Layton and his truly inexplicable haircut.

It's hard to figure out exactly what was going on there. Was he showing support for legendary Bones Brigade member Tony Hawk? Or was he auditioning for the role that would later go to Gary Oldman in The Fifth Element?


Either way, pretty awesome. That's a haircut of the man responsible for some truly awesome Iron Man comics.

Beyond just the coiffure on display, though, there's a lot of neat stuff in here. Looking back from almost 20 years later, it's interesting to see the old school coloring techniques in action, and to hear the universal truth that Sean Chen's art just looks cool. Here's hoping we get another video like this in a couple years featuring the current Valiant staff.

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