Book of Death

As a resident of the Carolinas, I can tell you with pretty solid certainty that the only reason to drive through the wilderness of North Carolina is to get barbecue. That's where you find the really good stuff, those out of the way places where sometimes --- and this is actually true --- you just hand a man standing outside of a house a five dollar bill and he comes back with a bag full of food and you drive off without exchanging a single word. That's it, that's the only reason to ever drive around out there, although I'll admit that it's a pretty good one. Unfortunately, it seems that nobody told that to Gilad Anni-Padda, the Eternal Warrior, who is spending some time in the fourth issue of Valiant's Book of Death cruising around in a pickup truck --- and instead of Lexington-style vinegar-based BBQ, he's just getting some ominous prophecies about the end of the world.

As you might have gathered from the title, Valiant's big Book of Death crossover has been a bit of a downer, especially the issues where we see what's become of the Valiant heroes in the near future. It has not ended well for pretty much any of them, a sad fact that has taught us that not even Ninjak is immune to the ravages of time. That's why it's nice to see the relatively peaceful future of Book of Death: The Fall of X-O Manowar, by Robert Venditti and Clayton Henry, where there's a beautiful museum in Italy devoted to all of Aric of Dacia's many achievements in giant monster hunting. If the preview below is any indication, then we're finally going to get to enjoy a look at this horrible future that's just a peaceful day out. Oh, and also there's some aliens trying to murder him with a spear, I guess, but other than that...

With a title like Book of Death, I don't think anyone really expected Valiant's big crossover to be a cheerful affair, but jeez, things are starting to get pretty grim for the future of the Valiant Universe. Like, really grim. Like everyone on Earth is going to die from the psychic impact of the most powerful superhuman who ever lived returning to the planet from a journey out into space where he transcended his physical form. But on the upside, there's a robot named for the legendary soul musician and composer of the Super Fly soundtrack Curtis Mayfield, so hey, at least we've got that going for us. For the rest of the bad news though, read on for a preview!

If you're anything like me, then you want - no, you require --- as much Ninjak as humanly possible to be delivered into your waiting eyballs at all times, and if that's the case, I've got some good news for you. Next week, Valiant's #1 ninja --- or, you know, their #11 ninja, if we're going alphabetically --- is taking the center stage in not one, but two new stories. First, Ninjak #6 continues the awesome ongoing series with a brand new story arc that pits Colin King and his high-tech ninjutsu against La Barbe, a mysterious French adversary who preserves his anonymity with a Scrooge McDuckian pile of money and some Ninjak-hunting laser weapons. And if that wasn't enough, Book of Death: The Fall of Ninjak jumps a hundred years into the future to see what he's up to in the post-apocalyptic world ravaged by the Armor Hunters. Can you handle that much Ninjak?!

Since their first tiles appeared on comic-shop shelves in 2012, the resurrected Valiant Comics has established themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Their new take on the characters and mythology of the original 1990s Valiant line, their pursuit of top-shelf creators, their focus on storytelling and world-building, and their gift for unorthodox marketing and promotion has drawn praise from both fans and press, led to a film development deal with Sony, and won scores of industry awards (and award nominations). They've proven themselves to be not just cashing in on past glories, but a company that's capable of pushing their stable of characters in new and exciting directions while remaining true to their roots.

When you think of the revived Valiant Comics, a few standout creators come to mind, and oe of those is certainly Robert Venditti, a writer who has been on board since the company came back to life in 2012. After taking the reins on last year's Armor Hunters event, Venditti is picking up the baton once again, along with artists Robert Gill and Doug Braithwaite, for Book of Death, a four-issue miniseries that explores the fallout from this spring's The Valiant and blasts ahead into an uncertain, dangerous future for the Valiant Universe, with excerpts from the titular book --- which comes from the future ---- playing a big part in each issue. After getting a sneak peek at the script for issue one, we spent a few minutes on the phone with Venditti to talk about whether his future for the Valiant U is concrete or fluid, the art of writing a comic script, the concept of a villain who can manipulate nature, whether trees can be threatening, and much more.

While other superhero comics publishers are mining their pasts for big crossover events this spring and summer, Valiant is blasting ahead into the future, specifically, its characters' end times. The new, four-issue event series Book of Death, written by Robert Venditti and with art by Robert Gill and Doug Braithwaite, promises to reveal how characters including Ninjak, Bloodshot, X-O Manowar, Toyo Harada and others will bite it, be redeemed, be replaced, or otherwise change in the future.