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Valiant Comics Strike Back?
In developing http://www.valiantcomics.com, Holland has stumbled into the reliable rules of supply and demand. The early Valiants had low print runs. After having been relegated to the 25¢ bins for more almost a decade now, there aren't exactly a ton of high grade, certified, Jim Shooter-era Valiants around, he pointed out. Word of this began to get out, and suddenly there's once again a market for them. Holland has been providing data and analysis to Overstreet's Comic Price Review, documenting trends in CGC-certified comics in general and Valiant comics in specific. Scoop talked to him about these issues and his background in collecting. Scoop: What's the first comic you saw? Greg Holland: The first comic books I remember reading were Richie Rich comics in the local barbershop when I was about five. The same two or three coverless copies had probably been in that barbershop for ten or fifteen years. Scoop: What were the circumstances when you made your own first purchase? Greg Holland: I saw the book in the rack at the grocery store near my grandmother's house. My sports card collecting was slowing down, so I thought I'd try comic books. Scoop: How long from the time you first bought a comic book until you considered yourself a collector? Greg Holland: It was probably 1992 before I began collecting regularly. Scoop: What were your early favorites? Greg Holland: My earliest favorite was definitely Superman. I can remember seeing the Superman movie when I was very young... even before I could read. Superman was the only superhero for me, for at least ten years. Scoop: What is it about the Valiant Comics that you find interesting? Greg Holland: For me, early Valiant offered stories that intrigued. Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man had been in print for decades. With the Marvel and DC classics, you begin to understand that years can go by with little or no change to the title characters. Valiant was fresh, and you really didn't know what to expect. Two major characters died in the first issues of their own series; Torque died in Harbinger #6, Rai died in Rai #7. Nothing was impossible for Valiant characters... Scoop: What is the prized Valiant Comics piece in your collection? Greg Holland: I recently obtained a prototype of the unproduced X-O Manowar statue. Only two or three exist, so it was nice to add that piece to my Valiant collection. Scoop: Have you gotten to meet many of the people that were involved with the creation of Valiant Comics? Greg Holland: Unfortunately not yet. I've traveled very little outside of Arkansas, and they don't seem to travel here. Scoop: How did your collecting develop from its starting point? Greg Holland: I began collecting Valiant comics starting just after the Unity crossover of 1992, so I was able to buy most of the chapters of Unity, and everything new in late-1992 and 1993, but I was not able to find many of the earliest Valiant books. The few issues I saw were out of my price range as a teenager. I took a break from comic collecting in 1994, and started up again with my discovery of eBay in 1997. Scoop: Did you have other collecting habits, too? If so, what? Greg Holland: Before comic books, I collected baseball cards in the late 1980s. Since I was playing youth baseball at the time, it seemed like a natural fit. When my playing days were over, so were my card collecting days. Scoop: How did your family react to collecting? Were they supportive? Disinterested? Greg Holland: I'm sure they wished it was more of a hobby and less of an obsession. If I wasn't actively sorting, checking, or checklisting... I was probably reading reference books and guides about collecting. Scoop: Did any of your family members collect comics or other items? If so, what? Greg Holland: I was the only member of my family to collect anything, but I'm sure I overdid my own collecting enough for all four of us. Scoop: Did you drift away from collecting at any point (as some collectors do), or did you stick with them as you grew up? (And either way, why?) Greg Holland: Between 1994 and 1997, I didn't collect comic books. I was in college those years, so I had no money for food, much less for comics. By senior year, my part-time job funded a little extra spending, so my Valiant collecting began for the second time... five years after it first started. Since Valiant publishing had just ended in 1996, it was possible to collect the whole universe... and eBay provided the method. Scoop: Compare what excited you about comic books early on to what excites you about them now. Is it the same thing? Greg Holland: Early on, Valiant offered a universe with unlimited possiblities... no one knew what to expect. Today, the exact opposite is true. Valiant is an entire universe that is limited to a manageable size. For most collectors, Valiant would be a "side-project" while they collect other on-going titles. Since I don't like to start projects I can't finish, Valiant collecting provides a realistic alternative to collecting 100% of Marvel or DC. Scoop: What are the prizes of your collection? Greg Holland: The biggest prize in my collection is not even a Valiant comic. It is the "grandfather" of all Valiant comics, Four Color #596 from 1954. Collectors know that Magnus and Solar were Gold Key characters in the 1960s, but even earlier, Turok began in Four Color #596 by Dell. It is easily the oldest Valiant-related comic book... and my copy is one of the two highest graded copies (so far) at 8.5. For Valiant books (1991-1996), over 1,000 comics have been CGC-graded. Only two have received 10.0 grades thus far, and I own both, Rai #0 and X-O Manowar #0. After Acclaim purchased Valiant comics, they published a new Acclaim universe with Valiant characters in 1997-2000. Last year, I acquired the personal collection of [X-Men editor] Mike Marts, a former editor of Acclaim comics. Scoop: What are you collecting at the moment? Greg Holland: I am collecting CGC-graded copies of the Valiant books, particularly the earliest books. I plan to submit books from my own collection eventually, but so far I have only purchased already graded books. I'm always on the look-out for unusual Valiant items. You never know what may be in the hands of the creators, former employees, retailers, and other collectors. Scoop: Do you have any stories about the one that got away? Greg Holland: Around 1998, I was in an antique mall in south Arkansas and happened upon a stack of comic books from the 1940s. About 60 books were in the stack, with a $3 price for each book. Of course, I bought them all. Months later I went back to the antique mall to look for more. When I met the seller of the books, he said that he was very glad that I had bought the books for $3 each because he had sold another stack of 60 from the same collection for only about $1 each at an auction. I've always wondered what books might have been in that "other 60." Scoop: What comics are on your wantlist? Greg Holland: Since I already have all of the Valiant books, I suppose the more elusive 9.8s for Valiant are still on my wantlist. I'd like to get 9.8 copies of Harbinger #1, Solar #10, Magnus #12, and Unity #0 Red, among others, either by finding a great deal online or submitting my own books. There will probably be dozens of these books graded as 9.8s soon, but until I have them, I'll keep them on my wantlist. Scoop: What do you find the most rewarding about comics and collecting in general? Greg Holland: The most rewarding part of collecting Valiant comics has been running ValiantComics.com since 1999. When I was looking for information online about Valiant in the late-1990s, I found very little. So, I decided to start a website for others who might be wondering the same things... What happened to Valiant? What issues were produced? What do all of the comics look like? Are they worth anything today? The site has grown by leaps and bounds over the past five years, with lots of other Valiant fans providing information along the way. More recently, I have added a messageboard which has allowed fans to discuss Valiant and to find help completing their own collections, and a few of the artists and editors have also stopped by at times to answer questions and reminisce. Scoop: Have there been any surprises in the comic book marketplace in the past year worth noting? Greg Holland: Surprising prices for very high certified grades have not been uncommon for any publisher, so it hasn't really been a surprise to see some CGC-graded Valiant books in selling for record prices. However, it has been surprising to see Valiant comics mentioned in recent issues of Overstreet's Comic Price Review, when the 33rd edition of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (2003) did not list a single Valiant comic above $10. Though dozens of Valiant books regularly sell "uncertified" (without having been graded by CGC) for more than $10 on eBay, the trend has gone largely unnoticed for several years. Only within the past year have publications started to take another look at Valiant. I'd say that most Valiant fans would probably prefer to keep the Valiant marketplace quiet, in order to complete their collections without any additional competition. There have also been a few surprises in prices paid for the most rarely seen Valiant books... as a few completionists focus on obtaining 100% collections regardless of the price.
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