The First Valiant Era - 1989-1994
​Graded Books

The First Valiant Era consists of the Valiant superhero universe which kicked off with Magnus Robot Fighter 1 in May 1991.  The comics were innovative at the time, in that the interiors were painted by hand with watercolor, the characters were not black and white, and when a character died, it stayed dead.  

After screening thousands of these books, here are some general comments on grading Era 1 books.
  • Pre-Unity - These are the earliest books that tend to be "lower" in print run than later issues, and are still very coveted by fans, and are the flagship characters still to this very day.  Several of the books had coupons included, which could be cut and redeemed for incentive books.  Collectors should be careful to note whether the coupons are included, as it can affect value immensely.  Some issues are harder to find in mint condition.  Harbinger 1 can feature 2 or 3 staple versions, and the binding is very susceptible to spine splits.   Solar 10 is an all black issue with a thick cardstock and a thick binding.  As a result, it is susceptible to scuffs and fingerprints, and the binding is rarely cut evenly.  There are also a few common issues that are difficult to obtain in mint condition due to manufacturing errors that CGC does not appear to recognize (e.g. Magnus Robot Fighter 13).  A few of the Rai issues have odd centering, and collectors prefer the better centered copies.  Rai 0 (not technically pre-Unity, but a coveted key) has 2 different paper covers (matte and glossy), with the glossy version being more difficult to find (although, the bleeding of the cover ink can be viewed as a defect).  
  • Unity - This is a storyline that included a free Unity 0 issue, and was meant to tie the entire universe into a cohesive one.  These books are high in print run, and are from a period where sales were very successful (and speculators were purchasing multiple copies).  Most of these are relatively easy to find in mint condition.  However, a few have widespread common manufacturing defects on the black sections of the Frank Miller covers.  These issues can command a premium.  
  • Post-Unity - There was a general decline in the storytelling and art, and a few titles went bi-monthly.  Sales numbers started plummeting during this period.  Most of these are very easy to find for low prices, but the later issues are difficult to find in mint condition as they were typically read by fans, as speculators shunned them.  
  • Late Issues - The very last issues are sought after by collectors as the print runs were low.  These are very difficult to find in mint condition, and some issues are difficult to find at all.  These command a premium.  
  • Newsstand Variants - A number of titles featured newsstand variants.  It's not known how wide distribution was, but print runs were relatively low, sometimes very low.  They are very difficult to find in any condition, with respectable copies typically being in the good or fine range.  Very fine or near mint copies are incredibly difficult to obtain, and command a premium.  CGC does not recognize Valiant newsstand variants, so it is difficult to know how many graded copies exist, but there are likely very few, if any for any given issue.  
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