As revealed this morning at the Diamond Retailer Summit in Baltimore, MD, Valiant is proud to announce that the widely acclaimed BOOK OF DEATH event storyline has sold more than 200,000 copies and counting as of September 2015, cementing its status as the most successful crossover event of the decade from an independent publisher.
Following a record-setting debut of more than 70,000 copies for BOOK OF DEATH #1 (of 4) in July, Valiant’s blockbuster summer event – helmed by New York York Times best-selling writer Robert Venditti (X-O MANOWAR, Green Lantern) and artists Robert Gill (Batgirl) and Doug Braithwaite (ARMOR HUNTERS) – has continued to accrue widespread critical acclaim and multiple distributor sell-outs across both the core BOOK OF DEATH limited series and four standalone one-shots from an all-star cast of preeminent creative talents, that inlcudes writers Jeff Lemire (BLOODSHOT REBORN, Descender), Matt Kindt (NINJAK, Mind MGMT), Joshua Dysart (HARBINGER, Unknown Soldier), alongside artists Trevor Hairsine (DIVINITY), Kano (QUANTUM AND WOODY), and Clayton Henry (ARCHER & ARMSTRONG).
“The reception to BOOK OF DEATH thus far has been astounding and the series isn’t slowing down yet,” said Valiant Publisher Fred Pierce. “BOOK OF DEATH really is a landmark moment for Valiant, both as a publisher and for the characters that define our universe. From craft and story, to sales and marketing, BOOK OF DEATH has created an influx of fans new to Valiant and emboldened our long-time readers. Look out…because the story that begins here will have long-lasting ramifications in the months and years to come.”
Spanning eight issues total, BOOK OF DEATH collides the next thousand years of history with the most powerful heroes of today. X-O Manowar. Bloodshot. Ninjak. The Harbinger Renegades. Unity. This is how they lived. This is how they died. Now we know. The Book of the Geomancer has recorded it all. But only a young girl – the last in a line of the enigmatic mystics who protect the Earth known as Geomancers – has seen this future come to pass, from the coming cataclysm to the dawn of the 41st century. Alone with her sworn protector, the Eternal Warrior – a soldier battle-forged across five thousand years of combat – the duo must defy their allies to stop the Dark Age that now threatens to eclipse our world.
Together, they are the number one target of every hero and villain on Earth. Either the Eternal Warrior hands her over…or they take him down. But can even he single-handedly protect one child when the entire Valiant Universe wages war against him?
Featuring the last stands of Valiant icons, the first appearances of all-new heroes, and tantalizing clues of future events, BOOK OF DEATH is the gateway to the next decade of the Valiant Universe and beyond. That new era officially begins on November 18th in WRATH OF THE ETERNAL WARRIOR #1 by BOOK OF DEATH’s own Robert Venditti and visionary artist Raul Allen (NINJAK, Hawkeye) – the first issue of an all-new ongoing series bringing Valiant’s immortal master of war out of the pages of Valiant’s chart-topping event and into a savage new realm far removed from the world he once knew…
“Robert Venditti and Cary Nord defined the scope and fury of the Valiant Universe in 2012 in the pages of X-O MANOWAR #1. Now, Rob and Raul Allen are bringing that same passion and widescreen scope to WRATH OF THE ETERNAL WARRIOR – a series that, following on in the aftermath of BOOK OF DEATH, will establish the Eternal Warrior, beyond a doubt, as a true heavyweight of the Valiant pantheon,” said Valiant CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani. “The revelations that series will hold over the next year are truly unlike anything that Valiant has published before and will redefine the Eternal Warrior’s place as both a soldier and superhero.”
For five millennia, the Eternal Warrior has shaped history at the end of his sword. He’s razed empires, toppled civilizations, and broken armies as an immortal soldier in service to the Earth.
But now, the Eternal Warrior has been torn from the world he once protected and finds himself stranded in a hostile alien landscape unlike any he’s ever faced. Separated from his earthly environs, can history’s deadliest soldier survive a realm far older, far deadlier, and far more ruinous than anything he’s ever encountered before? Beyond Earth lies eternity…
On November 18th, step out of BOOK OF DEATH and into the farthest reaches of the Valiant Universe, only in WRATH OF THE ETERNAL WARRIOR #1!
Also announced at today’s Diamond Retailer Summit, the complete BOOK OF DEATH epic will be collected between two trade paperbacks in January 2016, beginning with the BOOK OF DEATH TPB – re-presenting BOOK OF DEATH #1-4 (of 4) with never-before-seen bonus materials from series artists Robert Gill and Doug Braithwaite.
Shortly thereafter, also in January 2016, the publisher will debut a second volume – BOOK OF DEATH: THE FALL OF THE VALIANT UNIVERSE TPB – collecting the four acclaimed one-shot chapters detailing the apocalyptic future that awaits Valiant’s biggest heroes from BOOK OF DEATH: THE FALL OF BLOODSHOT #1, BOOK OF DEATH: THE FALL OF NINJAK #1, BOOK OF DEATH: THE FALL OF HARBINGER #1, and BOOK OF DEATH: THE FALL OF X-O MANOWAR #1.
