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'The Valiant Taste Death But Once' – The Book Of Death Roundtable With Dinesh Shamdasani, Warren Simons, Fred Pierce & Hunter Gorinson

Valiant's big summer event is coming up, a crossover of epic proportions which claims to present a future fans may not recognize for our heroes, but the last Geomancer sure does. It's all written in her book which hails from 1000 years in the future, and contains glimpses of the fates of many of the heroes of the Valiant Universe. But is she the one causing natural disasters in our heroes' own time? It's the Eternal Warrior's quest not only to protect the Geomancer Tama but find out who is really to blame for these cataclysms. Valiant's event is called The Book of Death, a 4 issue mini-series and the event will be accompanied by a series of one shots featuring favorite heroes and also a mini-series of 4 issues called Legends of the Geomancer that are only available as retail incentives based on Book of Death #1 orders. A large creative team joined me to talk about the event, what exactly it contains, and what the wide-ranging significance of the complex narrative will be for expanding the dimensions of the Valiant Universe.

Dinesh Shamdasani (CEO and Chief Creative Officer), Fred Pierce (Publisher), Hunter Gorinson (Director of Marketing, Communications & Digital Media), and Warren Simons (EIC) all took the time to answer my questions about the upcoming Book of Death, the first issue of which arrives in July.

I asked the assembled team what steps it took to set up an event this large in the Valiant Universe and what developing the concept entailed as well as asking what the initial inception for the Book of Death had been.

Simons said that the main thing for Valiant was to look at where the Valiant Universe was going, and where it had been. He hopes most of all to "create an accessible story", and at a retreat this year, he and Robert Venditti formulated a "rough idea" of what the story might be and began to talk to the other writers. They started to get Matt Kindt and Jeff Lemire involved, and Venditti put together a "compelling" pitch which was also "original" and accessible. They felt that given their event-building in the past, they were equipped to keep the "tapestry of the universe moving forward" through Book of Death.

I asked who the first person had been who said, "I know, let's write about all these deaths", and what the initial reaction had been to such an extreme idea. Simons said that it's not totally clear who came up with the idea since it was constantly developing from different components, though Lemire, Kindt, and Venditti were all major players.

Shamdasani commented that in talking about how "ambitious" the cross-over is, it's important to note that all the creators have come to this project with that level of ambition and everyone has been collectively "stepping up". Doug Braithwaite had turned in the page where X-O Manowar "dies" that day and Shamdasani was very impressed by the way he "delivered".

I inquired of the team if this had been an emotional project to work on for the creators since these were characters they had become quite close to as storytellers and many of the creators were now writing about and drawing those characters' deaths. Simons said that it has been pretty emotional for Joshua Dysart, since in this case he's gone "above and beyond" and he has a deep attachment to Toyo Harada so it's been an "emotional trip for him". One of the things Simons is proudest of, he said, is that even though he's working with creators, none of them are treating Book of Death as a "fourth or fifth most important title".

I wondered if they, or even the creative teams on the book, feel an extra weight of responsibility rests on them to get such an important project "right" given the implications it will have for the future of the Valiant Universe to map out some of the "deaths" of characters in the future, solidifying continuity. Shamdasani says that there certainly is a "weight" to what they are doing, but it's a weight they feel in all of their work constructing continuity. This story, Shamdasani explained, revolves around a history book that "comes back from a thousand years in the future" and is "essentially a future history of the Valiant Universe that chronicles, in a way that oral history would, with an unreliable narrator, the major events that come up, but not comprehensively". He said that they'd spent a lot of time with the creators talking about what can happen, what the "natural evolution of these characters is" to make sure they aren't "boxing ourselves in". They feel they "owe the fans a lot of closure" for some of these events.

Pierce added that "on some level" every time Simons or one of the writers do something new, it affects continuity, and though it may not always be as serious as in this case, "they feel it all the time".

I was very enthused to hear that this was an "unreliable narrator" situation, as an English major and fan of medieval literature, since this always means that the reader plays a part in doubting or interpreting events as they are received. For instance, many of the narrators in The Canterbury Tales are unreliable, and we are supposed to be clever enough to realize that and take their statements with a grain of salt. I told Shamdasani that this aspect would make a "big difference" in the trajectory of the event, and "open up windows that allow the reader to participate in interpreting what they are looking at".

Shamdasani explained that the text in question is written by a Geomancer, and therefore could be limited in the same way that any history book may be. He said that though using the term "unreliable narrator" may be a little strong to apply to the situation, the limitations of the history book are those we encounter when history is written from only one perspective. And therefore as such a book like that cannot "objectively tell the truth". "There is an element of the truth to everything that we're seeing", Shamdasani said, "The book is not made up of falsities. Everything in the book will come to pass, it's just that it may come to pass from a different point of view".

Shamdasani said that this level of "complexity" is something they hope to bring to the book and also to the Valiant Universe following the event. I agreed that complexity is the right word for what they have constructed in Book of Death. Looking at the narrative structure that's been described in public statements about the Book of Death, issues #1-4, we'll be seeing two different points in time in each issue, with two different artists presenting those epochs.

Simons explained that the "main" narrative of Book of Death takes place in the "current" timeline, featuring the Eternal Warrior and Tama, the new Geomancer. We find out right away that they are "on the run" and being hunted by people who, up until now, seemed to be their teammates. We gradually discover, he informed me, that a "series of horrific events have occurred within the Valiant Universe that has killed hundreds if not thousands of people". Unity thinks that Tama is responsible for this, that she's lost control of her powers. Gilad doesn't believe that, but Unity don't believe she knows the future, either. They want to "bring her in" but Gilad refuses. He's afraid it will lead to her death. The Valiant Universe becomes "fractured" and Tama begins "reading the Book of Death to the Eternal Warrior" because they are "hunting for clues to try to find out what happens in the Valiant Universe when this Dark Age set in". They want to find out who is responsible for it.

That's when we begin "to see how our heroes lived, how they died, what relationships they had", Simons said. We begin to see what happened to Bloodshot and Ninjak, and where things stand 100 years, 200 years, or even 500 years in the future. Simons described Book of Death as a "mystery that happens on two lines concurrently". He laughed and said that Venditti "is ready to kill me because it's been so complex". It is "one of the most complex, ambitious stories we've told to date", Simons reflected, and Shamdasani chimed in to agree that's it's "easily the most" complex and ambitious story that they've done. Shamdasani explained that in the first issue of the series, we'll see 8 pages by Doug Braithwaite that illustrate 800 years of Valiant history at once. All of the creators put "massive" work into those 8 pages, doing research, making conference calls, and combining all their scripts to "boil down" into this 8-page sequence.

I asked the group if they could clarify the process of "viewing" this Valiant history. Would the reader be "seeing" the events that Tama is reading about in the Book of Death? Shamdasani said that yes, we'd "see" the narration in the Book of Death as Tama is reading it, almost as if we're in her mind. For her, this is her "history", Shamdasani said.

I raised the question of what they feel it brings to the narrative that they are including such a young character as Tama at the center of things rather than someone more hardened in that role, since she's younger than even the previous Geomancer. Simons said it "adds great complexity to her character because she's not so cynical yet that she's totally jaded still seeing the world in somewhat of a wide-eyed way". She believes there's still time for change, but "by the same token she comes from a world that's very dark, and one that's essentially leveled, as we see at the end of The Valiant", Simons narrated. She grew up in an environment where you "had to be hardened to survive, but she still has optimism". Shamdasani added that she's also "young enough that she doesn't full comprehend the weight of what she's learned is her history". Gilad is "haunted" by what he's learned from the Book, by contrast. Pierce explained that "You have the irony of one person looking at it as history and the other person looking at it as the future, and that causes a dissonance all by itself".

I asked if Tama's goal is to re-shape history to somehow avert the Dark Age that destroyed her world and affected her, but on behalf of everyone. Simons said that he believes that to be Gilad's goal, if not Tama's. Gilad has always served as a kind of "body guard" to the Geomancers, who are the "eyes and ears of the earth", so he's trying to stop the Dark Age from coming, even if Tama doesn't fully understand this.

I asked the team a rather thorny question, one that's difficult to talk about without getting into spoiler territory, but one which definitely has bearing upon how readers are going to respond to Book of Death. I wanted to know if the deaths that we see "happen" in the event are set in stone, or whether by potentially changing the past, Gilad and Tama might somehow avert the deaths we may think we are "seeing" and therefore erase or alter those events in the future. In other words, will the deaths we see "stick" and become continuity? Will they be "final"?

Shamdasani said, "It's certainly not going to be a story without consequences". They can't give away all the details of what will happen, they said, but Gorinson explained that while you will see some deaths, and not others, the ones you do see will be the "final chapters of their current narrative arcs". For some characters there will be a "more of an open-ended tease of what their futures may hold". This fits with the promotional descriptions readers may have seen where the "fall" of Ninjak and Bloodshot are suggested.

[From Book of Death: The Fall of Bloodshot]

Gorinson suggested that the best way to describe the Book of Death elements in the event are "glimpses of the future", like in time-travel narratives where you might see "snapshots" of moments in time, out of the context that might help explain them. You're getting "tantalizing glimpses of what is yet to come", he said. Those moments will all be part of "continuity" but the "fun part" is that some future writer/artist/editor can help them get to that point eventually. That, presumably, is why the promo for Book of Death says it will continue to affect the Valiant Universe for the next decade.

I pointed out that, to the best of my knowledge, something like the Book of Death has not been attempted before by other publishers. Anything similar that might have happened developed over a much longer period of time, whereas Valiant are consciously crafting many future points in their own continuity at one time. Shamdasani agreed that they are building "certain points at once", but not all of it, he admonished. Pierce added that there's still the need to craft a strong literary story here and preserve "tension" rather than just making the Book of Death event about big reveals.

It seemed to me, I said, that it was as if they were setting off a flair into the darkness and "opening up" the future of the Valiant Universe, suggesting its scope and scale by doing so. Shamdasani said that it probably hasn't been done before because companies might see it as putting limitations on their universes, but what he feels Book of Death is doing is creating opportunities to "play with the big picture".

I told them that so far I see the Book of Death as a statement about Valiant, a statement about how Valiant views itself, and it's a big statement. I think it suggests they are making a bold claim about their own future as a company by looking into the future of their universe.

We spoke about the accompanying one-shot issues that will be released in between each single issue of the 4-part Book of Death series. In July, there will be Book of Death: The Fall of Bloodshot, written by Jeff Lemire, and drawn by Doug Braithwaite. Simons said that Bloodshot will take a "century-spanning journey" and it will be beautiful and very "humanizing" for the character.

Shamdasani said, "I don't which is my favorite part of that book, the aliens, the eskimos, or the pirates…I'm just kidding, none of those things are true…or are they?"

Readers, I guess we'll have to read the book to find out whether he was actually joking on that one.

In August, we'll have Book of Death: The Fall of Ninjak by Matt Kindt and Trevor Hairsine. They'll be doing the "last story of Ninjak", and there will be many other characters present, too. We'll see Ninjak as a very old man, and see what he's going through, according to Simons. Shamdasani commented that Ninjak is particularly interesting because it will be helping "tie" the "two timelines together". This will have bearing on Rai, for instance.

In September, there will be Book of Death: The Fall of Harbinger, by Joshua Dysart and Kano. Dysart is very "proprietory" and "vested" in the Harbinger work, and Kano's artwork is "extraordinary", Simons said.

In October, we'll have the "last" Book of Death: The Fall of X-O Manowar story by Robert Venditti and Clayton Henry. I asked if, regarding X-O Manowar, we'll see new characters wearing the armor.

Shamdasani said we're going to see "a lot of new characters in these books". Even though they, "haven't been very open about it, there's a lot of generational stuff that goes on". Divinity, for instance, was in the works for a long time, and here Valiant have "taken a lot of stuff we've been working on for the last few years and tease it in Book of Death". Shamdasani said their "plan" is to create books that fans will go back to for "years to come". Simons teased they would be going back to it for "centuries". Fans have been asking Valiant to bring characters back, and they'll "see them here", Shamdasani said, as well as "brand new characters", much like Divinity, who was a brand-new characters.

You may not see them in their own book yet, or see them at all for a couple of years, but you will have "seen them here first for a brief glimpse", Shamdasani warned. The book is really, therefore, going to be about the "birth and death of so many things", Shamdasani commented. That's part of the "surprise" behind these appearances, because the reader won't know yet which characters are slated to get more attention later in the Valiant Universe. Or we might see characters who have had their own books in the past, but don't right now, which fans will be happy about.

I asked the team about the new villains that might appear in Book of Death because some of the promo materials suggest some pretty scary foes. Shamdasani said there's a "massive surprise in store" in the villain in the main Book of Death narrative. Everyone's very excited about it. It's part of the "mystery of whether something is causing these events or whether Tama is losing control of her powers", Simons said. There might be other new or old villains popping up too, from the sound of things, but they didn't confirm or deny that.

I commented that they have such a radical freedom here in what they might include that they must have to be careful not to overcrowd the story with Easter eggs and the like. Simons said that they are lucky to have Doug Braithwaite who never seems to make the page seem crowded. Shamdasani said that as exciting as it is to include these things, they also have a "real story to tell" also about Gilad and Tama, which is the focus of the book, which helps them impose limitations to make it a "present day" story.

I asked who had to draw thousands of scorpions on the line-art that's been released to give a sneak peek at Book of Death #1, and they said it was Robert Gill. He had previously had to draw just as many alien locusts in another book. Gorinson joked that they'll have just as many bees drawn in issue #2.

Moving on to talk about Book of Death: Legends of the Geomancer, a retail incentive story, it was created as a four-issue miniseries written by Fred Van Lente and drawn by Juan Jose Ryp, they said. It is the story of the first Geomancer, and is set in prehistory, Shamdasani said. It's not closely tied to Book of Death, he explained, so doesn't need to be read in order to understand Book of Death, but it "informs you about the larger Valiant Universe", he said, and gives you glimpses of the origins of the Valiant Universe. They are building a universe that lasts "tens of thousands of years", Shamdasani said. I commented that it's an amazing idea to be crafting prehistory at the same time as the far future at the moment in their comics.

I asked if the team is discovering new things to be true within the Valiant Universe, regarding the past and the future, or whether they are drawing mainly on older established material as a basis from the original Valiant line. Gorinson said they've been very fortunate to inherit such characters, but are trying to innovate and build on that work. Rather than simply trying to "put together a continuity bridge", they are trying to create original elements. There were some details of prehistory in the original Valiant Universe, particularly regarding the Eternal Warrior. They are actually moving back further than the first issue of Eternal Warrior, however. The Legends of the Geomancer series is an incentive series, meaning it's tied to the number of copies a retailer orders. It's definitely for "hardcore Valiant fans", so going to your shop to pre-order Book of Death will help make sure your shop has the bonus incentive series.

Fred Pierce said that one of the reasons for introducing the incentive is to point out that just allowing Valiant books to sell out, and taking that as a good sign, retailers will have books on hand for new readers as well. Pierce said he often hears at conventions that retailers are happy to say they sell out of Valiant books on a Wednesday. That's actually the opposite of what Valiant wants because they want to bring new readers in, and that can only happen if books are in shops a bit longer. To take advantage of the Legend of the Geomancer incentive, the final date is the FOC for Book of Death #1 in the final week of June.

But just as Legends of the Geomancer is not necessary to understand Book of Death, you can actually read the Book of Death series #1-4 without reading the one-shots or the one-shots without Book of Death. I asked what their expert recommendation is in terms of which order to read the books in if one is going to read all 4 of the Book of Death issues and all 4 one-shots. Should they be read in the order of publication? Shamdasani said you can definitely read the Book of Death #1-4 and then read the one-shots and have a clear understanding of things. The one-shots can be read in any order. The numbered issues need to be read in order but the tie-ins are much more flexible.

I asked if the developments in Book of Death will be affecting the Valiant cinematic universe in any way. Shamdasani said that they will not, in the sense that the publishing of the comics is a long-term plan, and the films are simply happening concurrently. The films will never affect the publishing, he promised. "We're a publishing company, primarily. The films will not affect our comics", he said. I was actually intending to ask if the events in the Book of Death would now possibly have bearing on the contents of the films, however, and clarified. Will these important developments in the comics affect the film universe? Shamdasani said that "may very well be", and could become "a subject of conversation".

Their goal is to make a film first, and then maybe a couple sequels, and "then maybe kill one of the characters on film", he laughed. Shamdasani said that, in all seriousness, the people working on the films are very big fans of the books and often want early copies, and so the conversations they have are closely tied to the comics. He has "no doubt that the story we're telling here will have a large bearing on what we see on the cinematic side", Shamdasani said.

Because I am a sucker for Valiant merchandise, I asked if there would be Book of Death t-shirts this summer. Shamdasani said there will be Book of Death pens, bookmarks, and posters. Pierce said there would be a Book of Death t-shirt, but maybe only for me. I commented on the Divinity t-shirt that has recently been introduced which I glimpsed at Atlantic City Boardwalk Con, which is really impressively painted in design. Let's hope the Book of Death merchandise is equally impressive.

Book of Death #1 arrives on July 15th and is currently listed in Previews World with item code: MAY151586.

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