Valiant is proud to announce that New York Times best-selling writer and Eisner Award nominee Joshua Dysart has signed on as the publisher’s next exclusive creator. Dysart is currently scripting and co-plotting the Harbinger Wars crossover and mini-series for Valiant, in addition to his writing duties on the ongoing Harbinger series.
“Comics is a business, but it’s also a community and a family. From the moment I met the ragtag skeleton crew that work tirelessly to hoist the Valiant flag, I felt like I’d found my next comic book family,” said Dysart. “When I first met Dinesh, the CEO of Valiant, he was carrying a box of comics along with his marketing crew, like he was just another boy in the band. That’s what I like. I like it rugged and I like it scrappy.
“I believe Valiant can change things for the better in superhero comics. I believe small is good. I believe in every single member of this team, from management to marketing. And most of all, I believe in and trust my editor, Warren Simons. These guys took a huge chance on me. They saw ‘Unknown Soldier’ and they said, ‘That dude should write superhero comics.’ They gave me the freedom to create challenging characters and build new worlds.
“So that’s it, I’m in this. This is my next thing. I want to write Harbinger for a long time and I’m super excited to be developing my next big top secret project for the Valiant Universe. So if family, creativity, innovation and loyalty aren’t reasons to commit to a business venture like this, then I don’t know what
is.”
From 2008 to 2010, Dysart authored a two-year run on Vertigo’s Unknown Soldier with artist Alberto Ponticelli, garnering an Eisner Award nomination for Best New Series and widespread critical recognition in the process. Dysart has also contributed to some of the most acclaimed series and projects of the past decade, including B.P.R.D., Swamp Thing and Neil Young’s Greendale.
“Joshua has a singular voice in the world of comics, and he brings an extraordinarily poignant and rarified point of view to the page,” said Valiant Executive Editor Warren Simons. “His phenomenal work on Harbinger over the course of the past year and the tremendous reaction to last week’s release of Harbinger Wars #1 speak for themselves. Everyone at Valiant is look forward to more great stories from Joshua and we couldn’t be more excited about his plans for Harbinger coming out of Harbinger Wars.”
Dysart’s first Valiant work, Harbinger #1, was released in June 2012 as the second title of the Valiant relaunch. His work on the series has drawn near-universal accolades from fans and critics, cementing Harbinger as one of Valiant’s best-selling titles.
Dysart has also played a key creative role in co-architecting the Harbinger Wars crossover event, going so far as to co-create two dozen new super-powered heroes with Harbinger artist Khari Evans. This team of characters, collectively known as Generation Zero, can next be seen in the pages of Harbinger Wars #2 (of 4), in stores May 1st. They also feature prominently in the upcoming Harbinger Wars: Battle for Las Vegas 8-bit mobile game, the first level of which will be released for free on iOS and Android devices on May 2nd.
Dysart joins Eisner Award-winning artist Cary Nord (X-O Manowar, Conan) as the next addition to Valiant’s roster of exclusive talent.