Official Press Release

NEW YORK, NY - Comics legend and co-architect of the original Valiant Comics universe, Jim Shooter, has written a new Harbinger story for the upcoming Valiant hardcover collection, HARBINGER: THE BEGINNING. The deluxe hardcover by Valiant Entertainment collects the full Harbinger origin story ( Harbinger #0-7) for the first time ever, and includes an all-new "Origin of Harada" story by Jim Shooter that features the first appearance of a new key Valiant character!

Harbinger #0-7 has been digitally recolored and remastered using state-of-the-art computer techniques, and the all-new "Origin of Harada" story features art by former Valiant creator Bob Hall ( Shadowman ).

Harbinger reinvented the superhero team genre and became one of the most successful comic series of the 1990s, selling over 5 million comic books. The classic story of Sting's band of renegade teenagers with extraordinary powers of the mind and their battle against Japanese tycoon Toyo Harada took the comics industry by storm in 1992. Harbinger 's first issue was named "Collectible of the Decade" by Wizard Magazine, appeared in the #1 position of Wizard Magazine's Top Ten list for a then-record eight consecutive months, and in 2006 was named the 1990s "Comic Book of the Decade" by Sequart. It features Eisner Award-winner David Lapham's ( Stray Bullets ) very first work as a talented teenager and one of Jim Shooter's greatest stories ever .

Creator Jim Shooter has had a long and storied career in the industry. He began his professional writing career at age 13, a world record, crafting some of the seminal Legion of Super Heroes stories for DC Comics. At the age of 28, he became Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics. During his nine-year tenure, he oversaw some of Marvel's most influential creations and storylines, such as Spider-Man's black costume and the creation of Venom, the X-Men's Dark Phoenix Saga, and Frank Miller's run on Wolverine and Daredevil . In 1990, Shooter co-founded Valiant Comics, where he co-wrote and co-created some of the most popular and critically acclaimed characters since Marvel's heyday in the 1960s, including Harbinger, X-O Manowar, Shadowman, and Archer and Armstrong, among others.

Jason Kothari, CEO of Valiant Entertainment said, "We are very excited to be collecting this classic story and giving readers the opportunity to experience it like never before, utilizing all that the latest in digital coloring has to offer and including Jim Shooter's fascinating new story that expands the rich Valiant mythology."

HARBINGER: THE BEGINNING (JUN073932), published by Valiant Entertainment, is solicited in the June Previews (Volume XVII #6) and scheduled to arrive in comic book stores nationwide on August 29 th , 2007.  The book marks the milestone return of comics legend Jim Shooter and is a full-color 192 page hardcover with a suggested retail price of $24.95. 

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