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Very often, thebest antagonists in superhero fictionare the ones who just might be right.Dr.
Doomprobably would be pretty good at running the world.
As weve all learned in the past weekend, Erik Killmonger makes solid points about racial injustice.
And Valiant Entertainments superpowered mastermind Toyo Harada?
Hes essentially a socialist living at the height of capitalism, says Valiant editor-in-chief Warren Simons.
Hes a socialist with a cause.
Hes going to bring peace to humanity by any means necessary other than war.
The first version of Valiant was founded at the turn of the 1990s by former Marvel EIC Jim Shooter.
The story picks up after the events of the Dysart-pennedHarbingerandImperiumseries, both of which prominently featured Harada.
Hes a near-immortal psiot a human born with monumental abilities who was once a secretive billionaire and philanthropist.
But dont worry too much about all that.
You only need to know two things, says Dysart.
One: There is a ring of alien technology that now orbits the earth in the Valiant Universe.
These are the remnants of an invading alien fleet that was destroyed a few years ago in our continuity.
The subsequent narrative has been heavily influenced by Dysarts travels in crisis zones around the world.
Since writing him, Ive engaged more with the geopolitical landscape, he says.
Spent more time in the Islamic world interviewing people and hearing their stories, places like Algeria and Pakistan.
Hes really turned into a kind of dark fantasy of mine.
CAFUs wonderful, says Simons.
Everything that hits the page is clean and crisp.
Hes great at doing bombastic action as well.
Dysart is similarly praising of CAFU, but highlights the art of the flashbacks, as well.
Neither Simons nor Dysart gets into details.
Either way, Dysart seems energized by the chance to take one last spin with his muse.
I give [Harada] my most radical politics.
Then I take my absolute worst fears, he says.
They are that democracy doesnt actually work, and that there is no progress without violence.
Im not saying I believe in those things, Im saying I fear those things are true.
Then, I make him believe those things fully.
Lastly, I move him to action in a way I could never do myself.
I might believe in something, but Ive never found an idea worth killing for.
Harada doesnt have that problem.
Hes my bleakest angel, my own inner dictator.
Check out some exclusive previews from the first issue below:
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