CSBG Archive
Valiant Comic Book Alphabet of Cool – P
Today, we see an attempt to bring a style from another comic book company to Valiant, and while it was not commercially successful, I liked it!
Enjoy!
PunX
PunX was ostensibly about the various superhero denizens of Annihilation, Oregon, who banded together to protect their island city from the invasion of an alien force called the Caul.
What the book REALLY was about was Keith Giffen taking his Ambush Bug approach to a new comic book company, and really giving the “grim and gritty/post-modern” superhero scene a nice mocking.
I thought it was quite good – Giffen’s art was moody and dense, just like his stories. Perhaps the book would have been better if he had someone else script it (okay, who am I kidding, there is a 100% guarantee the book would have been better if he had someone else script it), but it was still a nice little satire, and occasionally an outright hilarious one.
I remembered being shocked that Valiant let him do some of the mocking he did of Valiant. Giffen’s mocking of the recent Birthquake event was brutally on the money.
Anyhow, the book was a commercial flop, and cancelled after three issues, but we did get a Manga special out of it!!
Better than nothing, I guess!!
12 Comments
Roquefort Raider
May 7, 2008 at 5:41 am
I’m afraid I saw more of Punx in this column than anywhere else before; all I knew about the title was what was in the Valiant house ad way back when. At the time I thought “crap, another depressing grim and gritty urban comic”. Maybe the satire angle should have been made more apparent for readers to give the new book a chance.
R
May 7, 2008 at 7:21 am
Best damn book Valiant put out. I was always confused as to why the manga special wasn’t in a manga style, but maybe that was the point.
Jeff Ryan
May 7, 2008 at 7:36 am
This was during Giffin’s Trencher period, where everyone always stood next to huge piles of rotting garbage.
R
May 7, 2008 at 7:40 am
Or other Valiant comics. >rimshot<
Pil
May 7, 2008 at 9:23 am
PunX was hilarious IMO. Too bad they didn’t publish the fourth issue, but at the time things weren’t going too well for comics in general, and Valiant in particular.
A small correction: The city was Acclamation, a small nod (or kick) to the new owners Acclaim.
Birmy
May 7, 2008 at 9:23 am
How exactly did Giffen parody “Birthquake”?
Hondo
May 7, 2008 at 9:45 am
I vaguely remember it and haven’t re-read it in years.
Anyone that knew anything about Giffen knew this was similar to his other works : Ambush Bug, Trencher, The March Hare
Looking forward to digging this back up.
Adam P. Knave
May 7, 2008 at 12:42 pm
PunX was fantastic. “Next issue they use their powers! HONEST!” The Birthquake fake ads, with Rai’s new artist PICASO! are still a fave.
*Sigh* I miss PunX.
Black Rabbit
May 7, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Crazy off-the-wall Giffen-ness, chock-full of Ambush Bug-type humor. Totally worth a quarter-bin hunt.
(Why yes, I do like hyphens!)
John
May 7, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I’m surprised Brian made no mention of the BEST characters who were introduced in PunX: The Beautiful Bad Girls With Butts Just to Die For!
“I saw the Butt Signal.”
foxhugh
May 25, 2008 at 5:19 am
I need help! I working on a giant DC vs. Valiant project on my blog (http://foxhugh.wordpress.com/category/dc-vs-valiant/) and I am pretty familiar with all the Valiant characters except PunX. Based on my research so far they seem pretty cool. Who were the team members exactly, especially the core members or does the question even apply. Any and all info is appreciated.
foxhugh
May 25, 2008 at 5:22 am
If the thread address is to complicated try
http://foxhugh.wordpress.com/