DMG-Valiant Entertainment Acquisition: Should We Worry?
The recent acquisition of Valiant Entertainment by Investor group DMG Entertainment is either inconsequential to most people (while Valiant is putting out great books and getting a lot of critical acclaim, it’s still fighting for market share) or seen as a big opportunity for the characters to break through into film and TV. It’s easy to see the upside for film adaptation opportunities, and it’s clear that’s DMG’s goal in this deal. They already owned a share of Valiant in 2015, but this big move gives them pretty much full control with what to do with these characters.
[READ: Valiant Entertainment Has Been Sold to Filmmaker Dan Mintz]
It’ll be great for film and TV fans and people who aren’t too familiar with the Valiant Universe. But where does that leave us fans of the current run of things? 5 points to consider.
1. Valiant CEO/CCO Dinesh Shamdasani, Chairman Peter Cuneo, and COO Gavin Cuneo are out.
The line’s top leadership is out, and DMG’s people are coming in. How does that affect the creative direction? Shamdasani’s vision guided the line from its relaunch, and the bold creative directions it’s taken under his watch have turned made the universe a vibrant, exciting one to read. Can we hope for the same kind of passion?
2. Promises of cross-platform focus
Upon acquisition, DMG guy Dan Mintz has been talking about the focus on getting the Valiant characters on film and TV. If everything creators pitch has to be adaptable cross-platform, can we still expect to see epic stories like Divinity and Eternity?
3. What happens to the creative teams?
Valiant comics are coming out on their regular schedules and following storylines as if nothing’s changed. But what happens when DMG starts imposing its cross-platform expectations on the creative teams? Will the current storylines be allowed to finish?
4. Will storytelling quality suffer?
It’s fair to speculate that DMG is looking to turn Valiant into an IP farm. That’s far from good news for Valiant fans who love how the stories they are publishing are wildly innovative and independent. They are doing stuff that is for the comics medium. If you said that they will take what Valiant has and then adapt for film, then that’s one thing. But when the creative mandate will be to tell things that can be adaptable, that will severely limit what creators can do.
5. What does this say about the comics industry as a whole?
Should the dream be to create a comics line that can be sold off to investors so they have IP for film or TV? Or should it be committed to moving in bold new directions where only comics can go? Sure our culture loves comic book adaptations right now, but what signal does this send to creators?
There’s a lot to think about with this acquisition, as there was a lot to think about with the Disney-Fox merger. The first thoughts are usually, cool I’ll get to see these characters in new ways. But as we dig deeper, we can see how these business moves can shape creativity and comics production. Here’s to hoping that DMG does right by Valiant and us fans who’ve believed in the line so far.
