The Object In Hand...A Small Victory                 By Joe Petrilak 6/7/97

So here it is. On my desk. Finally.

The Original Valiant Universe in my eyes is defined by many small steps/accomplishments/memories: many things that when I think of Valiant, they all come rushing to me at once and I am filled with a sense of awe. The same awe I get from when I read about how Kirby came out with FF #1 way back when and hundreds of thousands of copies went unnoticed, the same awe I get when I realize that if it were not for the small steps taken by the very first comic book collectors way back then, that many many key books would be lost forever to us all. Moments in time.

Eternal Warrior #37 was one moment in time for me. One Valiant moment. I still remember when it came out: I already knew of Yvel Guichet's art from Eternal Warrior #4,15,16 and other random books and knew he had what it took to be a good artist today. Then this book.

In fact, Yvel had nothing to do with the book. When Eternal #37 was released, Yvel was long since released from Valiant, to pursue his career with other companies. But before they released him, they commissioned him to pencil some covers based on his style, and what would be Eternal #37 was one of them. Someone at Valiant had to see the same thing I saw when I saw the cover for the first time.

When I saw the cover for the first time, I immediately knew it was Yvel's work. I almost immediately grabbed extra copies just for that reason.

The VH-1 world can be broken up into 200 memorable moments in time, and the cover to Eternal #37 is certainly one of them.

The cover itself.

It is a truly classic cover in and of itself. Pencilled in overly dramatic style with overly simplified lines with stylized hidden accentuations, it spoke of a more simplified cause: survival. The cover shows Gilad Addi Padda circa 3000 bc dressed in appropriate attire.

As we all know, the cover accounts for 75% of why we buy a comic book. And this particular book had my money all the way. At this point in time with Valiant, the memorable moments wer slowly becoming less and less frequent, this cover when I first saw it took me back to why I collect Valiant in the first place. "No way" I thought. "No way I'll ever hope to see the original, no less own it. It's legend.". Yet here it is.

Every time I meet another Valiant artists, I immediately go in for the kill. With Yvel, I jumped right into Eternal #4. But when I saw this simple cover thrown on the table, I knew I had just found plutonium...by accident.

The cover shows Gilad in prehistorian attire. He is apparently in a defensive mode, protecting his very life and risking it to protect his domain. He is aggressively showing his best weapon of the time, and baring his teeth to back it up. Now look at him- he is wearing various leathers, most notably the lion on his head, obviously his most prized kill. He is ready to defend that which is his.

Strategically, right behind his left leg is his woman. Right behind that is his cave. That is the prehistoric Gilad: a man fighting for what is his. And that is it: in these early times that is all there is to life, the strongest survive and Gilad will make damn sure he does down with a fight.

The cover is simply awesome. It's not Gilad flying through the air or him attacking 15 people at once, it's the most rudimentary of principles: him defending what is his. It is what Gilad is and defines why we all buy the books. It is the essence of The Eternal Warrior on one page. And it's mine.

The gift has been bestowed upon me. I alone am now the keeper of this prize. Now there are 199 other moments to track down...