A psychic dictator, an inhuman robot, a mad scientist, a murderous alien, and a super-powered terrorist are about to try and take over the world…and you’re going to be rooting for them every step of the way. 

Valiant is proud to present the first look inside IMPERIUM #1 – the FIRST ISSUE of the all-newVALIANT NEXT ongoing series from New York Times best-selling writer Joshua Dysart (Harbinger,Unknown Soldier) and superstar artist Doug Braithwaite (Armor Hunters, Unity)! The daring new superhero saga of the year starts here on February 4th as Toyo Harada rises from the ashes of the Harbinger Foundation to recruit a more explosive…more cunning…more ruthless army to remake the future of Earth in their own image. This is IMPERIUM!

Toyo Harada is the most dangerous human being on the planet. Imbued with incredible powers of the mind, he has spent his life guiding humanity from the shadows. But today he is a wanted man. His powers are public knowledge, his allies have turned to enemies, and he is hunted by every government on the planet. Instead of surrendering, Harada has one last unthinkable gambit to play: to achieve more, faster, and with less, he will build a coalition of the powerful, the unscrupulous and the insane. No longer content to demand a better future, he will recruit a violent legion from the darkest corners of the Earth to fight for it. The battle for utopia begins now.

“This is a real chance for us to play around with some super-villain tropes the same way we played with super-hero tropes in Harbinger,” said writer Joshua Dysart. “This time the tropes we’re playing with are an ‘evil alien,’ a ‘robot soldier,’ a ‘mad scientist,’ a ‘political extremist’ (the most terrifying of all monsters), and, of course, a ‘global dictator’ bent on taking over the world. So all of that breeds new fun characters to throw into the Valiant Universe.”

Featuring three standard shelf covers introducing the vanguard of IMPERIUM‘s ultra-powered ideologues – commander Toyo Harada, the alien powerhouse Lord Vine-99, and the manipulative artificial intelligence Mech Major – start reading here as the global takeover begins…and IMPERIUMrises. From the writer of Harbinger and the artist of Armor Hunters, VALIANT NEXT continues right here in an essential, new ongoing series on February 4th, only in IMPERIUM #1!

Don’t miss each exciting new release from VALIANT NEXT – an all-new wave of ongoing series and prestige format projects from some of the premier creative talents in comics today. Beginning with THE VALIANT #1 by superstar creators Jeff Lemire, Matt Kindt, and Paolo Rivera in December and continues with five blockbuster new series in 2015:

• IVAR, TIMEWALKER #1 by Fred Van Lente and Clayton Henry in January
• DIVINITY #1 (of 4) by Matt Kindt and Trevor Hairsine in February
• IMPERIUM #1 by Joshua Dysart and Doug Braithwaite in February
• NINJAK #1 by Matt Kindt, Clay Mann, and Butch Guice in March
• BLOODSHOT REBORN #1 by Jeff Lemire and Mico Suayan in April

For more information, visit Valiant online at Facebook.com/ValiantComics, Twitter.com/ValiantComics, and ValiantUniverse.com.

For Valiant merchandise and more, visit ValiantStore.com.

IMPERIUM #1 [VALIANT NEXT]
Written by JOSHUA DYSART
Art by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Cover A (Harada) by RAUL ALLEN (DEC141700)
Cover B (Lord Vine-99) by RAUL ALLEN (DEC141701)
Cover C (Mech Major) by RAUL ALLEN (DEC141702)
Valiant Next Variant by TREVOR HAIRSINE & TOM MULLER (DEC141704)
Character Design Variant by DOUG BRAITHWAITE (DEC141705)
Artist Variant by DOUG BRAITHWAITE (DEC141706)
Blank Cover also available (DEC141703)
$3.99 US | T+ | 32 pgs. | On sale FEBRUARY 4 (FOC – 1/12/15)