At last, the force behind BOOK OF DEATH can be revealed…

Today at io9, Valiant announced a major revelation at the heart of the upcoming BOOK OF DEATH event – coming this summer from New York Times best-selling writer Robert Venditti with art by Robert Gill and Doug Braithwaite – and revealed the return of one of Valiant’s most iconic villains, Master Darque, in the pages of September’s BOOK OF DEATH #3 (of 4)!

Beginning in BOOK OF DEATH #1 (of 4) on July 15th, Valiant’s cataclysmic, four-issue event collides the next thousand years of history with the most powerful heroes of today! X-O Manowar. Bloodshot. Ninjak. The Harbinger Renegades. Unity. This is how they lived. This is how they died. Now we know. The Book of the Geomancer has recorded it all. But only a young girl – the last in a line of the enigmatic mystics who protect the Earth known as Geomancers – has seen this future come to pass, from the coming cataclysm to the dawn of the 41st century. Alone with her sworn protector, the Eternal Warrior – a soldier battle-forged across five thousand years of combat – the duo must defy their allies to stop the Dark Age that now threatens to eclipse our world.

Now, for the very first time, the force behind the terrible future chronicled in the Book of the Geomancer will reveal itself as an unexpected and untold player…Master Darque…emerges to make his bid for control of the Earth’s newest Geomancer! But does the reappearance of history’s most powerful necromancer mean an apocalyptic future has been avoided…or guaranteed? As the heroes of the Valiant Universe fall and nature itself turns on humanity, all that stands between the devastated planet and ultimate evil is the Earth’s Fist and Steel himself…Gilad Anni-Padda, the Eternal Warrior!

“I can tell you that Darque has been waiting a very long time for this opportunity,” writer Robert Venditti told io9. “He has found a way to access the power of the Geomancer, though only in a limited way, which is absolutely something that he’d like to change. Enter the Eternal Warrior and the new Geomancer, Tama – both of whom have committed themselves to the fight, even if they don’t quite know who exactly they’re fighting against.”

Master Darque is the Valiant Universe’s most powerful necromancer – a sorcerer with an absolute and bitterly destructive agenda against life itself. Born Nicodemo Darque on a Louisana plantation in 1812 alongside his twin sister Sandria, Darque spent the subsequent decades seeking magical knowledge in realms beyond our own in a perverse attempt to both indefinitely extend his own life and master the dark arts. Frequently opposed by the hero known as Shadowman throughout the ages, Darque was last seen trapped in the spirit realm known as Deadside…but will return to the world of mortal men on July 15th in BOOK OF DEATH #1 (of 4) as he turns nature against humanity and challenges the Eternal Warrior for control of the Geomancer!

“Master Darque is one of Valiant’s most iconic characters, let alone villains, and this is the first time that we will see him unleashed in full on the heroes of the Valiant Universe,” said Valiant CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani. “Tama comes from a future where Darque has already succeeded and she knows the darkness that awaits humanity firsthand. But the revelation of Darque as the inciting force behind BOOK OF DEATH is only the first of many secrets that have yet to be revealed in this series… The first appearances of major new characters, defining moments for some of our most prominent heroes, and glimpses of the future that’s coming… This is a series that readers will be returning to for years to come.”

This September, the fall of the Valiant Universe continues…and Master Darque makes his bid for victory, only in BOOK OF DEATH #3 (of 4) – featuring covers by Cary Nord (X-O MANOWAR), Clayton Crain (RAI), Stephen Segovia (Convergence), Pere Perez (ARCHER & ARMSTRONG), and Paolo Rivera (THE VALIANT)!

Don’t miss a moment of the summer’s can’t-miss event as all-star creators Robert Venditti, Robert Gill and Doug Braithwaite forge the next thousand years of the Valiant Universe…and rain fire, blood, and war on the heroes of today, beginning on July 15th in BOOK OF DEATH #1 (of 4)!

For more information, visit Valiant on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and at ValiantUniverse.com.

For Valiant merchandise and more, visit ValiantStore.com.

BOOK OF DEATH #1 (of 4)
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI
Art by ROBERT GILL and DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Cover A by ROBERT GILL (MAY151586)
Cover B by CARY NORD (MAY151587)
Cover C by CLAYTON CRAIN (MAY151588)
Cover D by JELENA KEVIC-DJURDJEVIC (MAY151589)
Character Design Variant by PAOLO RIVERA (MAY151591)
Valiant Icons Variant by PERE PEREZ (MAY151592)
Artist Variant by PAOLO RIVERA (MAY151593)
Blank Cover also available (MAY151590)
$3.99 | 40 pgs. | T+ | On Sale JULY 15 (FOC – 6/22/15)

BOOK OF DEATH: THE FALL OF BLOODSHOT #1 (ONE-SHOT)
Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Art by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Cover A by RAFA SANDOVAL (MAY151595)
Cover B by JEFTE PALO (MAY151596)
Variant Cover by DAVID YARDIN (MAY151597)
Variant Cover by TOM FOWLER (MAY151598)
$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+ | On Sale JULY 22 (FOC – 6/29/15)

BOOK OF DEATH #2 (of 4)
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI
Art by ROBERT GILL and DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Cover A by CARY NORD (JUN151591)
Cover B by CLAYTON CRAIN (JUN151592)
Cover C by KANO (JUN151593)
Valiant Icons Variant by PERE PEREZ (JUN151594)
Artist Variant by PAOLO RIVERA (JUN151595)
$3.99 | 40 pgs. | T+ | On sale AUGUST 19 (FOC – 7/27/15)

BOOK OF DEATH: THE FALL OF NINJAK #1 (ONE-SHOT)
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by TREVOR HAIRSINE
Cover A by KANO (JUN151597)
Cover B by CLAY MANN (JUN151598)
Variant Cover by ROBERT GILL (JUN151599)
Variant Cover by DAS PASTORAS (JUN151600)
$3.99 US | 32 pages | T+ | On Sale AUGUST 26 (FOC – 8/3/15)

BOOK OF DEATH #3 (of 4)
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI
Art by ROBERT GILL and DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Cover A by CARY NORD
Cover B by CLAYTON CRAIN
Cover C by STEPHEN SEGOVIA
Valiant Icons Variant by PERE PEREZ
Artist Variant by PAOLO RIVERA
$3.99 | 40 pgs. | T+ | ON SALE IN SEPTEMBER!