One of the high points of my long career in comics was accepting the trophy for Valiant, in front of a huge crowd of retailers,  for the 1993 G.E.M. Award from Diamond Comic Distributors as 'Publisher of the Year' (over 5% market share).

We were the first Independent company in comics history to beat out the Big Two--Marvel and DC Comics. 

This public acknowledgment of our efforts was the culmination of years of back-breaking work-- accomplishing something that many believed could never be done. 

But thanks to the business acumen and tenacity of my business partners, Jon Hartz and Steve Massarsky, Valiant Comics weathered many a financial and corporate storm to arrive at this fateful day.

This video was filmed in a hotel ballroom in Baltimore, close to where Diamond founded their corporate headquarters.

Very few people have ever seen these clips, since the event itself was not open to the general public.  In attendance were the editorial and marketing hierarchy from most major comic book publishers, hundreds of North American comic shop retailers (whose votes determined the outcome for this honor) and many noted dignitaries from the industry like Carl Barks and Stan Lee.