UNITY #1 Discussion

[JonesyAZ]

2) not this issue per se, but looking at the preview art for X-O 18. What the hell is up with that art?! Horrible! Cary Nord has done so much better. Is this a new inker and/or colorist? Wow. Especially being something so dramatically different from the art in Unity 1. and they are supposed to closely tie in.

Careful! You and I seem to be the only ones who feel this way!

me three...

While I am of the camp that is looking forward to Nord's fully rendered artwork in the next issue of X-O, I love it when people speak their minds and opinions even if they differ from my own. It makes online discussion worth it How much fun would it be if we all agreed on the same things?

For example...I'd love to see a "Psi-Lords" book from VEI. Is it likely? HECK NO! But i'm still proud to be one of two people that dig "Psi-Lords" (the other being Chiclo...LOL )

[Phoenix8008]

2) not this issue per se, but looking at the preview art for X-O 18. What the hell is up with that art?! Horrible! Cary Nord has done so much better. Is this a new inker and/or colorist? Wow. Especially being something so dramatically different from the art in Unity 1. and they are supposed to closely tie in.

Careful! You and I seem to be the only ones who feel this way!

me three...

If we're talking about the Cary Nord water color art in X-O, count me in for not being a fan either.

[bobby97801]

I loved it.... it's the first issue I read on the same day it came out, in months
Can't wait for issue 2

[Elveen]

The best part for me was the Livewire build up.
You know it must be bad for Toyo if he has to go and get Livewire. I'm glad she was not in the book.

I hope the OTV commentary on Unity #1 comes out quick It was real fun to record.

[JonesyAZ]

I hope the OTV commentary on Unity #1 comes out quick It was real fun to record.

I second that It was a blast indeed But folks will have to wait as our eager fanbase has gotten two new episodes this week!!!

[Dr. Solar]

The OTV commentary track for this issue will be out this Sunday.

...though I'm sure that smart hackers could figure out how to access it as early as Friday morning.

The more I think about this issue, the more I like it.

Last of all, you all are cray cray for not loving that fully rendered Cary Nord art. That stuff is off the hizzy of the hizzy. that's right, off the hizzy squared.

[BugsySig]

Also...EW fought with the Russians in WWII...Myself and others have proposed Gilad may still have fought, just not for the Earth, during his retirement and this may prove it, but it would be nice to get some clarification on the continuity.

[blujay]

Last of all, you all are cray cray for not loving that fully rendered Cary Nord art. That stuff is off the hizzy of the hizzy. that's right, off the hizzy squared.

Couldn't have phrased it better if I tried, however I would've added a "fo-shizzy" in there at some point just for good measure

Also this issue was freaking awesome. Kindt takes 32 pages and masterfully crafts unique and fitting dialogue for each character, something Brian Michael Bendis couldn't do in the length of an entire career (yeah I went there).

That's what good writing is.

[jmatt]

I saw the splash page where they introduced Team Unity and had a Secret Weapons flashback. I immediately thought "Dear God, please kill all of these characters on the next page... they can't possibly have done this to us...".

I hope they're not planning on using Unity as a group name. I like it as a title and as a book concept... but as a name for the group? Feh.

My gut reaction is that I liked it. I'll have to go back and get a better feel with a second read. Ninjak was the highlight, although the little editorial explanations for his technologies took me out of the moment.

[kjjohanson]

It's a gorgeous approach…

Don't you mean apporach?

[kjjohanson]

She did look like Erica Pierce

[jmatt]

The Unity team death was telegraphed from the moment we first met them. I blame the cheesy moustache of "The Captain".

It gave me shivers.

I'm with Tchalla8, this was something cooked up to surprise new readers.

And oh yeah. Rai!

[Bl00dsh0t]

This was a good start to Unity. I wonder how EW and Harada got together though - was anthing mentioned in XO #17 & #18 (I missed those issues)?

Hoping the XO tie-in adds some more value than recreating the events through a different perspective. Judging by the XO #19 preview with Ninjak it seems to be the case (though I guess we wont know for sure until Unity #2 (to see if the fate of Ninjak is fleshed out ala XO #19)).

The Captain and co were great imho and gave some solid grounding for the formation of the current 'Unity' team. I do wonder if we'll ever read these characters again. I'm not too fussed either way.

Looking forward to seeing Livewire in Unity #2. I liked the way the core characters are forming as a team. Much better than just a random assortment of heroes.

Rai - exciting, interestingly enough, I just recieved the Rai trade with the Rai companion from ebay so the timing for that announcement really hits the spot for me

[BugsySig]

This was a good start to Unity. I wonder how EW and Harada got together though - was anthing mentioned in XO #17 & #18 (I missed those issues)?

Hoping the XO tie-in adds some more value than recreating the events through a different perspective. Judging by the XO #19 preview with Ninjak it seems to be the case (though I guess we wont know for sure until Unity #2 (to see if the fate of Ninjak is fleshed out ala XO #19)).

The Captain and co were great imho and gave some solid grounding for the formation of the current 'Unity' team. I do wonder if we'll ever read these characters again. I'm not too fussed either way.

Looking forward to seeing Livewire in Unity #2. I liked the way the core characters are forming as a team. Much better than just a random assortment of heroes.

Rai - exciting, interestingly enough, I just recieved the Rai trade with the Rai companion from ebay so the timing for that announcement really hits the spot for me

It hasn't been specifically mentioned, so I guess we will get an explanation at some point, but I am sure the two have crossed paths before. There may also be a link through that government agency.

[jmatt]

I also wanted to mention that we got a little bit of an Astro City approach in the book, with some narrative by a regular person witnessing superheroic events. She even mentions something about starting a Man-o-War blog, if I recall correctly. As a big fan of AC, I kinda liked that.

I don't think we've seen that before in a VEI title, have we?

[chriskay99]

I also wanted to mention that we got a little bit of an Astro City approach in the book, with some narrative by a regular person witnessing superheroic events. She even mentions something about starting a Man-o-War blog, if I recall correctly. As a big fan of AC, I kinda liked that.

I don't think we've seen that before in a VEI title, have we?

This. This is what I enjoyed most about Unity #1 - that we're getting an outsider's viewpoint of events. Not just viewpoint, actually, but thoughts and reactions. I don't think we've seen it in a VEI title either and I really enjoyed this take on it.

[Bl00dsh0t]

I remember seeing a preview image for Unity where Harada was looking at some Valiant characters in floating cubes - Shadowman, Bloodshot, and Bleeding Monk were pictured if memory serves me right - having read Unity #1 I gather this image will appear in later Unity books??? Any one else notice this?

[Bl00dsh0t]

Also..are XO #17 & #18 'must reads' to add context to Unity? I wasn't planning on picking up XO pre-unity arc (except where EW featured) nor the tie-in's but can't help think I'm missing out...thoughts?

[BugsySig]

Also..are XO #17 & #18 'must reads' to add context to Unity? I wasn't planning on picking up XO pre-unity arc (except where EW featured) nor the tie-in's but can't help think I'm missing out...thoughts?

I don't think they are must reads to enjoy Unity, but it does add a little something to the mix.

[Carson]

I also wanted to mention that we got a little bit of an Astro City approach in the book, with some narrative by a regular person witnessing superheroic events. She even mentions something about starting a Man-o-War blog, if I recall correctly. As a big fan of AC, I kinda liked that.

I don't think we've seen that before in a VEI title, have we?

This. This is what I enjoyed most about Unity #1 - that we're getting an outsider's viewpoint of events. Not just viewpoint, actually, but thoughts and reactions. I don't think we've seen it in a VEI title either and I really enjoyed this take on it.

Love this storytelling device! It takes me way back to the painted Alex Ross Marvels story.

I am so happy with Unity. There are 68,500 copies of this out there, so I'm glad the story is high energy and packs some surprises. I think first time readers will be entertained and hopefully attracted to buy more valiant.

There were two surprises for me: first that Unity was not the well known characters on all of the covers, but Harada's A-Team

Second, I was not perceptive enough to know ahead of time that the Unity team members were all going to die, and quick. There was just enough set up and explanation of each of them that I thought they were going to be around for at least a little while. I was relieved when they bought the farm.

To surprise me twice in a single book is no small feat.

Can't wait to see what they pull in the next one!

[Bl00dsh0t]

Also..are XO #17 & #18 'must reads' to add context to Unity? I wasn't planning on picking up XO pre-unity arc (except where EW featured) nor the tie-in's but can't help think I'm missing out...thoughts?

I don't think they are must reads to enjoy Unity, but it does add a little something to the mix.

Thanks Bugsy

[Reber]

I remember seeing a preview image for Unity where Harada was looking at some Valiant characters in floating cubes - Shadowman, Bloodshot, and Bleeding Monk were pictured if memory serves me right - having read Unity #1 I gather this image will appear in later Unity books??? Any one else notice this?

Those were just "proof of concept" pages really. We did them up for a preview but went in a different direction in the end.

[lorddunlow]

She did look like Erica Pierce

Hey! That's my line.

I really enjoyed this book, and it felt like a meaty read - it took longer than 5 minutes to read!

When I got to the splash page of "We are Unity!" I thought, "well, VEI just jumped the shark," but they proved me wrong by having Aric slaughter them in wonderfully grotesque brutality. Seriously Mortal Kombat fatality level stuff. So awesome.

Can't wait to see how this progresses.

[dornwolf]

I'm feeling that the first "Unity" might've been a veiled shot at the Secret Weapons, the one that the title had morphed into anyway.

Also someone mentioned Gilad fighting for the Russians and not Earth as it's fist and steel it's possible that Gilad while not the fist might've chosen to fight in the war to do something and fight back against what he saw as wrong I'm using Gilads attitude towards the slaughter of the Native tribe back in Eternal Warrior.

[Ras the future fan]

I also wanted to mention that we got a little bit of an Astro City approach in the book, with some narrative by a regular person witnessing superheroic events. She even mentions something about starting a Man-o-War blog, if I recall correctly. As a big fan of AC, I kinda liked that.

I don't think we've seen that before in a VEI title, have we?

This. This is what I enjoyed most about Unity #1 - that we're getting an outsider's viewpoint of events. Not just viewpoint, actually, but thoughts and reactions. I don't think we've seen it in a VEI title either and I really enjoyed this take on it.

In HW we did had something similar, when Mr. Kozol and the government security people, were rehashing events.