Unity #3 Discussion

[Captain Craig]

Somehow, someway Aric is going to get the armor back. That shouldn't be a surprise of course.

[Shadowman99]

Somehow, someway Aric is going to get the armor back. That shouldn't be a surprise of course.

No Way!

[Dallow Spicer1]

Excellent issue, great pacing with action plus nice detail from Livewire's perspective. Interesting twist that the team are now against Harada. Enjoyed the art too, some great panel layouts from Braithwaite.

It's a shame that the continuity between Unity and Harbinger is out of sync as the cover to Unity 4 shows Ninjak on the verge of killing Harada yet we know from Harbinger 20 that he's fine,

Very enjoyable 4/5

[vaevictis]

I don't mind so much that the books aren't occurring at the exact same time. My concern comes in when one title negates or contradicts something that was established in another one. So far so go.

[SJS4]

I don't mind so much that the books aren't occurring at the exact same time. My concern comes in when one title negates or contradicts something that was established in another one. So far so go.

Agree with this. Trying to keep all books on the same in story time schedule is difficult even with just a few books, and would be nearly impossible with a couple dozen.


Anyway, i can't imagine anyone really thinks Harada is gonna be killed even if they haven't read Harbinger.

[Shadowman99]

It's a shame that the continuity between Unity and Harbinger is out of sync as the cover to Unity 4 shows Ninjak on the verge of killing Harada yet we know from Harbinger 20 that he's fine.

I don't think covers are worth paying too much attention to when it comes to forming expectations regarding a comic's contents. I know it's been said before, but recall those X-O covers where the sword was through Aric's Helmet, covered in blood with Aric's prone armour-covered hand coming into the frame. Strongly hinted at Ninjak killing Aric, yet nothing of the sort happened in the comic

I doubt Crain's cover for next month really holds any more water than the aforementioned one.

[Dallow Spicer1]

It's a shame that the continuity between Unity and Harbinger is out of sync as the cover to Unity 4 shows Ninjak on the verge of killing Harada yet we know from Harbinger 20 that he's fine.

I don't think covers are worth paying too much attention to when it comes to forming expectations regarding a comic's contents. I know it's been said before, but recall those X-O covers where the sword was through Aric's Helmet, covered in blood with Aric's prone armour-covered hand coming into the frame. Strongly hinted at Ninjak killing Aric, yet nothing of the sort happened in the comic

I doubt Crain's cover for next month really holds any more water than the aforementioned one.

Very true! That is probably something I'd like VEI to change about their covers, they SHOULD be representative of what happens in the story or at the least not mis-leading.

It's not a major problem for me though, just a minor observation.

[erwinrafael]

It's a shame that the continuity between Unity and Harbinger is out of sync as the cover to Unity 4 shows Ninjak on the verge of killing Harada yet we know from Harbinger 20 that he's fine.

I don't think covers are worth paying too much attention to when it comes to forming expectations regarding a comic's contents. I know it's been said before, but recall those X-O covers where the sword was through Aric's Helmet, covered in blood with Aric's prone armour-covered hand coming into the frame. Strongly hinted at Ninjak killing Aric, yet nothing of the sort happened in the comic

I doubt Crain's cover for next month really holds any more water than the aforementioned one.

I do not know why people would expect covers to be literal about what happens in the content pages. It's art, not front page news.

[Scarlet-Batman]

This was a really great issue. I'm loving the fact that Livewire is back and has now been super charged! She was patently underused for a very long time. I love the way the rest of the team basically went, "Sure Harada, you keep the armor. You are the boss after all. We are all just one happy team." Then, literally, on the next page we see everyone enacting a complex plan to topple the King!

I'm really curious to see how Aric gets his armor back. Will Livewire just return it or will the armor simply choose to return to Aric. Or maybe Harada is forced to give it back for some complex reason? So many possibilities!

It's a shame that the continuity between Unity and Harbinger is out of sync as the cover to Unity 4 shows Ninjak on the verge of killing Harada yet we know from Harbinger 20 that he's fine.

I don't think covers are worth paying too much attention to when it comes to forming expectations regarding a comic's contents. I know it's been said before, but recall those X-O covers where the sword was through Aric's Helmet, covered in blood with Aric's prone armour-covered hand coming into the frame. Strongly hinted at Ninjak killing Aric, yet nothing of the sort happened in the comic

I doubt Crain's cover for next month really holds any more water than the aforementioned one.

Very true! That is probably something I'd like VEI to change about their covers, they SHOULD be representative of what happens in the story or at the least not mis-leading.

It's not a major problem for me though, just a minor observation.

Spectacular cover art showcasing things that are too crazy to actually happen sells really well, unfortunately.

It's a shame that the continuity between Unity and Harbinger is out of sync as the cover to Unity 4 shows Ninjak on the verge of killing Harada yet we know from Harbinger 20 that he's fine.

I don't think covers are worth paying too much attention to when it comes to forming expectations regarding a comic's contents. I know it's been said before, but recall those X-O covers where the sword was through Aric's Helmet, covered in blood with Aric's prone armour-covered hand coming into the frame. Strongly hinted at Ninjak killing Aric, yet nothing of the sort happened in the comic

I doubt Crain's cover for next month really holds any more water than the aforementioned one.

I do not know why people would expect covers to be literal about what happens in the content pages. It's art, not front page news.

I think it is a hold over from book and magazine covers that actually try and give the viewer an idea of what goes on within its pages. Comics have just developed an entirely different M.O. where covers are designed to shock, awe and titillate the viewer. Most of the time, that means the covers lie to the viewer, sadly.

Like All-new X-Men had a cover where Scott Summers and X-23 were making out. That didn't happen in the comic at all! Regardless, it still generated a lot of buzz for the issue, which is the point I suppose.

[swtor1091]

Love the comic don't get me wrong but am I only one one who wants to hear the armor talk?

[lorddunlow]

Love the comic don't get me wrong but am I only one one who wants to hear the armor talk?

I would love to have some communication from the armor.

[Tannerman]

Love the comic don't get me wrong but am I only one one who wants to hear the armor talk?

Too bad it probably sounds like the adults from Peanuts. "Waa-waa, waa-waa"

[Captain Craig]

Love the comic don't get me wrong but am I only one one who wants to hear the armor talk?

Too bad it probably sounds like the adults from Peanuts. "Waa-waa, waa-waa"

The kids always understood those waa-waa adults.

Time to enter a kiddie sidekick into XO's world.
Bring in one of the psiot kids from PRS!!

[vaevictis]

I'm kinda hoping that Orb Industries develops to become a global powerhouse after HGC is exposed. Then they could mix it up with PRS and HGC.

[grendeljd]

Wow. I've read through 4 of the 6 Valiant January issues released to date (just bought them all today), & this issue is shaping up to be my top fav of the month.

Stellar stuff - really engaging character development & a clever, intelligent power set expansion for Livewire. In fact I'll go one further & say the whole plot was clever & intelligent - I love that we got so much motivation for her actions, for her to resolve her personal conflict & make the decision to finally go against Harada after Shanhara gave her the means to discover the truth about him.

I think it was the smartest thing she could have possibly done, to 'let the sleeping dog lie' so to speak. Let Harada think he is in control of the situation & the armour, his arrogance will only blind him to a future betrayal & properly prepared attack. I suspect it will be easy to get the armour back in Aric's hands, and I'm sure that after all she learned about him, Livewire intends to see that happen.

And speaking of that - this issue may have seen some of the best characterization of Shanhara, IMO - and all without hearing its voice, just Livewire describing how she interacts wit it. Brilliant. The way it guided her to see what it felt to be the right course of action by revealing Aric's true character. How it 'evolved' her psiot abilities, enabling her to learn the truth about Harada, knowing she herself had the kind of character virtues it apparently seeks out... Gah! So good!

And the art was great too!

[Shadowman99]

Wow. I've read through 4 of the 6 Valiant January issues released to date (just bought them all today), & this issue is shaping up to be my top fav of the month.

Stellar stuff - really engaging character development & a clever, intelligent power set expansion for Livewire. In fact I'll go one further & say the whole plot was clever & intelligent - I love that we got so much motivation for her actions, for her to resolve her personal conflict & make the decision to finally go against Harada after Shanhara gave her the means to discover the truth about him.

I think it was the smartest thing she could have possibly done, to 'let the sleeping dog lie' so to speak. Let Harada think he is in control of the situation & the armour, his arrogance will only blind him to a future betrayal & properly prepared attack. I suspect it will be easy to get the armour back in Aric's hands, and I'm sure that after all she learned about him, Livewire intends to see that happen.

And speaking of that - this issue may have seen some of the best characterization of Shanhara, IMO - and all without hearing its voice, just Livewire describing how she interacts wit it. Brilliant. The way it guided her to see what it felt to be the right course of action by revealing Aric's true character. How it 'evolved' her psiot abilities, enabling her to learn the truth about Harada, knowing she herself had the kind of character virtues it apparently seeks out... Gah! So good!

And the art was great too!

I think that Livewire's regular powers, having been boosted by the suit, means that she probably has no real further use for the armour, as she's now able to do everything she could with the armour on, without actually having to wear it. On the other hand, seeing as Aric is basically totally reliant on the armour, I think it's likely that he'll either summon the armour himself at the opportune moment, or Livewire will do the same and give it back to him.

But on the note of hearing the armour 'speak', I really hope it doesn't. For one, I think it'd just be corny, and secondly I like the way it comes across currently. The sentient object has a lot of mystery at the moment. Probably rather more than it deciding to one day hold a press conference and announce into a row of microphones on international TV "Hi everyone, I'm a sentient suit of armour and I come from a planet in a far away galaxy, etc etc..." The mystery is what makes the suit interesting at the moment. I can only imagine the suit 'speaking' resulting in some sort of lame-*SQUEE* Knight Rider kind of crap

I like that the playing field is getting more level now. Harada is clearly powerful, yet there are increasing numbers of characters that can stand toe to toe with him. Bloodshot, Aric, Stanchek are all clearly able to oppose him. Under certain circumstances it's also possible that the HARD Corps and the Renegades can stand against him, and debatably, even characters like Livewire, Bleeding Monk, Quantum and Woody (and Goat!), and most likely others can threaten him too. I know that I'm starting to get into the typical 'fantasy battle' scenario here that never truly produces an answer, but the point I'm getting at is that it's interesting that Harada actually isn't as safe and apparently omnipotent as he was a year ago in the comics.

[FormerReader]

Love this title. That is all.

[MoonChild]

So no eric pierce? Havent read unity yet

[Shadowman99]

So no eric pierce? Havent read unity yet

Nope, no 'Eric' Pierce yet. This modern Unity isn't even close to replicating the original.

[MoonChild]

My phone replies are the best lol. Wow I was sure that was her in the preview..bummer..

[lorddunlow]

My phone replies are the best lol. Wow I was sure that was her in the preview..bummer..

It did look like Erica Pierce.

[leonmallett]

I really enjoyed the issue, and the plot moved in ways that genuinely surprised me - a goo thing.

Love Braithwaite's art as ever. I reined in my expectations for this, and on balance I think this makes my current VEI top 3. Of 8 books, that may not seem a big deal, but a couple of books have really picked up for me lately (Harbinger for example), so it means I think Unity is strong. as a book.

On Livewire's enhanced power set; it may be a stretch, but was the boost due to her power-set simply syncing with the armour, or could the armour have as yet unseen ties to the how and why of psiots?

[grendeljd]

I really enjoyed the issue, and the plot moved in ways that genuinely surprised me - a goo thing.

Love Braithwaite's art as ever. I reined in my expectations for this, and on balance I think this makes my current VEI top 3. Of 8 books, that may not seem a big deal, but a couple of books have really picked up for me lately (Harbinger for example), so it means I think Unity is strong. as a book.

On Livewire's enhanced power set; it may be a stretch, but was the boost due to her power-set simply syncing with the armour, or could the armour have as yet unseen ties to the how and why of psiots?

After seeing how extensive Aric's implanted left hand has become in XO #21, and also speculating on events in the preview of XO #23, a theory has been put forward by Greg & I that perhaps Livewire still has a small piece of Shanhara implanted in her after bonding with it. We're suspecting that this is what Shanhara deliberately does to allow a 'host' to interact with her in place of the classic control ring. In Livewires case, it may be this that is actually allowing her to retain her advanced psiot abilities.

[Sir Sandrick]

This was one of my favorite issues so far. Absolutely loved it. I still maintain that Shanhara is my fav character and I loved seeing the armor treated more as an entity rather than a plot device. I thought it was outstanding how Livewire described trying to connect with it. I almost enjoy her having control of it more than I do Eric because she respects it, whereas he just expects it to do his bidding and seems to take it for granted.

I hope that Unity can keep this level of quality up because reading this was a hell of a lot of fun.

[lorddunlow]

I think Livewire is quite possibly the most "real" character in VEI - if that means anything to anybody. To clarify, I feel like I could meet this person on the street, have a conversation with her, and think "that seems like someone I'd like to be friends with".

Everyone else in VEI seems contrived (not poorly written, mind you - they just seem like characters created to tell whatever story they are in). Kay was pretty much the only other character that fits that description, but even she was a little stereotypical as a character.