Unity will be written by Matt Kindt!! Art by Braithwaite!

[Elveen]

I'm hoping this title surprises me

You are not surprised that the people on the cover are working together?

[lorddunlow]

I'm just really afraid it's going to feel forced. Especially after a few issues.

[Elveen]

I'm just really afraid it's going to feel forced. Especially after a few issues.

Here is the way I see it....

First, it makes sense to have an Avengers / Justice League book in the valiant universe. If there were for realzies super-dudes, they would interact.

Also, if some super powered dude all of a sudden showed up and started ruffling feathers (like maybe what Aric will be / is doing), then the other power players would get involved.

As for what is going to happen a few issues in, I go back to a point I made.... VEI has earned my trust.
I can see another issue raising up a few books in. I'm excited to see these characters interact in a real way and not in a book guest staring someone to fight the bad guy of the month.

I can say, from what I've seen and what we have been told, this first arc is going to be great

[lorddunlow]

I'm just really afraid it's going to feel forced. Especially after a few issues.

Here is the way I see it....

First, it makes sense to have an Avengers / Justice League book in the valiant universe. If there were for realzies super-dudes, they would interact.

Also, if some super powered dude all of a sudden showed up and started ruffling feathers (like maybe what Aric will be / is doing), then the other power players would get involved.

As for what is going to happen a few issues in, I go back to a point I made.... VEI has earned my trust.
I can see another issue raising up a few books in. I'm excited to see these characters interact in a real way and not in a book guest staring someone to fight the bad guy of the month.

I can say, from what I've seen and what we have been told, this first arc is going to be great

They have definitely earned my trust, but if your most trusted friend asked you to place an apple on your head while they tried to shoot it with an arrow, I'd be a little worried. I'm a little worried for the first time since the launch. I'm cautiously optimistic.

[bygranddesign]

My issue is by putting important characters in multiple books are you now diluting them into some shallow archetype?

Does Joshua Dysart who has brilliantly reimagined Harada have to compromise his vision of where this character is going because he now has to confer with another writer because now Harada is a main character in another book?

It's like too many cooks might spoil the broth

That's part of my concern .... But just because I have that concern doesn't mean it's not possible to pull off something brilliant and exciting with the unity book especially since I respect the work of Kindt.

[krylox]

I'm just really afraid it's going to feel forced. Especially after a few issues.

exactly how i feel about it. seems like something the big two would be doing: adding hot properties into one book. because there has to be a big guns book.
there was a reason valiant never did it before (never read secret weapons, though), cause it's just not what those characters would do.
the x-o vs the harada group could have been a mini-series or even a part of the regular x-o book.

[hunter_peterson]

Other than the involvement of Harada, this is pretty much what I figured Unity would launch as after they leaked it was a team book. Which is great, I think. Despite what other posters have said, this isn't like what Secret Weapons was. Secret Weapons was basically Valiant Team-Up starring Livewire and Stronghold plus everyone.

This is an Avengers-style team in which they are internally at odds, yet operating towards a morally ambiguous goal, with the company's flagship character as the villain. That is CRAZY, right there! I mean, even with Aric acting as he is, why the hell are these people working together? It's sort of the classic Avengers hook, but way more morally grey. I mean, Harada is showing a heroic aspect here and XO is showing a villainous aspect, the opposite of their other appearances. That's exciting! It means these characters aren't pigeon-holed into "good" or "bad" and can move in any direction at any time!

Also, the structure of the team SCREAMS original Avengers.

XO is the hyper-powerful threat that brings them together like the Hulk.
Ninjak is the playboy gadgeteer and smartest guy in the room like Iron Man.
Eternal Warrior is the immortal with thousands of years of badassery under his belt like Thor.
Livewire is kind of both Ant-Man and the Wasp in that her power is communicative and she otherwise seems less dangerous, but likely is far more so than she appears. With Harada we also have two characters whose power comes from the same source, so that also tracks onto Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Harada himself is most like Loki, the godlike manipulator who brought them together against a more obvious threat.

But the morality motivating these characters, their interrelations and their MOs are VASTLY different! Harada basically raped Livewire's mind for betraying his trust. Ninjak, XO and EW all have complex relationships, likely also as competitors in their business. And this is just the first roster! Imagine if they bring in Geomancer, Mary-Maria, Shadowman, Doctor Mirage, Hive and who knows who else! IT COULD BE EPIC!

So... I am excite.

[BugsySig]

I'm just really afraid it's going to feel forced. Especially after a few issues.

That is my concern as well, or more so that the characters will feel diluted appearing in multiple books, but all indication is that the lineup will not be stagnant.

Also, in VH1, while characters may not have been regulars in multiple titles (other than the brief Secret Weapons run before it was overhauled), they appeared in each other's books ALL the time. Like, annoyingly so at one point. So rather than crossover appearances that feel forced, I like the idea of a rotating team book to cover similar issues. Of course, like anything, it has to be handled well.

[krylox]

the only thing that i really like about the concept is the mingling of so-called heroes with so-called bad guys for a common cause.
i think it would be a big step if a publisher would be bold enough to overcome the good-bad stereotype stuff. it's so oldschool and not interesting anymore...
look at cinema and tv, they do it for so many years... gangster flicks, morally ambiguos leads etc
is anyone rooting for the police when they watch goodfellas, breaking bad etc?

so why do we need heroes? why evil?

i don't even believe there is something which qualifies as EVIL. it's a stupid concept. i never met a person who would say that about him/herself.

everyone thinks he/she's in the right. i think everyone think he/she has the best intentions. if not for the community, then for him/herself. cause that's their character or cause society treated them badly.. however.

it would be so interesting to have a universe full of interesting PERSONALITIES. sometimes they are adversaries, sometimes they work together.

if this is what#s unity is about, it could become interesting.

that's what i like about harbinger wars... good vs bad? no, it was all over the place... the only caricature of a character was this prs director, other than that: you could sympathize with any of the protagonist's points of view.

[lorddunlow]

the only thing that i really like about the concept is the mingling of so-called heroes with so-called bad guys for a common cause.
i think it would be a big step if a publisher would be bold enough to overcome the good-bad stereotype stuff. it's so oldschool and not interesting anymore...
look at cinema and tv, they do it for so many years... gangster flicks, morally ambiguos leads etc
is anyone rooting for the police when they watch goodfellas, breaking bad etc?

so why do we need heroes? why evil?

i don't even believe there is something which qualifies as EVIL. it's a stupid concept. i never met a person who would say that about him/herself.

everyone thinks he/she's in the right. i think everyone think he/she has the best intentions. if not for the community, then for him/herself. cause that's their character or cause society treated them badly.. however.

it would be so interesting to have a universe full of interesting PERSONALITIES. sometimes they are adversaries, sometimes they work together.

if this is what#s unity is about, it could become interesting.

that's what i like about harbinger wars... good vs bad? no, it was all over the place... the only caricature of a character was this prs director, other than that: you could sympathize with any of the protagonist's points of view.

I'll introduce you to my sister. She is evil. I'm not joking. Absolute sociopath. I know I'm usually joking, but evil exists. My sister is proof. Again, this is not hyperbole or in any way a joke.

[krylox]

I'll introduce you to my sister. She is evil. I'm not joking. Absolute sociopath. I know I'm usually joking, but evil exists. My sister is proof. Again, this is not hyperbole or in any way a joke.

the question is: would she qualify/define herself as an evil person? maybe she's just fishing for love/attention/recognition.

what i'm saying is, it just depends on your point of view. if you ask a cow or a porc if man is evil they will absolutely agree, cause we mistreat them, abuse them, eat them etc
so someone who wants to raid out the earth of the human species might look like a savior in their eyes.

when i consume cultural goods, comics for example, i want to get into different mindsets than mine and leave my or my society's perceptions behind, learn something new.
that's what makes master darque and toyo harada interesting characters - they are different than most people, but they do have the best intentions.

but that's a slightly offtopic conversation, so i'll leave it at that.

[lorddunlow]

I'll introduce you to my sister. She is evil. I'm not joking. Absolute sociopath. I know I'm usually joking, but evil exists. My sister is proof. Again, this is not hyperbole or in any way a joke.

the question is: would she qualify/define herself as an evil person? maybe she's just fishing for love/attention/recognition.

what i'm saying is, it just depends on your point of view. if you ask a cow or a porc if man is evil they will absolutely agree, cause we mistreat them, abuse them, eat them etc
so someone who wants to raid out the earth of the human species might look like a savior in their eyes.

when i consume cultural goods, comics for example, i want to get into different mindsets than mine and leave my or my society's perceptions behind, learn something new.
that's what makes master darque and toyo harada interesting characters - they are different than most people, but they do have the best intentions.

First, I'll let you meet my sister, and you decide. It's actually one of my favorite things to see. Someone says "she can't be that bad", and then they spend some time with her. I laugh.

Second point: I bolded important statements above. Harada I'll give you. He thinks he is doing good. Are you cracked about Darque? He's plain ol' evil. What good does he think he's doing?

but that's a slightly offtopic conversation, so i'll leave it at that.

I live offtopic here, so don't worry. Most of threads here go many weird places. Oddly, most of them end up involving tacos +/- Canadians. If kevinbastos is involved, beer and old Marvel books will surely join the conversation. It's wonderful.

[krylox]

Are you cracked about Darque? He's plain ol' evil. What good does he think he's doing?

after reading shadowman #0 i got what's driving him. he sacrificed so much and was lured by his father into a life he didn't choose, so now he's trying his best to make it meaningful, to bring it to a masterfulness, if you like. in the end, he's just having a really bad father complex. and is probably a sociopath - giving his past (isolation, strange relationship to his sister, an abusive father..), pretty understandable. so, all in all, pretty human...

[grendeljd]

My initial reaction to the announcement on Unity was that its an odd choice as the name for an ongoing title. Would it have made more sense to call it 'Project: Unity' or something like that instead? I know, they're partly banking on the familiarity of just plain old 'Unity', but it felt odd.

However, after spending some time catching up on reading all the articles, it sounds & looks pretty cool. I get what they are doing, and really look forward to seeing what Matt Kindt has in mind for it. Great creative team choices [as in the writer/artist team, not the characters]. I was just thinking last week that I really missed seeing some new Brathwaite covers lately, as [to me] they were a big part of the feel of VEI year 1.

I for one am super excited that both he & Reber have signed exclusive deals with Valiant.

[jmatt]

To be completely honest, I'm happy they're not just going to re-do Unity as Unity. I'm enjoying the way the Lost Land/Faraway is being built slowly in A&A.

I'm with you on that one. Trying to re-create the original Unity would only end in tears. I'm hoping we see the Faraway become an ongoing setting for all of the titles moving forward.

[CallMeBloodshot]

Gotta love Valiant's unorthodox approach to what they call a "super-team". Lot of gray areas here which I like.

Guess were being made whole on that Ninjak tease. Can't hate having more of him around.