UNITY #5 Discussion

[BugsySig]

Thought this was an excellent issue. Kindt continues to develop the characters for us, especially Livewire and Ninjak. The plot is intriguing as it ties many small aspects of the VALIANT universe together, and we are left with several mysteries.

The art by CAFU is terrific. Been a fan of his for some time and I am very glad he is exclusive. This is the perfect book for him.

And now the big one: WWII UNITY! Gilad, Bloodshot, Shadow-woman and some atomic (alcoholic?) robot! Really interested to see more about that group at some point. It seems likely the robot in particular will be playing a role in the current story.

This is one of my favorite titles right now. Top quality all around.

[dornwolf]

I tend to agree. Between Bloodshot and Unity today I felt Unity was the strongest in terms of a solo read as Bloodshot really feels you need A and A or the following A and A, not that that's a bad thing. But Unity, loved it. As mentioned it expands the universe in basically a big way by giving them an attempt at a JSA-type history which makes me wonder just how far back some of it goes. Also, love Aric just showing up and it also adds a bit for those reading X-O by having Gilad confirm Aric is not overly pleased with America

[bygranddesign]

I echo your remarks, Bugsy! Excellent issue!

This may be my favorite issue of Unity so far. I think it hit all those special spots that bring me much joy (in the comic world).
In the previous discussion I felt a bit let down by a lack of cohesion and *ahem* Unity after the 1st arc. The story was great but there was no sense of a LONG term direction and purpose for this title and "team". In this issue Kindt laid the ground work for a long term narrative and gave an added dimension of history of a super team in the Valiant Universe. Eternal Warrior with his sense of duty to the Earth and his knowledge of the past as a living History book is the perfect character to bring this team together and keep them focused on a long term mission to protecting the Earth. Ninjak even joked about them having their own headquarters instead of meeting in his living room.

Other things that I loved was the surrounding mystery of Dr. Silk. I love how Kindt tied his origin to Unity (or the previous super team). I think there is a lot more to discover about Dr. Silk and his power to leap from mind to mind .. but he does seem to be a lot less sympathetic than I thought he would be (at this point). He killed his co-workers/rivals to be with a girl? I'm sure something bad happened to the girl that drove him COMPLETELY over the edge but he was obviously a bad guy from the start (unless something also happened to him before he started killing people?).

I loved the original super team from WW2. One of the things I love seeing in a Valiant book is a further expansion of the universe and its history and this book had that which gives it extra points.. Shadow-Women was awesome and a surprise! This definitely opens the door for Shadowman or Bloodshot or both joining Unity at some point.

9/10 - great storytelling from Kindt, Art was excellent from Cafu and brilliant colors by Fear the Reber.

[BugsySig]

I echo your remarks, Bugsy! Excellent issue!

This may be my favorite issue of Unity so far. I think it hit all those special spots that bring me much joy (in the comic world).
In the previous discussion I felt a bit let down by a lack of cohesion and *ahem* Unity after the 1st arc. The story was great but there was no sense of a LONG term direction and purpose for this title and "team". In this issue Kindt laid the ground work for a long term narrative and gave an added dimension of history of a super team in the Valiant Universe. Eternal Warrior with his sense of duty to the Earth and his knowledge of the past as a living History book is the perfect character to bring this team together and keep them focused on a long term mission to protecting the Earth. Ninjak even joked about them having their own headquarters instead of meeting in his living room.

Other things that I loved was the surrounding mystery of Dr. Silk. I love how Kindt tied his origin to Unity (or the previous super team). I think there is a lot more to discover about Dr. Silk and his power to leap from mind to mind .. but he does seem to be a lot less sympathetic than I thought he would be (at this point). He killed his co-workers/rivals to be with a girl? I'm sure something bad happened to the girl that drove him COMPLETELY over the edge but he was obviously a bad guy from the start (unless something also happened to him before he started killing people?).

I loved the original super team from WW2. One of the things I love seeing in a Valiant book is a further expansion of the universe and its history and this book had that which gives it extra points.. Shadow-Women was awesome and a surprise! This definitely opens the door for Shadowman or Bloodshot or both joining Unity at some point.

9/10 - great storytelling from Kindt, Art was excellent from Cafu and brilliant colors by Fear the Reber.

Well many asked for a straight up evil villain, so it looks like they got it. The guy has probably always been unstable. How else do you end up like he does? Better to have someone with a personality disorder than someone who turns evil because a lab accident caused all their hair to fall out.

[bygranddesign]

Well many asked for a straight up evil villain, so it looks like they got it. The guy has probably always been unstable. How else do you end up like he does? Better to have someone with a personality disorder than someone who turns evil because a lab accident caused all their hair to fall out.

I agree. Not ever "villain" needs to have shades of gray. Some villains can just be purely evil, and as much as I love complex "bad guy" characters - I also appreciate a good old straight up evil *SQUEE*. But from interviews with Kindt, he seemed to suggest a sympathetic backstory to Dr. Silk ... yet I didn't feel any sympathy/empathy for him in this issue. That could change with the next issue.

[bygranddesign]

The story itself reminds me a lot of Kindt's work in MIND MGMT, btw.

I won't spoil that book too much for people who want to check it out but it also involved mystery of a village full of people that were no longer in control of themselves.

One of the cool things is that I have no idea where this story is heading atm .. A town full of people driven insane and creating toy robots?
My assumption with Dr. Silk is that he has a network of people whom he can transfer his mind into whenever he needs to and this village full of zombies may be part of that network now.

Interesting that this was Dr. Silk's first encounter with Ninjak - from reading all the interviews leading up to this issue I thought Dr. Silk would have been a long time nemesis to Ninjak before this issue. But I guess those were just assumptions based on the original series.

[paradise]

Loved this issue. Great back story (I am a huge JSA fan, love legacy characters). But still, the more impressive part was the fantastic art. I may be in a minority here, but I am not a fan of Doug B.'s art. The quazi-painted washed out look without strong contrast does not work, IMHO, on a superhero team book. Cafu's art is so much more pleasing, specially on XO and Ninjak who are wearing armor.

So, basically an amazing book that somehow got even better.

[hunter_peterson]

Well many asked for a straight up evil villain, so it looks like they got it. The guy has probably always been unstable. How else do you end up like he does? Better to have someone with a personality disorder than someone who turns evil because a lab accident caused all their hair to fall out.

I agree. Not ever "villain" needs to have shades of gray. Some villains can just be purely evil, and as much as I love complex "bad guy" characters - I also appreciate a good old straight up evil *SQUEE*. But from interviews with Kindt, he seemed to suggest a sympathetic backstory to Dr. Silk ... yet I didn't feel any sympathy/empathy for him in this issue. That could change with the next issue.

I think Kindt said something along the lines of we'll understand how he got to where he is, but he won't be sympathetic. So more like the Red Skull's origins than Magneto's.

This issue was wonderful. The most exiting thing was pre-Unity! Shadowoman! WWII Bloodshot! Eternal Warrior! Alcoholic Roboguy! So cool. I hope that we see a lot more of them in the future- maybe a zero issue starring them! It really does give the Unity team a JSA kind of feel, something that doesn't really exist at the Big Two currently. And it opens up Shadowman and Bloodshot joining very orgsnically. I also liked Gilad's implication that if that team had worked that the Holocaust could have been avoided... it makes the current team's potential very salient.

Silk was cool, too. I also figured that he would have fought Ninjak before, but I kind of think he has. Ninjak seemed experienced in dealing with him. So I hope that's clarified a wee bit in the next few issues.

[jmatt]

What a great issue, possibly my favorite Unity issue so far. Love the legacy team! I'm a huge SA Avengers fan and love the idea of them having their own base (like Stark's mansion) and a version of the Quinjet (even if it was a clone of Harada's vehicle).

It's fantastic that they are building the backstory to the history of the VU while spinning great tales in modern day. I'm just so excited for the company right now.

And the nod to VanHook.

[chriskay99]

Loved Aric saying "May I fire now?"

[bygranddesign]

Loved Aric saying "May I fire now?"

Lol .. That was a great moment. He just kept standing there. How about now?

[pixierosa]

Great read. Beat out Bloodshot for me. Cafu has done a beautiful job illustrating and visually telling the story. Kindt's writing is very good, too. Loved the backstory on the original team during the war. That was a pleasant surprise and adds a lot to the story. Lots of witty remarks and "deeper" moments, too. I'm intrigued by what Livewire has found and her predicament. This is the best issue of Unity thus far.

[lorddunlow]

So, basically an amazing book that somehow got even better.

This is probably the best way of describing this issue.

Very, very good.

[dornwolf]

Loved Aric saying "May I fire now?"

Lol .. That was a great moment. He just kept standing there. How about now?

I loved Aric through out the whole thing considering how calm and collected he was. He's there to payback what he feels is his debt to Livewire and ultimately Gilad and Ninjak. I love him just standing there as they fired on him looking bored. It's a reaction that strangely doesn't happen to much when you look at it, too often Superman or Thor get punked right out of the gate and are out for a majority of the arc lately.

Also love Ninjak being completely *SQUEE* that everyone just crashes at his place. That needs to become a running joke forever.

Well many asked for a straight up evil villain, so it looks like they got it. The guy has probably always been unstable. How else do you end up like he does? Better to have someone with a personality disorder than someone who turns evil because a lab accident caused all their hair to fall out.

I agree. Not ever "villain" needs to have shades of gray. Some villains can just be purely evil, and as much as I love complex "bad guy" characters - I also appreciate a good old straight up evil *SQUEE*. But from interviews with Kindt, he seemed to suggest a sympathetic backstory to Dr. Silk ... yet I didn't feel any sympathy/empathy for him in this issue. That could change with the next issue.

Damn right needs to happen more often.

[hunter_peterson]

A couple side notes:

It'd be nice if Livewire got a new costume. She's one of the Valiant big guns, she needs a more distinct look. She would definitely keep the Harbinger symbol, but I think she'd probably work better in something that wasn't a prison outfit. She deserves to stand on her own.

Also, given that Kindt introduced both Unity and a pre-Unity, I think this means we'll get some form of Future Force in Rai sooner rather than later. Which is exciting!

[Keith]

My first thought was that alcoholic roboguy was actually a prototype Armorine. They did refer to it as atomic powered armor creating a super soldier.

Hoping we find out more about this team... I'm especially curious about the Shadow-Woman. She looked a little vampiric in her last frame. How? Why? This also adds to the current Shadowman arc suggesting that there have been other failed attempts at Shadowmen, not just the direct lineage quoted by the loa in the first issue. Makes me think the loa was just listing Jack's direct lineage, and not necessarily all the Shadowmen.

Did see on Twitter that Matt Kindt responded to a tweet about this pre-Unity team and him having a long term plan:

Yes! I love seeding stuff super early! Reward the monthly reader I say!

Sounds like more to come!

[BugsySig]

A couple side notes:

It'd be nice if Livewire got a new costume. She's one of the Valiant big guns, she needs a more distinct look. She would definitely keep the Harbinger symbol, but I think she'd probably work better in something that wasn't a prison outfit. She deserves to stand on her own.

Also, given that Kindt introduced both Unity and a pre-Unity, I think this means we'll get some form of Future Force in Rai sooner rather than later. Which is exciting!

I think she wears the costume because it is still her Harbinger Foundation "uniform" based on her ranking. They were colored, I believe to match their ranking within the foundation. She still appreciates and abides by what she learned there and what they did for her, but she refuses to follow Harada any longer. The uniform would be a reminder of both.

My first thought was that alcoholic roboguy was actually a prototype Armorine. They did refer to it as atomic powered armor creating a super soldier.

Hoping we find out more about this team... I'm especially curious about the Shadow-Woman. She looked a little vampiric in her last frame. How? Why? This also adds to the current Shadowman arc suggesting that there have been other failed attempts at Shadowmen, not just the direct lineage quoted by the loa in the first issue. Makes me think the loa was just listing Jack's direct lineage, and not necessarily all the Shadowmen.

Did see on Twitter that Matt Kindt responded to a tweet about this pre-Unity team and him having a long term plan:

Yes! I love seeding stuff super early! Reward the monthly reader I say!

Sounds like more to come!

Good pick-up on the armor. I thought Armorine right away too, but then when it was said they were working on A.I., I put the two together and assumed it was a robot. But considering Silk may be using a form of A.I. to swap bodies, it may have been 2 separate projects.

Now, Silk might be combining Robotics, A.I. and Nanites (hence the toy robots that resemble the robot shown in his post-war lab) which could all lead to 4001, giant robots, Sentient Cities, "Father", etc...

[bygranddesign]

in regards to Livewires costume

The XO suit enhanced her abilities - I wonder if that means it "infected" her too like the guy in the XO preview or like Aric's hand/arm? With her Psiot ability to control machines .. maybe she will be able to control the infection and shape the armor so it looks less like a disease and more like a cool cyborg-like costume that looks part XO and part Harbinger suit. It could look wicked cool

[Keith]

Random thought... Dr. Silk worked on an early version of Bloodshot. Bloodshot was created (we assume) by Project Rising Spirit. It would make sense then that PRS was involved in the creation of this Pre-Unity team... was Dr. Silk a member of PRS?

[apainter]

some atomic (alcoholic?) robot

named Bender Bending Rodriguez the First?

Art

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

Bravo. What seems to be the best Valiant title maintains it's ranking. This book is friggin excellent! Everything I would have said already has been. Great issue.

[KXXX]

Wet blanket time.

I hate hate HATE the 'World War versions of superheroes' gag. I don't really read comics but it seems played out somehow. It doesn't fit into the universe as it feels to me.

I'm also a bit annoyed with the robot slaughter on the cover that doesn't occur in the book. These cover are drifting away from the books more and more. They may as well have painted Dr Silk riding a Purple Unicorn across space and call it 'Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits.'

Love it other than that

[lorddunlow]

They may as well have painted Dr Silk riding a Purple Unicorn across space and call it 'Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits.'

I'd try really hard to obtain that variant. Seriously.

[Donovan]

While I'm interested in the WW2 characters, I too did think that was a little hammy. It's been done.

[Donovan]

I may be in a minority here, but I am not a fan of Doug B.'s art. The quazi-painted washed out look without strong contrast does not work, IMHO, on a superhero team book.

I like Braithwaite's art a lot, but it does need to be inked. I agree that the pencils-to-color approach they used on the first arc hindered it a bit for me...