Unity #13

By Former Contributor
On 24 December 201416 June 2017
0

by Matt Kindt, CAFU

Just because it’s Christmas even doesn’t mean we won’t have any new books to read. Learn more about the United with our review of Unity #13.

After the introduction of The United in the last issue, Unity #13 serves as a bit of an introduction to who these characters are from the perspective Unity’s newest member, Faith Herbert, a.k.a. Zephyr. Through her eyes, we learn quite a bit of backstory about all of the United’s members, Gang, Stock, Myth, and Ultimorte. Each of these characters has very unique beginnings, many of which are tied directly to other aspects of the Valiant universe. For example, Gang’s powers are directly related to Chinese psiot activation experiments, and Ultimorte’s to the Armor Hunters destruction of Mexico City.

Series writer Matt Kindt has done a great job at creating unique characters with a great team dynamic not just in their personalities, but with their power sets as well much as he has done in selecting the roster for Unity as well. It was also great seeing the United’s origin tied into Neville and MI-6’s research on superpowered beings around the world and making that part of their story. Seeing all these characters through Faith’s eyes is refreshing as it not only helps current readers see this Unity team in a new light, but serves as a great introduction for new readers as well.

The plot of this issue is fairly straightforward as the United kidnap Neville, and attempt to infiltrate Unity’s headquarters. Their goal is simple – reveal the existence of Gin-GR to the world, or they will destroy her. It was great seeing how some of the politics plays directly into how each of these teams operate in the world, and how the United, though an opposing force to Unity, are not necessarily “bad guys.” In fact, their prime directive comes directly from the United Nations who see the actions of the United States and the U.K. are in direct violation of international law. Valiant fans should be used to this fuzziness which Valiant is known to inject into both its heroes and villains as no character can ever simply be just black and white.

The art

CAFU has been doing a terrific job in this book, though his choice as artist would not have been obvious to me. The pencil work was definitely much more clean and polished with this issue and showed just how wide ranging his skills are. I know that Matt Kindt created the United, but CAFU’s interpretations of Kindt’s character designs are beautiful and vibrant. I especially love how Myth’s face is blurred. I’m not sure if this is something CAFU has done or if it’s an aftereffect by the colorist. On colors is Brian Reber, and what else is left to say about his work other than flawless.

Overall

After the craziness of Armor Hunters, we’re seeing Unity slow building the mystery and intrigue of how the world must deal with such a dramatic event. Matt Kindt continues to steer this book into new directions which are sure to pay off for readers in the long run. Old or new readers alike, pick up this book!