Throwback Review: Unity #1

By Former Contributor
On 14 July 201416 June 2017
1

Valiant #1 issues are free on Comixology this month so we continue our Throwback Reviews with the first issue of Valiant’s superteam book, Unity.

The Story

While the storyline of Unity #1 closely ties into the events of X-O Manowar #18-22, new readers should have no issues jumping on board to any of these characters or the Valiant universe. There is a lot happening here, but Matt Kindt brilliantly introduces all of the major players without burdening readers with a lot of history. Additionally, you don’t have to be reading X-O Manowar to get the full spectrum of the plot, as both series remain separate, and each book’s story is complimenting, but self-contained.

Unlike many of other number 1 issues we’ve reviewed, the dialogue in this issue remains at a minimum as most of the story is told through the perspective of whomever the central character of that part of the book is. In fact, most of the dialogue simply serves as exposition to move plot points forward. Kindt takes a similar approach in Rai as well, and helps make the story very compelling.

The Art

Art duties for this issue go to Doug Braithwaite who does some amazing work on the pencils. There are so many locations, and characters that Braithwaite really gets to use his full talent on every page.

The action sequences are stunning, and makes it obvious to see why Braithwaite was a great choice for this book. There is a full page shot of Aric in his X-O suit that is truly breathtaking.

Brian Reber provides the color work and does a great job overall. There are some panels that almost look as if they had been painted and are a sight to see.

Overall

The creative team in Unity is top-notch and it is great to see this group of characters in one series. There is plenty of setup to make this book very new reader friendly while providing plenty of fan service to existing Valiant readers.