The latest issue of Unity is a wonderful tie-in to Armor Hunters. While I’m still itching to see Bloodshot in action against the hunters, there is plenty of action, and great character building moments.
The story
This book has had tons of action since it first started, and while there is still plenty here, there are also some much slower moments which really help flesh out the characters. Writing a team book can be difficult because of the number of characters involved, but Matt Kindt is handling writing duties quite well.
Through the first eight issues of Unity we have slowly started to see what each character is about, but there hasn’t been much in terms of really getting to know a character. Unity #9 is heavily focused on Livewire and it’s great to see. She has taken a backseat through much of the series, and while she still isn’t seeing much action, we do get to learn more about her as a person. In this issue, we see her reflecting upon her encounter with Dr. Silk in the previous story arc, and trying to figure out what makes her different, and whether she is human or alien.
There is also plenty of Gilad and Ninjak in this issue as well, and I like how Kindt keeps using flashbacks to tell Gilad’s story, and have him form a battle strategy based on his many past experiences. I really hope we do get to see more of Ninjak though as we still don’t know much about his history or what motivates him.
The art
Stephen Segovia continues to do some outstanding work for Valiant, especially in this issue. Segovia has a great eye for panel layouts and design which works perfectly for Unity. Particularly impressive are the action scenes involving Gilad and Ninjak fighting off the Armor Hunters’ hounds where Segovia’s art really shows off the fluidity and finesse of Ninjak’s movements. If a Ninjak book is ever announced, I hope Segovia gets to draw it.
Segovia also does a rather nice job on the softer parts of the book as well. The panels with Livewire trying to figure out whether she’s human, Vine, or something else really are rather expressive. My only complaint is that expressiveness doesn’t come off as well with other characters and facial close-ups can be a little rougher at times.
Brian Reber on colors does a fantastic job at making Segovia’s art pop off the page. The color palette used is really fitting and varied depending on what the story dictates.
Overall
Unity #9 is one of the best issues of the series so far. I love what Matt Kindt is doing with these characters and hope we get to see further character development within this arc. Stephen Segovia does an outstanding job on pencils and Brian Reber’s color work just keeps getting better with every issue he does. It’s great to see some of the stuff happening in the Armor Hunters miniseries behind expanded upon in this book while keeping the storyline separate.
All in all a VERY solid book, and I can’t wait to read the next issue.
Rating [author-post-rating]
Unity for me in general has been a less than great book. It is my least favourite Valiant series. While the Webnet arc stood out as the best issues of the series I feel Unity is on its way backwards again. This Armor Hunters tie in has hurt the book. The flag title Armor Hunters is great, but the tie in titles have been good to average. This title falls under average at best.
The best thing about this title is the Livewire scenes. There were some major plot points left over from Webnet, arguably the biggest was Silk’s claim that somehow Livewire wasn’t human. These opening pages see her discuss the prospect of her being alien and she wants answers. You get a sense of panic, dread but honesty also. She is deeply worried and she needs to know the truth now. The Armor Hunters are here and she needs to be clear headed, not have this hanging over her. She knows the Hunters are here to rid the planet of the Armor cancer and the fact she bonded with the Armor means at some point Livewire will become Reebo’s primary target.
Kindt did well with the characterisation here. This is the best use of Livewire I’ve saw lately, and ironically its got nothing to do with the Armor Hunters. She thinks it could be Vine related.
And her wise words to Bloodshot were both heart touchingly lovely and maybe a hint of things to come for Bloodshot in the future.
The London scenes for me were pretty bad. The art was a disaster! The backgrounds of London were almost identical to Gills art for Mexico City. Those two cities are nothing alike. For me, lazy work.
Segovia did a nice job with Ninjak though. I especially liked his close up panels and just after Ninjak had slit the dogs throat.
Gilad is wasted in this book. The flashback scene is used as a way to help the heroes defeat the dogs but a more fleshed out flashback scene is called for. Simply putting his hand over a woman’s mouth….again, lazy and thoughtless. The relationship between these two though is a genuine highlight. The buddy duo is nice to see and as I’ve said before a more permanent Gilad/Ninjak tag team would be wonderful to see.
Another frustration here is Neville. He is there and we know his job role etc but by chucking in a one page flashback is just no good. And for me the page was a bit messed up and didn’t flow all that well. Im looking forward to Kindt giving Neville the ‘Capshaw’ treatment sometime soon.
Continuity wise , its clear Kindt is just doing his own thing and Valiant really need to get the editors to police continuity better. The time when Livewire is with Bloodshot and when Capshaw is on the mountain top – yes its included in other books but at different stages. This ignorance to continuity is not acceptable. Once again, Unity is a let down.
2/5