Comic Info
Comic Name: Unity/X-O Manowar (Volume 3)
Publisher: Valiant Comics
Writer: Matt Kindt/Robert Venditti
Artist: Cafu/Lee Garbett
# of Issues: 4
Release Date: 2014
Unity #5 Variant
Reprints Unity #5-7 and X-O Manowar (3) #5 (September 2012-May 2014). In a small village in Taiwan, an alien ship of the Vine has crashed. With Livewire captured by a man named Dr. Silk, Aric, Gilad, and Ninjak must go on a rescue mission…but Silk’s plans could be worldwide. An outbreak of massive proportion could occur, and only Livewire, the Eternal Warrior, Ninjak, and X-O Manowar can stop it!
Written by Matt Kindt, Unity Volume 2: Trapped by Webnet is a Valiant Comics comic book collection. Following Unity Volume 1: To Kill a King, the collection features art by CAFU. Written by Robert Venditti and illustrated by Lee Garbett, the collection also features X-O Manowar (3) #5 (September 2012) which has the first encounter between Aric and Ninjak. The issues featured in the collection were also collected in Unity Deluxe Edition—Volume 1.
Valiant’s relaunch was an interesting thing. Marvel was picking up steam with their movies, and DC Comics had just restarted their whole universe with New 52. Valiant jumped into the fray, and Unity featured a few of the Valiant’s heavy hitters as a quasi-team book. While Valiant needed a team, the format of Unity is problematic.
The collections for Unity are tiny. This volume has a three issue story-arc and an unrelated issue of X-O Manowar. This isn’t worth the price of the collection…when you can get bigger collections for the same price or a little bit more. This makes it a challenge to bring in newer readers. If nothing else, readers should have an overload of comics and more value…making them want to buy more.
Unity #7 Variant
The story itself is basic comic book fodder with insane scientists, forlorn love, and a killer virus, but Valiant does put some twists on it. In one issue, Aric, Gilad, and Ninjak call the bluff of Dr. Silk…and kill and entire village. “I’ll be damned. It wasn’t a bluff” was the response from Ninjak. This wouldn’t happen in an Avengers comic book and that is kind of fun and different…I just wish the collection was longer.
Valiant also did a good job recruiting artists for their series. CAFU’s art for the core story is good, and it is a nice contrast to see Lee Garbett’s art for the X-O Manowar issue included in the volume, but the readers really deserved another issue.
Unity at this point feels clunky because the characters aren’t as known and developed as the characters of the DC Universe or Marvel Universe. The book feels close to something like Defenders (Marvel’s anti-team book). With solid solo books for most of the characters, Unity feels like it needs more time to develop. Unity 2: Trapped by Webnet is followed by Unity 3: Armor Hunters which was part of a bigger Armor Hunters storyline in the Valiant Universe.
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