Rare and wonderful
Internet. That’s how we know the next three issues will be Ninjak-oriented, reviving his chief villain from Valiant’s original run years ago, a fellow named Dr Silk.
But among the other Unity “members” on the covers is our old friend Aric of Dacia. Wait – what’s he doing with a bunch of guys who stole his X-O Manowar armour and imprisoned him in Unity #1-#3? And I’m guessing Harada’s absence is no coincidence either. Evidently he’s not part of the “team” any longer.
And, yes, “team” needs to be in quotes, because nobody on this “team” thinks they’re on a team and nobody uses the word “Unity”.
It’s possible that a formal alliance may emerge, and the membership will stabilise, but unlikely. It’s really anyone’s guess who will stay, who will go, who will arrive and what any of them will do.
Which, of course, is loads of fun. Any book where comics veterans have no idea what’s going to happen next is a rare and wonderful bird. And comics fans have noticed.
Most Valiant titles fall in the #100 to #200 range on the monthly sales list at Diamond Comics Distributors Inc, the company that distributes most of the comics in North America. Unity #1 scored an eye-opening 21st place in November.
The next couple of months, Unity dropped to more normal numbers for a Valiant book. But for that one month, at least, Unity outsold Action Comics, Green Lantern Mighty Avengers and Wolverine And The X-Men.
All of this is due to writer Matt Kindt ( Mind Mgmt) and Doug Braithewaite ( Justice), who have carried the book thus far. Plus, they’re abetted by two of Valiant’s best, Robert Venditti ( Green Lantern) and Cary Nord ( Conan), the creative team on Valiant’s flagship book, X-O Manowar. During the first arc in Unity, X-O Manowar ran a parallel story – you could read Unity without it, but it’s more fun if you read them both.
All of this isn’t by accident. Valiant was gambling big with Unity, and put a lot of resources behind it.
“Unity is the single biggest thing that Valiant has thrown its weight behind since the launch of the company with X-O Manowar # 1,” said Valiant CEO and chief creative officer Dinesh Shamdasani in one of the many, many press releases about the book. “Unity #1 could be our most important single issue to date, and we couldn’t be happier with the sales and excitement. ... It’s innovative, powerful and brilliant – there’s simply nothing like it on the stands today. Moreover, we’ve ... even bigger plans for the second arc of Unity beginning with issue #5 (in) March.”
Plans which, of course, they’re not going to tell us. But that’s OK. The unpredictability of Unity is one of its attractions. Like The Walking Dead, there are no sacred cows and nobody’s continued presence is a given.
So while the heroes of the Valiant Universe haven’t truly achieved unity, Valiant Comics has achieved Unity. And that’s good news for fans of team books. – McClatchy-Tribune Information Services