Unity #5 – Review

by Matt Kindt (Writer), Cafu (Artist), Brian Reber (Colorist)

The Story: Dr. Silk strikes in a bizarre way as the many players on this book learns the existence of a previous team much like their own.

The Review: The more I read some writers, the more I can begin to distinguish when they actually put in some effort and when they don’t seem to actually care all that much. While a lot of creators always do try to put in a semblance of effort, it can be easy to see when some, like Bendis, Hickman and others, have an actual passion for what they are writing.

Matt Kindt is not a writer that actually serve as an exception, with some titles like Mind MGMT being a much better showing of his talent than his tenure on Justice League of America and Suicide Squad. With a bit more creative freedom in his other work, he does tend to present a wilder and more imaginative side to his persona that does make for quality stories. However, with him being rather popular at Valiant right now, does his work on Unity stand out as a more passionate or as an after-thought?

Unity #4 – Review

by Matt Kindt (Writer), Doug Braithwaite (Artist), Brian Reber (Colorist)

The Story: The team of Ninjak, Livewire and Gilad Anni-Padda tries to retrieve the X-O Manowar armor from Harada’s grasp.

The Review: Taking risks as a necessary thing in comics. With many titles having very similar premises and using tropes that are unfortunately the norm these days, a book needs to have an identity of its own and most of the time, it passes through risks in terms of its concepts and execution.

For all its marketing and its qualities, Unity is still, at its core, a super-hero team book. With so many on the market right now, the quirks and original ideas need to be emphasized further to make itself stand out in a wave of other such titles. Thankfully, Matt Kindt seemed to have a pretty good idea for the title, which has been executed in a manner that made the title rather interesting. With Unity not being a team per se, with each members having their own agenda and their own affiliation, this was more something akin to Defenders than Justice League or Avengers. The story, acting upon that fact and the manner in which the Valiant universe treat super powers made for an interesting story, which reached a point that was decidedly captivating by the end of the latest issue. However, with this one being the concluding issue of the first arc, does the ending satisfy and provide a good launch pad for the rest the series?

Eternal Warrior #6 – Review

by Greg Pak (Writer), Robert Gill, Victor Olazaba (Artists), Guy Major (Colorist)

The Story: It’s tough to refuse a request from a little girl, especially when said request is to kill a being who enslave people.

The Review: Opening an arc with a great hook is something that must be hard. To provide just enough intrigue, action and a direction that can sustain itself for a few issues is certainly something that must require a lot of thoughts and work. Still, what must be even harder is to continue in the same vein, with the same qualities and a consistency that makes the ongoing tale as interesting as it was in its beginning.

To say that this issue is as good as the previous one would be an unfortunate lie on my part. While there are indeed a lot of qualities to be found here, it seems that Greg Pak has the unfortunate task of trying to continue the world-building while at the same time bring a better focus on just who Gilad and Caroline are. While not as good as the opening, does this issue provide enough to make sure readers might want to continue with this arc?

One of the qualities that might ensure it is how Pak writes both Gilad and Caroline as well as their dynamics. The mix between brutality and kindness is fun to read in Gilad’s action and reaction, but it is even more so when it can also be seen in Caroline’s own. The bond between them and how they perceive and educate each other makes for a particularly effective duo, making them interesting but also utterly likable in the process. How Caroline reacts to the slave-trade, how Gilad tries to explain his plan and how everything goes makes for some great character moments, making this story as much about them as it is about the world of 4001 AD in the Valiant universe.

Eternal Warrior #5 – Review

by Greg Pak (Writer), Robert Gill (Artist), Guy Major (Colorist)

The Story: It seems that pissing off an immortal is still a bad idea even in 4001 AD.

The Review: I love surprises. Some people might prefer to have a more stable experiences with book, with a series that can constantly promise a certain modicum of stability in its execution and quality. While a book that can deliver with each issue is certainly nice, one that can suddenly improve and show new and exciting ideas is always something I am looking for.

This issue of Eternal Warrior certainly fits the description. While I am an overall fan of Greg Pak and the Valiant universe as a whole, it seems that this issue is a huge improvement in the series, providing one of those coveted ”jumping-on points” as well as continuing the themes of the series as established by Greg Pak himself.

Set in 4001, this issue shows a future that is rather inspired, with a continuation of what could potentially happen if the representation of the Earth would disappear, as Gilad has destroyed it in the previous arc. The first thing that Pak does right is in setting down the voice of Gilad in this future, representing him once more as an immortal, yet not someone who necessarily grew all that wise or feeble, representing the warrior part of the character quite well. The confident and rather analytic, yet not completely devoid of compassion warrior is one that is rather entertaining to follow, as his relation with the villagers and his granddaughter makes for a rather stark contrats with his demeanour and his abilities.

Unity #3 – Review

by Matt Kindt (Writer), Doug Braithwaite (Artist), Brian Reber (Colorist)

The Story: As the Unity Squad continues their mission against Aric, Livewire gains control of the X-O armor and gets a view of the big picture.

The Review: As readers, it is normal to hope for good books on the market. It may sound like the most obvious of lines, yet not all series released can actually attain that general positive comment from everybody. With personal tastes and all accounting to this, the search for such books is something that is always the key for most comic enthusiast. It is, however, usually attached with the possibility of great books, those that aren’t just competent, but excellent in the ways that really count. Most readers would certainly enjoy to have only great books in their pull list, but to really have so is something rather hard to achieve.

In such situations, what’s usually pretty rare is to see a good book actually reach a new level, going from very competent to thoroughly enjoyable, as if the creative team had upped their game in order to really raise the stakes. Understanding that the best way to impress readers is to really go all the way, books like these are always a very pleasant surprise for fans.

It is what Matt Kindt has achieved with Unity, a book that had begun strongly and then went on to struggle a bit, only to get much better with this third issue, giving surprises, actions and plenty of goodness for fans of Valiant, a universe that is constantly growing.

Unity #2 – Review

by Matt Kindt (Writer), Doug Braithwaite (Artist), Brian Reber (Colorist)

The Story: With the defeat of the Unity squad, Toyo Harada decides to lead an attack on Aric himself, helped by others along the way.

The Review: The opening issue of this title did a lot of things right. It presented every characters, its conflict, its setting in a concise and smart way without relenting in its actions and pacing. There were a few minor tweaks here and there, but for the most part is was quite enjoyable. However, debut issues aren’t everything, as while something may start quite well, it needs to sustain a certain level of quality in order to actually warrant an investment in its story and themes. Does Matt Kindt continue the quality writing that he had established prior?

In some way, he does as Kindt continues with plenty of actions as he raise the stakes of the conflict with Aric of Darcia. Opening with a catastrophe scenario, the issue continues then smartly with the problems made clear and concise as Kindt uses his characters well in most action scenes. Introducing Livewire to new readers as both a continuation of the ongoing narrative of Harbinger and the general Valiant universe, Kindt intelligently puts forth her ability in this issue, resulting in a rather nice sequence in the mainframe of Aric’s spaceship. In terms of tension and rising up the conflict, Kindt does very well here.

Harbinger Wars #4 – Review

Joshua Dysart, Duane Swierczynski (Writers), Clayton Henry (Artist), Brian Reber (Colorist)

The Story: The many players in the game converge in order to go toward the prize: the psiots children. Chaos, violence and events ensues.

The Review: Crossovers can be many things. Some of the time, they can be merely fun stories that shows the departure between two characters or teams that depict their differences and their similarities in celebration of what they are. Other times, they can be crucial in the development of one or several plot points in a series, making the story move forward in a more or less organic way in order to shake up the status of one or both the book involved. However, when said crossover is also an event, it can complicate things as it can sometime feels like they are trying really hard to do both.

In the case of Harbinger Wars, it really feel like this is what they tried to do, while adding even more. The Valiant universe is still very young, in need of some key moments or events that may yet develop some of the characters or set up some further stories in its future. As the series advanced, it tried to become a bridge and a progression toward two books, Bloodshot and Harbingers, yet somewhat failed in doing so in a way that resonated in a single book. It connected several elements in ways that made sense, yet there are some places in which this crossover event failed.

Bloodshot #12 – Review

By: Duane Swierczynski (Writer), Barry Kitson, Stefano Gaudiano (Artists), Brian Reber (Colorist)

The Story: Bloodshot, in search for food and proteins, gets ambushed by Kuretich as he is on the verge of death.

The Review: I didn’t have many positive things to say about the last issue. As the title is caught in the big crossover known as Harbinger Wars, it gave us a rehashing of events in ways that didn’t altogether made sense sometime. It was an example of a bad tie-in issue and was a rare misstep for a series that was giving its readers plenty of big fun and violent action for them to enjoy.

Thankfully, this issue makes amends for that latest one by propelling the story quite a lot as it gives us a focus on the character of Bloodshot. Here, we see just how exactly the character can move forward in its concept as we are given something that has been a long time coming for those that followed the title: the confrontation with Dr. Kuretich. In many ways, that character had been a presence in the book as he had been a thorn in the side of Bloodshot, always trying to manipulate him toward one goal or another. Here, we get to see them confront each other as we see Kuretich’s side of the medal.

X-O Manowar #13 – Review

By: Robert Venditti (Writer), Cary Nord (Artist), Moose Baumann (Colorist)

The Story: Aric tests his connection to the Shanhara armor and defends the Visigoth settlement against the vine.

The Review: As the Planet Death storyline went on, I had problem with the pacing and the characterization of Aric, being bored at his stubbornness and his general attitude toward his goals. The comic had some good idea, but seemed to spin a bit on its own wheels as some new elements were being introduced, but not thoroughly explored in a satisfying way.

Bloodshot #11 – Review

By: Duane Swierczynski (Writer), Barry Kitson, Stefano Gaudiano (Artists), Brian Reber (Colorist)

The Story: We delve a little bit further into the Harada protocol as Bloodshot fights Toyo Harada. Meanwhile, we see how Kara tries to take care of the psiot kids.

The Review: Tie-in issues can be both blessing and curses sometimes, albeit it is unfortunately much more frequent to see the latter than the former. While it is a possibility to see a book regain focus as it takes advantage of a greater situation in the universe they are set in, it can also unfortunately kill the momentum that a book had by injecting various elements that don’t quite match up with what was going on before the event was launched. Thankfully, this event was brought up with what went up in both Bloodshot and Harbinger, which makes this crossover quite organic to the growth of both titles.

However, it seems that all the important plot advancement is set in the Harbinger Wars title as we get to see some more details of particular events from the crossover in the titles connected to it. It is a risky move that can actually pay off as we get some deeper analysis on how these characters think and feels through these scenes from the main comic, yet here it is mostly wasted, as it brings close to nothing new to the table, unfortunately.

Harbinger Wars #2 – Review

By: Joshua Dysart, Duane Swierczynski (Writers), Clayton Henry (Artist), Brian Reber (Colorist)

The Story: The kids from Generation Zero prepare for their final stand against whosoever would wish to bring them back in, as Bloodshot prepare to fight against Toyo Harada.

The Review: Before we even get down to it and review this little issue, I strongly urge people to actually go ahead and read the recap page, even if they think they got a pretty strong handle on things. Just look at it and see how many characters we’ve got in this event comic, as close to everyone here actually gets a scene, with close being the keyword here.

Bloodshot #10 – Review

By: Duane Swierzcynski (Writer), Barry Kitson, Stefano Gaudiano (Artists), Brian Reber (Colorist)

The Story: Bloodshot is moving toward a new destination with the psiot kids as he tries to defend and take care of them.

The Review: This title is something that is actually quite uncommon these days, with many noir, criminal, super heroes, sci-fi and other genre being completely covered with a multitude of books, it seems that there is one genre that is not as widely covered as we would think: pure action.

X-O Manowar #12 – Review

By: Robert Venditti (Writer), Cary Nord (Artist), Moose Baumann (Colorist)

The Story: Aric discovers that the Visigoth lives on Loam as slaves to the Vine as he finds out he still want to pretty much kill everyone on this planet.

The Review: If there’s one thing that this story cannot be accused of lacking, it’s scope. Let’s see what the synopsis could be so far for X-O Manowar: a Visigoth from 402 A.D. with a powerful alien armor decides to destroy an alien species by committing massive genocide on their home planet of Loam out of vengeance for having suffered in slavery to the Vine. That is what we could call a grand set for what could very well be something very big and memorable.

Archer & Armstrong #9 – Review

By: Fred Van Lente (story), Emanuela Lupacchino & Alvero Martinez (art), Guillermo Ortego (inks), David Baron (colors)

The Story: It’s safe to say if your pal’s trying to kill you, he’s not acting like himself.

The Review: My ongoing complaint with this series has always been that it tries too hard to toe the line between comedy and seriousness, without really committing to either.  Just look at this issue’s cover and you’ve got a good example of what’s flawed about the general tone and direction of this series: Gilad and Armstrong pincushioned full of arrows while Archer looks malevolently at them.  It’s a comical image, but not enough to make you laugh outright.

Within this issue, Van Lente’s humor diminishes to maybe half a handful of amusing remarks, the best of which is Kay bemoaning her sorry life while in Geomancer limbo: “I have a serious eating disorder!  My acid reflux is killing me!  I pop pills like a reverse Pez dispenser!  I can’t maintain a serious heterosexual relationship!”  And that’s pretty much it as far as comedy goes on this issue.  The rest actually gets devoted to the plot at hand.

Archer & Armstrong #8 – Review

By: Fred Van Lente (story), Emanuela Lupacchino (art), Guillermo Ortego (inks), Matt Milla (colors)

The Story: Proving that a pointless existence does begin on the golf course.

The Review: I’ve frequently lamented that we need more humor-driven comics in the world.  While most titles manage to get in a couple jokes in every issue, writing a full-blown comedy requires a very different kind of craft and talent.  With a comedy, you naturally lose a lot of tension because so much of what happens can’t be taken seriously.  A writer then has to find a different way to give his story some weight so it doesn’t just float away on a sea of laughs.

Nick Spencer’s Jimmy Olsen is a great example.  The premise of Jimmy saving the world from destruction by alien-swingers by making Earth seem as dull as possible is clearly a joke in itself.  You haven’t the least expectation that the planet’s in any serious danger.  But you still have a lot of investment in the outcome because Spencer attaches a different importance to it: Jimmy’s pride and self-confidence, and whether or not he can win back Chloe Sullivan.  So yes, you get plenty of laughs, but you also still care about what’s going on.

Archer & Armstrong #7 – Review

By: Fred Van Lente (story), Emanuela Lupacchino (art), Guillermo Ortego (inks), Matt Milla (colors)

The Story: In which it is proven that too much math can only lead to no good.

The Review: It’s funny.  You can go for years without seeing a movie about Abraham Lincoln, then all of a sudden, there’s two of them in the theaters one year.  True, one of them is a serious drama about the nature of principles and politics and the other involves slaying vampires and jumping off trains before they explode—but my point is sometimes, by chance, different writers will get the same ideas in their heads around the same time and go different ways with them.

I’m pretty sure the likelihood of someone reading both Dial H and Archer & Armstrong is even less than that of someone seeing Lincoln and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, but if you do happen to read both, you have to notice their mutual fascination with the concept of “nothing as something.”  China Miéville basically spent his entire first arc exploring the different sides of “nothing,” but it’s Van Lente who manages to push out an accessible story out of it.

Archer & Armstrong #6 – Review

By: Fred Van Lente (story), Emanuela Lupacchino (art), Guillermo Ortego (inks), Matt Milla (colors)

The Story: Stands to reason that the One Percent would turn out to be an evil cult.

The Review: If you read my review to Saga #9 (and if you haven’t, perhaps you should—it couldn’t hurt, and who knows, there might be a prize* in it for you!), then you’ll know that I think comedies generally have a more straightforward goal than dramas or even dramedies: make you laugh.  Even then, there are differences between smart comedies, silly comedies, and stupid comedies, and we as a society probably need to be more distinguishing among the three.

Smart comedies always have a point at the end of their humor, or at the very least make you stretch your intellectual muscles a little bit.  Silly comedies make you laugh by surprise, either with clever wordplay or well set-up slapstick.  Stupid comedies go for the lowest brow of amusement: cheap jokes, schadenfraude, vulgarity, anything that appeals to your rage or makes you squeamishly uncomfortable.  Archer & Armstrong is clearly not a stupid comedy, and although there’s some very silly stuff to it, I’d say it’s a pretty smart comedy.

Archer & Armstrong #5 – Review

By: Fred Van Lente (story), Emanuela Lupacchino (art), Guillermo Ortego (inks), Matt Milla (colors)

The Story: It’s like Armstrong and Gilad are living the bridge to “A Change Is Gonna Come”.

The Review: Reading back what I wrote for last month’s issue of this series, I’m struck by how cross I sound.  Maybe the looming specter of finals sucked away some of my good humor that week, but I really gave #4 a hard time.  While I stand by my criticism of the title’s rushed pacing and thin development, perhaps I was a bit hasty myself in writing off the promise this title offers.  Despite my frustrations with it, I have to admit it still holds my interest.

What remains irritating about reading this series is the nagging feeling that I’m missing some crucial details about the A&A mythos, probably from the first couple issues I skipped over when I jumped onboard at #3.  It’s still a tad ridiculous that you’d miss out on that much substance by being slightly late to the game—and that the sizable recap page does nothing to reintroduce some of it to you—but at least this issue sort of brings you up to speed.

Archer & Armstrong #4 – Review

By: Fred Van Lente (story), Clayton Henry & Pere Pérez (art), Matt Milla (colors)

The Story: Only Armstrong would save the world in a newsboy cap and multicolor sunglasses.

The Review: I must say, things move fast in this title.  I’m not a huge fan of the decompressed storyline, since the monthly intervals between issues make waiting for an inch of progress a real drag, but I support writers who want a slow-and-steady development to their plot.  Rushing things poses a risk of undermining the integrity of your own story.  It prevents tension from building and it misses opportunities to explore different directions to take the characters.

Maybe I missed a lot from the first two issues, but I think it’s somewhat ridiculous that at #4, we’re already at the world-saving part of the arc.  While I happen to like Van Lente’s casual writing style, there’s a line where breeziness crosses over into the downright careless.  Unless you’re writing an all-out comedy, you have to give the proper sobriety to certain moments if you want to convince your audience there’s some real stakes here.