Connect with us

Comics

Review: ‘Unity’ #1

Published

10 years ago

on

Valiant have been hyping the release of ‘Unity’ #1 for months now with a fantastic marketing campaign. The company have been talking about the book, previewed it in the back of all their issues, and released countless teasers to coincide with the book’s release. The company’s marketing team even issued a press release revealing that the title’s first issue sales were in excess of 68,000 copies making it the one of the highest charting comic book series to launch in 2013. Now ‘Unity’ is here and it has the to sink or swim on the strength of its creative merits.

WRITTEN BY: Matt Kindt
ART BY: Doug Braithwaite
PUBLISHER: Valiant Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: November 13th, 2013

“Unity” #1 is the perfect entry point for new readers into the Valiant universe. Writer Matt Kindt does a great job of framing the overall story of X-O Manowar verses the rest of the world, and connects it to humanity through a photographer covering the battle. From there we get to see the assembly of Valiant’s version of the Avengers as Toyo Harada enlists the help of Ninjak, the Eternal Warrior, and Livewire to bring down Aric of Dacia. Kindt is able to pull all the characters together from various titles in the Valiant universe without it feeling contrived. Seeing these characters together fighting to achieve a common goal of taking down X-O Manowar feels natural and the characters still retain their unique voice throughout. Kindt also does a great job of synching up each character’s unique voice and personality to what we’ve seen in other regular ongoing books.

Artist Doug Braithwaite has been one of comics most underrated talents and it’s great to see him being thrust into the spotlight here on “Unity”. His style is expressive and bold, but he knows his job is to compliment the story that Kindt has set up. Braithwaite beautifully illustrates the opening sequence of the book to show just the massive scale of the war with X-O Manowar and he does a great job at making it appear larger than life.

“Unity” #1 lives up the hype and delivers a strong first issue. Kindt and Braithwaite already have readers on the edge of their seats in anticipation for the impending war between Toyo Harada’s team of misfits and X-O Manowar and you don’t want to miss a minute of this action.

4/5 Skulls

Related Topics:
Advertisement
Click to comment

Comics

‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics

Published

5 days ago

on

April 18, 2024

By

Witchblade cover

Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.

Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.

In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”

The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”

Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”

“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.

Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”

Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.

  • Cover A: Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover B: Giuseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover C: Blank Sketch Cover

  • Cover D (1/10): Dani and Brad Simpson (Full Color)

  • Cover E (1/25): Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto, Virgin Cover (Full Color)

  • Cover F (1/50): J.Scott Campbell (Full Color)

  • Cover G (1/100): Bill Sienkiewicz. (Full Color)

  • Cover H (1/250): Line art by Marc. Virgin Cover, Inks (B/W)

Witchblade #1 will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.

Witchblade comic panel Witchblade #1 cover image

Continue Reading