Unity #5

Matt Kindt - Writer

CAFU - Artist

Clayton Crain - Cover

Colorist - Brian Reeve

Letterer - Dave Sharpe

 

After a knockdown drag out fight with X-O Manowar and Toyo Harada, where could Unity possibly go next? This series keeps changing it’s own status quota, to the point where it seemingly moves a million miles an hour plotwise. Can the book keep a sense of focus as it moves towards a next act? The new tale focuses on two new recruits seeking refuge from Harada and his Harbinger Foundation, who are none other than Livewire and X-0 Manowar who have both been recruited by MI-6. This tale is definitely a departure from the previous issues, as it focuses on a more insular tale regarding something not as integral to the Valiant Universe than X-0 Manowar. It still features enough interesting plot developments that will hook readers in the same way previous installments did. Ninjak has an interesting morality play that opens this tale with a fitting inciting incident. There is also a surprise regarding the team itself that opens this story up to wider possibilities down the road.

 

The quieter scene in the middle of the tale with Gilad, Ninjak, and Aric is still the fitting centerpiece of this installment. Dialogue is extremely well written by Kindt, who has always done right by finding distinctive voices for each of these characters. The main crux of this issue is still not extremely well developed as Kindt has not shown the the good Doctor Webnet has not revealed his main plot. The conundrum that X-0 faces towards the back half continues to show his growth as a character. Gilad and Ninjak are also in different places then when this series began, as this teams seems to have a lot of trouble regarding the act of killing.

 

CAFU is still showing true excellence as a penciller. His faces are dynamic and expressive, yet he still seems to falter in the sequences featuring Livewire. Her face is strangely drawn and appear as awkwardly rounded at times. It is also very simple to tell the heroes and villains apart in this tale by sinister facial lines around their smiles, and stoic poses among speeding bullets are performed. The action flows nicely in this comic, and the lettering helps this title seem like it is not a static comic book. The illusion of movement that this medium is based around is wonderfully captured by the vision of CAFU. The artist is one of the few African American creators working in comic books, readers should be impressed by his work thus far. The vista scenes in the background are also very well detailed, by the amount of carefully placed lines in each scene. The splash toward the beginning of the comic, is a sight to behold as CAFU perfectly captures perspective.

Team Unity is undergoing some swift changes right now. With the vision of CAFU and Kindt, this comic is in great hands going forward. Readers can never expect what is going to happen next with this title, which is one hell of a good thing.