Unity #6 Review

Unity #6 is an amazing show of restraint, not only for writer Matt Kindt but, also for one of it’s main characters, X-O Manowar, in the face of immense pressure of Dr. Silk’s spreading army. While not as action packed as most of the series is it still worth picking up?

Official description from VALIANT:
Drawn into the WEBNET! Unity is anything but unified as the team fractures and must start from scratch. But they’d better hurry because a new threat is looming… and Ninjak must tackle a viral epidemic that has been lying in wait for generations. A sickness is spreading across the land and only the doctor has the cure… Dr. Silk!

Unity #6 could have been a #0 issue and only in the best sense. This issue Kindt brings us all the behind-the-scenes schemes, intelligence and history of the bizarre and demented Dr. Silk. It’s not what I was expecting and Kindt’s use of the “villain reveals all” monologue is played for effectiveness and even a little bit of self-effacing of such a tactic. The issue focuses on the capture of Livewire and all the cards being laid on the table. X-O Manowar, Ninjak and Gilad all play roles in attempting her rescue but at each and every turn, due to Aric’s initial assault that results in hundreds of innocent casualties, his hand is stayed in the face of further conflicts.

That frustration is felt throughout the issue as everyone seems to be holding back in a series that up to this point has been all out war! This is used to a positive effect as that’s where the story lies and Kindt makes us suffer the second guessing and confusion of all the players involved. Normally, that would be a bad sign of a bad issue but Unity manages it well for a better emotional grasps of the indecisions of war.

CAFU is on board for art duties this issue and does an amazing amount with the small spurts of action and the rest is quite nicely illustrated for what is mostly exposition and the details of Dr. Silk’s big plan. Cafu shows off a classic action splash with Aric, Ninjak and Gilad bursting from underground and it’s so good that you really wish this issue had more of that story but all-in-all a beautiful drawn book.

Kindt excels with the story and the heart of his writing lies the big overall plan Dr. Silk has laid out. While the technique is old hat the story line is not. Kindt has delved into space alien microbe based virus and, a first for me, a visual virus that coincide with one another for the full effect. The rest of Dr. Silk’s origin is a literally a head trip. Between preserving his original body, mind swapping, uploading and downloading human consciousness is a heady read. It’s also the main reason that the issues succeeds in using mostly a villain’s monologue to pull it off. The complexity of Dr. Silk’s plan all motivated by the simplest of reasons, love, makes for a great mix.

Unity #6 is a keeper and the series as a whole has been outstanding. Valiant develops a deeply entwined universe and Unity is the story that brings all the major story lines together in one title. This is more than just a good team book, it’s a universe’s great story book. Kindt has created a rich, vibrant story that comic book fans would be crazy not to jump on!