Armor Hunters Review: Unity #9 by Matt Kindt and Stephen Segovia from Valiant

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UNITY_009_COVER_SUAYAN

Review:  Unity #9

Published by Valiant Entertainment

Written by Matt Kindt

Art by Stephen Segovia

Coloured by Brian Reber

The Plot

At the M.E.R.O. headquarters, Livewire is going over some recent events that suggest she may be “infected” by the X-O armor.  The person she is talking to is there as a safeguard as she will attempt to learn about her status.  Over in London, the beasts are attacking and laying waste to everything in sight.  Meanwhile Alcott is trying to figure out their options for helping Ninjak and Gilad (the Eternal Warrior) while determining that all communications have been disrupted by the beasts.  Flashback to Ireland, 1380, and Gilad is fighting against a banshee and her minions.  Back to the present and Ninjak is trying to discuss a plan of action with him.  Gilad recalls how he dispatched of the banshee and how that may be useful in dealing with the beasts.  There is a bit of banter and then Gilad suddenly leaps into action followed by a slightly annoyed Ninjak.  Ninjak saves a small boy from one of the beasts and afterwards is able to take care of it.  Gilad is then able to dispense of the other two beasts with Ninjak’s assistance.  Back at M.E.R.O., it is revealed that Livewire has been speaking with Bloodshot who is ready to make the tough call if necessary.  She also reveals some information to Bloodshot about himself.  On the surface, Capshaw sees Lilt and some beasts approaching, which prompts her to allow Bloodshot full access to the armory.

The Breakdown

This was a pretty solid issue that handles some of the storylines from Armor Hunters #2.  The parts with Livewire were good and they help to further illustrate how much her entire world has changed recently.  Everything that she has worked for and believed in was a complete lie.  I liked how an earlier statement by Silk may actually reinforce what is happening with her.  Her concern for everything is genuine, which is shown by using Bloodshot as her safeguard.  She was one of the more interesting supporting characters in Harbinger so I’m glad that she gets some good screen time over in this title.  As for Bloodshot, I’m starting to get anxious to see him get involved in the fight.  I like how the team-ups, match-ups, and crossovers with different characters are still so fresh with the Valiant characters.  I liked how the flashbacks with Ninjak and Gilad were intercut with their recent battles.  Both of them are warriors, which is why they play so well off of one another.  They may have their disagreements, but there is a common respect between them.  With all of the damage caused by the Armor Hunters so far, I’m really starting to wonder what the repercussions will be after it’s all over.  I like how Ninjak flies into action no matter who he is facing.  The page teasing the next issue has a confrontation that I’m really looking forward to.  There were some panels that I liked in this issue and the action scenes with Ninjak were well executed.  Reber’s colours were very good as usual.  Overall it was a solid issue.

BUT…

There were some panels that I really didn’t care for such as the ones with Alcott’s daughter.  Well I’m glad with Livewire’s outcome, I was a bit like “oh okay.”  I didn’t know her fate would be revealed when it was and I almost read over it.  At the same time, I’m glad that it didn’t drag on either.  One small gripe that I had was how the cover didn’t accurately depict what happened in this issue.

Buy It, Borrow It, Shelf Read It, or Ignore It?

Buy It.  My interest in this series has been up and down, but I enjoyed this month’s issue and I’ll give it another shot after Armor Hunters concludes.  I like how Valiant structures their events because it’s evident that there’s some actual planning with them.  This title complements the main event title and it contains some interesting subplots from it as well.  The parts with Ninjak, Livewire, etc. are not part of the main action and it’s good to see that they’re given the appropriate space to be explored in this title.  This issue actually made me more interested in picking up the other complementary titles.  With a lot of events that I’ve read fairly recently, these titles are really hit or miss (mostly miss).  However, with some good planning, I think that the entire Armor Hunters story will be effectively told so I’m going to check them all out.  This issue provided a satisfactory conclusion to a couple subplots from Armor Hunters and it introduced a couple more that I’m looking forward to seeing getting resolved.  It’s also getting me more interested in Bloodshot so that’s also a win for me.  Valiant is continuing to show how good they are at doing events.

I have been both an avid and casual comic reader over the years (depending on the quality of books). I have been reading Comics Nexus even prior to it becoming Comics Nexus and am glad to be a columnist. In addition, feel free to leave comments whether you agree or disagree because it always leads to discussions.