In the last issue of Unity, Livewire dropped GIN-GR only to find that the living robot ship reacted by releasing hundreds of smaller drones. Now, they are spreading out over Los Angeles, ready to use existing technology to rebuild themselves, and there are too many for Livewire to keep under control. Having narrowly defeated the Armor Hunters hounds, Ninjak and the Eternal Warrior are faced with stopping the drones before they destroy the city.
One of the enjoyable aspects of Unity has been seeing Livewire’s character develop. Here, Kindt shows her as someone who, even in the middle of battle, feels a sense of wonder when contacting new technology, particularly living technology. She knows the drones are dangerous; she also admires them. Meanwhile, Gilad and Ninjak continue their uneasy partnership; even in the middle of world-threatening danger, Ninjak is not going to take orders from anyone, and their partnership relies as much on Gilad’s patience as it does on their fighting skills. It is an unusual dynamic: Gilad is not so much angered as exasperated by Ninjak’s charge-ahead style. There is also a cheerful montage of Ninjak’s past training as he acquires unique technology and travels to find unique poisons. It is one way to introduce new readers to Ninjak’s past, but is oddly upbeat given the overall tone of the book. It does show why he is not much of a team player: His entire life is based on “one and only” concepts.
Segovia creates a wide variety of drones for this battle, giving them far more individual personality than the word “drone” would normally imply. It fully justifies Livewire’s wonder at their array. There are some style shifts for Ninjak’s past and areas where, presumably, one of the guest artists moved in. They are not particularly jarring as they match with changes of scene and tone, but one does notice them. The main pages are beautiful with Segovia taking every chance to show off Ninjak’s athleticism.
Unity #11 sets the scene for what looks like a much grander confrontation at the end of the fight, so even people who have not been following the Unity side of the Armor Hunters saga may want to pick this one up.
Writer: Matt Kindt
Artist: Stephen Segovia
Guest Artists: Pere Perez, Brian Hurtt, Brian Level, Raul Allen, Joe Eisma, Ryan Lee
Colorist: Allen Passalaqua
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Cover Artists: Raul Allen, CAFU, Diego Bernard
I remember when this issue had a summary on Valiant’s main site, and how it was hastily removed, due to said summary talking about ‘Livewire’s stunning sacrifice last issue’, implying that she possibly dies. People were really pissed about that potential massive spoiler. Thankfully for Livewire fans such as I, she doesn’t die…Err, as far as I know, anyway.
Yes, I read that description and thought “Wait! Did I miss an issue? How did that happen!”