Valiant Entertainment 2013
Written by James Asmus
Penciled by Diego Bernard
Inked by Glauber Matos & Denis Freitas
Coloured by Andrew Dalhouse & Allen Passalaqua
Lettered by Dave Sharpe
Unity stopped the Armor Hunters, unfortunately killing most of their roster in combat. One Hunter lived to escape, and one was taken captive. The final Armor Hunter, the giant, destructive, flying robot called GIN-GR, voluntarily reformed and joined Unity as a valued team member
The Events of this issue take place before Book of Death.
I’m not sure i’m a fan of a story being retroactively told. More so when it revolves around the Armor Wars since I didn’t particularly care of that story. With that being said I love this book and this team so any chance to see them work together and keep things moving along with their personalities and working relationships is okay by me. More so since the animosity between Ninjak and Gilad we see in Book of Death has some beginnings here.
There’s really nice characterization going on here and I like this as a setup for something to come later kind of like a prologue, since it’s Revenge of the Armor Hunters I guess that fits in perfectly. It has a little of everything though i’m going to be confused if the whole thing takes place before Book of Death i’d like to think that going back like that isn’t necessary and it would be a nice way to keep things moving forward, though the whole Book of Death isn’t even over yet so there’s that.
At the GATE it’s still nice to see that humans, military and science types alike have this all too common attitude that they are in control. You have to realize at some point that no matter how many or what kind of precautionary steps you’ve taken when you hold an alien like the Armor Hunter they are studying there’s going to be a time when it all comes crashing down around your head. Instead of having that healthy respect for him they in their arrogance kind of get what they deserve.
By the same token while Gin-Gr may have voluntarily switched sides and has become a valued member of Unity the same precautions weren’t taken with her either. I love seeing that here and the cause of her new course of action. By the way there’s no mistaking why Ninjak is my favorite Valiant character and seeing him in action in the depths of Gin-Gr only strengthen that for me and make me great appreciate the skills of the artists involved. He really is awesome and even quirky and his quips, actions and just overall presence they give him while lurking about is amazing.
The way this issue ends again is spectacular. James has a great grasp on how to throw curveballs to the reader. I wasn’t expecting things to play out the way they do but it makes complete sense and reaffirms a few beliefs. He also showcases that a team doesn’t have to necessarily like each other or be family to be effective and that take is awesome to see.
There isn’t another team book like this one out there and it’s another reason why Valiant continues to lead the way in innovate and great storytelling.