To kill a king…he has created an army. The world’s most dangerous man, Toyo Harada, has been struck by the one thing he never thought possible – fear. Halfway across the globe, a new power threatens to topple modern civilization and, to preempt the cataclysm that is to come, Harada will unite the most unforgiving team the world has ever known – UNITY. Their mission: defeat the threat responsible for the destruction of MI-6, the decimation of an alien world, and the occupation of Eastern Europe… Unseat the warrior king armed with the universe’s most powerful weapon… Kill X-O Manowar!

The anticipation has been building and hype pumping it up, but Unity #1 from Valiant has hit the shelves this week bringing us a top-notch action adventure from a solid creative team. The comic lives up to the hype delivering a solid first issue that catches up new readers and continues everything the comic book publisher has been building towards.

With a nod to comics past, this new series helps bring together the various characters and series that inhabit the Valiant universe, something that’s been slowly occurring over the past year with events such as Harbinger Wars. But, to bring together such a team of super powered beings, you need a solid threat and we’ve found it in X-O Manowar who has returned to Earth with the descendents of his people and conquered a European nation.

What’s solid about it all is it seems organic and the plotlines and characters naturally dovetailing with each other. Harada’s motivation and how he goes about the process makes perfect sense and is presented in the logical reasoning we’d expect from the character. Who he enlists and how he goes about it flows effortlessly. Nothing feels forced or out-of-place here, and that’s in part due to the talents of writer Matt Kindt who acknowledges what’s come before, but also creates a first issue that’s accessible to new readers.

Kindt is backed up by the artistic talents of Doug Braithwaite who handles action and quieter scenes with ease and excellence. The two together have produced a fantastic first issue that does the impossible and lives up to the hype and anticipation.

If you’re a long time Valiant fan you’ll be excited for this, and if you’ve wondered what you’ve been missing, this is a perfect issue to start with.

Story: Matt Kindt Art: Doug Braithwaite
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant Entertainment provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review