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Valiant Hero Of The Week: Eternal Warrior, Archer & Armstrong, Livewire, and Doctor Mirage.

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Valiant Hero of the Week

Every Monday for the next few weeks, Valiant Entertainment is running a poll on their Twitter feed to provide fans with some escapism while new comics are in short supply. The poll allows Valiant fans the opportunity to select the Hero Of The Week from four choices – this week, the poll features Eternal Warrior, Archer & Armstrong, Livewire, and Doctor Mirage. That week’s hero will then be the focus of free pdfs featuring the character, videos from Valiant staff, giveaways, and more.

At Graphic Policy, we’re going to be running a spotlight on the winning character all week through various features depending on the character, but at the very least you’ll see our favorite covers and stories.

But Valiant has a lot of great characters, and it’d be a shame to not let you know which stories to read to get to know some of them a little more in case they don’t end up winning the fan vote. This week’s characters are a prime example of this, and the exact reason that we wanted to shine a little light on all four ahead of the week.

Below you’ll find a brief snapshot of the character and a trade paperback or two to check out. For fun, I’ll also note who I think is most likely to win (bear in mind this is being written on Sunday).

Eternal Warrior

Eternal Warrior

Who is he? The immortal guardian of the Earth and it’s Geomancer. Gilad Anni-Padda has lived for thousands upon thousands of years, and has become a master combatant and strategist. He is also, unquestionably, my favourite character in the Valiant universe and easily within my top five comic book characters – needless to say, I’m hoping that he wins the week so I can spend the week writing about the Earth’s Fist and Steel.

What should you read?

Book of Death

Book Of Death

The Valiant heroes. X-O Manowar. Bloodshot. Ninjak. The Harbinger Renegades. Unity. This is how they lived. This is how they died.

Now we know. The Book of the Geomancer has recorded it all. But only a young girl – the last in a line of the enigmatic mystics who protect the Earth known as
Geomancers – has seen this future come to pass, from the coming cataclysm to the dawn of the 41st century. Alone with her sworn protector, the Eternal Warrior – a soldier battle-forged across five thousand years of combat – the duo must defy their allies to stop the Dark Age that now threatens to eclipse our world.

Together, they are the number one target of every hero and villain on Earth. Either the Eternal Warrior hands her over…or they take him down. But can even he single-handedly protect one child when the entire Valiant Universe wages war against him?

This was my introduction to Gilad, and it was also what sold me on the Valiant universe as a whole. Book Of Death is technically a sequel to The Valiant, a book that I’ve recommended already in these weekly columns, and will again if Eternal Warrior wins the week. But you don’t need to read that story to enjoy this. You get an immediate sense of what an absolute monster the Eternal Warrior is very early in the series as he faces down Valiant’s premiere super team, Unity, entirely alone. That Book Of Death leads directly into Wrath Of The Eternal Warrior, easily one of my favourite Valiant stories (are you sensing a theme with this?) and there’s no question in my mind that this is the place to start if you want to read about the Eternal Warrior

Purchase: Amazon – Kindle – comiXology – TFAW

Archer & Armstrong

Archer & Armstrong

Who are they? Yes, they. Archer is a young man trained from birth by a secret religious sect in every possible form of combat to take down the devil incarnate. Armstrong is, according to the religious sect who trained Archer, the devil incarnate because of his hedonistic lifestyle that has carried on for millennia. Yes, Armstrong is immortal. Yes, he’s partied his way through history. But is he really the devil incarnate? Depends who you ask, I guess.

What should you read?

The Michelangelo Code

Archer & Armstrong

It’s history in the breaking!

After years of meditation and training, 18-year-old Obadiah Archer has been dispatched to New York City to carry out the sacred mission of his family’s sect – locate and kill the fun-loving, hard-drinking immortal known as Armstrong! But as this naive teenage assassin stalks his prey, he’ll soon find that both hunter and hunted are just pawns in a centuries-old conspiracy that stretches from the catacombs beneath Wall Street to the heights of the Himalayas. And Archer & Armstrong will have to work together if the future is to stand any chance of surviving the past’s greatest threat!

It has been a long time since I read the 2012 volume of this series, but even still it still sticks with me. For that reason, Archer And Armstrong: The Michelangelo Code is the story that you should be reading. Not only is it a great story, it’s also only $10 or so (recommended retail price), and is one of the best places to get to know the characters.

Purchase: Amazon – Kindle – comiXology – TFAW

Livewire

Livewire

Who is she? A psiot who can talk to technology, Livewire has always been a complicated person. Right now her position in the Valiant Universe is tenuous at best after the events of Harbinger Wars II, where the world at large views her as a domestic terrorist. A former pupil of Toyo Harada, Livewire is one of the more powerful characters in the Valiant Universe because of the access to data that her powers provide. The character has been involved in some pretty interesting stories over the years – some far better than others, but the below is one of the very best you’ll see her in.

What should you read?

Secret Weapons.

Secret Weapons

The government has dispatched Amanda McKee – the technopath codenamed Livewire – to investigate the ruins of a secret facility formerly run by Toyo Harada, the most powerful telepath on Earth and her former mentor. In his quest for world betterment at any cost, Harada sought out and activated many potential psiots like himself. Those who survived, but whose powers he deemed to have no value to his cause, were hidden away at this installation. But Livewire, having studied Harada’s greatest strengths and learned his deepest weaknesses, senses opportunity where he once saw failure. A young girl who can talk to birds… A boy who can make inanimate objects gently glow… To others, these are expensive disappointments. But, to Livewire, they are secret weapons…in need of a leader. Now, as a mechanized killer called Rex-O seeks to draw them out, Livewire and her new team of cadets will be forced to put their powers into action…in ways they never could have imagined…

This isn’t strictly a Livewire story, but it does focus on a group of outcasts with utterly useless powers that Livewire gathers together for their protection because they’re being hunted by a psiot killer. This one of the best stories to come from Valiant, and is worth checking out whenever you get a chance.

Purchase: Amazon – Kindle – comiXology

Doctor Mirage

Doctor Mirage

Who is she? Shan Fong. A woman who can communicate with the dead, including her late husband Hwen (who is the Doctor Mirage from the original Valiant run that began in the 90’s). She is also a former reality television star and a woman versed in magic. If there’s a supernatural threat, then Doctor Mirage is going to be the first person that the general public turn to.

What should you read?

The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage

The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage

Doctor Mirage talks to the dead…but the only spirit Shan Fong can’t find is that of her late husband, Hwen. Instead, America’s favorite semi-retired paranormal investigator is haunted and raw, using her gift to solve homicides and bring peace to the recently bereaved. But when a big-time occultist with a classified military past hires her for a special job, Shan discovers a lead that might close the greatest mystery she’s ever tackled – how to get Hwen back. Now, Doctor Mirage must enter the undiscovered country and cross all the realms of the underworld, if she has any hope of rescuing the man she loves…or be forever lost beyond the earthly plane.

I copied the above directly from Valiant’s website because I couldn’t remember much about the book other than I really enjoyed the story, which is great because this also happens to be a great place to pick up the character’s story.

Purchase: Amazon – Kindle – comiXology – TFAW

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Valiant Hero Of The Week: It’s Ninjak vs. Batman, Daredevil, Wolverine, and Captain America!

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Valiant Hero of the Week

Every Monday for the next few weeks, Valiant Entertainment is running a poll on their Twitter feed to provide fans with some escapism while new comics are in short supply. The poll allows Valiant fans the opportunity to select the Hero Of The Week from four choices – this past week, the poll featured Ninjak, Faith, Roku and Ivar, Timewalker. That week’s hero will then be the focus of free pdfs featuring the character, videos from Valiant staff, giveaways and more.

Faith won the poll this week, which was presented as who would be most likely to win a karaoke contest. I totally understand why Faith won the poll, but I was a little disappointed that I’ll have to wait for a little to showcase Ninjak. Depending on when this goes live you’ve probably seen at the very least Graphic Policy’s favorite Faith covers, and you can still expect to see our recommendations of the best stories featuring Faith. Just because I was looking forward to (and hoping for) a week to feature Ninjak doesn’t mean I will ignore Faith.

But I really wanted to explore how Ninjak would fare against Batman, Wolverine, and various other comic book characters who fall roughly within his skill and power level. So I decided to throw in a little bonus this week for fans of Valiant’s purple loving ninja.

But who is Ninjak?

A blend of Batman and James Bond. Colin King is at the peak of human conditioning, both physical and mental, has access to near limitless financial resources. Ninjak is a mercenary, also works on contract for MI6 as a high tech ninja operative. If you’re looking for something familiar from Valiant, then you’d think that Ninjak would scratch the Batman itch, but unlike Batman, Ninjak has no problem using his weapons to their full deadly potential. The similarities between Batman and Ninjak are obvious at first glance; both are highly trained billionaires who live in massive houses with highly specialized equipment, both are very intelligent men who have been highly trained in various forms of martial arts. Both wear masks that don’t completely cover their face.

I’m not going to list Ninjak’s equipment, skills or anything. You can find that here if you want to look (just scroll to the bottom of the page unless you want to read a full biography). Suffice it to say, Ninjak is every bit as capable a fighter as you can expect to find.

Ninjak

But the real question (or questions) that we’re all looking forward to answering are whether Ninjak could defeat…

Batman

I was going to leave this until the end, but this is what I wanted to explore most with this article/list/whatever you want to call it.

Could Ninjak concevably beat Batman in a random encounter fight? I think that he could, for a lot of the reasons outlined above regarding their similarity – depending on whether the writer decided to follow the Bat-god formula where Batman can beat anybody with a half hour’s preparation, or if it is the version of Batman we’ve seen lately in Scott Snyder, Tom King, and James Tynon IV’s respective runs of the character.

If we’re looking at that version of Batman, then yes. I absolutely believe Ninjak could beat Batman. Here’s why:

Both Batman and Ninjak are very similar. For all intents and purposes Ninjak is Valiant’s version of Batman, or as close as the publisher is likely to get. They’re both expert martial artists and weapon masters with a vast arsenal of technology at their disposal, and both like to be prepared. So when you pit them against each other, the only major difference is that Ninjak has no problem killing his enemies. His tech is designed to make him more lethal, whereas Batman is fundamentally opposed to killing. If all is equal between the two, Batman’s refusal to take a life could be all the advantage Ninjak needs. It would be a long, close fight, but I think that Batman walking into somebody equally as skilled as he is with no compunction not to kill and no chance to plan ahead would ultimately prove too much for the Dark Knight. We’ve seen it before with The Batman Who Laughs, and we’d see it again with Ninjak and his swords.

I realize the argument is essentially boiling down to the fact Batman won’t kill, but sometimes it can be the smallest things that decide a fight, and if Batman is unprepared, then Ninjak wins the first fight. But Batman would win the rematch(es).

Daredevil

Really, the only advantage Daredevil has is that he will always know where Ninjak is coming from… but does that mean he could actually stop him? Daredevil has fought hundreds of Hand ninjas in his life, but Ninjak is more than a Hand ninja. For one thing, he’d mow through Marvel’s cannon fodder, but he also utilizes more technology than the Hand would conceive of. Another close fight, but I can’t see Daredevil being able to beat Ninjak, though I think it would be a hard fought battle.

I think it would be a far more brutal fight than Batman vs Ninjak, and there will be a period where Daredevil has Ninjak off balance while tries to use various visual tricks (smoke bombs) that will have no impact on the Marvel hero. Eventually, however, Daredevil’s lack of armour in his costume will play a big role in his defeat; you can’t avoid Ninjak’s blades forever.

Wolverine

Here’s the thing with Ninjak fighting Wolverine; it isn’t that Ninjak couldn’t get the upper hand, I just don’t think he could keep it long enough to actually win. Wolverine’s fighting skill is often over looked in the comics, because he’s an unstoppable savage when fighting; he doesn’t need to use all his skill most fights he gets into because of his healing factor. And when part of your fighting style is to soak damage with your healing factor while also being a highly trained fighter, it leaves Ninjak a little out of his depth. But this would be a fantastic fight to watch, nonetheless.

If it wasn’t for Wolverine’s healing factor, then I’d probably be more inclined to give the nod to Ninjak. At least the fight would be closer to a toss up at that point, but as it is, there’s no way he could beat Logan in a random encounter.

Captain America

The only way I honestly see Ninjak coming away victorious in this battle is if Captain America is distracted by something he can’t control, enabling Ninjak to land an incapacitating blow. Otherwise, Cap’s stamina and strength coupled with his fighting skills are going to be too much for Ninjak to overcome. I see this being a long, drawn out fight that’s more likely to end with a ceasefire than an outright victory, but Ninjak will be hard pressed to gain the upper hand.

You may argue that Batman has beaten Captain America before, and therefore should be able to beat Ninjak. But if that A beats B so can beat C logic is followed, then Wolverine should be able to defeated Superman because he beat Lobo (and we all know that’d never happen). Batman was able to take advantage of Cap’s momentary loss of focus when they confronted each other (in Marvel Verses DC), and it’d be the same set of circumstances that I see Ninjak needing to win over the super soldier.

This was a Marvel heavy list, but it also made more sense to me to list off folks that Ninjak is more likely to come across. I was going to include Deathstroke, but the reason I think Ninjak would lose is almost the same as why I think Wolverine would win (likewise for Deadpool). If Valiant run another poll featuring Ninjak, I expect there’ll be another version of this, but if you want more Ninjak then you can check out the Ninjak Vs The Valiant Universe webseries on Youtube.

Alternatively, you can check out the first volume of the 2015 series, Weaponeer at the links below.

Purchase: Amazon (Hardcover) – Amazon (Paperback) – Kindle – comiXology – Bookshop – TFAW

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Valiant Hero Of The Week: Faith

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Every Monday for the next few weeks, Valiant Entertainment is running a poll on Twitter to provide fans with some escapism while new comics are in short supply. The poll allows Valiant fans the opportunity to select the “Hero Of The Week” from four choices. That week’s hero will then be the focus of free pdfs featuring the character, videos from Valiant staff, giveaways, and more. This week, the poll featured Faith, Ninjak, Roku, and Ivar, Timewalker.

This week’s winner was…

Faith

Who is she? Faith is the kind of character that you could meet at a convention and shoot the shit with. She’s a nerd that loves comics, DND, fantasy books and movies, and who just happens to be a young superhero by the name of Zephyr. But then since everybody seems to know Zephyr’s real name, Faith has a secret identity that is based entirely off what she thinks a hero should do in their off hours. Because Clark Kent is a reporter, Faith begins working at a newspaper an online gossip magazine because newspaper circulation is notoriously low these days.

When you’re reading a book with Faith, it’s very easy to see yourself in her. She’s a comic book fan who’s also a superhero. She has a history with the Harbinger Foundation (which you can read about in Harbinger), but it doesn’t define who she is; Faith is a happy, bubbly person who is more concerned with doing what’s right than she is almost anything else.

She’s the purest hero in the Valiant Universe.

What should you read?

Faith: Hollywood And Vine

Orphaned at a young age, Faith Herbert – a psionically gifted “psiot” discovered by the Harbinger Foundation – has always aspired to greatness. But now this once-ordinary teenager is taking control of her destiny and becoming the hard-hitting hero she’s always known she can be – complete with a mild-mannered secret identity, unsuspecting colleagues, and a day job as a reporter that routinely throws her into harm’s way! Well, at least she thought it would… When she’s not typing up listicles about cat videos, Faith makes a secret transformation to patrol the night as the City of Angels’ own leading superhero – the sky-soaring Zephyr!

Hollywood And Vine was actually my first introduction to Faith, and I quickly fell in love with the comic and the character. There’s a fantastic moment in the third issue of the series that finds Faith in a literal and metaphorical closet as trouble closes in around her. What she does, or doesn’t do next is one of the most interesting and fist bumpingly awesome moments I’ve read in awhile. This book starts Jody Houser’s run on the character, and it’s a really good run.

Purchase: Amazon – Kindle – comiXology – Bookshop

Faith: California Scheming

In a city under siege by robots, aliens, monsters, and even worse… celebrities, there is only one woman the people of Los Angeles can count on: the stratospheric superhero called Faith! Aspiring reporter by day and dedicated crime-fighter by night, Faith has tackled every obstacle in her path with confidence – like those crushing deadlines at work, the long-distance boyfriend half a world away, and the missing back issues that plague her comics collection! But, unbeknownst to her, Faith is about to collide with the one force she never saw coming: an up-and-coming super-villain bent on snuffing her out once and for all! But who is lurking behind the mask of her new foe…and could they just be the one person capable of rendering Faith powerless?

After the magic of the miniseries, which you can read about above if you haven’t (though why you’d skip to a different heading, I’m not sure), Valiant began an ongoing series staring the character with the creative team in tact. This is another solid introduction to the character, but it doesn’t quite capture the magic of the first volume (in fairness, it was never going to be as good in my eyes because of the third issue of the mini), but it comes very close. This is a great follow up to Hollywood And Vine, and one I have no hesitation in recommending.

Purchase: Amazon – Kindle – comiXology – Bookshop

Faith And The Future Force

Faith “Zephyr” Herbert – former member of Unity, current Harbinger Renegade, and Los Angeles’ #1 superhero – is the universe’s last, best chance at survival! Centuries from today, a devious artificial intelligence has unleashed a blistering attack on the very foundations of time…one that is unwriting history from beginning to end! Now, with her options exhausted, Neela Sethi, Timewalker – the self-appointed protector of what is and will be – has returned to the 21st century to recruit Earth’s greatest champions of today and tomorrow to oppose this existential threat…and she needs Faith to lead them! But why Faith? And why now?

I’m a sucker for time travel stories. I’ll make no apologies for that. So when this came along with Faith and a really well crafted four issue miniseries that takes moments from the classic Bill Murray flick Groundhog Day and strains them through a superhero filter. It would be fun enough on its own, but when you add Faith’s nerd cred to the story, the entire thing becomes what can only be described as organized chaos. It’s a really fun yarn, and introduces you to Neela Sethi and Ank if you haven’t read Ivar, Timewalker already as the pair try and stop a universe ending threat dozens of times…

Purchase: Amazon – Kindle – comiXology – Bookshop

It’s worth noting that you can get Deluxe Editions of many of these stories that collect what amounts to three trades in a hardcover. They are comparatively better valued, but present a higher initial cost (based on standard retail pricing not including sales and discounts). They’re my personal preference.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site.

Our Favorite Faith Covers

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The super team Faith gets the spotlight this week as the winner of Valiant‘s “Hero of the Week. Fans chose the team over Ninjak, Roku, and Ivar, Timewalker, and we (well, me) thought it would be a great chance to highlight some of our favorite covers featuring the character. All of these covers will be post the 2012 relaunch of Valiant and are shown in no particular order.

The below covers are some of the most striking, iconic or just plain cool images featuring Faith.

Sound off on your favorite covers below!

Valiant Hero Of The Week: Ninjak, Faith, Roku and Ivar, Timewalker

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Every Monday for the next few weeks, Valiant Entertainment is running a poll on their Twitter feed to provide fans with some escapism while new comics are in short supply. The poll allows Valiant fans the opportunity to select the Hero Of The Week from four choices – this week, the poll features Ninjak, Faith, Roku and Ivar, Timewalker. That week’s hero will then be the focus of free pdfs featuring the character, videos from Valiant staff, giveaways and more.

At Graphic Policy, we’re going to be running a spotlight on the winning character all week through various features depending on the character, but at the very least you’ll see our favorite covers and stories.

But Valiant has a lot of great characters, and it’d be a shame to not let you know which stories to read to get to know some of them a little more in case they don’t end up winning the fan vote. This week’s characters are a prime example of this, and the exact reason that we wanted to shine a little light on all four ahead of the week.

Below you’ll find a brief snapshot of the character and a trade paperback or two to check out. For fun, I’ll also note who I think is most likely to win (bear in mind this is being written on Sunday).

Ninjak

Who is he? A blend of Batman and James Bond. Colin King is at the peak of human conditioning, both physical and mental, has access to near limitless financial resources, and also works on contract for MI6 as a high tech ninja operative. If you’re looking for something familiar from Valiant, then you’d think that Ninjak would scratch the Batman itch, but unlike Batman, Ninjak has no problem using his weapons to their full deadly potential. Although Ninjak has yet to feature in a movie, he was the star of Ninjak Vs. The Valiant Universe, a webseries produced by Bat In The Sun that you can probably find on Youtube now. My money would be on Ninjak taking the week.

What should you read? Ninjak: Weaponeer. This collection covers the first five issues of Ninjak’s Valiant Entertainment relaunch, and is written by Matt Kindt and features Clay Mann, Butch Guice, and Juan Jose Ryp‘s artistic talents. This is where you’ll want to go for your introduction to the character, despite his first appearance coming in an issue of X-O Manowar a couple of years prior. We’re (re)introduced to Colin King and discover how he became Ninjak in flashbacks that twin with the present as King hunts down the Shadow Seven. It’s a spy thriller in the vein of James Bond, but starring a character who is closer to Batman than most other agents.

Purchase: Amazon (Hardcover) – Amazon (Paperback) – Kindle – comiXology – Bookshop – TFAW

Faith

Who is she? Valiant’s resident comic book fan who develops super powers, Faith Herbert is all of us in some form or another. Her alter ego, Summer, is based entirely on what Faith thinks a superhero should be. She uses the codename Zephyr as a superhero, which means that Faith is trying her best to be who she things she should be, rather than who she is – which all comes to a head in a certain scene in Holywood and Vine. For a time, Faith was being pushed as Valiant’s Next Big Thing, and I totally understand that, but unfortunately she didn’t resonate as well with readers as she perhaps could have.

What should you read? Faith: Hollywood and Vine is the character’s debut miniseries, and has one of my all-time favorite scenes in the book. Jody Houser takes every comic trope regarding secret identities you can think of and the laughs. It’s the single thing I keep thinking about when rereading this book, and her act makes me question other heroes who won’t do the same.

Despite Faith featuring in the utterly phenomenal Harbinger series, it is her solo miniseries that really propels the character forward – and it doesn’t hurt that the story is really cool.

Purchase: Amazon – Kindle – comiXology – Bookshop

Roku

Who is she? One of Ninjak’s rogues gallery, Roku is an assassin with the ability to control her steel-like hair. A former MI:6 agent, she has a deep history with Ninjak that she barely remembers.

What should you read? Honestly, the best thing you can read actually prominently features Ninjak because up until Roku had her own miniseries, she was used as a villain in the Ninjak series. That miniseries… well it was okay, but it isn’t one I’d recommend as the best thing to read featuring the character, so instead check out Ninjak: Weaponeer. Yes, that’s the same book I mentioned above, but because Roku isn’t the protagonist, her story isn’t the focal point of the series, so if you want to at least enjoy what you’re reading of her, it helps to understand the story itself.

Purchase: Amazon (Hardcover) – Amazon (Paperback) – Kindle – comiXology – Bookshop – TFAW

Ivar, Timewalker

Who is he? The older brother of the immortals Armstrong and Eternal Warrior, or Aram and Gilad Anni-Padda, Ivar is an incredibly intelligent man who has the ability to hop through time portals from one era to the next. Ivar reminds me of Doctor Who in someways, done only as Valiant can. Ivar’s time travelling can mean he visits his brothers every couple of jumps, which could easily mean a good couple hundred years between sights of Ivar if you’re Gilad or Aram. It’s a fun aspect to the brother’s relationship that’s played well in the below series.

What should you read? Ivar, Timewalker: Making History is the only real series that features Ivar with anything more than a cameo or featured appearance. It also happens to be one of my favorite comic book stories from Valiant or any publisher. It’s definitely the best time-traveling comic I’ve read, in part because you can start with any of the three volumes and still get a fantastic story so long as you read in consecutive order. Whether you’re reading 1, 2, 3, or 3,1,2 you’re in for an absolutely fantastic piece of comic book storytelling.

Purchase: Amazon – Kindle – comiXology – Bookshop – TFAW

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Valiant Hero Of The Week: Unity Vs. the X-Men

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The super team Unity gets the spotlight this week as the winner of Valiant‘s “Hero of the Week. Fans chose the team over KI:6, Psi-Lords and Secret Weapons, and because the twenty five issue Unity series works best as a companion to X-O Manowar, its ability to stand alone as a great read is questionable. There are fantastic moments, and some great single issues, but my experience when reading the series was muddled and confusing because I read from #1-25 without ever having touched an issue of X-O Manowar, Ninjak and Harbinger. So instead of looking at different books, I thought it would be fun to see whether Valiant’s best could beat various other super teams in a brawl.

A couple things to remember before we start;

  • This is all for fun.
  • Characters will all be from the main universe. No Elseworlds, What Ifs, etc.
  • I’m basing this off what characters would do, not what they could do. Yeah, Superman could literally rip Ninjak in half. But would he? Not unless he’s dark and evil, and that’s just not Superman.
  • I’ll be sticking with one roster of the team, which will be either one of the classic rosters or the most well known (for example, don’t be surprised to see the Guardians of the Galaxy movie team or the X-Men from Giant Size X-Men #1. This way I’m not pitting every single Avenger against Unity in one brawl.
  • We’re going to assume that the battle is entirely unexpected, in a city neighborhood neither team is entirely familiar with.

Unity Roster

Top: X-O Manowar, Gin-GR
Bottom from left: Eternal Warrior, Ninjak, Livewire

The Eternal Warrior – an immortal weapons master and tactician with enhanced strength, stamina, durability and reflexes.
Livewire – able to “talk” to and control machines. Any machine or technology is her plaything, regardless of how sophisticated the technology is.
Ninjak – a ninja who has embraced technology. A man born to wealthy British parents who worked for MI:6 before dying, he was also raised by his butler. Who wasn’t as kind or loving as Alfred. Ninjak is well trained as Batman with similar resources, but has no compunctions about the use of deadly force.
X-O Manowar – a man wearing a sentient suit of armour that grants him incredible power. Flight, strength, speed, stamina, energy projection, limited invulnerability and an intuitive adaptability are great tools to have in any weapon, but the man wearing the armour is also a highly skilled combatant in his own right.
Gin-GR – a fifty foot sentient robot that is as friendly as she is deadly, and with her nucleor level destructive power… she’s pretty damn friendly.

X-Men Roster

I went back and forth on which roster to use for this, and ended up going with the group from the X-Men: The Animated Series because I’ve been watching that far too much lately, and that’s a pretty balanced line up of mutants that doesn’t include every mutant you could possibly think of.

For those of you who have never seen the cartoon, or don’t recall the line up, expect to see Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Beast, Jean Grey and Jubilee. Is this the best line up of X-Men to go against Unity? Maybe, maybe not, but there’s enough of the core experienced X-Men here to be effective.

The Battle

If the two groups came upon each other out of the blue with each convinced they were facing off with villains, the way I see the fight playing out is as follows;

Unity are out numbered 2-1, so I see Valiant’s heroes attacking hard and fast. Their willingness to use ruthless force will help them in the initial exchange, so I see X-O Manowar attacking first, with Rogue rising to the challenge of stopping the armoured warrior. Gambit would try to provide back up, but would soon be too busy trying to fend off the Eternal Warrior.

Wolverine’s natural aversion to ninjas would likely see him charge Ninjak, who could distract the Canadian for some time with the various bombs and shurikens he has on him. Whether X-O Manowar could peel himself away from Rogue long enough to send a few blasts Wolverine’s way, or if Eternal Warrior can dispatch Gambit quickly before assisting Ninjak would be interesting things to see. If nothing else, I’d love to see Eternal Warrior verses Wolverine.

Given Gin-GR’s size and similarity to a Sentinel, I would expect to see most of the X-Men concentrate fire on her. Depending on how fast Gin-GR decides to use her full capacity, this likely wouldn’t end well for the X-Men as the robot would be able to incapacitate

Which leaves Livewire, who should be focusing on Jean Grey while she’s distracted with Gin-GR. If Livewire can incapacitate Phoenix, then the battle will swing in Unity’s favour. If not? I think that’s when you’d seen Gin-GR start to really show the X-Men what she can do.

Result: Unity Wins

For this line up of Unity to win this battle, it really depends on which X-Men they come across, and how quickly they can take the mutants down. I’m probably thinking of the line up more along the lines of how they react in the animated series than in any modern comics simply because of the hours and hours I’ve spent with that version of the team. While I have no doubt Unity could beat that version of the team, if you throw in a few more X-Men, or maybe take a look at a different roster then I’m sure the result could be different. Of course, this is purely one person just sat at a keyboard imagining how the fight would play out – if this ever happened in comics, then the story would dictate the result (or the contract).

Agree? Disagree? Sound off in the comments below!

Valiant Hero Of The Week: Unity Vs. the Justice League

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The super team Unity gets the spotlight this week as the winner of Valiant‘s “Hero of the Week. Fans chose the team over KI:6, Psi-Lords and Secret Weapons, and because the twenty five issue Unity series works best as a companion to X-O Manowar, its ability to stand alone as a great read is questionable. There are fantastic moments, and some great single issues, but my experience when reading the series was muddled and confusing because I read from #1-25 without ever having touched an issue of X-O Manowar, Ninjak and Harbinger. So instead of looking at different books, I thought it would be fun to see whether Valiant’s best could beat various other super teams in a brawl.

A couple things to remember before we start;

  • This is all for fun.
  • Characters will all be from the main universe. No Elseworlds, What Ifs, etc.
  • I’m basing this off what characters would do, not what they could do. Yeah, Superman could literally rip Ninjak in half. But would he? Not unless he’s dark and evil, and that’s just not Superman.
  • I’ll be sticking with one roster of the team, which will be either one of the classic rosters or the most well known (for example, don’t be surprised to see the Guardians of the Galaxy movie team or the X-Men from Giant Size X-Men #1. This way I’m not pitting every single Avenger against Unity in one brawl.
  • We’re going to assume that the battle is entirely unexpected, in a city neighborhood neither team is entirely familiar with.

Unity Roster

Top: X-O Manowway
Bottom from left: Eternal Warrior, Ninjak, Livewire, Toyo Harada

The Eternal Warrior – an immortal weapons master and tactician with enhanced strength, stamina, durability and reflexes.
Livewire – able to “talk” to and control machines.
Ninjak – a ninja who has embraced technology.
X-O Manowar – a man wearing a sentient suit of armour that grants him incredible power.
Toyo Harada – telekinetic, telepath, ruthless. Toyo is hero to some, villain to many. A complicated man who will do anything for his utopian – including waging war on the world.

I’m going to use the line up of heroes you see in the first volume of Unity, because without Toyo Harada I feel like Unity wouldn’t be able to stand against the Justice league’s speed and power.

Justice League Roster

Aquaman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Superman and Wonder Woman. These heroes are who I most associate with the Justice League, and I’d venture would be who most people would name to the team (give or take Cyborg depending on how old you may be), so that’s who I’ll use for this.

The Battle

If the two groups came upon each other out of the blue with each convinced they were facing off with villains, the way I see the fight playing out is as follows;

While Batman and Ninjak give us some spectacular fighting skills in the dark, Batman’s aversion to killing will give Ninjak the advantage as Valiant’s purple loving weapons master isn’t afraid to employ lethal force. It wouldn’t be a short fight, but Batman’s tendency to avoid the killing blow will cost him.

I also picture Wonder Woman facing off with Gilad, and while he puts up a solid fight, her strength would prove too much for the Eternal Warrior, whose best hope is for a stalemate – but it’s a stalemate that would take a long time.

Assuming X-O Manowar throws himself at Superman, that still leaves Aquaman and Green Lantern unoccupied for the Justice League and Livewire for Unity. While she would be a match for one of them (or both if Cyborg was invlolved so she could override his technology), I can’t see her prevailing over both.

However, with Toyo Harada involved… the real question is whether or not the Flash can incapacitate him before Toyo realizes how dangerous the speedster is. There’s precedent in the comics for Harada reacting at incredible speeds to shield himself from devastating attacks, but is the Flash faster than Toyo Harada’s mind? If it’s Barry Allen, probably not. but could Flash be fast enough the render the psiot unconscious? I think it’s more likely than not.

Result: Justice League are victorious. Probably

My first thoughts on this fight was that Unity stood no chance against the Justice League because you have two men who can move at super speed. No matter how good a fighter you are, it is very tough to take down somebody moving faster than the speed of sound. But when I switched out Gin-GR for Toyo Harada (they weren’t on the team at the same time) then things got more interesting. If anything, I think that the fight would come down to Harada facing off against the Flash. If Flash can stop Harada, then I see the Justice League walking away victorious. If he can’t? I see Harada being the last man standing (until the Eternal Warrior gets back up again) after an intense battle. It all depends on just how fast Flash is…

Agree? Disagree? Sound off in the comments below!

Valiant Hero Of The Week: Unity Vs. the Avengers

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The super team Unity gets the spotlight this week as the winner of Valiant‘s “Hero of the Week. Fans chose the team over KI:6, Psi-Lords and Secret Weapons, and because the twenty five issue Unity series works best as a companion to X-O Manowar, its ability to stand alone as a great read is questionable. There are fantastic moments, and some great single issues, but my experience when reading the series was muddled and confusing because I read from #1-25 without ever having touched an issue of X-O Manowar, Ninjak and Harbinger. So instead of looking at different books, I thought it would be fun to see whether Valiant’s best could beat various other super teams in a brawl.

A couple things to remember before we start;

  • This is all for fun.
  • Characters will all be from the main universe. No Elseworlds, What Ifs, etc.
  • I’m basing this off what characters would do, not what they could do. Yeah, Superman could literally rip Ninjak in half. But would he? Not unless he’s dark and evil, and that’s just not Superman.
  • I’ll be sticking with one roster of the team, which will be either one of the classic rosters or the most well known (for example, don’t be surprised to see the Guardians of the Galaxy movie team or the X-Men from Giant Size X-Men #1. This way I’m not pitting every single Avenger against Unity in one brawl.
  • We’re going to assume that the battle is entirely unexpected, in a city neighborhood neither team is entirely familiar with.

Unity Roster

From left to right: Eternal Warrior, X-O Manowar, Gin-GR, Ninjak and Livewire

The Eternal Warrior – an immortal weapons master and tactician with enhanced strength, stamina, durability and reflexes.
Livewire – able to “talk” to and control machines.
Ninjak – a ninja who has embraced technology.
X-O Manowar – a man wearing a sentient suit of armour that grants him incredible power.
Gin-Gr – a fifty foot robot. She’s also Unity’s headquarters.

I’m going to use the line up of heroes you most commonly see in the series below. Partly because I think that if I included Toyo Harada then the fight would be over before it began, and that’s no fun.

Avengers Roster

Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye. I’m going with the main MCU line up because that’s arguably the most recognizable group of Avengers right now.

The Battle

If the two groups came upon each other out of the blue with each convinced they were facing off with villains, the way I see the fight playing out is as follows;

Livewire takes control of the Iron Man armour, which would not only completely neutralize Iron Man, but could also cause problems for the Avengers as a whole. Would she use the armour to distract the Hulk? Or would she leave the Hulk to Gin-Gr? It isn’t like Gin-GR would be unable to stop the Hulk on her own, which would let Livewire use the armour to focus on Hawkeye and Black Widow. While she’s distracting them, I see Ninjak incapacitating them relatively easily.

Eternal Warrior faces off against Captain America, in what would be a fantastic fight to witness, and I can see ending in a stalemate if it wasn’t for the Eternal Warrior’s ability to completely ignore pain, and the thousands of years of combat experience he has. I just can’t see Captain America winning, but I don’t see him going down easily, either. If this fight doesn’t end in a lot of mutual respect between the two, I’d be surprised, but the immortal would eventually outlast and overpower the super soldier.

Which leaves us with Thor and X-O Manowar. Both are incredibly powerful, but where Thor’s power comes from his godhood and Mjolnir, X-O comes from a time when Thor was worshiped, and is a man in a sentient suit of armour. X-O’s armour allows him to do a great many things, but being able to beat the God of Thunder? I don’t see that happening. It’d be a close fight, but after the first clash, Thor would be left facing Livewire (and Iron Man), Ninjak, most of Gin-GR and a slightly weakened Eternal Warrior.

At this point, depending on how the story is written, you’d either see Thor take the Avengers and retreat, or put up one hell of a fight before finally being overwhelmed, leaving a bit less of Gin-GR (she can survive without a body), and the Eternal Warrior still standing.

Result: Unity wins (barely)

Of all the super-teams that I can see Unity going up against, this was actually the one I kept flip flopping on the most. Given Gin-GR’s capabilities, I kept thinking of a more powerful version of the Destroyer when matching her up against the Marvel heroes. I can’t see any of the Avengers being able to beat her whilst also dealing with the rest of Unity if they come across each other without knowing anything about their opponents. Of course, depending on which line up of Avengers Unity face, the outcome could – and probably would – be very different.

Agree? Disagree? Sound off in the comments below!

Our Favorite Modern Unity Covers

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The super team Unity gets the spotlight this week as the winner of Valiant‘s “Hero of the Week. Fans chose the team over KI:6, Psi-Lords and Secret Weapons, and we (well, me) thought it would be a great chance to highlight some of our favorite covers featuring the character. All of these covers will be post the 2012 relaunch of Valiant and are shown in no particular order.

The below covers are some of the most striking, iconic or just plain cool images from the Unity series.

Sound off on your favorite covers below!

Valiant Hero Of The Week: Secret Weapons, Psi-Lords, KI:6 and Unity

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Valiant Hero of the Week

Every Monday for the next few weeks, Valiant Entertainment is running a poll on their Twitter feed to provide fans with some escapism while new comics are in short supply. The poll allows Valiant fans the opportunity to select the Hero Of The Week from four choices – this week, the poll features teams for the first time; Secret Weapons, Psi-Lords, KI:6 and Unity. That week’s hero will then be the focus of free pdfs featuring the character, videos from Valiant staff, giveaways and more.

At Graphic Policy, we’re going to be running a spotlight on the winning character all week through various features depending on the character, but at the very least you’ll see our favorite covers and stories.

But Valiant has a lot of great characters, and it’d be a shame to not let you know which stories to read to get to know some of them a little more in case they don’t end up winning the fan vote. This week’s characters are a prime example of this, and the exact reason that we wanted to shine a little light on all four ahead of the week.

Below you’ll find a brief snapshot of the character and a trade paperback to check out, including the blurb from Valiant’s website. For fun, I’ll also note who I think is most likely to win (bear in mind this is being written on Sunday).

Secret Weapons

Who are they? A group of desperate psiots with pretty useless powers who are brought together by Livewire because they have nobody and nothing else.

What should you read? Secret Weapons

The government has dispatched Amanda McKee – the technopath codenamed Livewire – to investigate the ruins of a secret facility formerly run by Toyo Harada, the most powerful telepath on Earth and her former mentor. In his quest for world betterment at any cost, Harada sought out and activated many potential psiots like himself. Those who survived, but whose powers he deemed to have no value to his cause, were hidden away at this installation. But Livewire, having studied Harada’s greatest strengths and learned his deepest weaknesses, senses opportunity where he once saw failure. A young girl who can talk to birds… A boy who can make inanimate objects gently glow… To others, these are expensive disappointments. But, to Livewire, they are secret weapons…in need of a leader. Now, as a mechanized killer called Rex-O seeks to draw them out, Livewire and her new team of cadets will be forced to put their powers into action…in ways they never could have imagined…

What should you read? This one of the best stories to come from Valiant, and is worth checking out whenever you get a chance. There’s a lot of powerful statements about self belief, racism and the abuse of power.

Purchase: Amazon – Kindle – comiXology

Psi-Lords

Who are they? Four humans awake in outer space with no memory and discover that they have incredible power. And that they’re also prisoners.

What should you read? Psi-Lords #1-8

Who are the cosmic beings known only as the Psi-Lords? And how will they change the course of the Universe in this brand-new ongoing series?

Four astronauts awake in an otherworldly prison with no memory of how they got there! What is their connection to the Psi-Lords? And how will they escape?

Fred Van Lente is crafting a lively sci-fi mystery, and Renato Guedes’ art is (literally) out of this world.

This is the story of how they lost their humanity.

It’s the only thing you can read, currently, so by default it’s your only choice. The art is utterly phenomenal, but you’ll need to track the floppies.

Purchase: Amazon – Kindle – comiXology

KI: 6

Who are they? A group of ex MI6 operatives and graduates of the Ninja Programme, the ninjas have been thrust together because of circumstances out of their control. See

What should you read? Killers

Five deadly assassins are recruited into a game of cat and mouse by their former sensei, the mysterious Jonin.
Trained to channel their “ki” to perform superhuman feats in the shadow wars between the secret agencies of the world, these agents of death will team up to compete for the ultimate prize…life itself.
Brought together to find the secret of immortality, these lethal weapons will have to face a murderous gauntlet and each other in order to win what they desire most.

Purchase: Amazon – Kindle – comiXology

Unity

Who is they? Valiant’s premier super team comprised of some of the most powerful and effective operatives and heroes you’ll ever meet. And a fifty foot robot.

What should you read?

Book Of Death

The Valiant heroes. X-O Manowar. Bloodshot. Ninjak. The Harbinger Renegades. Unity. This is how they lived. This is how they died.

Now we know. The Book of the Geomancer has recorded it all. But only a young girl – the last in a line of the enigmatic mystics who protect the Earth known as
Geomancers – has seen this future come to pass, from the coming cataclysm to the dawn of the 41st century. Alone with her sworn protector, the Eternal Warrior – a soldier battle-forged across five thousand years of combat – the duo must defy their allies to stop the Dark Age that now threatens to eclipse our world.

Together, they are the number one target of every hero and villain on Earth. Either the Eternal Warrior hands her over…or they take him down. But can even he single-handedly protect one child when the entire Valiant Universe wages war against him?

This was my introduction to Gilad Anni Padda and the Unity team. It was also what sold me on the Valiant universe as a whole. Book Of Death is technically a sequel to The Valiant, a book that I’ve recommended already in these weekly columns, and will again, I’m sure. But you don’t need to read that story to enjoy this. You get an immediate sense of what an absolute monster the Eternal Warrior is very early in the series, as well as the team’s fractious relationship with each other. This is a great story in general, and one that should be on your reading list.

Purchase: Amazon – Kindle – comiXology – TFAW

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