Préparant les nouvelles séries H.A.R.D. Corps, Ninjak et Eternal Warrior pour cet été, l’éditeur Valiant a dévoilé une nouvelle image promotionnelle intitulée Unity dans sa parution spécial FCBD*.
Unity est le nom des deux plus importants crossovers qu’a connu l’univers Valiant:
Le premier (en 27 chapitres) s’intéressait à la rencontre entre les héros du présent (1992) et du 41ème siècle pour empêcher la Mère Déesse de réécrire l’histoire pour restaurer son monde. Le scénariste (et créateur de Valiant) Jim Shooter quittait Valiant peu de temps après, entrainant la fin des séries publiées.
Il ne faudra attendre qu’un an avant le retour d’un univers parallèle Valiant dirigé par Fabian Nicieza. Et c’est seulement en 1999 que Jim Shooter fera son grand retour avec le second crossover Unity 2000 qui devait restaurer l’univers d’origine en les fusionnant avec le second. Mais le crossover, accusant l’état du marché de l’époque, est annulé au bout de trois numéros.
[quote] After the Harbinger Wars. Returned from Planet Death. Things get worse (and of course more connected) for the Valiant Universe.
Unity, a title that means a lot to old school Valiant fans, has been teased for several months now, but not as much as it is right here. In two new images by J.G. Jones and Clayton Crain, we see people from all over the Valiant Universe, all together in one image. What on Earth could bring Toyo Harada, Livewire, Eternal Warrior, and Ninjak together, and why do they look so pissed off at X-O Manowar? All Valiant said in the accompanying email text was this simple tease:
L’éditeur Valiant en dévoile un peu plus sur le projet Unity de novembre. Il ne s’agit pas d’un crossover mais d’une nouvelle série régulière qui voit Toyo Harada, chef de la fondation Harbinger, faire appel à Livewire, Ninjak et le Guerrier Éternel pour prévenir la Terre d’une nouvelle guerre nucléaire initiée par X-O Manowar. Lui et son armée de Visigoths tentent de prendre, par la force, ce qu’ils estiment leur revenir de droit; la Roumanie, ex-terre d’Acie.
C’est le prolifique scénariste Matt Kindt (Bloodshot #0) et le dessinateur Doug Braithwaite (Storm Dogs) qui se chargeront de cette série évènement sur la première équipe de l’univers Valiant.
Pour marquer le coup, l’éditeur annonce une politique « 100% remboursé » si les lecteurs ne sont pas satisfait de l’histoire.
[quote]UNITY #1
Written by MATT KINDT
Art & Cover by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Pullbox Exclusive Variants by BRYAN HITCH, J.G. JONES, TRAVEL FOREMAN, PAOLO RIVERA and CLAYTON CRAIN
Variant Cover by by NEAL ADAMS
$3.99/T+/32 pgs.
UNITY is the single biggest thing that Valiant has thrown its weight behind since the launch of the company with X-O Manowar #1," said Valiant CEO and Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani. "If you’ve heard the buzz about Valiant, if you’ve seen the incredible reviews, but have yet to try one of our titles, UNITY #1 is the perfect starting point. Matt Kindt and Doug Braithwaite are crafting an incredibly daring, action-packed epic from page one. UNITY is the very definition of can’t miss comics.
ON SALE 11/13/13 (FOC - 10/21/13)[/quote]
[quote]UNITY #1
Written by MATT KINDT
Art & Cover by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Pullbox Exclusive Variants by BRYAN HITCH, J.G. JONES, TRAVEL FOREMAN, PAOLO RIVERA and CLAYTON CRAIN
8-Bit Evolution Variant by DONOVAN SANTIAGO
Valiant Signature Series Variant by BART SEARS
Variant Cover by NEAL ADAMS
B&W Sketch Variant by NEAL ADAMS
Blank Variant also available
Team USA Luge Variant also available
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 lethal, most volatile, most unforgiving team the world has ever known – UNITY. Their mission: defeat the warrior king armed with the universe’s most powerful weapon. Kill X-O Manowar!
Be here when New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (Justice League of America, Mind MGMT) and superstar artist Doug Braithwaite (Justice, Journey into Mystery) launch Valiant’s first-ever superteam into the landmark comic book event of the year with an all-new ongoing series in UNITY #1, featuring covers by a murderer’s row of comics juggernauts – Doug Braithwaite, JG Jones, Bryan Hitch, Paolo Rivera, Clayton Crain, Travel Foreman, and Neal Adams!
You’ve heard the buzz, you’ve seen the reviews. If you still haven’t jumped onto Valiant Comics, the time is now! This November, UNITY is the perfect entry point for new readers.
$3.99/T+/32 pgs.
ON SALE NOVEMBER 13th![/quote]
[quote]UNITY #2
Written by MATT KINDT
Art & Cover by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Variant Cover by TRAVEL FOREMAN
Variant Cover by CARY NORD
Broken but not beaten…
Unity has to put down X-O Manowar and avert nuclear war. But Harada’s super-team lasted a grand total of five minutes last issue before they were taken out. Time for Unity 2.0…but how do you get a cast of malcontents, egotists, immortal warriors, and manipulative backstabbers to work together? The answer? You don’t tell them they’re working together.
$3.99/T+/32 pgs.
ON SALE DECEMBER 11th![/quote]
[quote]Unity #1
Story by Matt Kindt
Art by Doug Braithwaite
Cover by Doug Braithwaite
Publisher Valiant Entertainment
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date Wed, November 13th, 2013
EXCLUSIVE: Valiant’s « Unity » #1 Sells 68,500 Copies, Execs Talk Numbers
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!
You’ve heard the buzz. You’ve seen the reviews. On November 13th, start reading here to discover the most acclaimed universe in comics. UNITY #1 is the perfect entry point for new readers![/quote]
[quote=« Matt Kindt »] I think the thing that distinguishes it from the other stuff is the characters. Honestly, that’s the way to do it. You don’t want to just have a Justice League clone. The beauty of the Valiant universe is that the characters are so different. They’re different from each other, but they’re different from everything else in mainstream comics, as far as superheroes go. Getting those characters together, those personalities driving the stories, I think that’s what makes it different.
I don’t think I had to do too much different in my approach; it’s more trying to be true to these characters who have all these unique voices. X-O’s kind of a barbarian. Ninjak’s kind of a superspy jerk. [Laughs] Forcing them together to do this thing ends up being fun, and it inherently is going to be different, because those characters are so different.[/quote]
[quote=« Matt Kindt »]It’s tough. I honestly think that when I was a kid, terrorism was sort of a vague notion. An easy bad guy. I re-watched Back to the Future with my daughter last week and the big threat to Doc at the beginning (and end) was « Iranian terrorists » which at the time had no meaning for me really. But now it’s such a concrete palpable part of our every day lives that it has to be treated differently.
At the same time, it’s a comic book, so I’ll figure out how to handle it in a way that’s fun, horrible, sad, and hopefully still make you look at things in a different way. Honestly, I don’t think as a writer the idea of « terrorism » or « terrorists » is an interesting topic to write about. But, what’s interesting is writing about A terrorist. Take it to an individual level and make the characters, heroes and villains both as interesting as possible.[/quote]
[quote]Unity #3
Story by Matt Kindt
Art by Doug Braithwaite
Cover by Doug Braithwaite, J.G. Jones, Shane Davis
Publisher Valiant Entertainment
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date Wed, January 15th, 2014
Valiant is proud to present an advance look at Unity #3 by the best-selling creative team of Matt Kindt and Doug Braithwaite! Enter: Livewire! The next blockbuster chapter of Valiant’s chart-topping, fan favorite new series slams into overdrive as Valiant’s machine-wielding heroine takes command of the X-O Manowar armor!
On an airtight team of stone-cold soldiers, Amanda McKee is the one variable in the equation that equals absolute kill. Now, as the last woman standing against the unstoppable force known as X-O Manowar, the Harbinger Foundation’s most seasoned technopath has just added one new item to her resume – newest bearer of the X-O Manowar armor and the finger behind the trigger of the universe’s most powerful weapon. Watch out world…this means trouble.[/quote]
[quote]Unity #5
Story by Matt Kindt
Art by CAFU
Cover by Clayton Crain, Mico Suayan, Philip Tan
Publisher Valiant Entertainment
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date Wed, March 12th, 2014
Valiant is proud to present an advance preview of Unity #5 – the FIRST ISSUE of an all-new adventure for Valiant’s elite all-star superteam! Start reading here on March 12th as New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (Mind MGMT) and Valiant exclusive superstar CAFU (Action Comics) unleash a vicious new vision of Ninjak’s ultimate enemy in « Trapped by Webnet » – a new three-part story arc and a perfect standalone jumping-on point for one of the year’s best-selling, breakout new series debuts!
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. First came UNITY… Now meet WEBNET! Coming off of the earth-shattering repercussions of their first mission, Ninjak is leading the newly formed Unity team right back into the trenches to face the Valiant Universe’s next colossal threat – the enigmatic Dr. Silk and his high-tech terror cell: WEBNET! With the fate of untold millions on the line, can this team of cutthroat heroes uncover Silk’s endgame – and his deadly connection to Ninjak’s shadowed past?[/quote]
[quote] UNITY #4
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Cover by CLAYTON CRAIN
Variant Cover by RILEY ROSSMO
Variant Cover by CLAYTON HENRY
UNITY divided!
Here comes heavyweight showdown you’ve been waiting for! As Harada’s secret machinations come to light, the newly minted UNITY team will be faced with a choice that will change this team forever – and the Valiant Universe along with it. Get ready for a world-shaking battle royale as the final installment of UNITY’s first adventure pits X-O Manowar and Toyo Harada against the most dangerous battalion ever united – and each other.
$3.99/T+/32 pgs.
ON SALE FEBRUARY 19th![/quote]
[quote]UNITY #6
Written by: Robert Venditti.
Art by: CAFU.
Covers by: Clayton Crain, Raul Allen, Michael Walsh, CAFU.
Description: Unity is anything but unified as the team fractures and must start from scratch. But they’d better hurry because a new threat is looming…and Ninjak must tackle a viral epidemic that has been lying in wait for generations. A sickness is spreading across the land and only the doctor has the cure… Dr. Silk!
Pages: 32.
Price: $3.99.
In stores: April 9. [/quote]
[quote] UNITY #7
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by CAFU
Covers by TREVOR HAIRSINE and RAUL ALLEN
Variant Cover by DAVE BULLOCK
The final deathtrap of Dr. Silk!
Ninjak’s ultimate enemy has drawn his web tight around X-O Manowar and the rest of Valiant’s unbreakable all-star superteam…and now they’re about to find out how the globe’s most brilliantly depraved mind doles out revenge. “Trapped by Webnet” cuts to an action-packed conclusion…and no one will escape Dr. Silk’s grasp unscathed!
$3.99/T+/32 pgs.
ON SALE MAY 21st![/quote]
[quote]Unity #8
Story by Matt Kindt
Art by Stephen Segovia
Cover by Mico Suayan, Clayton Crain, Trevor Hairsine
Publisher Valiant Entertainment
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date Wed, June 18th, 2014
ARMOR HUNTERS descends on Valiant’s all-star superteam in an all-new story arc from New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (Mind MGMT) and red-hot artist Stephen Segovia (Superior Carnage)!
When an ultra-powerful threat from deep space begins brutalizing Earth, humanity’s first response is – who else? – the fearless team of heroes, soldiers, and short fuses called Unity! Now it’s down to Ninjak, Eternal Warrior and Livewire – plus some special surprise recruits – to lead the assault on the ARMOR HUNTERS’ frontline…even if they die trying![/quote]
[quote]Unity #9
Story by Matt Kindt
Art by Stephen Segovia
Cover by Mico Suayan, Stephen Segovia
Publisher Valiant Entertainment
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date Wed, July 16th, 2014
Time to bring in…Bloodshot!
The unrelenting forces of the Armor Hunters have wreaked havoc on planet Earth, leaving terror and destruction in their wake. Now, our last, best chance at standing against the calculating wrath of the Hunters comes in the form of Unity – Livewire, Ninjak, Eternal Warrior, and their latest recruit…BLOODSHOT?! But can they stop these galactic intruders before they capture X-O Manowar and destroy the Earth?[/quote]
[quote]Unity #10
Story by Matt Kindt
Art by Stephen Segovia
Colors by Matt Milla
Letters by Dave Sharpe
Cover by Mico Suayan, Russell Dauterman, Donovan Santiago, Diego Bernard
Publisher Valiant Entertainment
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date Wed, August 13th, 2014
In battle with the Armor Hunters!
Mankind is locked in a life or death struggle against the alien Armor Hunters, and the fate of civilization itself now lies with the unlikely team of short-tempered walking weapons called Unity! Can X-O Manowar give Ninjak, Livewire, and the Eternal Warrior enough of an edge to stop the galaxy’s most feared team of hunter-killers before more die? There’s no quarter asked and none given as Valiant’s all-star superteam goes on the offensive![/quote]
