Unity Saga

Unity Saga #1-4

by Bob Layton, Jim Shooter, Don Perlin (Illustrator)

Valiant Unity Saga Volumes 1-4 Trade Paperbacks w/ Slipcase

This deluxe slipcased edition of the Valiant Unity Saga collects the Valiant Unity Saga trade paperbacks volumes 1 thru 4.

The slipcase contains:
Unity Saga Volume 1 Trade Paperback
Writers: Bob Layton Sr., Jim Shooter, & Roger Stern
Artists: Ernie Colón, John Dixon, Bob Layton Sr., & Barry Windsor-Smith
Inkers: Ernie Colón, John Dixon, & Bob Layton Sr.
Colorists: Knob Row, Paul Autio, Mark Csaszar, Maurice Fontenot, Jorge González, & Janet Jackson
Letterers: Scott Friedlander, Ken Lopez, Jade Moede, & George Roberts Jr.
Editors: Bob Layton Sr., Don Perlin, & Jim Shooter
Cover by: Barry Windsor-Smith

Features a cover gallery.

Collects:
Archer & Armstrong (1992) Issue #1
Eternal Warrior (1992) Issue #1
Magnus Robot Fighter (1991) Issue #15
Unity (1992) Issue #0

Publication Date: July 1994
Format: FC, 112 pages, TPB, 6.5" x 10"
ISBN: None stated
***
Unity Saga Volume 2 Trade Paperback

Writers: Bob Layton Sr., David Michelinie, Faye Perozich, & Jim Shooter
Artists: David Lapham, Mike Leeke, Don Perlin, Joe St. Pierre. & Sal Velluto
Inkers: Kathryn Bolinger, Stan Drake, Gonzalo Mayo, & Thomas Ryder,
Colorists: Knob Row, Maria Beccari, Mike Cavallaro, David Chlystek, Mark Csaszar, Maurice Fontenot, & Jorge González
Letterers: Joe Albelo, Ken Lopez, Jade Moede, & George Roberts Jr.
Editors: Bob Layton Sr., Don Perlin, & Jim Shooter
Cover by: Frank Miller

Collects:
Harbinger (1992) Issue #8
Rai (1992) Issue #6
Shadowman (1992) Issue #4
Solar, Man of the Atom (1991) Issue #12
X-O Manowar (1992) Issue #7

Publication Date: August 1994
Format: FC, 112 pages, TPB, 6.5" x 10"
ISBN: None stated
***
Unity Saga Volume 3 Trade Paperback

Writers: Jim Shooter, Barry Windsor-Smith, Roger L. Stern, & Bob Layton Sr.
Artists: Barry Windsor-Smith, John Dixon, Ernie Colón, Howard Simpson, Peter Grau, Joe St. Pierre, & Mike Leeke
Inkers: Bob Layton Sr., John Dixon, Kevin VanHook, Ernie Colón, Kathryn Bolinger, & Thomas Ryder
Colorists: Mark Csaszar, Maurice Fontenot, Jorge González, Janet Jackson, David Chlystek, Carol VanHook, Ernie Colón, Paul Autio, & Jade Moede
Letterers: Joe Albelo, Jade Moede, Scott Friedlander, George Roberts Jr., & Ken Lopez
Editors: Bob Layton Sr., Don Perlin, & Jim Shooter
Cover by: Walter Simonson

Collects:
Archer & Armstrong (1992) Issue #2
Eternal Warrior (1992) Issue #2
Magnus Robot Fighter (1991) Issue#16
Rai (1992) Issue #7
X-O Manowar (1992) Issue #8

Publication Date: September 1994
Format: FC, 112 pages, TPB, 6.5" x 10"
ISBN: None stated
***
Unity Saga Volume 4 Trade Paperback
Writers: Jim Shooter,& Bob Layton Sr.
Artists: David Lapham, Sean Chen, Don Perlin, & Barry Windsor-Smith
Inkers: Gonzalo Mayo, Ralph Reese, Paul Autio, Stan Drake, Bob Layton Sr., & Barry Windsor-Smith
Colorists: Paul Autio, David Chlystek, Maurice Fontenot, Jorge González, Janet Jackson, Carol VanHook, Mike Cavallaro, Mark Csaszar, & Knob Row
Letterers: Jade Moede, George Roberts Jr., Eric Lusk, Joe Albelo, & Rob Johnson
Editors: Don Perlin, Bob Layton Sr., Kevin VanHook, & Barry Windsor-Smith
Cover by: Barry Windsor-Smith

Features Unity Timeline & a cover gallery.

Collects:
Harbinger (1992) #9
Rai Companion (1993) #1
Shadowman (1992) #5
Solar, Man of the Atom (1991) #13
Unity (1992) #1

Publication Date: October 1994
Format: FC, 96 pages, TPB, 6.5" x 10"
ISBN: None stated

Genres: Comics

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Tom Ewing · Rating 2 out of 5]

I admit it, I have a fascination with the logistics of comics crossovers - how to pull off a line wide event in a satisfying way. It’s fascinating to me because these things have dictated the rhythm of mainstream US comics for as long as I’ve been reading them but they’re outrageously difficult to do well. So everyone complains about them but they also still handily outsell the average comic.

Unity had a reputation for being one of the good ones, something probably helped by it being unavailable since the late 90s. It’s certainly one of the tightest - the idea seems to be that all of the 8 titles involved follow their own titular characters through the story and we get the overall picture from the patchwork that results. This means a strict timeline and a *lot* of repeated scenes as characters meet up regularly - we see some things, like the initial attack on the villain’s base, 5 or 6 times.

It’s a technically impressive solution to crossover management which also makes for a very irritating read. The kaleidoscope storytelling means no individual moments have the weight they should, and we have 18 issues to cover a very basic plot. The only character who can actually make any difference to the story is Solar (since this is all the resolution of the main plot from his comic). So the narrative of Unity involves Solar getting taken off the board quickly, and everyone else fannying about until they realise they can rescue him, which they do in time to end the crossover.

As a way of showcasing Valiant’s characters it’s a mixed bag. A lot of the bigger names get shunted to the side and there’s more focus on the then newest titles - the entertaining Archer & Armstrong and the dour Eternal Warrior. The event is mostly an advert for a shared universe as a good in itself, which was Valiant’s big appeal - a comics world you could get in on early.

But Unity is also the climax of Jim Shooter’s big story about omnipotence he’d been telling in Solar. And if Solar was Star Brand done right, Unity is aiming to be Secret Wars done right (or not). All the heroes are taken to a patchwork world for a big fight. They form and unform alliances and end up trying to stop an omnipotent villain, but the villain can only really be halted by their own psychological flaws.

In Unity, those psychological flaws might say more about the creator than the character. Again and again in Jim Shooter’s work we see men struggle with omnipotence: it’s kinda his thing. Erica Pierce, antagonist of Unity, is the only example I can recall of Shooter writing a woman with cosmic powers. It doesn’t go well. While Shooter’s men make terrible mistakes, they move past them to master their abilities and deal with their issues. Pierce is introduced as a caricature - the stern career woman hiding a loveless, unhappy home life - and gets worse as Shooter puts her through the wringer, becoming a vengeful shrew who is angry (2000 years later) at Solar’s sexually rejecting her. And that’s even before we get to her incestuous relationship with her misogynist son! Between Solar and Unity, Pierce switches from an embittered but intelligent antagonist to a deranged, vain monster, and it’s very hard to read her and not think that there are some deeper issues being worked through here at the reader’s expense.

[Rodrigo González · Rating 4 out of 5]

Possibly, the best crossover ever and one of the most enjoyable sagas in comics history. Valiant was (is) the best unified comics universe and Unity is the living proof of that!

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the pedestal that all inter company crossovers should be held to, and always the level they all fail to rise to.

[Abu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing crossover, way ahead of its time, great characters written extremely well with soul and feelings.

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read, if for no other reason that it shows the Valiant Comics universe at its peak. There's a sort of irony that, in a storyline called "Unity", the various Valiant characters spend most of it separated and doing their own things. Still, there are some interesting character arcs in here. I have one structural nitpick... what was an advantage when these comics were individual issues - the duplication of key scenes, allowing you to read each comic as a standalone story - makes for a very repetitive read as a collection. Another side effect is that there's a lot of jumping back and forth chronologically. (Oh, and the main villain, Mothergod, is a very messed-up character.) (B)