Unity #12 has the team working on public relations as the international community responds in a less than favorable way in the aftermath of the Armor Hunters invasion. It opens up with Livewire discussing with a reporter the recent history of Unity recounting their battle with Aric and then Toyo Harada, and the numerous threats after including the Armor Hunters. She explains that what brought them together was the shared desire to use their abilities to help, and as a result they protect the world. And despite the team being a secret prior to the Armor Hunters, Livewire claims that every member of the team and every mission will be an open book and part of the public record. However when she’s questioned about GIN-GR, considering everyone in Los Angeles had a close up view of the destruction she wrought, Livewire lies to the reporter and states that GIN-GR was dismantled and put into cold storage. She doesn’t inform the reporter that GIN-GR is now basically their new base of operations and she’s alive and well. The international community doesn’t take this claim at face value and some governments secretly agree to investigate this for themselves and plan on taking the necessary steps to uncover the truth. Meanwhile, Ninjak, Gilad and Aric are working on moving all the classified materials into their new base and get acquainted with the surroundings. Tensions could run high if an international incident is sparked so soon after the Armor Hunters invasion but if the truth about GIN-GR is discovered before it’s made public that could be even more disastrous. And if that wasn’t enough, Unity still has to select one more member to join the team among a long list of candidates.

The start of this issue was entertaining despite being a rundown of Unity’s history because of the fact that it was part of a new public relations blitz to establish the new status quo for Unity. I do admit it was somewhat perplexing to see Livewire lie about GIN-GR’s status considering the purported plan to unveil her at some point, at least according to what was stated in Armor Hunters: Aftermath. So even a better constructed scenario could’ve been told to the reporter about GIN-GR being offline and just the body being used in some capacity. Either way it served as one of the points of contention for the governments that would argue the U.S. and British governments were hiding secrets and operating outside of the U.N.. Their concerns would also include the forming of an elite team, i.e. Unity, and amassing alien technology. This would set off an interesting series of events that would involve organizing another elite team to counter Unity, and even though much wasn’t shown about each of these individuals it was still entertaining. There was also the issue of selecting a new member for Unity who would also be good for public relations in addition to being powerful. And the selection was surprising to me but I think there are some potentially interesting situations this can create, and the powers are definitely unique on the team. And so I’m really looking forward to seeing the team in action because the Ninjak and Gilad pairing still doesn’t seem to suit either character extremely well in terms of development. And Livewire is still easily the most impressive. But the stage has been set and the conclusion of this issue has me excited about what lies ahead for the new team.

SUMMARY

Unity #12 begins a new and interesting stage for the team but somewhat rehashes the status quo established in Armor Hunters: Aftermath. Governments from around the world conspiring to counter what they see as an abuse of power on the part of the U.S. and British governments definitely has potential, as does the elite team formed to go against Unity. The build up to introducing the new Unity member was entertaining, and I’m very intrigued about the choice. And I think that will make the team interactions more entertaining. There wasn’t much action since the focus was on story development but I’m looking forward to seeing the team in action next issue in some capacity.

Release Date: 11/12/14

Writer: Matt Kindt

Artist: CAFU with Trevor Hairsine