I wasn’t the biggest fan of this story arc in the beginning. I wouldn’t say that I’m coming around either, but I’m definitely not hating it as much as before. The problem is War Monger or more accurately her abundance of censored swearing. Nothing breaks the flow of dialogue like a bunch of f@&!ing doohickeys and #)(&@’s... you know? I’ve tried to get into War Monger’s character, but I continue to find her annoying in the worst possible way. To use a wrestling term, she has “go away heat.” That’s when a wrestler or their wrestling gimmick, isn’t even fun to hate. You just want them to leave and that’s what she has. There’s good villains, the kind you love to hate and then there’s War Monger. I hope to never see her in a title again.
Another unfortunate thing about this story arc of Unity, is that it’s basically been the same story format and pacing for three issues now. It’s not terrible and really how could it be, it’s Matt Kindt, but it’s painfully obvious. The only switch up is that we’re working our way up to modern times with War Monger’s story. It’s interesting at times, but other times it just feels like a crybaby crying about how hard their not so shitty life is. I mean this is a woman that just loves killing and starting war… why is she pissed when people successfully stop her? Isn’t that the name of the game?
The one saving grave of this issue is the reveal of a bigger plan at play happening behind the scenes. We won’t know what that plan is until next time, but it was enough to ensure I would be back.
As for the art, I love the look of the flashbacks and continue to dislike the modern timeline’s art. I still think that it’s a poor fit for the book and that the two styles differ in skill so much that it breaks the flow of the story by having them weave together. I’m not going to use the tired reviewers excuse of “well it’s better than I can do” because you wouldn’t use that excuse anywhere else. A lumberjack is better at chopping down trees than I am, but if they drop a tree on a house I have the understanding and opinion of their job to know that that isn’t how it should go. I may not be an artist, but I know and understand the difference in style and gap in skills.
I’m hoping there’s a decent ending to this storyline, but I’m pretty sure it’s just going to be War Monger being used again. That’s the thing about her character, she’s so focused on herself and continuing her freedom, that she doesn’t see how she’s been used time and time again all throughout history. Which means she’s here to intentionally start a war only to be dumped in a hole again until needed or just dumped in a hole again. That’s really the only way this pans out since she can’t be killed, not even by Bloodshot, who saved this issue by having amazing facial hair and crazy-ass dialogue.
If you haven’t kept up with this storyline, then I would just wait another issue for a fresh start. Frankly, I was riding high on this series, but this storyline has knocked me back down to earth and made me (to borrow a line from Steve) cautiously optimistic.
Score: 3/5
Unity #21 Writer: Matt Kindt Artists: Jose Luis with Alisson Rodrigues; Jefte Palo Publisher: Valiant Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/12/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital