"The Union," by Paul Grist and Andrea Di Vito Deserved More Attention

"The Union," was a fun comic by Paul Grist and Andrea Di Vito that received almost no attention. This was odd as Grist is a popular writer and artist. He has done some fantastic less-than-mainstream work, with this mini being a relatively rare example of work for either of, "The big two." Focused on a team of heroes from the United Kingdom dealing with Brexit as well as the latest huge Marvel event, it was solicited at first to tie in with, "Empyre," but a lot of tie-ins for that were derailed by the comic distribution shutdown COVID-19 caused. It was seemingly canceled, but then came back with a solicitation linking it up with Marvel's big, "King in Black," event. The earlier issues heavily utilized, "King in Black," but then the comic went off to tell its own interesting tale.

Focused on an assemblage of known, lesser-known, and (I think) outright new heroes from the UK, we watched as the latest Union Jack struggled to keep a team together through death, destruction, and messy politics. It was a lovely read and considering the talent involved (again, Grist is great and Di Vito is a fantastic artist too), it was odd how little an impact, "The Union," made. Perhaps the fact it started as a tie-in to an event that was pretty mediocre sunk it? I don't know as you honestly could read, "The Union," and skip, "King in Black," as long as you have a general understanding it involves an evil Symbiote God who wants to destroy Earth with darkness caused by symbiote goo.

My favorite twist is how one seemingly main character--and the heart of the team--Britannia, is killed in the first issue by the invading symbiotes and then the rest of the series examines the fallout of what it means when the person who is also a symbol that stands for everything you love about your country is suddenly gone. That sounds very dark and dreary, but, "The Union," works in a lot of humor as well (I loved the Corgi). It is just a great read and you should check, "The Union," out regardless of your interest in, "King in Black," or Marvel in general as stands out nicely as just a stellar little mini-series.

5 out of 5 stars.

The More, "Heroes Reborn," Comics Marvel Announces, The Less Excited I Am

 

Last month Marvel announced a mini-event titled, "Heroes Reborn." It imagines a world where the Avengers never formed along with other heroes starting-up and instead the Squadron Supreme is running the show along with other interesting new versions of familiar characters. I thought it was basically an arc of, "Avengers," or a standalone mini-series. I was wrong as Marvel keeps announcing various one-shots and tie-ins As this, "Mini," event becomes more of a big full-fledged, "Event," I just find myself losing interest in buying any of it. 

Massive events sometimes are cool but can be a waste of money too. I've been following a number of comics that tie-in with, "King in Black," because I have soft spot for Venom/symbiote stories and it's been alright, but I'm glad I am being a little picky in which books I spent money on with that mega-event. I do like a good alternate-Universe tale, with Flashpoint being an event I didn't know I would absolutely love as much as I did back in 2011 or so, and when Jonathan Hickman did, "Secret Wars," and its numerous tie-ins, that was pretty cool. I also plan to read a chunk of DC's current, "Future State," when some issues I ordered thanks to a good discount arrive.

Still, I saved money on both those events by getting the countless tie-in comics from dollar bins or reading trade paperback collections from the library. I wasn't in a rush to read these massive events that tweaked the World in cool ways but had way too many tie-in books. Other, recent events, I have basically avoided and just read the tie-in comics that I was already reading. I didn't follow, "Empyre," at all besides in the X-Men comics I was getting that touched-upon that event--to give one example.

"Heroes Reborn," could be a lot of fun, but I don't want to spend a bunch of money on it. I'll probably wait for the trade paperback/paperbacks collecting it to arrive at the library eventually. I'm in no rush to read the event and its increasing number of tie-ins, so I'll give it time. Saves me a chunk of change, after all.

At Least Marvel's New, "Empyre," Event Has a Solid Creative Team

I get tired of relentless events in comic-books  that, "Will change everything, forever...for a couple months." It is known as, "Eventitis," and I'm quite afflicted by it. That said, a new event featuring the Avengers and Fantastic Four (who Marvel now acknowledges exist since getting the film rights back) titled, "Empyre," has something going for it. It is about those heroes fighting against a unified space empire--sorry, "Empyre," of Kree and Skrull aliens and it has a really solid creative team.

Al Ewing is always a stellar writer and he is co-writing with the usually-great Dan Slott. Someone who has never written anything I've hated with someone who I have liked most stuff of sounds rad. Plus, Valerio Schiti is doing the art and he has a style well-suited for the abundance of crazy action scenes I bet the book will feature. Fantastic writers and a skilled artist make me a little more optimistic about, "Empyre," than I have been for other event-type books. I am cautiously optimistic, with an emphasis on being extremely cautious.