The Union #1

The Union #1

Marvel Comics 2020

Written by Paul Grist

Pencilled by Andrea Di Vito & Paul Grist

Inked by Drew Geraci, Le Beau Underwood & Paul Grist

Coloured by Nolan Woodard

Lettered by VC’s Travis Lanham

The grand unveiling of The Union! A team of super heroes gathered from all over the United Kingdom, featuring Union Jack, Snakes, Kelpie, Choir, and their fearless leader, Brittania! But when disaster strikes on their first public debut, in the form of the invasion of Empyre, the fledgling team is immediately pushed to their limits!

Okay this has me right where they want me. My only issue with this is that it is a limited series. The fact that it has so many hands working on it and it all looks like one person did the interiors. With only one issue on stands I already know that this is something I want to see more of, explored in ways that hopefully bring us to the United Kingdom and introduce American audiences to more of the lore and history of those great Island Nations. This is so intelligent in how it brings the characters together and how it doesn’t really utilise any of the “normal” suspects and introduces us to a few characters we don’t know but we really want to know more of. The writing is impeccable and I have to say this is the kind of series that I want to see and read from Marvel.

I am loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented with aplomb. The way we are introduced to these characters whom we know so little about is really perfectly done. It generates interest and raises the intrigue factor exponentially as each new person is seen. Also I may behind the times but I never knew this Britannia existed before. Sure I know Spitfire and I wish we were seeing Faiza Hussain and Captain Midlands, heck even Pete Wisdom so to get an opportunity to see new heroes and heroines well it’s kind of magical. The character development is strong and we get a really nice sense of their base personalities, well except Jack since we kind of know him. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, the team and their new headquarters it just has that right kind of feel.

The interiors here are bloody gorgeous! This is also what I have been waiting for, not that super simple style or the cheap artists who aren’t worth even that, no this is proper comic book illustrations. The linework is strong, confident and how the varying weights are utilised to showcase the quality in the detail work is sublime. For a version of capture the flag outdoors as it is the utilisation of backgrounds is bloody brilliant to see and it makes me chuffed. They enhance the moments, bring us some nice depth perception, a sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the book. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a marvellous eye for storytelling. The colour work is absolutely gorgeous! The way we see the hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is remarkable. The techniques in laying the colour down is beautifully rendered and it just goes to show that when a colourist knows what they are doing we can see this kind of quality work that should remind everyone just how it should be done.

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With the way we see this structured and how the layering within the story is emerging we are treated to this amazing story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow is perfectly done. This is smart, intelligent and exciting writing and just beautifully illustrated that pushes the story even further. If Marvel’s smart they keep this title and develop it into what it will become, naturally--NOT FORCED. This is what I wanna see on a monthly basis, it’s too good not be.