The Union #2: Who’s Coming with Me, Man?

Well no, no it probably won’t be their last day as a team but that doesn’t stop this issue from being a lot of fun on the surface and quite scary if you start to peer underneath the sheen cast by beautiful art and the pull of a major Marvel event. There is a clear *ahem* symbiosis between Di Vito and Underwood that ends up creating a lush and deeply detailed art style. The action sequences hum with frenetic energy of an expected encounter and subtle moves such as the symbiote retreating from electricity (that goes unmentioned and comes back around as a major plot point) help to ensure that no panel is wasted. It goes without saying that Woodard is among the top of the colorist profession and his use of palatte control to control the mood helps to add a sense of the dire to this book.

The plot suffers slightly from the shoe-horning of this new team into a major event but only minorly. It would have been nice if they could organically come into their own but I don’t imagine Grist had much say in the matter. Given the circumstances, the narrative navigates the balance quite well. This book is clearly one rooted in the thematic of trust and therein lies much of the depth of story-telling here. None of the characters know each other well enough to function efficiently as a team. The lack of trust seems perhaps an analogue to issues raised by United Kingdom amidst the controversial Brexit. With members across an uneasy alliance held together with dirt and tape, the socio-political parallels in this story moving forward will be the most interesting thing to watch. Who bonds together and who gets left behind? At the end of the first issue, we see who is left standing and who abandons the team, certainly a move with significant meaning.

I do want to address the cover by Medina and Curiel. It’s a good looking cover but it has absolutely nothing to do with the book in my hands and that will never cease to bug me. Perhaps there is a significance to having the dead, previous leader looking like she just whalloped the current, impromptu leader but it was lost on me. A mar on an otherwise terrific book.