Unity #0 re-imagining #3

A new post in my series on Unity #0 re-imaginings. These are a popular commission concept because of the iconic cover to Unity #0 and because it lets the commissioner play editor, determining which characters make the roster! Again, this one was illustrated and inked as a commission by Bob Layton. It features X-O Manowar riding a dinosaur (!), Rai, Solar and Magnus fighting a bunch of free will robs. Check it out:

Unity #0 re-imagining #2

A new post in my series on Unity #0 re-imaginings (Check out the first post here and re-imagining #1 here). Again, this one was illustrated and inked as a commission by Bob Layton. It features X-O Manowar, Rai, Solar, Archer, Shadowman, Sting, Flamingo, Armstrong and Erica Pierce.

I know what you're thinking. Technically, this isn't a Unity #0 re-imagining since its a based on the cover to UNITY #1. Well...I don't care! my blog, my rules!!

Unity #0 re-imagining #1

And following up from the previous introductory post, here is the first Unity #0 re-imagining.

Illustrated and inked as a commission by Bob Layton and colored by Randy Sargent, this variation features only Magnus, Solar and X-O Manowar. Here are the inks.

According to the guy who commissioned the piece:

All of the Valiant characters have rushed off into battle, leaving one last second with the Big 3...

Unity #0 re-imaginings

I love the cover to Unity #0.  More specifically, I love the red variant retailer incentive cover to Unity #0.

The regular blue cover is nice too but the red in the logo really makes the colors pop. Here's the blue version to compare.

First, some background on the book. Unity #0 was the first issue of a massive 18 part crossover that spanned every book in the Valiant Universe up to the point and brought every hero together to face an event that threatened to destroy all of existence and all of time. It was a huge undertaking on Valiant Comic's part and it paid off in spades. Every title saw a dramatic jump in sales following the UNITY crossover and the story is still considered the gold standard for crossovers in comics. What's more, in order to entice new readers, Valiant gave the first issue away free.

So what do you do if you're going to give away an issue free with the hopes of convincing new readers to buy 17 more issues to finish the story? Well you put your absolute best creative team on the book. In this case that would be: writer Jim Shooter; illustrator Barry Windsor-Smith, inker Bob Layton and colorist Janet Jackson. The result? One of the best and most beautiful issues in comic history. And extra care was taken with the cover. No wonder then that it has become so iconic and so often mimicked, which brings me (finally!) to the point of this post - Unity #0 re-imaginings. These are variations on the famous Unity #0 cover design often commissioned by fans. These variations may change the line up of characters that appear, the comic book universe that is being show or even the reality the cover takes place in!