A Comic a Day in May – Day 27: The United #1 / Space Rats

The United tells the story of a reformed Superteam who are putting the band back together in a different world at a different time.

It’s a cross-country affair as Big Cat, The Mighty Scotsman, Brittania, Boudicca, Battalion & Eddie Speed are brought back into existence by a new government.  A government that’s just as corrupt as it ever was and with a firm eye on the popularity contest The United can be in the eyes of the general public.  Across these first few parts of the story there’s a mix of crimes to be prevented which this new well-oiled unit seems to be able to handle.

That doesn’t mean they don’t have their challenges but the ability to work as a team is really what saves the day and sticks to the very theme the title suggests.  Outside the team the world is turbulent as you’d expect with the police enforcing the law in a fairly heavy-handed way but that’s the level of power they’ve been allowed by the government which in itself is abusing it’s power.  That’s not entirely new though as a series of flashbacks shows previous governments with the same outward approach to the weight their position holds and it all mixes well given the pacing by creator Jonny Cannon.

It’s not often that a superhero comic works outside the major publishers but The United seems to buck that trend quite easy – keeping in with current events & trends helps elevate it from a throwaway title and make it more of an interesting read.  Jonny’s attention to detail & his well-balanced plot help too and the fact that he’s on art, lettering & editing duties gives it a very tight look and direction.  The black and white artwork was quite stark at first but it was the right way to go with it as I’m sure he had enough on his hands with all the other jobs anyway 😀

Backup story in issue one is Space Rats where Jonny teams up with Gavin Boyle on colurs to set out the story of a crew for hire on their latest job/robbery.  They arrive at the High Security facility that marks their final destination and the discovery they make turns out to make this more of a final job than they first expected.  A tad short for me as I’d like to have seen more develop in this one but an interesting change of subject from the main title.

You can catch up on this titles progress over on the Cannonhill Comics website and check out more on the Facebook page or Twitter.

7/10

G-Man