A Soviet cosmonaut – seemingly imbued with the powers of a god – has taken up residence in the Australian Outback. Some think him to be a savior…while others believe he will usher in a new Communist Age…
Now the rest of the world’s powers must decide for themselves – will the enigmatic DIVINITY offer his hand in friendship or will Earth’s heroes find themselves helpless against the wrath of the divine?

Picking up from the first issue, Abram has, for reasons unknown, taken up residence in the Australian Outback, which has transformed into a mini self-contained paradise. The U.S. sent a Navy SEAL team in to investigate, and they’ve all be either mysteriously transformed into other things (such a bird, or a flock of butterflies) or been granted their fondest dreams, like being reunited with loved ones. One of the Russian scientists who sent Abram out into space all the decades ago, now an old man, arrives at the site, and Abrams makes him young again. And through this man’s eyes we see flashbacks of Abrams life, both before he left for space and what he did for those decades while he was out there (although still no info on how he gained his new abilities). It is at this point that UNITY, the premier superhero team of the Valiant Comics universe is sent in “contain or terminate” Abram (who is codenamed Divinity). The team consists of Ninjak, X-O Manowar, Eternal Warrior, and Livewire, and their first encounter…well, it doesn’t go as planned, and that’s all I’ll say about that.

First, I have to say that I was not expecting the appearance of the other Valiant characters, I guess I didn’t play close-enough attention to the promos for this series prior to its launch, as I was under the impression that this series was in it’s own separate continuity, set in the “real world.” But by setting this in a world where superhumans, aliens, and science-fictional technology already exists, I feel that this sort of dilutes the impact of the premise of the title, as this makes Abram less unique and less of a disruptive force in the world. I get it that he’s THE MOST POWERFUL EVER, so that’s why everyone’s so concerned about his motives, but it’s not the same as if he was the very first superhuman, which is what I originally assumed this series was about. I’m still intrigued to see where it goes, though. And this does open up the character for other appearances long-term. While this is schedules as only a 4-issue miniseries, I’m now curious of what will become of him afterwards, could he possibly become a recurring character in the Valiant universe, either as a hero or a villain? I’m not currently reading any of the other Valiant books, and therefore only have the barest of knowledge of the other charaters, to writer Matt Kindt’s credit, he makes this new-reader-friendly, and I was able to follow along easily.

My only other concern is the third person narrative, with this issue being told mostly from the viewpoint of the old Russian scientist. I hope that Abram doesn’t remain too much of a mystery as this series continues, I would like to see what he’s thinking and feeling, not just be told what others think or feel about him. Once again Trevor Hairsine does a BEAUTIFUL job with the artwork. I have absolutely no complaints there. Chacebook rating: FOUR STARS

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