It’s finally time for Snakes On A Page with The Union #1 from Paul Grist, Andrea Di Vito, Drew Geraci, Le Beau Underwood, Nolan Woodard, and Travis Lanham.
Liz Large: It’s Snakes time! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been excited to see this big beautiful snake since February.
Nola Pfau: AS HAVE I. It’s weird that this book is called The Union, though, why didn’t they just call it Snakes? Maybe it’s like…because the snakes are all joined together?
LL: Oh! That explains it. Love to see that teamwork from the snakes, they’re doing a great job!
NP: Well, that’s a wrap on our Snakes coverage everybo—wait, hang on, I’m getting word that we have to…say more? With words? I didn’t sign up for this. (Ed. Note: You specifically did sign up for this)
Britain’s Got New Heroes
LL: Weirdly, there’s a whole team of people appearing in this book who aren’t Snake-related. The British government is setting up a new team with a pretty explicit goal of getting positive PR by showing how well the four nations that make up the UK work together. And then we’ll get to see them fight people! Love when comics aren’t political. (Ed. note: Big Unity Squad vibes)
NP: I don’t suspect this will have a lot of overlap with Excalibur, but I do think it’s fascinating, given that that team had to gain explicit consent to operate in Britain. This one being government-sponsored sort of makes it feel like the 90s X-Factor-style answer to that, you know? I dunno if that’s potential they’ll build on, but it’d be neat to see.
LL: Considering that the British government is currently extremely unhappy with their traditional hero’s title being held a mutant, I could absolutely see this being a reaction to that. From what we see in this first issue, this team is being packaged in a very intentional manner– corporate sponsorship, television interviews, and certain “behind the scenes” info being shown to the public. I think it’s a sign that the comic isn’t going to be a jingoistic take on the idea of national heroes.
NP: I agree, and I think the presence of Grist on writing duties is a really good sign of that. The entire book feels very…B-tier? But like…in a good way, you know? Lower profile heroes using an unpleasant system to get something done in a subversive way. Union Jack’s a great character to have on hand for that (and fitting, given Grist’s indie work), and who else do we have? Besides Snakes, I mean.
LL: None of the characters get too much space in this issue, since there’s a ton of ground to cover, but everyone gets at least a line. The Choir has sonic powers, Kelpie has water-based abilities, and there’s Britannia, who has a “Great Britain” theme and super strength. Not going to lie, I did spend some time googling Britannia, who’s portrayed as a long-time classic hero in this issue, but who (as far as I can tell!) is new.
NP: Yeah, I think they’re playing this as “these heroes were always around, you just weren’t paying attention,” which is not a thing I hate, necessarily. I like the idea that there are heroes at work that just get lost in the noise-to-signal ratio, and keep doing what they do regardless. That said, it does remind me of the time Brian Braddock was going by Britannic, and boy was that a mess. Anyway, I’m digressing. I really like the concept of the Choir, both because “butch lady hot” and because it seems to play more directly with what Banshee’s concept only hints at; even operating as a hero there an element of danger to her mere presence and I’m…into that. You know. In a gay way.
LL: Absolutely same. She also has a cool knife with dragon heads on it! Literally what’s not to like.
Speaking of Dragon Heads
LL: The Union was originally scheduled as part of the Empyre event, but because of the pandemic, the event was delayed and shrunk. Fortunately Marvel apparently has a waste-not, want-not policy when it comes to Cool Snakes, so the issue was reworked to fit into the current King In Black event. I love any excuse to see heroes fight a dragon, so I’m delighted.
NP: Cool Snakes is redundant of course, because snakes are inherently cool. I guess this is a good point to make some kind of Metal Gear joke because our editor demands it, but now it won’t be funny because I’ve telegraphed it ahead of time! You’re welcome, Zack. (Ed. note: Snake…Snake? SNAKE!? I am not Zack, but I love this shit. MORE.)
I’m legit loving the general increase of dragon-related content in Marvel books lately; between Lockheed flying around in Marauders, Shogo in Excalibur, and now this, it’s just…it’s great. Let me pet the large danger lizards. Why is the dragon attacking this small group of people on a remote island for training? Who knows! Who cares. There’s a dragon, and Britannia flies up and cuts its head off. It’s cool as hell.
LL: It’s so cool! Unfortunately for Britannia, she’s not as good with her shield as she is with the sword. The dying dragon’s tail stabs her through the gut, and she falls to the ground while a tiny drone live-streams the battle to one of the morning shows. There’s a nice moment as Union Jack comforts her while she dies, though the next issue’s cover makes me think it isn’t a permanent death.
NP: The next issue’s cover and also her dying words: “I had a good run…this time…” Given the nature of corporate sponsorship on this team (which felt very “Justice League International” to me), and the fact that she’s, as far as I know, not a mutant, I’m curious about what that might mean…I figure we have about a 50/50 chance of either mythological resurrection shenanigans or illicit cloning activity. I have a suspicion it’s the latter, given…well, everything else about this book.
LL: Definitely! We’ve got one other unpleasant surprise for the team: it wasn’t a regular dragon, it’s a venomized dragon! When the dragon form dies, the venom spreads to some soldiers that had been assisting the Union with training. Even before being infected with symbiotes, they seemed like generic jerks, so I can’t feel too bad about this. I’m ready to see the remainder of the team work together, and maybe see what Snakes can actually do.
NP: Well, we know he (they?) can talk at least! On the one hand, that’s great, on the other, it did defeat our joke of just hissing for the entire length of a column, so….I guess we should talk about the overall dynamics of the book?
Soopey McSooperheroclub
LL: We’ve got a few sets of opposing interests in this. Union Jack and Britannia seem to be in this for the “right” reasons, as far as superheroes go. But we also have Steve Darwin, of Darwin Tech, who’s providing a lot of the funding for this team. He makes it clear that his goal here is getting his brand associated with the heroes, no matter how reluctant Britannia is to turn her team into influencers.
NP: I mentioned before that it really reminds me of Justice League International and that book’s focus on sponsorship and global branding. It’s always an interesting angle, I think, but it does require freedom to be given to creators to really explore it fully, and I wonder whether a five-issue miniseries tied to an event will really pull that off? I do love how on-the-nose “Darwin Tech” is as a company name, because—UK based book aside—it sounds exactly like the vanity company name of some generic Silicon Valley Bro who forgot to take a humanities course while he was cheating his way through college.
LL: Survival of the fittest is totally about stocks, right? It does seem like this series was always conceived as a 5-issue mini, so it’s possible that we’re going to get a deep exploration of the themes alongside fighting goo dragons. There might be an advantage to being part of a larger event, since I don’t think there’s much need to spend time introducing and explaining the symbiote villains. Instead, the book can focus on the real villains: the British.
NP: Honestly, it really makes me wish it were an ongoing. I’m fondly remembering the days when big two comics were brave enough to challenge the politics of their time, something that’s almost unheard of in the days of media conglomerate ownership. Show me Union Jack punching Boris Johnson in the face! Let Britannia dangle Theresa May over the Thames to make her answer for Grenfell Tower! There are just so many possibilities, you know?
LL: That would be a delight. I don’t think I’ll get my hopes up for anything beyond very clear analogies, but it would be great, and probably a stronger book. On the other hand, if Snakes has more than one line next issue I will well and truly lose my mind, so I’m easy to please.
NP: Give Choir a girlfriend and let Snakes be their pro-lesbian Thor character. Congratulations, you’ve just made the perfect book.
Snakes?
- Snakes
- Snakes!
