Another find from my local comic shop (shout out to Vanguard Comics!), I’d never once heard of Union before picking up this first issue.

Given my well-documented fondness for gimmick covers, which were incredibly prevalent in the early 90s, I couldn’t resist Union #1, with its embossed, refractive foil cover; though it doesn’t show up particularly well in photos, unfortunately, it looks fantastic in person.

So, what is Union then?

Set in the shared Image comics universe, Union sees a town in New York completely destroyed in a catastrophic explosion, and UN-backed super team Stormwatch sent to investigate.

Upon arrival, they’re confronted by a mysterious, costumed figure – the eponymous Union – who seems to share the same energy signature as that found at the scene of the devastating tragedy. So who is this Union, where does he come from – and what’s his connection to the disaster?

It’s a really intriguing setup, and the flashbacks fill in the blanks nicely, leaving plenty of room for the story to develop further. I was pleasantly surprised by Union not being the standard edgy superhero fare that was so commonplace in the 90s, even with the presence of Stormwatch and the repeated mention of Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood superhero team, along with a reference to the universe’s Superman analogue, Supreme.

I’ve always been a fan of Mark Texeira’s realistic, detailed art, and his style works well here. There’s a few too many close ups of heroes talking through gritted teeth for my liking, but hey, in 1993 that sort of thing was all the rage.

There’s a weird reference to William Shatner as being someone who can get a character out of a sticky situation, which must have felt a bit strange even in 1993 (two years after what was planned to be the final film featuring the original series cast, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country), but for the most part the writing holds up, and there aren’t too many things that date it.

Given how terrible many of the gimmick cover comics that I’ve checked out have been, Union #1 was a pleasant surprise. The character seems to have had a fairly short few runs (this series was just four issues, plus a subsequent zero issue, and a follow up series was just 9 issues with an epilogue), so it shouldn’t be too hard, or costly, to catch up with his history. I’m definitely tempted to do so on the strength of this first issue.

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