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Not to be confused with the original Unity crossover from 1992, Unity 2000 is the name of a six-issue series of comics by Acclaim, written by Jim Shooter, and pencilled by Jim Starlin starting in 1999. Mr. Shooter was hired by Acclaim to write this 6-issue series only, his first story with Valiant characters since 1992. The purpose of Unity 2000 was to tie together the storylines and characters from the original Valiant Universe (VH1, 1991 - 1996) to the characters and storylines from the Acclaim Comics Valiant Heroes characters (VH2, 1997 - 2000). Future Acclaim comics would continue where Unity 2000 ends, explaining the relationship between VH1, VH2, and future stories. The Unity 2000 storyline began as a prelude in Acclaim's Shadowman Vol. 3 issues #3 and #4. A Unity 2000 "preview book" was also produced as a retailer review issue. The first book in the six-part series was Unity 2000 #1. It has been said that the cover art used for Unity 2000 #1 was not the cover they intended to use, so Unity 2000 #2 came bagged with the intended cover of Unity 2000 #1. A Dynamic Forces Exclusive variant of Unity 2000 #1 was also published with the "corrected" cover for the first issue. The corrected art is a colorized version of the cover used on the Unity 2000 Preview Book (retailer review). Shipping and other deadline delays caused the all of issues with the Unity 2000 storyline to be released very far behind schedule. These issues are hard to find, because production was low. Unity 2000 #3 especially, since it was cancelled and then resolicited. Many dealers did not order the comic at all when it was resolicited. In late November 2000, Acclaim Entertainment announced that they will no longer be producing comic books. Because only 3 issues of Unity 2000 were published at that time, the 3 remaining issues (Unity 2000 #4, #5 and #6) will not be produced. Covers from the comics that were produced are available for viewing under the Unity 2000 title in the Online Cover Library. An archive of Barry Reese's Unity 2000 page is also available. Related story: What is Unity (1992)? |