By Zack Quaintance — Plain and simple, Rai #1 reminds me of a better time for Valiant. It reminds me of the 4001 AD event of a few years back, which came before the leadership change that resulted in the ouster of long-time Valiant creative leader Dinesh Shamdasani, which is a personnel change that in my opinion the publisher has never quite recovered from. But I digress. For the unfamiliar, 4001 AD ran during the summer of 2016, and it told the story of future Earth in which the mostly-privileged lived in the island nation of Japan, which is ruled by a benevolent AI called Father. 

When Father gains sentience, it decides that in order to defend his borders, it must launch the nation into space, far from the resource-needy rest of the planet (kind of prescient in a way, if you think about it). Thousands of years pass, with New Japan developing into a space utopia (seemingly) upon which Father’s bidding is carried out by cyborg sons called Rai, of which there is only one at any given time. The adventure begins when a new Rai discovers that Father keeps dark secrets, and that in order for New Japan to live, the Earth must die, which leads Rai to challenge Father’s will. That’s a lot of story for a review, but I share it here because it’s awesome and also because it matters quite a bit to the plot of this new Rai comic.

Indeed, Rai #1 is less of its own book and more of an extension of 4001 AD as well as this year’s follow-up series, Fallen World. In this book, we get the Rai from the event traveling the scorched Earth with an earlier (and smaller) version of himself, in search of other pieces of Father that if ignited will revive the evil AI that created him. It’s a great road trip story, one in which writer Dan Abnett expertly teases out tension between our protagonist Rai, and the smaller version of himself who worries that he too will be destroyed when he outlives his usefulness. It’s a well-crafted structure for a story, one that lends itself to rational motivations all around and secrets, a key to any good superhero story.

On art duties here we have Juan Jose Ryp, who is also evocative of the peak Valiant era when 4001 AD occurred. Ryp has worked on several books for the publisher, but what stands out to me is his work on Wrath of the Eternal Warrior, a Robert Venditti-penned book that took place right around the time of 4001 AD, before Valiant’s changes. Ryp’s work is an excellent fit here, intricate and gritty, which is just the perfect aesthetic for the Mad Max-esque planet our heroes find themselves traveling. Ryp is colored by Andrew Dalhouse, long a secret weapon (ahem) for Valiant’s stable of artists.  

Anyway, I like this comic quite a bit. To be clear about something, I don’t think Valiant has lost all that much in its recent transition. It’s just become more of a testing ground where younger creators can try out writing licensed characters in a shared universe, rather than what used to feel like a more cohesive and thoughtful vision when Dinesh was leading the show. Rai #1 reminds me of those times, both in the way it continues the story from back then and how well-done the scripting and artwork are on all of its pages. If you’re a lapsed Valiant reader, or even a new reader interested in learning more about some of its most interesting characters, this book is a great place to begin.

Overall: Rai #1 seems likely to remind long-time Valiant readers of peak Valiant, which in my opinion occurred a few years back with the 4001 AD event. Abnett, Ryp, Dalhouse, and Shapre put forth strong work with this debut comic. 8.0/10

Rai #1
Writer: Dan Abnett
Artist: Juan Jose Ryp
Colorist: Andrew Dalhouse
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Publisher: Valiant Entertainment
Price: $3.99

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.