Review - RAI #1

Review by Paul Fiander
  • Writer: Matt Kindt
  • Penciler: Clayton Crain
  • Cover Artist: Clayton Crain, Bryan Hitch, Stephen Segovia, Raul Allen, Khari Evans, Trevor Hairsine, David Aja & Raul Allen
  • Editor: Warren Simons, Alejandro Arbona
The Comic is available in both print and digital from Valiant comics. Follow this link for more details.
From the outset Rai is designed to absorb the reader, the front cover is one thing but the opening panels show some of the best artwork I have seen. Take some time to look at the water droplets and you can see attention to detail that other art never comes near. Thankfully the art stays pretty constant throughout the issue but the opening panel is still my favourite. Clayton Crain does an amazing job imaging Japan in the year 4001, everything from the verticality in the cityscapes to the fashions on display show this is an inhabited world. The fact New Japan has left a ravaged earth and is now in orbit around the planet make this fantastical setting even more impressive.

The art though is only half of the picture as writer Matt Kindt goes about making the story in Rai just as compelling. Our story begins with the first murder for one thousand years being committed and from there we get to meet a legend in the shape of Rai. He appears to be bringer of justice to a world run by the AI known as father. However as the issue goes on we find that the world Father created is not quite what it once was. Social rebellion is in the air brought about by the very group that murdered the constable on the opening page and we start getting the reasons why this is happening from the outset. There are two main points of narration through the story the first being a girl named Lula who helps us understand the world the second being Rai himself. Lula’s dialogue is more mundane but the grounding she gives is very important to the story without it the reader could feel lost in the world and that could have ruined the story.

After finishing I was amazed at how much was packed into a single issue, I felt I knew the city and the way it is governed as well as the plot that is playing out. It is testament to Kindt that I never felt overwhelmed or lost as the pages rolled on.

In the press blurb for Rai we were told that the editorial staff and creators wanted to make some of the most compelling single issues of the year, I can honestly say that Kindt and Crain have certainly done just that. Now though the bar has been set and we will have to wait and see if they can keep this level up.

Issue Rating 4.5/5

For a further look into the future try these..

D4VE #1

In a world where robots have inherited the world, one man will learn about life with combat. Can D4VE live in the world or will he short circuit?
Black Science #1

Rick Remender's tour de force is set in a future where dimension jumping has become possible.
The question is just because you can does it mean you should?
Images courtesy of Valiant Comics
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