4001 AD #2



Written by Matt Kindt



Art by Clayton Crain



Published by Valiant Comics.



In this second issue of the 4001 AD summer event features a knight in space fighting a mechanical dragon! Are you sold yet? Fine I will go on. We get what is the first assault be of Rai on New Japan's Father, with the help of the Eternal Warrior and his new companion Lemur. In issue one Rai was led to a long dead X-O Manowar like mech, that he is taking into space to fight father, only for Father to use New Japan it's self as a weapon in the form of a giant mecha dragon. This issue is that battle.



Okay I have to admit that Matt Kindt might be my favourite writer in comics right now. I'm enjoying how the supplemental issues, 4001 AD: X-O Manowar and Rai #13, are playing into the story here. That being said this issue is more of a transitional issue. There was very much a vibe of the chess pieces being moved around the board. The portrayal of Father as a ruthless computer program that is looking after it's own existence, ditching pieces of New Japan killing hundreds of thousands of people strictly to save it's self, is great. A lot of Valiant villains are shades of grey but as far as this issue Father is definitely a clear antagonist.



I've enjoyed Rai and this book but both can feel dialogue heavy and sometimes it's hard to follow what's going on without a re-read of previous issues. As a long term fan this is fine, I can always go to my long box read Rai and jog my memory as to what previously happened. I feel bad for someone trying to just pick up 4001 because they saw it on the shelf and liked the cover because it might be a confusing read, with this also being a continuation of the last arc in the Rai series. I've enjoyed the series thus far. 4001 as an event doesn't feel as game changing as other Valiant Summer events so far, but we are just starting.





The art is beautiful. I love every page. Clayton Crain's art has been the cause of the hiatus on the Rai book every four issues so far, but it's been worth it. I love it there, and I love it here. My only complaint, and this might be just a personal problem, but to me some of the background characters are maybe a little too similar which is causing me to lose track of what's going on. It's not really a criticism of the art as much as the character design.



To sum everything up I enjoyed the issue, the art is awesome and I can't wait for the next issues.

