Matt Kindt is one of the top names in comic books today. Many of his comics have sold well. One of his newest comics is “4001 AD†from Valiant Comics. The preview for the first edition has some nice ideas and some overused ones as well.
The preview tells us that the Japanese spirit guardian Rai started a rebellion against Father, an almighty god because Rai became disillusioned with him after meeting with Lula, a girl who idolized him. This caused Father to send Rai down to Earth as punishment and Lula to drop a plague on New Japan. Now the New Japanese government is trying to get rid of the plague by dropping parts of the country to Earth.
The plot isn’t all that original. There have been plenty of stories and real life events of plagues and governments trying to get rid of them. The comic has a lot of work to do to make it stand out from the rest of these stories. Not to mention Japan in peril has been done to death in anime (“Akira,†“Demon City Shinjuku,†“Neon Genesis Evangelion.â€) Kindt has a lot of work to do.
The art by Clayton Crain and David Mack does look interesting. The comic opens up with traditional Japanese which is a brilliant idea. The rest of the art is some of the best art you’ll see in any Valiant comic. The backgrounds look almost lifelike and the character designs are top notch.
In all, “4001 AD†has some awesome art, but the story sounds a bit too similar to many other Japan in peril stories. There may be a way Kindt can come up with an awesome story that doesn’t sound too familiar, but for now, it’s best to tread carefully.
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