Once upon a time there was a hero created from a sentient machine and a discarded mortal woman. His name was Rai and the day he discovered who and what his father is, and did, is the day his world fell apart. It’s 4001 AD and this incarnation of Rai knows the truth of how New Japan is sustained. Hovering above the earth, Father has created an “Eden†where he takes care of all the wants and needs of his children, by any means necessary. Usually, that implies getting rid of anyone who opposes Father’s will. When Rai gathers some rebels together to take down his creator, he is punished by being forcibly cast out and is last seen hurdling towards the mud ball below.
What is it about fathers and their “children†in the Valiant universe? Antagonistic at best Toyo Harada and Livewire in the ongoing “Imperium†comic book series have their own parental-type issue where the student attempts to outstrip the teacher and is seen failing miserably. In Rai’s case, his world though rocked becomes resolute in overthrowing his tyrannical father. He is correct in seeing a total disregard for sentient life. When you become all-powerful, self-absorbed and believe you know what’s best for those who have free will, then you have to be stopped. The thing is Rai has no plan and although he is fortunate to meet up with the Eternal Warrior you still need a strategy to defeat an entity that has been sustaining a city that’s hovering above the earth. What’s going to happen to the people if Father is defeated? Already because of Lula Lee the contingency plan set up by the despotic artificial life form that is Father has begun cutting off the least important limbs in order to stay functional. Unfortunately, those parts he considers gangrene are inhabited. Ensuring more loss of human life is not what the rebel forces have planned, but there it is. One gets the feeling that it is the end of the world.
For Matt Kindt’s “4001 AD†it feels more like the beginning. All these years later what has happened to the heroes of this world? We see Gilad, but he’s not exactly in the best of shape. Rai has lost many of his friends and the usual suspects are nowhere to be found. Do you mean to say there is no Bloodshot or even a descendant of Ninjak or Aric of Dacia? Are we living in a time where the bad guys have won? The odds seem impossible, still Kindt uses several narrative forms to tell a compelling story of what you have to do to defeat a great evil with nothing but chewing gum and a thin spool of thread. And it’s not about the words alone. The artwork of Clayton Crain and David Mack are on point. At the beginning of this story you see it unfold in old school Japanese type drawings. Reminiscent of the Muromachi period we are given a visual history of the traditional past and then jettisoned centuries in the future. It’s as if artistically Crain, Mack et al are saying from the past this is what we have become. The clean lines and the bare color palette have been replaced by an obscene amount of color and cold machinery. Just how far removed are we in the present than from those in New Japan who have given up their free-will without even realizing they’ve handed it over?
Essentially through both the visual and written word as a reader you want to find out if 4001 is closer to our present than the Valiant universe’s future. For Kindt, it makes for great storytelling. And as a freebie from free comic book day, it may be the starting point for an amazing crossover.
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