Today (delayed by the blog going down last night), we look at another great Valiant destiny (a la the Geomancers).

Enjoy!

Obadiah Konishi - Rai



Obadiah Konishi is the last of the Rais, and perhaps the greatest of the Rais.

Okay, I know this is a bit where I'm pointing out cool stuff about Valiant Comics, but check out this list on Sequart.com that a fellow named Andy Smith made of the Ten Most Important Comic Books of the 1990s. The guy made FOUR of them Valiant comics!! Not only that, but of the 20 honorable mentions, SIX MORE of them were Valiant Comics! What the hell, Andy Smith? Have you lost all your senses?!? Harbinger #1 was the most important comic book of the 1990s?!? How could you possibly come up with a rational argument for that?!

Without Harbinger, there wouldn't have been an Ultraverse Universe or a Crossgen Universe.

This has got to be some sort of prank, right? Like a method acting type of thing, no? Like that time in Morrison's JLA when J'onn shapeshifted his brain so he could think like the Joker!

If not, I am just totally shaken to the core.

Anyhow, in a roundabout way, this brings us to Rai, as it was on that list (only an honorable mention!? I heard that Rai #0, when pureed, can cure malaria!).



Rai is this spirit guardian that guards the people of Japan in the 41st century (the time of Magnus Robot Fighter). Rais are based on the look of Bloodshot for some random reason.

Obadiah Konishi is the last of the Rais, the son of Leeja and the previous Rai, Takao Konishi - who had broken up the dynasty of the Nakadai clan, who were supposed to be the next Rai. The descendant of the Nakadai clan now hates Obadiah.



Obadiah was an interesting character, especially in Giffen's final Magnus story arc. He was human, but he had nanites in his blood, so he was part machine, too. Add to it the fact that he was not of the "true" Rai descension, plus the relationship with his half-brother Torque - it was a lot of good stuff for a character.

Rai has a good writer lineage - Shooter, Michelinie, Ostrander and Tony Bedard - not a bad legacy.