Of all of Valiant's current titles, Rai has easily been the best received. Written and drawn by Dan Abnett and Juan Jose Ryp, the series takes Bloodshot's futuristic, samurai lookalike and places him in a dangerously beautiful post-apocalyptic adventure.
Now that Valiant Entertainment is returning to a regular release schedule, Rai is set to return after a lengthy hiatus. Additionally, the publisher is releasing a trade paperback of the first arc, collecting issues #1-5, to allow new readers to catch up and jump on board.
Here's what to know about Rai.
Rai: The Story So Far
The current Rai is Rai X, the 10th in a line of cybernetic warriors who defends and represents the spirit of New Japan in the 41st century. As such, his very visage reflects the country itself, while also bearing more than a passing resemblance to fellow Valiant hero Bloodshot.
The world of the future is heavily segmented into a class system, with humans sequestered according to their station along with humanoid Positrons. Meant to serve under the enigmatic "Father" of New Japan, Rai would instead eventually turned against him and his tyrannical rule. Unfortunately, even with the fall of New Japan, Father still survived, resurfacing to bring Rai out of his peaceful existence.
These latter events were told in Rai: Fallen World, which was also written by Abnett. The current Rai series picks right up where that series left off, with Rai and his first predecessor, the child-like Raijin, setting off across the barren wastelands to track down and destroy all of Father's technological backups. So far, they've encountered numerous threats, including dinosaurs, an A.I. housewife and even Gilad, the Eternal Warrior.
Making things even worse are Father's remaining forces, who are hunting to both find and kill Rai, as well as find Father's remaining backups to restore him to life. Likewise, society as a whole is resentful toward android Positrons, with Rai in particular being a target of their disdain due to his previous actions. The series' dystopian tone and setting is similar to Westerns, samurai fiction and Mad Max, allowing Abnett and Ryp's imaginations to run wild in the hi-tech, low quality science fiction world.
While things have been somewhat episodic so far, events are slowly building up into an ongoing story. Plus, although Rai spins out of a previous series, the current book is incredibly new reader-friendly, filling newbies in on all that they need to known in just a few pages.
The Road Ahead
Rai #6, slated for release Aug. 19, marks the beginning of a new story arc for the series. The cybernetic duo will escape their usually dour surroundings to face a Roman legion in a lush forest, as Lula is also brought back to make contact with one of Valiant's bloodiest heroes.
Abnett has stated that going forward, the relationship between Rai and Raijin will be developed further. The far-flung future will also begin to echo events taking place in Valiant books set in the present day.
In the interim, readers can catch up on Rai so far when the first trade paperback releases Aug. 5. Here, readers can enjoy the company's most popular current series, as well as see art breakdowns, panel layouts and alternate covers for the series so far. From there, fans should be sure to pick up the series' next installment, when Rai makes his triumphant return later in August.
Written by Dan Abnett and illustrated by Juan Jose Ryp, Rai #6 goes on sale Aug. 19 from Valiant Entertainment.