'Rai Book 1' by Dan Abnett with art by Juan Jose Ryp is another reboot of another Valiant character, but this time around it feels like they've done it right.

New Japan has fallen and Father is dead. Rai and robot boy Raijin want to make sure he stays dead, so they set out on a quest to find the pieces that could be used to resuscitate him. Rai wants no violence, but that is just not going to be the case in the weird world of the 41st century.

The 5 issues that make up this volume feel like 5 different stories, and I was really ok with that. The stories were interesting and were driven by Juan Jose Ryp's amazing art. This is a series I would like to read more of with this creative team.


I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Valiant Entertainment, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Rai (2019) Book 1 is an action packed, hands on the edge of your seat, have to turn the page to know what will happen next graphic novel.

The colors are vibrant, the character development is amazing throughout the series, and the story line catches you from the very beginning and keeps you hooked and wanting more. It has very little lag time, and even the side story leaves you wanting more.

4/5 stars and I will definitely recommend.

Interesting, fun to read. Something different than I'm used to, in a good way. I recommend this to anyone looking for an interesting read.

I was unfortunately not able to open this book after I downloaded it. I cannot review it. Which is disappointing to me, as I love the Valiant character and universe. I had to give it a star rating to let this message go through.

Rai takes place in the 41st century and the main characters are on a quest to save the world from their creator. Since the Rai are Japanese AI they have abilities to find pieces of their creator. As they search through a Mad Max-style world they are hunting down pieces so that they can never be reformed.

The art is my favorite thing about this book. The story is great, but so much detail is put into the art. I loved looking over each panel just to see what I could find in the background. When Rai is vibrating the effect of the art is so cool. The color choices are bright and perfect for the story giving it a different feel than most other post-apocalypse books that use dark colors.


Creative Team:
Writer Dan Abnett
Artist Juan Jose Ryp
Colors Andrew Dothouse
Letters Dave Sharpe
Published by Valiant

I wasn't familiar with Rai prior to this trade, but much like his work co-writing the 2000s-era Guardians of the Galaxy reboot, Dan Abnett successfully continues the story from the prior trades with a Lone Wolf & Cub theme/pairing and rogue AI subplot. Ryp's artwork helps, too.

I've been a big fan of Rai since I started reading the characters a few year ago. The character/setting are pretty accessible to new readers because they are mostly disconnected from the rest of the Valiant universe by being set in the future. Sure, there are characters that show up from other books, but it never feels necessary to go read their stories to get what is going on with Rai. This particular book is a follow up to the previous Rai series, which means it can be useful to read that to get a better understanding of what is happening. The story is set up in a way that doesn't make it essential.

Rai and his older brother Raijin are on a mission to defeat their creator, an entity known as Father. They are traveling Earth to destroy parts of his consciousness, which if brought together will give him extraordinary power. The aspect of the story that I liked best is that it gives the reader time to see more parts of this future Earth. The book also dives into the relationship between Rai and Raijin and a rising tension between them.

The art has been one of my favorite parts of Rai's story, and this volume is no exception. While it does make the book tonally different than some of the previous books, I still enjoyed it a lot. It has a different feel that speaks to the franticness of the situation. I'm definitely enjoying this new series and want to read more of it.

Action-heavy, energetic, Rai offers an intriguing storyline and great art. I enjoyed the road trip and Rai interactions with others, often laced with at least some humor. There's still hope for Valiant.

Raï (2019) Vol. 1 collects issues one to five of the soft relaunch of the series by Dan Abnett, with artist Juan Jose Ryp, colorist Andrew Dalhouse, and letterer Dave Sharpe. Published by Valiant Entertainment.

It’s one of the four mini-series launching the « Breakthrough » era of Valiant for 2019. Valiant sure likes to soft relaunch regularly. They even put DC’s crisis to shame. Some will appreciate it, others less. Me, as long as the comics are entertaining, I don’t care. If I want high concept comics, I go to creator owned titles.

After the fall of Father and New Japan at the hand of Rai, him and Raijin are on a road trip on Earth. Their mission : find all the other offsprings of Father and destroy them, as they are horcruxes that could allow for Father’s return if combined.

Raï now aspires to become an human. He even has a lover he can’t find, but manage to meet in dreams. But his vow of non violence is hard to uphold, as him and Raijin are pursued by a cabal aiming at the exact opposite of Raï’s objective.

Although the story itself is entertaining, this title reads like old Valiant. It’s not the horror infused comics that are the most recent incarnations of Bloodshot or Shadowman. It even gives a strong nineties vibe.

Raijin serves as an avatar for the reader, asking a lot of questions, at times to the point of laying it too thick. Some other Valiant characters make appearances, but there isn’t much character development, be it for them, nor for Raï and Raïjin. We also unfortunately do not escape the trope of heroes fighting each other, before uniting against a common enemy.

I’m sorry to have to say the art is approximative, and at times a little simplist. The lines are thick. The facial expressions, for example, are too often exaggerated. The (numerous) action sequences are too crowded and quite hard to follow. There is also no real use of color to improve on the art. Some could say they’re even too bright, and sometimes inadequate. They just seem to have been flattened without real thinking made on their usefulness.

As for the layout, there is no real use of panel dynamics. Most of this comic use standard grids. There is some bleed, now and then, as part of characters bleed out from their cases to other ones, but it is often done with no coherence, and doesn’t help at following the already muddied action.

This remains an entertaining read, with fast paced action and some moral dilemma, but it will more please lovers of the old Valiant era than the ones who, like me, have learned to appreciate the bold new direction Valiant has taken around 2914-2015.


Thanks to Valiant Entertainment, Diamond Books, and Netgalley for the ARC provided in exchange for this unbiased review.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Dan Abnett, and Valiant Comics for a chance to review this trade paperback book. I was given this book for free in exchange for my fair and honest opinion. I have not felt compelled, in any way, by the author, the publisher, or NetGalley to alter my sincerest thoughts on this book. Every word of this review is solely and completely mine.
I have been familiar with this company for at least two decades and have generally found the stories exceptional. I was not disappointed with Rai #1 which includes the first 5 issues of Rai. There’s great chemistry between Rai and Raijin. There is moral ambiguity to their quest which injects both realism and drama to the narrative. The artwork by Juan Jose Ryp is stunning and consistent with the Valiant style. There’s really much to enjoy here. My only caveat is that there is too little exposition for those who are coming into the story at this point. I needed more backstory. Congratulations to Dan Abnett for an entertaining story. I hope his run is long and effective.

<i>arc provided by the publisher and netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

I really enjoyed this! It was action packed, full of interesting characters and plot lines and it was super fun and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

This world full of robots and advanced technology was super intriguing, especially since there’s always that possibility that this really could be our future. The main character trying to live life like a human and his reasoning for it at the end just ramped up the story even more.

The dinosaurs in this were also so epic. I loved the art style and how colourful it was despite how dark the plot was at times.

I will definitely be on the lookout for the next volume in this series!

4/5 ⭐️

TW: death, blood, gore.