Rai

Rai (1992) #1-4

by Bob Layton, David Michelinie

Bagged with Rai Companion #1, Blue variant also exists.
Tradepaperback/reprint info: Reprints Rai #1 through #4.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Comic Book

124 pages, Comic Trade Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this because I thought it was a reprint of the very first stories of this character named Rai. However, there was clearly a lot of backstory that needed to be understood in order to process these stories. Those of you have that backstory may enjoy the book but, for me, I was lost the entire time and had virtually no idea what was going on. For example, there's a piece at the end where suddenly the character Turok appears. I know Turok from the Dinosaur Hunter series but how he got into this collection I couldn't tell you, although there was some mention of alternate timelines.

In addition, personally, I just didn't care for the Rai character. He complains constantly about being hated and isolated from everyone but as far as I can tell in the stories there's no particular reason why so many seem to hate him, other than it's designed that way for the purpose of the plot. This really gave the character an immature feel for me and I didn't feel it was very well conceived on the levels of plot and character. There was certainly inventive imagination of settings on display so that was a credit to the writers. Overall, though, not my cup of tea.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the the Rai back up story in Magnus but the writer found their stride by issue three and improved on how they started off.

[Hisham · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very high concept series that takes place in the year 4001 where Japan has been relocated to an orbit around the earth. Rai is the hereditary guardian of Japan and has to navigate a conflict between the ruling "humanist" government and an opposition group that seeks to restore the rule of Artificial Intelligence.

Definitely an original character that I wish was executed better. The art is okay. The story can be hard to follow with many characters that don't make much of an impression. The highpoint of this collection was the inclusion of the story from Rai # 0 that featured a glimpse into the future history of the Valiant universe.

My understanding is that later takes on the concept were an improvement and that is encouraging to hear.

[Thea (All About Books) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 2.5 Stars

[Jack T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent art

[Rodrigo González · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this TPB alongside with Rai Companion and Bloodshot (after reading Unity) was a big hit for me, I discovered that Valiant was more than X-O Manowar and Harbinger, you had a wide and unified universe that expands from 1992 through 4000 + and Rai's stories were a major part of this unified and interesting universe. I got this TPB for new, bagged up and with all the extras a few years after his release and It's a shame that a lot of people skipped this wonderful Book.

[Christopher Desruisseau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Valiant's first hero