Rai #14
Valiant Entertainment 2015
Written by Matt Kindt
Illustrated by Cafu
Coloured by Andrew Dalhouse
Lettered by Dave Lanphear
Tailored to the needs and challenges of each generation, a new Rai appears every century. But even Rai cannot completely eradicate resistance, as the first Rai discovered when he encountered anti-Father radicals. Despite centuries having passed since then, violence threatens to break out again as the age of the latest Rai comes to a close...
This series is so freakin good. The more we see and learn of Father the more despised he becomes. Though I do now see a pattern has emerged among his Rai champions. Each serving for 100 years at a time and there’s a reason for that as we see here. I’m going to say that at that point in it’s existence is when it’s own consciousness is no longer in sync with Father’s and he cannot control it anymore and must replace it with one that will do his work without question. Starting from a clean slate without the priors memories so as to not influence or shorten it’s lifespan. It really does paint him as the monster he is.
I still think Father is based off of Harada after all only he would be willing to sacrifice sections of this island full of people for the greater good and to maintain absolute control. Having centuries to lose whatever part of humanity it might have once had and for me that belief keeps this tied into the “present” in more ways than by name. At some point I look forward to Matt actually creating Father’s origin in the present so we’ll see just how he came into being but until then the speculation is more than delightful and means we keep coming back to see what atrocities he’s capable of next.
Sai is an interesting iteration of the Rai. I’m hoping that somehow she manages to survive and is on Earth but I won’t hold my breath. Her burgeoning humanity however demonstrates beautifully why each needs replacing at that point in time with what Father deems the society needs for him to maintain his control. The characterization here is stunning to me and among the reason why I love to come back to this series time and again.
Cafu’s interiors and the use of pages, panels, angles and perspective are incredibly well suited to this series. The emotion he can bring to the characters through facial expressions really enhance the feel of the story unfolding before us. His use of backgrounds is superb as it gives the reader that real sense of spacial awareness needed for the bigger picture. He’s got that sense of what he needs to do for impact in ways others don’t.
This continues to break new grounds at Valiant for it’s continued unbidden display of power, greed and dictatorship that’s highly reminiscent of Japan’s origins. His storytelling, plot advancement, characterization all continue to grow and elevate this book into a world of it’s own. Valiant has the strongest cohesive line of books out of any company today and it’s evident in the passion and care its’ creators but into their work.
Valiant Entertainment 2015
Written by Matt Kindt
Illustrated by Cafu
Coloured by Andrew Dalhouse
Lettered by Dave Lanphear
Tailored to the needs and challenges of each generation, a new Rai appears every century. But even Rai cannot completely eradicate resistance, as the first Rai discovered when he encountered anti-Father radicals. Despite centuries having passed since then, violence threatens to break out again as the age of the latest Rai comes to a close...
This series is so freakin good. The more we see and learn of Father the more despised he becomes. Though I do now see a pattern has emerged among his Rai champions. Each serving for 100 years at a time and there’s a reason for that as we see here. I’m going to say that at that point in it’s existence is when it’s own consciousness is no longer in sync with Father’s and he cannot control it anymore and must replace it with one that will do his work without question. Starting from a clean slate without the priors memories so as to not influence or shorten it’s lifespan. It really does paint him as the monster he is.
I still think Father is based off of Harada after all only he would be willing to sacrifice sections of this island full of people for the greater good and to maintain absolute control. Having centuries to lose whatever part of humanity it might have once had and for me that belief keeps this tied into the “present” in more ways than by name. At some point I look forward to Matt actually creating Father’s origin in the present so we’ll see just how he came into being but until then the speculation is more than delightful and means we keep coming back to see what atrocities he’s capable of next.
Sai is an interesting iteration of the Rai. I’m hoping that somehow she manages to survive and is on Earth but I won’t hold my breath. Her burgeoning humanity however demonstrates beautifully why each needs replacing at that point in time with what Father deems the society needs for him to maintain his control. The characterization here is stunning to me and among the reason why I love to come back to this series time and again.
Cafu’s interiors and the use of pages, panels, angles and perspective are incredibly well suited to this series. The emotion he can bring to the characters through facial expressions really enhance the feel of the story unfolding before us. His use of backgrounds is superb as it gives the reader that real sense of spacial awareness needed for the bigger picture. He’s got that sense of what he needs to do for impact in ways others don’t.
This continues to break new grounds at Valiant for it’s continued unbidden display of power, greed and dictatorship that’s highly reminiscent of Japan’s origins. His storytelling, plot advancement, characterization all continue to grow and elevate this book into a world of it’s own. Valiant has the strongest cohesive line of books out of any company today and it’s evident in the passion and care its’ creators but into their work.
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