Well there’s no denying that this story is addictive. The mystery and the reveals that Matt Kindt has crafted with this narrative have hit all the right beats. This issue marks the end of the first volume and a minor delay before the next issue. You might ask what’s with the delay, but I suspect that it in keeping series artist Clayton Crain they needed to give him time to move forward on the art. Typically another artist would just take over, but since Crain’s style is unique where do you find another artist that can fill in? The funny thing to me is that I was praying for an art change, but clearly I was the only one. Since I’m still not a fan of the art I’ll be skipping talking about it from here on out since it gets tiring expression how it hinders the story and I’m sure people reading these reviews are also tired of hearing about it.
If you didn’t read the last issue for some reason then spoiler ahead; in the last issue we learned that Rai is in fact part human and the woman’s death in the beginning of the story was in fact his mother. Silk... well I should say the original Silk, not one of the older clones, has revealed this to Rai. The results are him murdering Raddies which is what his predecessors have done as well. Spylocke is pissed at Silk because he doesn’t have a gentle hand and continues to egg Rai on as he kills the Raddies.
Silk’s actions force Spylocke to take a shot at Rai, but it misses; Silk comments that he’s never seen Spylocke miss and doubts that it’ll happen on the second shot. But there is something that makes this Rai different… Lula Lee.
The reveal in the last issue was great and really only a little more is revealed after that, but it’s equally important to the story. What’s nice is that the story wraps up the original story line of the dead woman, but sets up the next story arc. It’s an interesting ending because it feels rewarding, but at the same time it makes the world of the story bigger. The story has more places to go and that’s what’s going to bring people back in December.
Kindt’s dialogue is not to be underestimated in this issue. Silk in particular comes off like a cold-hearted bastard, but it’s perfect for the story. He doesn’t care if this particular Rai dies, he’ll just wait for the next one and since Rai can’t kill him… who cares? Rai grows tremendously in this issue. He has real personality whereas before he was all “Father this” and “Father that.” For the first time he comes across as a three-dimensional character which is definitely a rewarding aspect of this first story arc.
It’s a gamble to put this book on hold until December, but this ending is strong enough to bring me back so I imagine others will be inclined as well. It’s a story that’s just getting started and with the hefty goal of the next arc we have plenty of miles to travel with Rai.
Score: 4/5
Writer: Matt Kindt Artist: Clayton Crain Publisher: Valiant Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/27/14 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital