For the last few issues everything has been going according to plan in Rai. The newest Rai (because there have been others) hasn’t gone crazy and killed all the Raddies. He’s formed an alliance with Psylocke and the original Silk and is in the process of forming one with Momo and beta-Rai Izak. Yup, things have been going pretty alright in Rai.
This issue we learn what Momo’s motivation is. It’s not just the fact that her human was an abusive ass and is now dead. Well actually it’s kind of that, but we get more information on what it is to be a Positron. We learn how they’re manufactured and how they’re given to humans. Momo’s story is a bit sad and you can see why she’d be upset and then also view Rai as a savior of sorts. I won’t spoil it because I thought it was a solid opening scene and progressive storytelling. It blows my mind that so many creators are able to tackle difficult stories about gender and gender identity and never receive any kind of praise for it. To that I tip my hat to Matt Kindt for the seeds he sows here.
From there a battle between the awakened Positron’s and Raddies breaks out mostly because Silk became impatient. Rai tries to stop the battle seeing how it’s exactly what Father wants, all of them wasting energy fighting each other. Meanwhile we see what Psylocke’s mission is… begin the “Holy Shit” chant because it is great! Though the final few pages were even better!!
While I’ve come around on the art for the most part, I did have a hard time seeing what was going on in the battles. I could spot cool elements like Raddies riding dinosaurs. It’s just that Clayton Crain’s style doesn’t lend itself to so much happening on the page at once. It looked epic for sure, but so epic that my eyes didn’t know where to begin or end and so they just skipped it. I focused on the dialogue instead and gleamed the information I needed from there which was a real shame.
Kindt layers this story incredibly well. Seeing the different threads of storylines come together is spectacular. It’s never confusing because he takes you to the next logical step each time. In particular the two big reveals to the story were much-needed and delighted me of the prospects of the next issue. The next issue where things will continue to go horribly wrong because that’s the only way they can go, but it should be very interesting.
This is definitely an issue to digest. Readers from the beginning of the series will be delighted and definitely start chanting “Holy Shit” when the story pops. If you haven’t read Rai, then you should check it out. Knowing the rest of the Valiant U. is just a bonus, but not necessary to enjoy what’s happening here. Score another hit for Kindt this week.
Score: 4/5
Writer: Matt Kindt Artist: Clayton Crain Publisher: Valiant Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 2/11/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital