I’m a big fan of Valiant Comics right now. Easily accessible and not having to carry decades worth of continuity with each issue printed, Valiant Comics have managed to carve out an impressive empire in a heavily-contested industry today. And that all comes from the fact that Valiant manages to maintain a small line of comics while thinking big. And that means a tighter focus and overall high quality stories. Seriously, go pick up the Bloodshot trade paperbacks. Fantastic stuff.
This week however, Valiant is heading into their biggest event since they returned in 2012. The Summer of 4001 AD is the name of their big summer crossover event, and also sees the return of Rai to an ongoing status. The Summer of 4001 AD is built on four one-shots and numerous tie-ins, that reveal the future of Valiant Comics and the heroes who headline those books. Here’s the official synopsis for Summer of 4001 AD:
A thousand years from today, Father will create the first Rai, founding a lineage of technologically enhanced heroes engineered to defend New Japan and sworn to protect it from all enemies. For hundreds of years into the future, the Rai will single-handedly enforce New Japan’s justice well…and serve Father without question.
Now, at the dawn of 4001 A.D., the latest Rai is about to inherit the dark truth behind the origin of his kind…and discover the sinister secret at the heart of Father’s existence. For New Japan to live, Earth must die…and as Rai challenges his former master for the first time in more than a millennium, the lone guardian of New Japan will be cast out of his own Father’s kingdom…
Exiled from the only realm he’s ever known, Rai now walks the ravaged world of 4001 A.D. in search of forgotten heroes like himself…on a mission to collect the last surviving legends of a broken planet…and to forge a rebellion with the power to bring the most advanced civilization in history crashing back down to Earth.
Earth must rise. Father must fall. Rai! Eternal Warrior! X-O Manowar! Bloodshot! Shadowman! Geomancer! And more! The war for the ultimate fate of humanity begins in 4001 A.D. #1 (of 4)by superstar creators Matt Kindt and Clayton Crain – and continues in May and beyond as “THE SUMMER OF 4001 A.D.” rages on…and changes the future of the Valiant Universe for all time!
“With 4001 A.D., our writers, artists, and editors has made it their mission to not only match our previous successes in event-level storytelling, but surpass them entirely,” Valiant Editor-in-Chief Warren Simons wrote on the Valiant website.
Matt Kindt and Clayton Crain have done a wondrous job of making 4001 A.D. a complete world unto itself – one that is packed with lost heroes, 100-foot-tall suits of sentient alien armour, and city-sized robots floating on the edge of space.
The event kind of already started, with 4001 A.D. #1 (of 4) releasing last week and reintroducing fans to Rai, guardian of New Japan and the tenth person to assume the title. X-O Manowar, Bloodshot and Shadowman are also in for some shake-ups in the Summer of 4001AD. Here’s the rest of the reading list:
May
4001 A.D. #1
Written by Matt Kindt. Art by Clayton Crain and David Mack.
Available May 4th.
4001 A.D.: X-O Manowar #1 (one-shot tie-in)
Written by Robert Venditti. Art by Clayton Henry.
Available May 11th.
Rai #13 (tie-in)
Written by Matt Kindt. Art by CAFU.
Available May 18th.
June
4001 A.D. #2
Written by Matt Kindt. Art by Clayton Crain.
Available June.
4001 A.D.: X-O Bloodshot #1 (one-shot tie-in)
Written by Jeff Lemire. Art by Doug Braithwaite.
Available June.
Rai #14 (tie-in)
Written by Matt Kindt. Art by CAFU.
Available June.
July
4001 A.D. #3
Written by Matt Kindt. Art by Clayton Crain.
Available June.
4001 A.D.: Shadowman #1 (one-shot tie-in)
Written by Jody Houser and Rafer Roberts. Art by Robert Gill.
Available July.
Rai #15 (tie-in)
Written by Matt Kindt. Art by CAFU.
Available July.
August
4001 A.D.: [Classified] #1 (tie-in)
Available August.
Rai #16 (tie-in)
Written by Matt Kindt. Art by CAFU.
Available August.
4001 A.D. #4
Written by Matt Kindt. Art by Clayton Crain.
Available August.
Sounds good so far! Earth must rise. Father must fall. Kickass art and solid writing in a fresh and funky universe that has been pretty fun to read since 2012.
Last Updated: May 11, 2016
