RAI #1-12 (2014-2015) review

(Reviewed by Melody Werner)
Rai is a series published by Valiant Entertainment, and is part of their relaunch from a few years ago. Written by Matt Kindt and illustrated by Clayton Crain. It had 12 issues at time of writing, all building up to Valiant's event, 4001 AD, which began in the summer of 2016. The series stars the titular Rai, a science fiction samurai who is the protector of New Japan.

Rai is a gorgeous series. Any book that has Clayton Crain doing art is going to have me saying that--and, hey, wouldn't you know? He does an amazing job with Rai. The art has this watercolor or, more accurately, a painterly feel to it which makes nearly everything look fantastic. That brings tons of style and really pulls this cyberpunk world off perfectly. The character designs look fantastic and the series has tons of little details that all come together to make one of the best-looking series I've read in years. The action, too, comes to life with some great illusion of motion and some pretty damn viscera l fights that are quite badass to see play out.

However, the writing is not even nearly as strong. While the world Rai has is an intriguing enough one, the series just doesn't have much character to it, which is why I'm so disappointed by it. Crain brings such exceptional rendering to this setting which is wasted when there's nothing to latch onto beyond pretty pictures (which isn't fair to Crain or the comic book medium, but you get my point). The characters in the series have no personalities or complexity to them, which makes it hard to feel anything when they are injured, die, something else terrible happens to them, etc. or feel happy for them when something grand happens in their favor. Some of them, like Izak, are pretty badass, and all of them have great designs, but it all falls like a house of Kevin Spacey's career after we found out he's a fucking piece of shit when the characters have zero depth to them. No character in this well and truly pops, y'know? They're all 50 shades of grey and dull.

The plot is in the same boat. While the world it builds, as previously mentioned, is a decently intriguing one that has a good bit of depth to it, the plot set in that playbox is a rather dry affair. It's bog standard, in every regard. It is about a rebellion against the Father--and unlike Irredeemable or Injustice, which have similar set-ups (that also lead to building up allies, losses over time whenever the "good guys" get into conflict with the bad ones, etc.)--nothing really happens that's especially interesting, or tense, or entertaining. It is more worried about assimilating allies for Rai, which could be fine for an epic conclusion, but NONE OF THEM are ever used. Hell, even Rai does almost nothing of note in the series. It also takes every step possible that is predictable or just not that well thought out in general. This comic is a fart in the wind.

The dialogue is okay, for the most part. However, the banter on display is some of the worst I've read that isn't from the prehistoric era. Seriously, it's painfully bad. And when it tries to sound inspiring (it literally says a speech of Rai's is going to be grand and amazing like ten times right beforehand, so it kinda hoists itself by its own petard), it feels like it's trying to rip off Braveheart. A note to writers, don't try to write some type of style that you fucking suck at. Rai doesn't do that kind of stuff that often, but when it does, it's no doubt dreadful.

The pacing is a wreck. As I said before, not much happens in the middle issues, and FAR too much happens in the final (twelfth) issue. The final issue itself is just a massive clusterfuck, and feels very rushed; throwing random character deaths at you for no reason, other than to build false tension, I presume. And it leaves off with an undeserved cliffhanger ending for 4001 AD, which as anyone knows is a big no no in any form of media, whether it be movies or comics or video games or novels or puppet shows.

All around, I don't want to say Rai is a bad series necessarily. It looks amazing and the world it builds has a grand scale to it with tons of lore and shit that I don't want to downplay. But the series is lackluster and really doesn't live up to the rest of the talent in the series, at least writing wise. Rai gets a 5/10.

Harmless

Summary:

Rai isn't an amazing series by any stretch. The art is grand and the world has a great scale and tons of intrigue to it, but the plot, characters, dialogue, and pacing fail the series. Its poor final issue and boring middle make it a series you flip through to bask in the beautiful art, rather than experience as intended; where the written word and the painted word meld together to create a truly beautiful and special experience.