Rai #5 Discussion

[sonicdan]

Gorgeous art as always. I am glad they are keeping Clayton Crain on the book. Worth the wait.
Some revelations about Rai's mother that are interesting and ties into the first arc.
Rai struggles to keep his thoughts clear from Father as the trust erodes from both sides. It builds up the suspense and will make for an dynamic conflict when the time comes.
There's a great cameo from Matt Kindt that is funny. I picked up the plus version and the extra stories are a nice intermission.
I've been meaning to go back and read 1-4 so now may be a good time to do so.
5/5 for me.
DAN

[pixierosa]

Once again, I'm left with wanting to keep on reading. Kindt crafts an interesting story - bit of mystery, bit of sci-fi, bit of action. Makes it hard to wait for the next book. If this was in novel form, I'd probably stay up all night reading it in one sitting.

Crain's art is beautiful. As Dan said, well worth the wait.

Like Q&W, this is a book that I've been seeing non-Valiant enthusiasts put on their pull lists.

Lots to discuss about the plot. One tidbit - Rai's mother. Do you believe the story that he built a failsafe into her? If she's human, how is that possible? And why bother if he planned on recycling her soon? Paranoia? Just wondering if that is true or just a convenient truth the raddies came up with.

The renegade positronic is interesting. How is that possible, if their underlying programming is not to harm? Thoughts about the freakshow hybrid? How and why did he happen?

5/5. Excellent read!

[jkingman]

5/5 absolutely loved it. and the failsafe thing does seem a bit fishy

[Ramses818]

Like the others in this thread have already said, the Mother story is wrong. More clear explaination of Father was nice. The Kindt bit was funny.seeing the birth of the free wills is awesome! Blood drinking freak? Cool. The covers all underwhelmed me. The story moved along well leaving me wanting more. I am always a huge fan of Clayton's art which always so wonderful. Last little critique was the voice on the Qr was not at all what I had imagined/hoped for. Overall another very good comic.

[geocarr]

Rai #5 QR Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Oq9I1mAFO0

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/-Oq9I1mAFO0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

How do you embed a youtube video on the board?

[David_Cody]

I'd give 10/10. Echo DAN's sentiments. Crain's art is WELL worth the wait. Rai still continues to be my fav VEI book each month. Just consistently great it both writing and art.

[hunter_peterson]

Once again, I'm left with wanting to keep on reading. Kindt crafts an interesting story - bit of mystery, bit of sci-fi, bit of action. Makes it hard to wait for the next book. If this was in novel form, I'd probably stay up all night reading it in one sitting.

Crain's art is beautiful. As Dan said, well worth the wait.

Like Q&W, this is a book that I've been seeing non-Valiant enthusiasts put on their pull lists.

Lots to discuss about the plot. One tidbit - Rai's mother. Do you believe the story that he built a failsafe into her? If she's human, how is that possible? And why bother if he planned on recycling her soon? Paranoia? Just wondering if that is true or just a convenient truth the raddies came up with.

The renegade positronic is interesting. How is that possible, if their underlying programming is not to harm? Thoughts about the freakshow hybrid? How and why did he happen?

5/5. Excellent read!

I think Momo is going freewill because her companion was killed. They are programmed to only think and act as an appendage of the human they are made for; once they are gone programming seems to fail and lead to true sapience.

Awesome issue! Loved everything. The spidery-anti-Rai was cool, can't wait to see more!

[ValiantChris1994]

Is anyone here a Questionable Content fan? It's an awesome comedy webcomic that's been around since 2003, and one of its cast is a female robot with pink hair named Momo! I wonder if the naming of the character in Rai is a deliberate homage, easter egg, or just a complete coincidence.

[hawkeyeps]

I loved this issue and the plus material was great, we get the Raddie manifesto and it sounds a lot like what Gilad is thinking in Eternal Emperor.

5/5 well worth the wait

[mateo107]

the wait is over and Rai #5 didn't disappoint at all. as if the conspiracy to take down Father wasn't enough, we see Momo meeting a new villain (or does this one have a VH1 precedent?) Izak, and Lula and her new companion are getting into some explosive trouble. a lot plates spinning, and I'm anxious to see how it will all converge. it's going to be a long wait until next month. in the meantime, I still have to hunt down the Plus edition...

[bygranddesign]

Another brilliant issue by Kindt/Crain - this has been an amazing run so far by this team and the mysteries, the intrigue, the story gets deeper and better and more ambitious. Loved it.

Some observations ... And questions ...

Lulu finally gets her positronic - and it's girl. Hopefully by the year 4001 (even with all the problems) we are at least passed the point of labeling but it's interesting that Father/Japan determined that her ideal life partner should be a girl. It's another cool and interesting twist by Kindt.

One thing that I wish Kindt made more clear is why the Raddies want to take down Father. I'm not sure it's been articulated well. I didn't re-read the first 4 before reading this - so I rely on the summary page to get me back up to date. And there just seems to be a lack of motivation and understanding. What is their ultimate goal? What are they trying to accomplish in the long term besides just taking down father who is literally the life blood of Japan? What's Rai's goal? Is there a plan on how society will function? Is the plan to go back to Earth? Who would be the new leader? Dr. Silk?

I feel like there needs to be some greater clarity about the motivations and end goals of these characters if we are to enjoy this partnership between Rai, Dr. Silk, and The Raddies.

Besides those lingering questions - excellent issue. Kindt is a true pro. He masterfully constructs an opening issue to an arc by brilliantly re-introducing characters along with a ton of new plot points to explore.

Crain's work is again beautiful and brilliant. The amount of detail and imagination that goes into each page and panel really transports you into this 4001 world.

[bygranddesign]

The renegade positronic is interesting. How is that possible, if their underlying programming is not to harm? Thoughts about the freakshow hybrid? How and why did he happen?

5/5. Excellent read!

I think Momo is going freewill because her companion was killed. They are programmed to only think and act as an appendage of the human they are made for; once they are gone programming seems to fail and lead to true sapience.

This may be part of it ... but i'm not sure its the whole explanation.

There were many humans killed during that arc ... I would suspect there are then many Positronics that no longer have their human partner. Did all of them also go rogue/free will?

I think Kindt might have given us another clue that might be part of the equation also - and that is Momo's feelings toward Rai. I think that spark of feelings/love has given her this new purpose..

I also would not be surprised if Father is pulling the strings for all this to happen. He knew that revolution was inevitable and he is just setting up the pieces for the best possible outcome. And part of that is allowing Positrons to go rogue..

[bygranddesign]

Lots to discuss about the plot. One tidbit - Rai's mother. Do you believe the story that he built a failsafe into her? If she's human, how is that possible? And why bother if he planned on recycling her soon? Paranoia? Just wondering if that is true or just a convenient truth the raddies came up with.

I think its possible that the story is true.

If Japan is controlled by these self-aware particles called "Livewire" that is the essence of Father ... Those particles could be everywhere and especially if they were used in the creation of Rai within the womb of the mother. Those particles are probably still there - they sensed that the Mother was being compromised ... and were programmed to kill her from within. That's my theory of what the "trap door" might have been.

[bygranddesign]

Loved the cameo by Kindt ! Really sharp and funny dialogue in that scene ... hinted that Spylocke is really really old ..I wonder how old? 2,000 years ...



Really nice expressive work by Crain on this page - you could tell he had fun drawing Matt!

And is that a sonic screwdriver??

[jkingman]

I think Kindt might have given us another clue that might be part of the equation also - and that is Momo's feelings toward Rai. I think that spark of feelings/love has given her this new purpose..

I also would not be surprised if Father is pulling the strings for all this to happen. He knew that revolution was inevitable and he is just setting up the pieces for the best possible outcome. And part of that is allowing Positrons to go rogue..

interesting that Father might be behind the free will...

[BugsySig]

I'm torn on this book. The story has me intrigued for sure, but there are a lot of moving parts. I trust Kindt will pull everything together, but I have this fear that might take 50 issues to get there.

[hawkeyeps]

I thought the plus material was brilliant, great background on Japan, Positronics and Radddies.

I thought it was really clever that in the Raddie manifesto it mentions that it is printed on paper and that is a precious thing, like it's subversive information not available to the digital world due to the fact it's printed (plus edition only).

I highly recommend the plus edition, kudos to the editors for making the extra material work so well and add so much to the greater story.

If Rai 5 gets 5/5 then Rai 5 plus gets 5.5/5, pretty sneaky eh?

[bygranddesign]

I thought the plus material was brilliant, great background on Japan, Positronics and Radddies.

I thought it was really clever that in the Raddie manifesto it mentions that it is printed on paper and that is a precious thing, like it's subversive information not available to the digital world due to the fact it's printed (plus edition only).

I highly recommend the plus edition, kudos to the editors for making the extra material work so well and add so much to the greater story.

If Rai 5 gets 5/5 then Rai 5 plus gets 5.5/5, pretty sneaky eh?

Cool ... Thanks for the info Hawkeye. I bought this issue digitally so I haven't gotten the plus edition yet.

One of the things that i don't have a clear understanding of - is what is the Raddies end goal? They destroy father - they most likely destroy all of Japan. Do they have a replacement? Do they want to go back to Earth? Maybe the manifesto will give me some better insight.

[bygranddesign]

I'm torn on this book. The story has me intrigued for sure, but there are a lot of moving parts. I trust Kindt will pull everything together, but I have this fear that might take 50 issues to get there.

He is a fountain of ideas and concepts ... and really packs them into an issue .. sometimes he doesn't pull them off as smoothly as I would like it. Sometimes the storytelling feels a bit awkward ..or cold.. But when he gets it right - its pretty inspiring.

This issue wouldn't rank as one of my favorite issues Kindt has done for Valiant ... but its still up there. Its an issue I'll go back to again and again because there are so many cool things happening.

[hawkeyeps]

I thought the plus material was brilliant, great background on Japan, Positronics and Radddies.

I thought it was really clever that in the Raddie manifesto it mentions that it is printed on paper and that is a precious thing, like it's subversive information not available to the digital world due to the fact it's printed (plus edition only).

I highly recommend the plus edition, kudos to the editors for making the extra material work so well and add so much to the greater story.

If Rai 5 gets 5/5 then Rai 5 plus gets 5.5/5, pretty sneaky eh?

Cool ... Thanks for the info Hawkeye. I bought this issue digitally so I haven't gotten the plus edition yet.

One of the things that i don't have a clear understanding of - is what is the Raddies end goal? They destroy father - they most likely destroy all of Japan. Do they have a replacement? Do they want to go back to Earth? Maybe the manifesto will give me some better insight.

Father is watching...paper only BGD

[hunter_peterson]

The renegade positronic is interesting. How is that possible, if their underlying programming is not to harm? Thoughts about the freakshow hybrid? How and why did he happen?

5/5. Excellent read!

I think Momo is going freewill because her companion was killed. They are programmed to only think and act as an appendage of the human they are made for; once they are gone programming seems to fail and lead to true sapience.

This may be part of it ... but i'm not sure its the whole explanation.

There were many humans killed during that arc ... I would suspect there are then many Positronics that no longer have their human partner. Did all of them also go rogue/free will?

I think Kindt might have given us another clue that might be part of the equation also - and that is Momo's feelings toward Rai. I think that spark of feelings/love has given her this new purpose..

I also would not be surprised if Father is pulling the strings for all this to happen. He knew that revolution was inevitable and he is just setting up the pieces for the best possible outcome. And part of that is allowing Positrons to go rogue..

I think you're partly right; it was her being saved by Rai as if she were no different to a normal human that made her not want to turn herself in. The parrot positron and the general lack of lone robots indicates that they are programmed to turn themselves in for recycling once their human dies. Momo decided not to do that because her human was a jerk and Rai made her feel like her own person. So I'd imagine many of those other positrons recycled themselves.

Though like was mentioned above, I wouldn't be surprised if Father set it up so that a certain percentage of positrons would go rogue. That would stir up hate for them, leading to the Raddies, giving society a set of enemies separate from himself. It's an excellent way of diverting attention to victims of the system rather than the system itself, especially with the living propaganda weapon that is Rai.

[jmatt]

a lot plates spinning, and I'm anxious to see how it will all converge.

That's an apt description. There's a lot going on and I'm glad it's not getting confusing or overwhelming.

Not much more to add to what's been said. Great story and fantastic art!

[Brother Darque]

I keep thinking of the opening theme to Blade Runner as I read Rai.

[Sven the Returned]

Loved the cameo by Kindt ! Really sharp and funny dialogue in that scene ... hinted that Spylocke is really really old ..I wonder how old? 2,000 years ...



Really nice expressive work by Crain on this page - you could tell he had fun drawing Matt!

And is that a sonic screwdriver??

So are white people/black people etc a major part jo Japanese culture in 4001?

[Captain Craig]

^^^^^
Why to they have to major..or minor? It's Japan so one would think they'd be minor occupants but I'm so over hearing about anything relating to race due to real world *SQUEE* that I'm over that as any type of topic.

Really great read and as noted the art makes it even more worth it for the story!

Since so much relevant stuff has been mentioned already...here's a small thing.

Having a Pre-historic area of the Japan mega structure strikes me as odd?
I get having a period era New York or other cities but Pre-history...with dinosaurs walking around seems like a waste of resources and space. Might be a good place to have a Turok one day.....one day???