I must admit I wasn’t sure about what to expect from Rai. Sci-Fi and I have never been good Friends (I know nothing about Star Wars, Star Trek, and any other thing with Star in the name.) There have been only a couple of stories that really caught my eye over the years, and Rai is now among that list.
Matt Kindt has done a brilliant job with this story and any fantasy, paranormal, or science fiction fans will really like this one. It’s a fast paced story, but one that is well-developed with a straight line right to the action despite the lack of traditional “action scenes”. Those very few we see this issue have all the drama, tension to make the necessary impact on the story.
What I’m reading seems like a religious retelling of Jesus Christ story (that could just be me) and I must say that I’m pretty impressed with the way Kindt has worked it. He is showing a society which becomes obsessed even if that wasn’t his intention at the beginning of the story. I find the idea of a Japanese, robotic messiah a very interesting story that really shakes up traditional comics.
Rai #14 is more realistic, more credible than many other concepts I’ve seen as a reader (I read A LOT of books) and despite being a machine, Sai (this generations Rai) looks, acts and think as a human being does. She has more emotions than even the human race we see in New Japan; the space-located-city where everything takes place.
Before moving to the art, I need to give a big “THANK YOU” to Kindt. Many sci-fi stories I’ve read, if not most, use an infinite number of technobabble in their descriptions and dialogue which is one of the reasons I’m not a fan of the genre, but Rai is one that keeps it simple content. Reading this book won’t feel like Impossible Mission or Star Trek Voyager and will be really understand wand follow.
Cafu and Dalhouse are on art duties and have done a great job with both the art and coloring. I usually expect blues, greens, ans some reds when thinking about science fiction stories like this one, but they managed to use a lot colors that it more in life with a fantasy book, with some panels even having a sort of paranormal look to them. I thoroughly enjoyed what I saw, and it was easy on the eyes while fitting the story well.
It’s a cool midpoint between more classical comic art and a delicate, almost poetic style with very professional results. I might even say that 99% of potential readers will really like the art in this issue. I just can’t say enough good things about the wonderful art.
The best scene of the book was the climax, which makes sense. No only was it great because of its nature, but also because of the dynamism that filled the whole thing. While reading I wanted to take more than a couple of panels, print them and put them in my bedroom’s walls as poster! If anyone wants to know why I’m being such a fan boy with this scene, one of the main reasons is the contrast of dark colors and the bright red. It’s very striking and is something that lingers with you.
I find the concept with Rai one that is very original and an interesting idea I’m excited to see evolve and develop. I’ll be waiting for the next issue with great anticipation! I’m going to keep an eye on this one and read try and track down the previous issues. Pick this one up as you won’t regret it.
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