Rai #9: Samurai Showdown

Just when you thought Rai couldn’t get anymore suspenseful, Dan Abnett kicks things up a notch! The new introduction of Fusion and his devious city New Ur is like throwing 50 liters of kerosene on a raging fire. Fusion alone is worth reading about, trying to understand his motives or how a “normal Joe” Positron managed to attain and apparently control so much power. His not-so-subtle hints at manipulating Rai and his brother against the remaining humans is intriguing as it is villainous.

But that’s barely scratching the surface here, Bloodshot reappearing only to have the rug (apparently) yanked out from under Spylocke and her crew will have you screaming for more to come when you hit the last page. Seeing her make such a potentially life ending mistake and not knowing what they could do to save themselves or how Red King will react is jaw dropping stuff.

All of this is to say nothing of the absolutely GORGEOUS art rendered by Juan Jose Ryp and Andrew Dalhouse. Literally every panel pops whether it’s inquisitive close ups of Rai and his ambiguous stares or Spylocke deep diving into the digital world to try to save Bloodshot, every page is delicious to the eyes. There’s not a better looking superhero (to pigeonhole such a genre spanning title unjustly) on the shelves right now and I sincerely doubt there will be another one any time soon. If you’re a sucker for the fine art of peak Ditko or Grell or so many other legends there is zero reason you should not be buying this book for the art alone. But unlike so many books where one aspect is the driving force, every element of this comic from art to story to lettering to panel layouts and back again is fantastic.