One hundred years from today, Father – the benevolent artificial intelligence that governs the island nation of Japan – will gain sentience. To defend its borders, Father will take drastic action by launching Japan into space…where its people will thrive in isolation, away from the overpopulated and resource-deprived planet below. Over the centuries, as New Japan orbits our increasingly unstable world, it will become a model society – one built on peace, prosperity… and Father’s control.

I burned through all 16 issues of Rai 4001 AD, the 4001 AD mini series and all it’s associated issues in about 4 days over the Thanksgiving holiday, all from the comfort of my cell phone screen, which obviously was way too small to actually take in the scale of some of the art. Valiant Entertainment is known for their great art direction and this series really re-enforces this, it was gorgeous. More importantly, it was tightly scripted with a clear beginning, middle, and end with enough of an opening for future stories down the road, but not so wide open that the story felt incomplete or too leading.

I look forward to finding a copy of the hardcover of this and adding it to my collection, or maybe even getting the singles of all the stories and rotate them through my wall cover collection.