Valiant Looks to the Future in 4001 AD Summer Event

The Valiant universe is going to head into the future this summer, as the comics publisher launches The Summer of 4001 A.D. The event will include new series and one-shots all set in the 4001 A.D. future version of the universe, where Rai has taken place since its launch.

That means Rai is coming back, alongside new one-shots set in the future for X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, and Shadowman, plus one yet-to-be-revealed. Those tie-ins all hit alongside a stand-alone series called 4001 A.D. that will span four issues, written by Matt Kindt and drawn by Clayton Crain.

"From Harbinger Wars to Armor Hunters and, most recently, Book of Death, Valiant has quickly earned a reputation for producing some of the best and most accessible event comics anywhere in the industry. Now, with 4001 A.D., our writers, artists, and editors has made it their mission to not only match our previous successes in event-level storytelling, but surpass them entirely," said Valiant Editor-in-Chief Warren Simons in a press release. "Matt Kindt and Clayton Crain have done a wondrous job of making 4001 A.D. a complete world unto itself – one that is packed with lost heroes, 100-foot-tall suits of sentient alien armor, and city-sized robots floating on the edge of space."

Rai #13 will launch the crossover within that series, also written by Matt Kindt and drawn by Cafu. The major mysteries presented in the first three arcs of that series will come to a head, with Valiant promising answers about Father's origins - and the origins of New Japan itself.

Check out the gallery below for tons of preview art, including the exclusive reveals of Phil Jimenez and Matt Kindt's covers for the X-O one-shot. But first, the exclusive full reveal of the X-O Manowar tie-in's solicitation.

4001 A.D.: X-O MANOWAR #1
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI
Art by CLAYTON HENRY
Cover A by CAFU
Cover B by PHIL JIMENEZ
Character Design Variant by MATT KINDT
Interlocking Mega-Cover Variant by RYAN LEE

ROCKETING OUT OF THE PAGES OF 4001 A.D…the present and future of Valiant's #1 hero come together for an essential standalone chapter at the heart of the summer's blockbuster comics event!

How did the rise of Earth's most powerful hero lead to humanity's ultimate destruction? Just what was the War of the X-O Manowars…and how did its catastrophic fallout bring ruination and despair to a besieged planet? And why is the sacred extraterrestrial armor called Shanhara the one weapon Father fears more than any other?

The answers to the pivotal questions behind Valiant's planet- shaking summer event arrive here as New York Times best-selling writer Robert Venditti (BOOK OF DEATH) and acclaimed artist Clayton Henry (IVAR, TIMEWALKER) blast two thousand years into the future of the Valiant Universe to reveal the never-before-told future history of New Japan's dominion over Earth…and the doomed role that the X-O Manowar armor was forever fated to play in the coming war for liberation!

The full description of 4001 A.D. and the full creative teams for all of the tie-ins (aside from the classified one of course) follow:

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 can 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.

A thousand years from today, Father will create the first Rai, founding a lineage of technologically enhanced heroes engineered to defend New Japan and sworn to protect it from all enemies. For hundreds of years into the future, the Rai will single-handedly enforce New Japan's justice well…and serve Father without question.

Now, at the dawn of 4001 A.D., the latest Rai is about to inherit the dark truth behind the origin of his kind…and discover the sinister secret at the heart of Father's existence. For New Japan to live, Earth must die…and as Rai challenges his former master for the first time in more than a millennium, the lone guardian of New Japan will be cast out of his own Father's kingdom…

Exiled from the only realm he's ever known, Rai now walks the ravaged world of 4001 A.D. in search of forgotten heroes like himself…on a mission to collect the last surviving legends of a broken planet…and to forge a rebellion with the power to bring the most advanced civilization in history crashing back down to Earth.

Earth must rise. Father must fall. Rai! Eternal Warrior! X-O Manowar! Bloodshot! Shadowman! Geomancer! And more! The war for the ultimate fate of humanity begins in 4001 A.D. #1 (of 4) by superstar creators Matt Kindt and Clayton Crain – and continues in May and beyond as "THE SUMMER OF 4001 A.D." rages on…and changes the future of the Valiant Universe for all time!

4001 A.D. #1 (of 4)
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by CLAYTON CRAIN
Cover A by CLAYTON CRAIN
Cover B by TULA LOTAY
Cover C by RYAN BODENHEIM
Valiant x CGC Replica Variant by CLAYTON HENRY
Character Design Variant by CLAYTON CRAIN
Interlocking Mega-Cover Variant by RYAN LEE
Interlocking Artist Variant by RYAN SOOK
Interlocking B&W Sketch Artist Variant by RYAN SOOK

Blank Cover also available
$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+ | COMING IN MAY!

RAI #13 (4001 A.D.)
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by CAFU
Cover A by DAVID MACK
Cover B by CAFU
Valiant x CGC Replica Variant by CLAYTON HENRY
Character Design Variant by CAFU
Interlocking Mega-Cover Variant by RYAN LEE
$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+ | COMING IN MAY!

4001 A.D.: X-O MANOWAR #1
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI
Art by CLAYTON HENRY
Cover A by CAFU
Cover B by PHIL JIMENEZ
Character Design Variant by MATT KINDT
Interlocking Mega-Cover Variant by RYAN LEE
$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+ | COMING IN MAY!