Eisner Award Nominee David Mack Joins Valiant’s 4001 A.D. #1

As revealed today at Emerald City Comicon 2016, Valiant is proud to announce that multiple Eisner Award-nominated artist David Mack (Fight Club 2, Daredevil) will join New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (DIVINITY, Mind MGMT) and superstar artist Clayton Crain (RAI, X-Force) for 4001 A.D. #1 (of 4) – the FIRST ISSUE of Valiant’s much-anticipated summer event uniting Rai with the 41st century’s greatest heroes in comic shops everywhere on May 4th!

“David Mack has a gorgeous, extraordinarily unique visual style, and I’m honored that he’s joining the formidable team of Matt Kindt and Clayton Crain for 4001 A.D. #1,” said Valiant Editor-in-Chief Warren Simons. “We’ve called 4001 A.D. Valiant’s most ambitious event to date and now, with the addition of David, we’re readying what is sure to be one of the most intense creative visions of 2016. From start to finish, the entire team is fortifying a whole new idea of what the future can be. Comics don’t get any more satisfying – or much more beautiful – than this.”

To accommodate Mack’s stunning contributions to 4001 A.D. #1 (of 4)’s already jam-packed roster of surprises, the debut issue of the summer’s biggest comics event will now grow to a colossal 40 pages – all for the same previously solicited $3.99 cover price. Don’t miss the first shot fired in Rai’s revolutionary insurrection against the tyrannical forces of New Japan when 4001 A.D. #1 (of 4) starts here on May 4th – and launches “THE SUMMER OF 4001 A.D.” into the stratosphere with an essential series of new arcs and one-shots in its a wake.

Encompassing the core 4001 A.D. event, the return of Valiant’s acclaimed RAI ongoing series, and four standalone one-shots revealing the future incarnations of the Valiant Universe’s most formidable heroes, “THE SUMMER OF 4001 A.D.” is the biggest and most visionary Valiant event to date – and a perfect introduction to the largest independent superhero universe in comics today.

After 4001 A.D. #1 (of 4) arrives on May 4th, “THE SUMMER OF 4001 A.D.” explodes with the return of Rai’s award-winning ongoing series in RAI #13 – the FIRST ISSUE of an ALL-NEW JUMPING-ON POINT revealing the origin of New Japan and its very first guardian! Discover the essential history behind the dawn of 4001 A.D. here as New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (NINJAK) and acclaimed artist CAFU (UNITY) unearth the answers behind Father’s tyrannical rise to power. How did New Japan come to orbit Earth? Who created Father? And just what is Rai’s true nature…and what happened to his nine earlier predecessors that once patrolled New Japan in his stead? Discover the shocking answers as RAI #13 returns to set the events of 4001 A.D. in motion – and reveals the epic arc of the Valiant Universe’s future history!

Then, “THE SUMMER OF 4001 A.D.” escalates even further as a staggering cast of superstar talents come aboard to reveal what the 41st century holds for Valiant’s most iconic heroes in a new series of four indispensable one-shots! Featuring X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, Shadowman, and the debut of an all-new, top-secret character with a crucial tie to the present and future of the Valiant Universe, “THE SUMMER OF 4001 A.D.” erupts into full force here with four new chapters from Valiant’s most acclaimed creators, ripped directly from the pages of 4001 A.D.:

4001 A.D.: X-O MANOWAR #1
Written by Robert Venditti (BOOK OF DEATH); Art by Clayton Henry (HARBINGER WARS)
Coming in May4001 A.D.: BLOODSHOT #1
Written by Jeff Lemire (BLOODSHOT REBORN); Art by Doug Braithwaite (ARMOR HUNTERS)
Coming in June

4001 A.D.: SHADOWMAN #1
Written by Jody Houser (FAITH) & Rafer Roberts (A&A: THE ADVENTURES OF ARCHER & ARMSTRONG); Art by Robert Gill (BOOK OF DEATH)
Coming in July

4001 A.D.: [CLASSIFIED] #1
Written by [CLASSIFIED]; Art by [CLASSIFIED]
Coming in August

Each of chapter of “THE SUMMER OF THE 4001 A.D.” is designed for maximum accessibility and can be read in concert with the core 4001 A.D. series or stand on its own for a centuries-spanning vision of the future.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, Clayton Crain, and David Mack – 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!

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4001 A.D. #1 (of 4)
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by CLAYTON CRAIN and DAVID MACK
Cover A by CLAYTON CRAIN (MAR161791)
Cover B by TULA LOTAY (MAR161792)
Cover C by RYAN BODENHEIM (MAR161793)
Valiant x CGC Replica Variant by CLAYTON HENRY (MAR161794)
Character Design Variant Cover by CLAYTON CRAIN (MAR161796)
Interlocking Mega-Cover Variant by RYAN LEE (MAR161797)
Interlocking Artist Variant by RYAN SOOK (MAR161798)
Interlocking B&W Artist Variant by RYAN SOOK (MAR161799)
Blank Cover Also Available (MAR161795)
$3.99 | 40 pgs. | T+ | On sale MAY 4 (FOC – 4/11/16)

4001 A.D.: X-O MANOWAR #1
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI
Art by CLAYTON HENRY
Cover A by CAFU (MAR161805)
Cover B by PHIL JIMENEZ (MAR161806)
Character Design Variant by MATT KINDT (MAR161807)
Interlocking Mega-Cover Variant by RYAN LEE (MAR161808)
$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+ | ONE-SHOT | On sale MAY 11 (FOC – 4/18/16)

RAI #13 (NEW ARC! “4001 A.D.”)
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by CAFU
Cover A by DAVID MACK (MAR161800)
Cover B by ANDRES GUINALDO (MAR161801)
Valiant x CGC Replica Variant by CLAYTON HENRY (MAR161802)
Character Design Variant by CAFU (MAR161803)
Interlocking Mega-Cover Variant by RYAN LEE (MAR161804)
$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+ | On sale MAY 18 (FOC – 4/25/16)