In Fallen World, #5, it’s all-out war between Rai and Bloodfather!

Can Bloodshot be saved from his ultimate fate?

What does the future of 4002 hold for these characters? The first answers to what comes next starts here!

Fallen World #5, written by Dan Abnett, featuring art by Adam Polina, colors by Ulises Arreola and letters by Jeff Powell is the final issue in the series that follows the events of the final issues of Rai and the 4001 A.D. miniseries. It also serves as the introduction to the new Rai series coming later this year from Abnett and Juan Jose Ryp (more on this later). .

Fallen World started off strongly, with the first three issues playing into the best the science fiction stories have to offer; racism, religion and foreign politics. But that didn’t carry into the fourth issue which felt less like great science fiction and more like a stumble in the road to greatness. It was a comic that, without the subtext and allegorical aspects, was left to stand on its artistic merits. Sadly there was enough that pulled me out of the story in terms of the art that I missed the subtleties of the previous issues.

Thankfully, the fourth issue remains the weakest in the series.

Regarding those allegories…

My love for this series is, in part, due to the analogs to our current world. There are clear problems between humans and their former slaves, the artificially intelligent positrons. This leads to some powerfully haunting moments in the first issue. The second issue introduced us to a religious sect that worship Father – or rather their idea of Father, crafted to suit their needs. It’s a series of undertones that add what all great science fiction has. That’s a powerful modern relevance despite the book being set two thousand years in the future. The third issue has added an interesting commentary on a foreign body trying to impose its will on the existent population. It’s a population that is less than thrilled with the proposition being offered by the foreign body.

From my review of Fallen World #3

Although there is a lot of combat in this comic, the overall theme is one of struggle in the face of inevitability. Now it’s possible I’m reading too much into the comic, but then what is art if you can’t interpret it in ways beyond the obvious?

With this being the finale to Fallen World the divergent plot lines all come together to some degree, though the focus is primarily on Rai and his confrontation with Father/Bloodfather, and it’s through this confrontation that Abnett discusses the inevitability of things. Surrounded by artwork that propels the story along in clean concise lines and panels inset over full page images gives the comic an epic feel and a sense of urgency that underlies the rush of the story itself.

Although the series didn’t end as strongly as it started, the was a significant upswing in terms of quality from the previous issue. Overall, as a reintroduction to Rai and the cast of the 4001 Fallen World was an unreserved success. As a standalone story? Well, as I said, it’s a great introduction to kick off the next chapter of Valiant’s future timeline.

Story: Dan Abnett Art: Adam Pollina
Colors: Ulises Arreola Letters: Jeff Powell
Story: 8.4 Art: 8.4 Overall: 8.4 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review.