Comic Review: Fallen World #2

Fallen World (2019-) #2

Valiant Entertainment

Writer: Dan Abnett

Artist: Adam Pollina

And so the second part of a burgeoning new epic from Valiant rolls in.

Our long-suffering guardian of the future, Rai, is in a prickly place. In the middle of his self-imposed pacifism in the wake of his satellite home, New Japan, crashing to Earth, he’s forced to take up arms again when Father—the domineering AI who created him—regains a physical body with some familiar and nasty new abilities. He has help, though, in the form of the immortal warrior Gilad and geomancer Karana, who had once been Father’s prisoner. But there’s another player ready to join the party: a familiar face to Valiant fans that I won’t disclose here.

Meanwhile, Rai’s advisor, Lula, is forced to look after the turbulent population Rai has left in her charge. Complicating matters further is the Church Fallen, led by a mysterious masked zealot named Circadian. The Church Fallen is a worldwide religious movement that reveres Father as a deity, and they have a new secret weapon: the Raijin, one of Father’s first synthetic guardians. The Raijin has the ability and the will to locate Father anywhere in the world. And they have a plan.

This issue was passable. The pacing is good enough; Abnett’s juggling of the fight with Father, Lula’s investigations, and the Church Fallen’s dealings with the Raijin, are passable and don’t feel too jumbled or forced. If any of the subplots suffer, however, it’s definitely Lula’s; Rai’s and the Church’s follow a clear arc, but Lula’s comes off as half-baked. Perhaps more will be explored in coming issues.

Another complaint I must bring up is Rai’s seemingly quick return to his warrior ways. I understand why Rai is turning his back on pacifism: as long as he exists, Father is a staggeringly deadly foe no matter how powerful he is. If there’s any being in Rai’s sphere that warrants taking up arms again after a vow of peace, it’s Father. But the decision is so quick and so sudden that it feels less like Rai deciding to do what has to be done and more just an excuse to get a cheap fight scene. His interactions with the colder Gilad and the naïve Karana, though, are in top form.

Also, I was promised dinosaurs. But there are no dinos so far. At least, none that I was able to notice.

What gives, Abnett?

You can’t hold out on us, Abnett.

Adam Pollina, in the meantime, continues to kill it in the art department. Clayton Crain’s sleek visuals have personally become synonymous with Rai for me, but Pollina’s art style matches the setting perfectly. Everything is cohesive and organic and tight, with a big standout for me being Father’s displays of power when using the nanites in Bloodshot’s body. The sprawling biomasses and tendrils and shapes Pollina is able to render while maintaining visual consistency with the rest of the setting is astonishing.

Overall, while not a particularly satisfying second issue, it at least still introduced enough story elements to keep me invested for the third issue next month. Take from that what you will.