In short, 4001 A.D.: Shadowman #1 was wonderful, a nice teaser to whet your appetite for more adventures in the world of Valiant 4001 A.D.

Overall,A&A: The Adventures of Archer & Armstrong #4 is a wonderful issue that brings a surprisingly emotional story to an equally emotional close. The creative team feels absolutely in tune with one another and are able to grasp the complex task of comedic timing without natural fluidity. They work so well together, it's easy to forget it isn't all written, drawn, colored, and inked by one person, but by a team, which only proves how well Valiant crafts their creative teams. Despite initial misgivings, I can proudly say that I'm looking forward to much more on this title " and that the next two issues look to be excellent jumping-on points as well for new readers.

It's an ominous reveal, coupled by the apparent return of Kazmir. In Divinity II #3, Abram claimed that Myshka would be unable to seriously alter history like she tried, because they were essential just ghosts, "slamming door and blowing out candles" but this, this is a real change. The scene with the vendor was shown in a previous issue, and did not play out as it does here. Abram clearly, truly, altered history. In fact, he might not be the only one doing so. Neville's final scene, just before the altered past scene with Myshka, shows him pick up a coin to get a drink " a coin with Cyrillic writing. Not to mention the red star on the closed laptop. This seems to indicate someone, possibly Kazmir, is already trying to change history again.

The of these books fits the tone, which is great, but against other art on other books, like Bloodshot Reborn, Ninjak, and Wrath of the Eternal Warrior, Pere Prez's interior art (and Sauvage's and Doran's, of course) really only comes out to 'ok'. It absolutely fits the feel that Houser seems to be aiming for, but it isn't spectacular. And that's really what Faith is: fun, but not spectacular.

Speaking of teens, the interactions of Keisha, her friends, and the others at Rook High School feels very The OC–Skins-Hollywood-style teens, which, honestly, doesn't feel real. That being said, it feels somewhat purposeful when contrasted with the utopian tech-paradise of Rook. Even so, it comes off as clichd. So does the ambiguously-Asperger's Syndrome brother, Kwame, drawing Spirograph patterns from memory, claiming they'll keep "the Cornerman" away. With the way Generation Zero is being set up, there's a very good change the Cornerman is real.

While this issue does a wonderful job of wrapping up loose ends, it doesn't wrap them all up. Roku teases Ninjak (and us) with the identity of the seventh member of the Shadow Seven, a role which, until now, was assumed to be the undead monk, last seen in Ninjak #9, the conclusion of "The Shadow Wars". Evidently, this is not so, and this person is someone Ninjak has never encountered before. As well, Roku's cutting down of Darque's tree, last seen in Book of Death leaves a very important thread that is easy to overlook. The very last panel of the main book shows Darque fallen over and his red magic escaping to go presumably back to the Deadside. Roku is knelt down, clutching the back of her head, sword forgotten, with a few flames of red peeking out around her hair. This seems to indicate that, not only is Master Darque's power freed, but can now directly influence Roku. Time will tell what becomes of this.

Speaking of designs, I'd like to say how much I love CAFU on this series. Like many of you, I think, I was skeptical about CAFU replacing Clayton Crain as the artist for Rai. Of course I understand why the shift had to take place " Crain's art is so lush that it would be unreasonable to expect two series a month with that level of quality. All that said, CAFU was a stellar choice for the substitution. His other works with Valiant are qualification enough, but throughout these two issues, he has done a marvelous job of interpreting Crain's established designs for New Japan, adapting them to show previous eras, but not looking to different. The new Rai's design is one of my favorites and those energy whips are sick! It's heresy, I'm sure, but I wouldn't mind CAFU taking over for Crain if the need should arise.

Closing Thoughts on Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #10Wrath of the Eternal Warrior continues to deliver a thrilling and heart-wrenching tale of one man's eternal quest to the best he can. With consistently top notch art from Alln and writing from Venditti, Wrath deserves a place among Valiant's best titles like Bloodshot Reborn and Ninjak.