Last years summer event from Valiant, “4001 A.D.,” was decent event that brought the “Rai” series up to that point to an end, but it also introduced some new, intriguing elements. One of those was Ana, the War Mother. Now, Valiant Comics is bringing that character back in her own mini-series.
Announced at Blastr, the previously “secret” book on Valiant Comic’s 2017 schedule has been fully announced, Valiant Comics will return to the world of 4001 in a four issue mini-series, written by the character’s co-creator Fred Van Lente (“Generation Zero”) and illustrated by Steven Segovia (“Ninjak”), with covers by the legendary David Mack (“Jessica Jones”).
In interview, Van Lente described the coming adventure of Ana and her sentient sniper rifle, Flaco. After usurping the despotic leaders of the Grove, Ana is going to face the difficulties of leadership as well as the ramifications of her usurpation. “Unfortunately, the mini-series opens with the fact that she killed Sylvan, the despot, and he was mentally connected to the vegetation and literally kept the Grove alive. So now it’s dying, and she has to find a new home for everybody.” He also describes the dichotomy in Ana’s moniker and the bizarre relationship between her and her slightly kill-happy weapon, even as he is still working on the core.
As someone who reviewed the original one-shot, I found Ana and Flaco to be a breath of air in an okay event and thought it had the most potential out of what was introduced. Seeing it back, not unlike how “Faith” took off in the last two years, brings me a lot of hope for Ana’s future.
“War Mother” #1 will be available in shops and digitally August 23rd.
