Rai/Eternal Warrior 0

[Jrockswell]

I just submitted for grading Rai #'s 1, 2, and 3 (along with Eternal Warrior #4) all in pretty good condition except for Rai #3 but the artwork on these cover's is phenomenal.  I'm not a tattoo guy or anything but if I ever got one it would have to be in this style.  I guess that Rai movie is coming out so I hope these comics are heating up.  Amazing artwork on those covers!!!

Edited July 25, 2018 by Jrockswell

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

42 minutes ago, Jrockswell said:

I just submitted for grading Rai #'s 1, 2, and 3 (along with Eternal Warrior #4) all in pretty good condition except for Rai #3 but the artwork on these cover's is phenomenal.  I'm not a tattoo guy or anything but if I ever got one it would have to be in this style.  I guess that Rai movie is coming out so I hope these comics are heating up.  Amazing artwork on those covers!!!

Bloodshot, not Rai, has a movie coming. While the two characters are linked in the original Valiant universe, there's quite a difference between them. Still, a successful Bloodshot movie might help Valiant books in general since their readership is much lower than the big two, and the early Rai books have relatively low print numbers for the time.

[valiantman]

When I started collecting Valiant (again) in the late 1990s, after stopping in 1994 when I went off to college, the first book that I stockpiled was Rai #3.  Good choices! 

 

Edited July 25, 2018 by valiantman
visual aid

[fullerjason]

I loves me some Rai!

[Keys_Collector]

21 hours ago, valiantman said:

When I started collecting Valiant (again) in the late 1990s, after stopping in 1994 when I went off to college, the first book that I stockpiled was Rai #3.  Good choices! 

Really nice cover and I can see the relation to Japanese style tattooing.  Any other significance to this book other than the nice cover?

[jsilverjanet]

I always love the design and character but felt they could have done more with the character

 

[valiantman]

29 minutes ago, Eric C. said:

Really nice cover and I can see the relation to Japanese style tattooing.  Any other significance to this book other than the nice cover?

Though the print runs in the early 1990s were much higher than today, especially for independent publishers, the print runs for early Valiant (pre-Unity, or pre-summer-1992) were some of the lowest among popular publishers at the time.  Valiant created an official "rarest early Valiant" list inside their Valiant Voice newspaper (like Comic Shop News), and announced that Rai #3 was the #1 rarest Valiant book, confirming what many had been saying for a year... combining one of the most popular covers with the least number of comics printed.

Later issues of Valiant (and Acclaim) would have lower print runs than Rai #3, but those were printed at a time when collectors were leaving the hobby altogether... while Rai #3 was the lowest printed at a time when collectors were trying to pick up all the early Valiant books they'd missed.

[WolverineX]

Is this Rai 3 the miniseries or the regular series?

[valiantman]

13 minutes ago, Wolverinex said:

Is this Rai 3 the miniseries or the regular series?

The blue dragon the regular series.  The miniseries Rai #3 looks like he's interrupting future baseball.

 

[Coolio McCool]

Slightly off-topic, but the real first appearance of Bloodshot is Rai 0. Eternal Warrior 4 is a lame comic and Bloodshot literally shows up in the last panel and does nothing. Rai 0 is an amazing comic, great story, probably the best cover Valiant ever did, and has the origin of Bloodshot. Anyone chasing Eternal Warrior 4 is chasing fool's gold. If Eternal Warrior 4 is the first appearance of Bloodshot then Hulk 180 is the first appearance of Wolverine.

[ADAMANTIUM]

Some people have underestimated the sales of rai 0 lately, and left cash on the table on the bay. I question whether this is a lack of faith in the character.....?

8 minutes ago, Coolio McCool said:

Slightly off-topic, but the real first appearance of Bloodshot is Rai 0. Eternal Warrior 4 is a lame comic and Bloodshot literally shows up in the last panel and does nothing. Rai 0 is an amazing comic, great story, probably the best cover Valiant ever did, and has the origin of Bloodshot. Anyone chasing Eternal Warrior 4 is chasing fool's gold. If Eternal Warrior 4 is the first appearance of Bloodshot then Hulk 180 is the first appearance of Wolverine.

https://m.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=rai+0+cgc+glossy&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1

It is worth noting that I have a raw, that I plan to send to cgc that also I think is the "glossy" version... 

[Lazyboy]

31 minutes ago, Coolio McCool said:

If Eternal Warrior 4 is the first appearance of Bloodshot then Hulk 180 is the first appearance of Wolverine.

Yeah, they are.

They are both brief, lame appearances and it shouldn't be at all surprising if the first full appearances have higher demand, but they are the unqualified first appearances.

12 hours ago, valiantman said:

the print runs for early Valiant (pre-Unity, or pre-summer-1992) were some of the lowest among popular publishers at the time.

Valiant wasn't popular, which is why the print runs were that low. When Valiant became popular, the print runs exploded.

[Jrockswell]

On ‎7‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 1:34 PM, valiantman said:

When I started collecting Valiant (again) in the late 1990s, after stopping in 1994 when I went off to college, the first book that I stockpiled was Rai #3.  Good choices! 

 

tis a beaut!!!!...snake things comin outta every hole...lol..and my bad getting the movie wrong Chatzilla. I'll chock it up to it being my first post and not focus on how lame of me it was...sorry chatzilla

[Jrockswell]

22 hours ago, Eric C. said:

Really nice cover and I can see the relation to Japanese style tattooing.  Any other significance to this book other than the nice cover?

Nope just love the cover...i'll give another cover I love.....and it's just a cover...but whatever and I can't find a 9.8 of it.....Peter Parker The Spectacular Spiderman #101 https://goo.gl/images/UaK5Jd

[valiantman]

10 hours ago, Lazyboy said:

Valiant wasn't popular, which is why the print runs were that low. When Valiant became popular, the print runs exploded.

True.  It was the Unity crossover story that drew attention to Valiant, and the sharp increase in print runs post-Unity up to Turok #1 (released at the same time as Adv. of Superman #500 white bag).  The "Pre-Unity" tag is the easiest way to say "before Valiant was popular"... though, any independent publisher which could sell 30,000 to 100,000 books a month for all titles today would already be a huge success without the sharp increase in print runs.

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

14 hours ago, Coolio McCool said:

Slightly off-topic, but the real first appearance of Bloodshot is Rai 0. Eternal Warrior 4 is a lame comic and Bloodshot literally shows up in the last panel and does nothing. Rai 0 is an amazing comic, great story, probably the best cover Valiant ever did, and has the origin of Bloodshot. Anyone chasing Eternal Warrior 4 is chasing fool's gold. If Eternal Warrior 4 is the first appearance of Bloodshot then Hulk 180 is the first appearance of Wolverine.

Hulk 180 *is* the first appearance of Wolverine