War Mother brings us back to the future timeline in the Valiant universe set in the year 4001. Unlike the Rai series, which mostly takes place on a space station orbiting the planet, War Mother is set on Earth.

I was disappointed that this volume opens with the issue that originally introduced the character because it was included in the 4001 A.D. event spin-off book. The only reason this is disappointing is because that issue doesn't add any new content to the character. It makes sense to include it here since not everyone will have read that other book. But I thought that issue was great and it did make me excited to read this volume.

The art is solid. It makes use of a lot of natural color tones to contrast it from the Rai books. I liked the story too. Most of what happens in this book is a result of what happens in the first issue. It opens up an opportunity to explore more of the future world and build some familiarity with a new set of characters. I wasn't thrilled with the end of this arc, but I enjoyed the rest of the story and definitely want to read more about this character.

An interesting story, and a cast of exciting characters! I really enjoyed this world and the plot in this one!

'War Mother' by Fred Van Lente with art by Stephen Segovia and Tomas Giorello is the return of a character from Valiant Entertainment's 4001 A.D.

It is the distant future, and Earth is pretty uninhabitable. Humans still live on the planet alongside the other mutations that prey on them. War Mother is genetically engineered to protect her group of humans. She and her intelligent gun, nicknamed Flaco, forage for useful items. When a call from a safe haven called Montana comes in, War Mother goes to investigate.

I really liked this story and art combination. War Mother is a really interesting character and it reminded me of other futuristic titles I've liked over the years like Tank Girl and Judge Dredd.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

It’s the year 4001 A.D. and the Earth has become a very inhospitable place. Ana has been bioengineered to be able to withstand most if perhaps not all the dangers this apocalyptic world might throw at her. She is the War Mother of a small enclave of humans called the Grove. With the help of her sentient weapon, Flaco, she protects the Grove, leaving it only on short forages to find what they need but cannot produce themselves. When a radio signal is received offering a refuge somewhere further than she has ever gone before, Ana heads out to investigate. What she finds may be either the survival of mankind or its end. The question for her and the people she protects: can even Ana survive all the dangers she will confront on her quest?

The graphic novel, War Mother by Fred Van Lente is published by Valient Comics and contains volumes 1-4 of the original War Mother comic series. The series is a spin off from 4001 A.D. which I have not read but this works fine as a standalone. There was a whole lot to like here. The art by Stephen Segovia is gorgeous, the world building is impressive and there’s plenty of action, twists, and even some witty banter between Ana and Flaco to keep the story moving along at a nice clip. My one criticism is the subplot about a relationship that has developed between Ana’s husband and another member of the Grove – I’m guessing its significance will become apparent in future issues but here it serves only as a distraction from the main story and not a welcome one. Overall, though War Mother is a compelling story with a strong female protagonist and I look forward to reading more of the series in the future.

Thanks to Netgalley and Valient Comics for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

Though the plot of War Mother is, generally speaking, serious, it never becomes overbearing because there is some well-placed humor. Ana and Flaco both being smart asses definitely helps with that. Plus there’s plenty of action. And the art is colorful and well-suited to carrying the story along.

Goodreads Synopsis:
BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT — WAR MOTHER RETURNS! Out of the pages of 4001 A.D., the breakout hero of the 41st century charges onward in an high-powered tale of tomorrow from New York Times best-selling writer Fred Van Lente (ARCHER & ARMSTRONG) and high-octane artists Stephen Segovia (NINJAK, Action Comics) and Tomás Giorello (X-O MANOWAR)!

Two millennia from today, Earth is not the hospitable home we once we knew. Ravaged by an endless onslaught of war, disaster, and time, the world is littered with desolate badlands, fortified kingdoms, and secretive enclaves where humanity still clings to life… Enclaves like The Grove – Earth’s last known repository of scientific knowledge and bioengineered prosperity. Now, under the leadership of the lone protector called WAR MOTHER and her sentient sniper rifle, the denizens of The Grove face a critical choice: remain where they are and die, or find a new land and flourish. Can War Mother lead her people out of isolation and reignite the fires of a dying planet? And even if she can locate the distant citadel she seeks, can she fight back the horrors and perverse monstrosities that lurk just beyond her doorstep?

In the footsteps of RAI and BOOK OF DEATH, raw power meets tribal warfare as Fred Van Lente & Stephen Segovia forge a modern myth of the near future through the fire-tempered frontier of 41st century Earth for Valiant’s next stunning science-fiction showdown!

Collecting WAR MOTHER #1–4 and 4001 A.D.: WAR MOTHER #1.

My Review:
In a futuristic but apocalyptic world, tribes of humans and humanoids alike are fighting to scavenge wrecks that drop from orbit onto the planet. Ana, main character and War Mother of a vegetarian village of people, goes out with her talking gun and goes to get the tech that the people in the sky have dropped. Although her home grows almost everything they need, they can't grow metals and circuitry so she must go out and find it before others, like the meat eaters, do. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect from this book based off of the cover itself. It looked interesting, the description made it seem like something I'd like, so I requested it. I'm glad I got the chance to read it. Though only one hundred and twenty-ish pages long, It's packed full of action and beautiful artwork. It captures the story well and pulls you in immediately. It's exciting, full of action and the characters are cool looking and confident, I love it. It's everything I want in a story. The setting, although alien, is really well established and the artwork makes it really intricate and it fits well with the story. I really enjoyed reading this and you should definitely check it out if you get the chance.

Here's a link to the author's twitter, and another link to the book on Amazon.

https://twitter.com/fredvanlente

https://www.amazon.ca/War-Mother-Fred-Van-Lente/dp/1682152375/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520618529&sr=8-1&keywords=War+Mother

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
(Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)

In the far future, humans have evolved into tribal sects trying to survive in an inhospitable world where everything alive basically wants to eat you. In the Grove, only the War Mother is allowed to venture outside the walls. She's enhanced so that nothing can grow inside her to prevent her from bringing back disease. Her job is to scavenge raw materials for her tribe. Quite inventive. The art is fantastic! Hopefully we'll see more of War Mother in 4001 AD.

Okay so this might have some spoilers.

The art is nice, although the characters sometimes don't look like themselves but oh well. And the story is compelling to a degree. What is this world, how does it work, what goes on in it? It does have a lot of potential. The plot was so-so, nothing really exciting stood out. But it had interesting designs so that's always a plus.

I had several problems ranging from dialogue to plotpoints. First of all some of the words are just... I really am not a fan of most made up swear words unless they feel really natural. Farc did not feel natural. Memecast was just, I'm sorry, I would never think to take a MEMEcast seriously.

My other issue was with the children's speech and the Falco's speech, Falco sounded ridiculously young to the point all the serious stuff just didn't resonate with me. I know he was supposed to be a moody teen at one point but it was so jarring. The children, dearlord, they sounded ridiculous for other reasons. I just couldn't care about them when they spoke as though they lacked any feeling at all.

And then there was the kids plan to have a coup on their nonbiological father? Like he's caring towards them but cheating on their nonbiological mother and they're going to expose him expecting.... what to happen? I have zero clue what the plan was. Why didn't Ana know that Iggy wasn't her kid? Why did Max pull a knife when he had Iggy go spy on his real mom? What was that about.? Was he going to kill his dad? It was just very disjointed.

Also why would Ana spend ten minutes looking around and signal for everyone to join her? I would say a week is best. And THEN why does she not go back to them and lead them safely to her? It makes no sense especially when a bunch die on the way over because they've never done something like that while Ana is made for that sort of trek.

Overall this was not for me. I could see a lot of people enjoying it, it's has some humor, a lot of action, intrigue, and really nice art. But too much got in my way of loving this.

Collecting 4 parts of a series together in one publication, this narrative is set in a post-apocalyptic Earth where the new species have evolved and survived. The story follows Ana as the hunter-gatherer for her community and using AI guns follows an action-adventure format. A well illustrated and engaging graphic novel it is not always easy to follow, but then life isn't always straight forwards either.

“War Mother,” written by Fred Van Lente, and published by Valiant collects a 4 issue mini series set in a post-apocalypse Earth. Set in the year 4001 A.D., Ana is the War Mother, the protector of a small community on a planet which has evolved new species and communities. The world building is vibrant, and the story arc traces Ana in her role as her community’s prime hunter-gatherer. I felt a parallel to the last installment of the Mad Max movie franchise, which may entice readers. Partnered with an A.I. controlled gun, and a subplot involving her family round out a standard action-adventure story. This volume served as an introduction, and at this point the world building is more intriguing than the characters. War Mother’s art stands out, particularly the artists who worked on colors. The colors are consistently good, and the combined covers are distinctive as well. It will be interesting to see where the series heads next.

Review provided in exchange for copy provided by NetGalley.

Who is War Mother? In the future, earth isn't the earth we know. Earth has been changed greatly due to war and disaster. There are places where humans are still alive. The Grove is one of those places. It is the last place of scientific and bioengineering information. War Mother is their protector with a sentiment weapon she has created. When hearing about a place that promises hope for the people of the Grove, War Mother goes to check it out. Is it a good place or what? Will the Grove people wait to find out about the place from War Mother?

I enjoyed learning about War Mother and see her adventures. She is an amazing "person." This volume has spectacular illustrations. It contains four issues. My only problem was I wanted more! This is an interesting view of future earth.

Downloaded through Netgalley to read for an honest review.

Good:
Illustration and everything in that regard is engaging, fun to look at and just.. fantastic. I loved the first story that was in this.


Bad:
But I struggled through and couldn't finish it after I go to the middle of this. The story is just not something that caught me after awhile. I'll update if I re-read and see if thoughts about this change.

Note that this is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

This volume collects War Mother Vols 1-4 and 4001 AD: War Mother Vol 1. I felt the art was pretty decent except in the occasional back-busting pose the main character was put into for no other reason than to show off her curves. So once again we're back in an adolescent world of male-oriented comics created for males by males, and wherein women are depicted as unnaturally anorexic and preternaturally pneumatic. This story is supposedly set two thousand years into the future, but both mindset and technology are surprisingly unchanged from our present. Evolution, contrarily, seems to have sped-up beyond the bounds of what's reasonable into outrageously fantastical humanoids, all of which, as is typical in this kind of story, seem hostile.

Ana, the titular War Mother, with the emphasis on tit, is for reasons unexplained here, the Scavenger-in-Chief. She lives in a tribal "village" called the Grove, where they can pretty much provide everything for themselves except for technology which for some reason thay cannot master. This flies in the face of the comic's blurb which defines this village as the "last known repository of scientific knowledge." I saw no science here, just vague hints at growing food, which, in a place as lush as this one appeared to be, didn't seem to require much knowledge other than planting seeds and harvesting fruit! It's not like these guys fed millions! It was only a village after all.

War Mother goes on scavenger hunts for things they can use, repurpose, adapt, and trade. Why this technology is so needed goes largely unexplained. That was one big problem with this story: without any backstory, none of this made much sense. During these excursions, Ana often runs into hostiles which she has to despatch using her talking rifle. I never did get why the rifle talks. it was too gimicky for me - like one of those annoying little talking pets in children's cartoons. And why was the talking rifle male? Why even an electronic rifle in a world where electronics were evidently as much at a premium as they were prone to failing? Wouldn't an AK-47 be a better tool in a humid jungle?

The biggest problem though, was once again the main charcter who was far less like a real woman than like a male fantasy - the man-with-tits syndrome which isn't remotely appealing to me. Worse, the author seems to be conflating bad-ass with psychotic. War Mother's only tactic is to dispatch anyone she doesn't like including the leader of her village community who she kills remorselessly and without even much of a preamble.

I didn't really understand why this happened. Rather than try to work with him to resolve their dispute, she simply takes the male anger route and shoots him, and that was the end of that dispute. In doing this, she very effectively destroys the community, so how is she in any way heroic? How is she any better than the villains she takes down? I didn't see any difference. Certainly there was nothing to root for or admire in her.

I didn't see anything edifying or fulfilling here, and nothing truly enjoyable. If it had not been so short, I would have DNF'd it. I was hoping for a lot more than I expected, but I got a lot less than I feared. i cannot recommend this.

War Mother TPB

Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artists: Tomas Giorello, Stephen Segovia
Colourists: Brian Reber, Elmer Santos, Andrew Dalhouse
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Publisher: Valiant

Review by Josh Rose

You know who has great characters? Valiant. You know what they do? Create awesome female characters and give them their own series. Faith is one. Ana (aka War Mother) is another, and they couldn’t be more different. Set in the year 4001 AD, and thanks to New Japan orbiting the earth, the world is dystopian. Monsters, androids, cyborgs, and humans have evolved in this world. Some areas are desolate, and others like the Breath of the Jade are dense jungles. War Mother TPB is about Ana and her tribe trying to survive in the middle of a jungle while their village falls apart.

Let’s talk about Ana’s character. She’s called the War Mother. She’s the bread winner in the family and one of the leaders in her village. This creates a bit of conflict between her and her husband. She was raised to put the tribe before herself. But, she’s determined and hard as nails. She scavenges for materials for the village, and sometimes that means she has to fight other scavengers.

Fred Van Lente has this strong female character in a setting that is strange to readers. He’s touching a bit on gender roles and how that affects masculine egos, but mostly he’s exploring the relationships between all of these different characters: between Ana and her gun Flaco, Ana and her family, Ana and the rest of the village, and her sons’ relationships with their parents and each other.

Van Lente also does a great job introducing readers to this new world in 4001. Ana explains how the world works to Flaco, who was just activated for a scavenging mission, and, to Max, a boy she adopted from New Japan when he fell to Earth. All the explaining and complex relationships aside, Ana and her people live in the middle of a jungle with tons of creatures that want to eat and scavenge.

Tomas Giorell and, Stephen Segovia step in and make it an action epic with tons of explosions and blood. And the androids that have the appearance of 1800’s French servants are a lot of fun to look at. The colourists–Brian Reber, Elmer Santos, Andrew Dalhouse–all do an amazing job. Their use of greens really make it feel as if you’re in the jungle. The purples and blues even feel like real sunsets, using deeper purples as the pages progress to almost complete blue for the night.

And, how about that Dave Sharpe? He did an amazing job of providing lettering for each of the different intelligent species in the Jade. The humans have a slightly different style than the Urbanites, the androids and even Flaco, Ana’s gun. He has a different styles for each sound effect and echo as well. Letterers are truly under-appreciated, and Sharpe deserves some recognition.

The Verdict: Buy it.

Post-apocalyptic, dystopian future? Check. Monsters? Check. Action and romance? Check. Bad-ass woman of colour with a huge, talking gun? Double check! War Mother TPB has it all! And best of all: no prior Valiant experience required!

War Mother TPB will be available in stores Wednesday, February 28, 2018.

((review link below will be live on Feb 25))

Generally speaking this is your standard post-apocalyptic sci-fi world, but it definitely has the potential to be more interesting [if they continue with it, which I'm not sure they're actually planning on, it's pretty open-ended]. I like Ana and the talking gun and the little Japanese kid, although all the other characters are pretty forgettable at this point. The plot was pretty standard in this volume but if they do decide to go foward with it I think they could do a lot of interesting things with the whole war mother / engineered children bit of it. Also the art is pretty good and there's some really good action spreads so overall it was a fun but not especially engaging read.

A more than competent sci-fantasy comic, even if it is highly derivative. The title character has a weapon that carries a personality (a la Rogue Trooper), and that can cycle between different styles of round through voice activation, and will kill anyone else using it (hello, Judge Dredd - is there any surprise this came from something called 4001AD?!). The baddies look hellishly like something from modern-era Doctor Who, and it even has the through-cranium shot from T2 in it. So what you do get from all this cobbled-together, er, homage, is actually a decent enough book, where the world is full of biotech gone wild - trees have mouths, nature has technological implants, and so on, and where one band of people have the sole scavenger person - our War Mother - who can go out and find either what the rest requires, or indeed a new home. In that story there is just enough new to make this worthwhile, and it is on the whole pretty enjoyable. I could have done without the Midwich Cuckoos popping up, but this is a good book - and with Valiant's universe often so impenetrable, it's really nice we get the issue #0 as well to enjoy.

I was surprised at how much I actually enjoyed this graphic novel. I went in worth no expectations and even though I love post-apocalyptical stories, not all of them are will done. There it's some language, although part of the futuristic society is that cursing has changed. There is definitely violence and a bit of gore but not too much, considering the title. There's at least one pretty disturbing scene that I can think of though as well as one very brief sex scene, which is not graphic at all. While this one does have some flaws, overall it was a very enjoyable story.

I would like to thank the publisher, author, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a pretty interesting graphic novel. It had some interesting concepts and ideas. Overall, it told an interesting story although some of the finer details were easy to miss. It reminded me of Max Max: Fury Road and Horizon Zero Dawn,.

War Mother had an interesting concept. It was a fascinating mix of different works of the genre. The character of War Mother had elements of Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road and Aeon Flux with the aesthetic of video games like Horizon: Zero Dawn and Dishonoured. It just didn't do enough with it.

The titular character of War Mother is bad-ass motherhood personified. She has no identity beyond what she means to her family and her tribe. This could have opened up the narrative to some interesting discussions on motherhood and sense of self but didn't tackle anything that deep. Not in an effective way, anyway.

The whole narrative began with some incredibly clunky exposition which failed to naturally build the setting of War Mother. Ana (aka War Mother) has a symbiotic bond with her weapon which is newly 'born' at the beginning of the story. This gave a convenient excuse to explain the world rather than letting it play out and develop naturally through the narrative. What followed was some incredibly pedestrian and cliched dialogue between herself and the gun which made the story begin with a jolt, rather than easing the reader into the world that is being built.

For the most part, the art is excellent, but it does seem to change from scene to scene which bothered me. Ana was the only consistent character, and it broke my immersion to have the style change so dramatically. The most glaring aspect this occurs with is her husband, Ignacio, who is light-haired and handsome in one scene, and dark-haired and blurry in another. Also, some of the faces in the prologue were nightmare inducing. Not really sure what was going on there or how that passed muster.

From a plot perspective, there were some bizarre things going on. Ana wasn't really developed as a character enough to make me invested in her. The narrative also seemed to hinge entirely on some really out of the blue events that we are just meant to accept. Without spoiling anything, there are people killed who we are told are evil, but nothing in the plot indicated that that might be the case. Motivations for actions don't make a lot of sense, and a great deal happens that ultimately doesn't mean anything. New characters get introduced who do nothing. Journeys are undertaken that mean nothing. Things are discovered that go nowhere. It all just seemed a string of random things, rather than a cohesive plot with meaning and growth.

Ultimately Ana just seems like a bit of a dick. She goes around killing a whole bunch of things, none of which I'm entirely convinced were actually villainous. In fact, War Mother is the one who comes across as the villain most of the time. So maybe that's the point? I don't know.

War Mother left me entirely underwhelmed. There are so many fantastic graphic novels out there that it's easy to give this one a miss.

War Mother is set 2000 years in the future. Earth is unrecognizable from what it once was – a harsh, deadly landscape is what remains after centuries of war. Ana is a War Mother, a person bioengineered to excel in battle and protect her tribe. Her tribe lives in an enclave called "The Grove" that bioengineers everything they might want – except for technology. Ana must travel outside The Grove and scavenge for everything her home cannot create for them.


My favorite things about War Mother were the characters and the world. Ana is a strong female lead –as War Mother, she ensures that her tribe will not only survive, but thrive. This leads to some interesting interactions between her and other characters. The gender roles are reversed between her and her husband, something you don't see much of. In one scene, her husband expresses frustration at always being saved, instead of being able to save or help her.


I also particularly enjoyed the interactions between Ana and Flaco – her sentient sniper rifle. Flaco is a piece of sentient machinery created by the enclave. He's "born" in the beginning of the novel, and slowly learns more about the world along the way.


War Mother is set on Earth, but it's so far in the future that it's nothing like it once was. Most of the humans are bioengineered in some way, so much so in fact that in one part of the story they talk about how humans have evolved into a different species, sharing little DNA with humans in our time. I think this is an interesting concept to explore in sci-fi that isn't considered enough, because if you get far enough in the future, humans would absolutely have to evolve in order to adapt to new environments.


Earth in War Mother is a very harsh place. Ana's tribe is in the middle of a dangerous jungle, full of unrecognizable monsters that will kill at first sight. But Ana's tribe luckily lives in a sanctuary – The Grove. The Grove is an interesting concept – it's one of the last places where humanity's scientific knowledge was stored. But more than that, I loved the concept of it being like a living thing, that could create whatever the people needed.


One problem I had with the world was that it is so different from Earth that if I hadn't read the synopsis, I would've figured it was set on another planet. I think it should have been clear from the beginning that it wasn't set on Earth.


The plot during this volume mostly entails Ana going on scavenging excursions, and then trying to find a new place for her tribe to live. It was very fast-paced and action-packed. I think the story could have benefitted from more "cool down" time – the plot goes so quickly from one action-packed point to another, that I had a little trouble following what was going on. Despite that, it was a really exciting and fun read, and I was cheering for Ana throughout.


One last thing I'd like to mention is the artwork, which I thought was excellent. Ana is like a punk-rock warrior queen, I loved her character design. It was also easy to tell the other characters apart from one another. The landscape was wonderfully rendered, the artist really captured that lush jungle feel. The colors are vibrant and chosen in such a way as to set the mood for any particular scene.


Overall, I would definitely recommend War Mother, especially to established sci-fi fans who enjoy stories set far in the future, or stories with strong female leads. I don't know if I would recommend this to people who don't usually read sci-fi or graphic novels, however. Because the plot was a bit choppy, and because I found the setting a bit confusing at first, I went with a rating of four stars.