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Stephen Segovia Leaves Superwoman For War Mother? Valiant's Secret Series Revealed For August 2017

Published Thu, 18 May 2017 11:00:43 -0500

Last updated Thu, 18 May 2017 11:04:59 -0500

Last month at the Valiant Summit event in Los Angeles, Valiant trotted their entire line-up of books of 2017…with one exception: a "classified" series in August from an also unrevealed creative team.

Well, now we know.

Revealed this morningin a PR deal with SyFy Wire, Valiant has unveiled their previously secret series as War Mother #1 – a four-issue limited series for the 41st century scavenging soldier originally introduced via a similarly "classified" appearance in last summer's 4001 A.D event.

Reuniting the character's co-creator, writer Fred Van Lente, with incoming artist Stephen Segovia (who looks like he's dropping off Superwoman already), the first issue will arrive on stands on August 23rd and is described as "a modern myth of the near future" in Valiant's official PR:

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?

War Mother #1 will also feature covers by David Mack, Clayton Crain, Kano, Jen Bartel, and Monika Palosz with Mack handling the lead covers for the entire series:

As the series is set in Valiant's future 4001 timeline, there is no word on whether Van Lente and Segovia's new series will address the character's initial cameo appearance from 2015 in Book of Death #1 where she stood alongside a ragtag team heroes from the present day Valiant Universe to confront a coming threat…

On that note, Valiant CEO Dinesh Shamdasani notes that the series may be setting up some significant happening for Valiant's future, which hasn't been glimpsed since Rai fell to Earth at the conclusion of last year's 4001 A.D. event:

"The year 4001 is a critically important component of the Valiant Universe – a turning point where the full effect of events of the present day finally come into focus in the future. As readers who picked up this year's Free Comic Book Day issue can attest, it's a setting that we'll be revisiting multiple times over the coming year – and not just in this series. War Mother is a character that resonated instantly upon her first appearance and, as we noted at the time, she is a major new player that can stand alongside Valiant's most powerful and enduring heroes. Perhaps more importantly, the path that Fred Van Lente and Stephen Segovia set her down here will have massive repercussions not just for War Mother, but for the entire direction of the year 4001 moving forward."