Written by Fred Van Lente with art from Tomás Fiorello, Valiant comics’ 4001 A.D: War Mother #1 goes on sale this August. (Don’t worry: the older you get the faster time goes.) In case you’re wondering, gizmodo.com reports that “War Mother’s home is in the future of the fifth millennium, where much of Earth is an apocalyptic wasteland under the watchful gaze of New Japan, a highly advanced and powerful civilization floating around in orbit.” As highly advanced and powerful civilizations are wont to do. Anyway, War Mother has a sentient rifle. Her creator gives us a glimpse of a rifle with ‘tude . . .
Ana’s sniper rifle is nicknamed Flaco, and he is fully sentient—but he’s literally born as her mission starts. She has to guide him a lot of ways even as he’s running mission intel for her, and sighting her targets, and all that good stuff. He has the mind of a child, really, at least in the beginning—a really, really lethal child!—and much of the maternal aspect of the War Mother title is her having to “raise” this sentient weapon, even as she’s raising her own, human kid. Fittingly, the title of the one-shot is “A Girl and Her Gun.”
I smell fraternal jealousy. (As they say in the U.K., there’ll be tears by bedtime.) Those of you who perused last year’s Book of Death will remember War Mother fondly. Those of you who haven’t will dig this strong woman character — with a gun that talks back. Do you talk to yours?