The next phase of the mission begins.
Creative Staff:
Story: Matt Kindt
Art: Raul Allen, Stephen Segovia
What They Say:
The Shadow Wars,” part one. Who are The Shadow Seven? That’s the question Ninjak was sent to answer when he was dispatched to destroy terrorist organization Weaponeer from the inside out. As the mysterious new enemies make their move, he’s on a globe-spanning race against time to stop their machinations. Plus: discover how Colin King and Neville Alcott first met — and the deadly secret Neville has kept from Colin as Ninjak: The Lost Files continues.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Though elements of the opening prologue arc of the series may have gone a bit faster and more streamlined than it should have, the result is one where if this was done in another medium like novels or manga we’d have dozens of volumes ahead of us of this story. I’m not expecting a large and sprawling work, even if I think it could sustain itself in some form, as the desire to bring things to wrapped up states is too common here. With Kannon having been dealt with the book moves far too quickly in this installment to serve up the next of the Shadow Seven members. While Kannon was presented as a truly terrifying opponent we also knew that the others working it are pretty impressive in their own right. So wrapping up one of them in the space of a single issue simply feels rushed, especially after all that we got in the prologue arc for Kannon.
With Colin having now taken over Weaponeer we see what kind of difficult position it’s put him in, one that he knows has a limited shelf life. One that could be really interesting to see him navigate but gets pushed aside in favor of the bigger fights here. He’s continuing the job that Weaponeer does and designing weapons isn’t exactly a problem for him but we also see, in brief, how he makes it so they essentially malfunction while leading others to deal with the fallout and clean it up. It’s not a bad idea but it presents the problem of being so deep undercover that you have to do terrible things and take risks. And these are things his bosses back at MI6, at least outside of Neville, have a real problem with him doing because he’s too out in the cold and on his own. But Colin is his own man more than an MI6 agent, something he made clear at the start of the series, so seeing him going in deep and with some real intensity for the bigger picture isn’t a surprise.
The bulk of the book has him going after La Barbe as his first post-Kannon target and just trying to find him is half the battle as one would expect. The journey is one blended with the past as we see him leaving him and traveling the world at a younger age, which took him to France. These world traveler bits are always interesting even if cut short because it helps to expand the way and why of how he’s able to blend so well. Tracking La Barbe is difficult for him but easy to read about and the character himself proves to be a kind of wackadoodle type with more money than god and a strange complex about himself. Again, because it all wraps up in one issue it feels very simplistic and without enough weight or depth to give La Barbe enough of a character to be engaging. There’s a kind of off the grid crazy about him that’s amusing enough and he certainly has talent but it’s not much more than that. What he does provide is a connection to the past with the undead monk and that again paints that story as one of the big picture ideas of the book.
In Summary:
Frustrated as I may be about the quick pace and and the lack of weight given to the villain to make him engaging, Ninjak once again has a really good issue. With this and the backup feature exploring his first encounter with the undead monk we get more background that helps to establish that storyline so that when it becomes center focus it’ll have what it needs to feel important. Colin’s in an interesting place here that really merits a lot of exploration, exposition and examination with Weaponeer alone but I keep seeing that it’s going to be pushed to the side. Kindt’s crafting his tale as he wants though and you can see the enjoyment in how he’s pulling it together. But it leaves me wondering what he could do with it in novel form. This installment has him working with Raul Allen for the artwork and he definitely steps up well to the plate after what we’ve had before. It takes on its own tone and feel but works beautifully with the characters of the moment, the French setting and just the layout style to really draw us in to what Colin faces as Ninjak going up against La Barbe. This continues to be for me the best of the Valiant books out there.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Valiant Entertainment
Release Date: August 26th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
