Longing for the simpler days of espionage and assassination.
Creative Staff:
Story: Matt Kindt
Art: Clay Mann, Butch Guice
What They Say:
International financier Colin King hasn’t just come to Tokyo to take the Rippongi club scene by storm. As the covert MI-6 operative codenamed Ninjak, he’s also tracking down the men who trained him to be a lethal weapon…the very same men whose movements have now aligned with the latest terror plot by the cybernetic crime cartel called WEBNET! But how do you detect killers who specialize in the undetectable? And how does he know that the SHADOW SEVEN haven’t caught up with him first? It’s all-out ninja-versus-ninja warfare as the deadliest men and women of five continents converge on the Tokyo underworld for a blood-spattered blowout!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The opening installment of Ninjak certainly worked well for me as it introduced us to a couple of layers of story for the character of Colin and how his Ninja persona is used. Modern day espionage and assassination storytelling is more difficult than it used to be because of the layers of complexity to the world, but a skilled writer can make it engaging, especially if there is a proper human component to it. Stories like these reflect the times in a way different than other mediums, and what we get here with Colin as Ninjak certainly shines a light on how the world works, especially when taking in contrast to the spy stories of the 20th century, which had their own complexities but also a simplicity about them that even Colin kind of longs for since you could finish things in a swifter and firme way.
With the mission he’s on to deal with Weaponeer, it’s something that’s stated repeatedly that you can’t just kill one person and be done with it. Because of the complexity of the organization, the people involved in the board of it and the connections and importance it has in so many areas of the world, killing Kannon wouldn’t mean anything in the end outside of maybe a bump in the road. So his approach is one that uses his cover and Ninjak to really stake out Kannon’s aspect of it so he can get on the board himself over several months. The story moves across a bit of time here in a good way as we see Colin going through a couple more of Kannon’s tests to be trusted, and even that trust is fairly limited as one might expect with living within this part of the world. That test/trust phase is pretty well done as it shows us some really strange parts of this particular culture, but it establishes it as otherworldly in just the right way.
Colin’s movements in this are engaging to watch as we get his narration and to see how he stakes it all out as Ninjak in order to be prepared for as many possibilities as he can. There’s a lot of planning that goes into it and it’s beautifully laid out both in narration and dialogue as well as the visual design, making it engaging to see how each new twist comes into play. There are unknown variables, of course, and Roku is making her move here after her introduction in the first issue, but it’s kept brief and with the right kind of tension about it. What also helps with all that goes on here is the flashback storyline, as we get more of Colin’s early missions and how he had a hard time adjusting to surprises that came up, but also a look further back to his childhood. There are eerie echoes to be sure in what he was doing after the loss of his parents and what he faced, but it works well to show just how long he’s been involved in careful and calculated situations that he’s had to survive.
In Summary:
I wasn’t sure what to expect with Ninjak when I started to check out this series as I wasn’t exactly thrilled by his participation in Armor Hunters and I had a lot of fond memories of his 90’s run in the Valiant universe. But this series has made it a very, very solid spy and espionage piece that feels like it exists in a complex and difficult world that has to be dealt with in a layered, nuanced and very calculated way. That makes for some great scenes in seeing how he plots and plans several moves ahead for multiple contingencies, but also just for seeing how odd, dangerous and scary this world can be with those that operate openly in the shadows as they amass power and influence. Colin’s mission here is an intriguing one to see unfold and I’m enjoying every moment of it so far with its strong narration and strong artwork. Very, very good stuff going on here.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Valiant Entertainment
Release Date: April 22nd, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
