Creative Staff:
Story: Matt Kindt
Art: Doug Braithwaite
Colors: Brian Reber
What They Say:
As Ninjak and Punk Mambo uncover the truth about the land of the dead, Shadowman makes his final move to finally wrest control of the uncanny parallel dimension called Deadside! The terrifying, intense, and heartbreaking return of a Valiant icon comes full circle as master storytellers Matt Kindt and Doug Braithwaite deliver OPERATION: DEADSIDE’s riveting finale!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Ninjak’s Deadside arc comes to a close with this installment and it’s one that I’m pretty grateful for. While I’ve enjoyed elements of it I tended to find myself being similar to Colin in the whole “I hate magic” thing. While I love magic in comics, I don’t like some characters interacting with magic. Colin’s trip to Deadside certainly offers up some new challenges for him to face that are definitely different from what he normally has had to face, but I just didn’t find it compelling – even compared to some of the more compressed and far too quickly done Weaponeer arc material. It also doesn’t help that the structure of this arc had its tale being told by Neville as a post-event kind of recap, which kind of cuts down some of the intensity that it can have.
With Colin doing the final debrief back here at an MI6 location, this provides the final look at events that were going on in Deadside. A lot of it really does come down to the fight between him and Boniface and the uncertainty of what Boniface will do. Colin’s approach of trying to bring him back makes sense since you want to deal with problems like that while also seeing it as a potential to turn him toward a more useful position. But Colin also has his primary job of securing the package he was sent in there for as well as rescuing anyone from the previous team that’s stuck over there from Punk Mambo’s team. This is something that felt like it should have gotten more attention than it did so what we do get ends up feeling glossed over more than anything else.
Boniface and Mambo’s fight sequence dominates a decent chunk of the book and it has its moments as they fight, especially since he’s surprised at her level of control of her Loa. There are things here that I suspect read and play better to those familiar with Deadside, Shadowman, and all that builds this part of the world with Master Darque, but for me it was just superficial as I have no point of reference for it. The action does play well and Braithwaite continues to make this a really neat action sequence even if the locales themselves take a lesser value this time around than before. It’s a strong enough action sequence with characters that I like on different levels so I definitely get enjoyment out of it, but this arc for the most part has been kind of a wheel-spinning event for me.
Similar to last time, there’s also an eight page or so Magpie backup story but like the previous issue nothing at all connected with me and it just felt like a chore to read.
In Summary:
The conclusion of the Deadside arc fits well as four issues certainly gives it time to breathe and be explored while not coming across as rushed. The material itself just didn’t connect for me as it has a Bond/Moonraker kind of aspect for me as it’s not an area where Colin feels like he belongs. The book looks to be getting back to more engaging material for me with a new four-issue arc with Roku next time, something that I was definitely looking forward to seeing come to fruition. I continue to enjoy the book overall as the opening arc was definitely strong. The Deadside material just didn’t connect for me, as well put together as it is.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Valiant Entertainment
Release Date: March 9th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99