NINJAK #1, available from Valiant Entertainment on July 14th, 2021, returns to the world of Colin King aka Ninjak after leaving MI6 to become one of the world’s top assassins.
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The Details
- Written By: Jeff Parker
- Art By: Javier Pulido
- Colors By: Javier Pulido
- Letters By: Dave Sharpe, Javier Pulido
- Cover Art By: David Nakayama
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: July 14, 2021
Was It Good?
Okay, let’s address the 800-pound gorilla in the room… the art.
There’s been a significant amount of division over Javier Pulido’s art in this issue. (see sample pages below), and I can say with absolute certainty that Javier Pulido is a great artist.
However, Pulido’s art is an abysmal match for this type of content — an action comic about a cybernetic ninja assassin. It doesn’t work, plain and simple. Everything about the anatomy, the panel compositions, and the energy of the action scenes is completely flat. And the coloring is viciously painful on the eyes.
This art style might be a good match in another genre or type of story, but not here. I applaud Valiant for trying something bold and different, but this ain’t it.
Therefore, if long-standing, die-hard Valiant fans are going to be upset at the visuals in this issue, it’s not Pulido’s fault. Any negative feelings you might have about the look and feel of this comic are not on Pulido because the art style exactly represents his style as an artist. This was a gamble by Valiant editorial, and the gamble didn’t pay off.
The story is simple enough. There isn’t anything particularly spectacular or original about a spy story where an evil villain publicly releases the identity and location of undercover agents throughout the world. The story isn’t bad, but it’s been done before, so it remains to be seen where Parker takes the story after this first issue and whether or not it’s worth pursuing. In short, the writing didn’t grab me.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Higher-ups in MI6 are keeping tabs on Colin King aka Ninjak in the hopes he can be brought back into the fold.
An anarchist group named Daylight steals, possibly with the help of psychic-powered members, the keys to infiltrating MI6 records for information about all undercover agents. Chaos and much death ensue.
Now, Ninjak and the young recon agent tailing him are on the run to get to safety, find out how and why Daylight leaked the intel, and stave-off all manner of Ninjak enemies (past and present) who now know his true identity.
Final Thoughts
NINJAK #1 is, in a word, disappointing. The story is decently well-written but wholly unremarkable, and the art is painfully mismatched for this type of comic.
Score: 5/10
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