THE NINJETTES #1, from Dynamite Comics on September 7th, 2022, unveils the origin behind the world’s most eclectic trio of government-trained assassins – starting with a final exam where failure means death.
The Details
- Written by: Fred Van Lente
- Art by: Joseph Cooper
- Colors by: Dearbhla Kelly
- Letters by: Jeff Eckleberry
- Cover art by: Leirix Li (cover A)
- Cover price: $3.99
- Release date: September 7, 2022
Is It Good?
THE NINJETTES #1 takes a new look at the lethal trio of government-trained killers from the pages of Jennifer Blood’s adventures. It’s an origin tale that mixes shades of The Hunger Games, The Long Walk, and Battle Royale. While this first issue doesn’t quite live up to those other properties, it’s an engaging read with plenty of potential.
Van Lente is proving to be the king of violence tinged with black humor, and this issue bears that talent out beautifully. In this world, students who achieve the right (wrong?) score on a personality test are conscripted by the government before they commit crimes consistent with their personalities. The homicidally prone are given the chance to fight to “graduate” or die trying. The concept alone is enough to pique interest, but it’s Van Lente’s execution, with smart timing, high pacing, and rapid-fire plotting, that keeps you on the hook from start to finish.
The downside of this issue is the quick-cut flow of the panel progression that makes the introductions and grounding in this new world a bit challenging. Traditional introductions with exposition and narration captions work well with good reason. Here, the exposition and captions are barely present because the setup comes at you in a quick succession of scene snippets, so it takes a while to get oriented to who’s who and what’s what. In short, the beginning is confusing.
The art by Cooper and Kelly is very good. The panel composition is solid, the character designs are memorable, the action is energetic, and the facial acting is spot-on. In fairness, a portion of the chaos that creates confusion, in the beginning, could be attributed to the art, but everything else looks great.
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with a blond teenager dying, courtesy of a bullet through the brain, in what looks like an abandoned, dilapidated town. The shooter, like the girls surrounding her, is dressed in pajamas. Suddenly, the girls scatter as they randomly shoot at each other. Some girls fall quickly. Others make it to temporary hiding spots.
Flashback to a school setting where we meet Chole and Steph. They’re typical teenage high schoolers, but Steph has a chip on her shoulder and a big problem with authority. In class, they take a government-mandated personality test that their teacher implores them to take seriously. Steph does not take it seriously.
Later, a group of agents break into Steph’s home and spirit her away in cuffs and a bag over her head. We learn the personality test is meant to flag sociopaths prone to commit violence against society, but rather than lock Steph up, the government gives the failed testers a chance to put their proclivities to good use.
We conclude the issue with an inventory check, a presentation about the rules, and a new class president.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
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THE NINJETTES #1 shows plenty of promise and potential. The pacing, tone, dialog, and action are all on-point, and the art is quite good. That said, the beginning is a little too chaotic, but the comic settles in nicely once the killing starts.
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