Valiant Entertainment 2019
Written by B. Clay Moore
Illustrated by Fernando Dagnino
Coloured by José Villarrubia
Lettered by Jeff Powell
The unstoppable marksman, Sights, joins the carnage! But where does his allegiance lie? Can you trust a superninja with a mind broken by MI6? Just ask the Undisciple. The high-octane battle royale continues as the Killers tear each other apart in a competition like no other!
Valiant continues to impress me in some truly marvellous ways. This is what a five issue arc which I can't believe considering what we're seeing here and what the potential this has for an ongoing series. This really does need to be a monthly and it has to keep this creative team. This introduction to these characters is being done flawlessly and what that does is make me want to see more. This is just done on a level that is hard to beat.
The way that this is being told through the story & plot development including the release of information and how the revelations keep coming at the characters as fast the bullets are flying. The character development that we see continues to grow and evolve as the Ninja's keep running into one another and changing the dynamic to the personalities. Then add the pacing which picks up all the threads moving them constantly forward with all the twists and turns you could possibly handle. What does all this mean it means that this is written with such an expertise that it feels almost effortless as it flows through the pages. The ebb & flow that you feel as you read the story is like riding a roller coaster it has highs and lows and build-up and release it just takes you on a journey.
After having been introduced to us in Ninja-k it's nice to see those remaining are being exposed to us. The revelation of the program and it's vastness as well as that these guys are still alive is mindbogglingly addictive. It's like a drug, the more we get the more we want and it never seems to be enough. If you are having a hard time believing that then you aren't reading this and now you're going to have to to see if I may be right or I may be crazy, or it's a just a lunatic your looking for. While I have no idea how many more former Ninja's are out there but I am more than willing to stick around find out, then again we don't know how many of them were trained by the Jonin.
The interiors here are amazing. Fernando does such a sensational job and I think that image on the spoon was one of those moment holy you know what moments that don't come along that often. That one panel blew me away and then of course what we see in the strength of the linework and through it's varying weights is stupendous. The attention to detail is crazy it has this amount of work in every aspect, from the character to the setting, I.E., backgrounds, and the shadows and shading it has completely mesmerising effect on the reader. There are so many times throughout this book that we have these opportunities to truly marvel at the work here. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows such a masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work is phenomenal as well. Whether it's the whites and blues with their hues and tones in the mountains to the effect of their Ki it really makes moment pop. Hell even the sepia toned flashback has the tones and hues being utilised to create shading and shadows making what see even more impactful.
While the title of this does describe what they were trained to do and what some still do but is it who they are? That is what I seeing being explored here as the Jonin pits them against one another with the promise of something to each. I can't wait to see what the real motive for all this really is and should they unite and remove their former teacher, master, from the board or will they destroy one another until there's only one standing?