
Valiant Entertainment 2017
Written by Christos Gage
Illustrated by Tomas Giorello & Roberto de la Torre
Coloured by Diego Rodriguez
Backup Story Art by Ariel Olivetti
Lettered by A Larger World Studios
Colin King is Ninja-K, the most recent opperative in a long line of MI6 ninja agents that stretches back to World War I. His latest mission was to apprehend a killer responsible for the deaths of previous MI6 ninjas, including one of Colin’s old mentors, Ninja-D. The investigation leads Colin to an abandoned MI6 building, where he discovered disturbing evidence concerning the training methods used on potential agents. In the depths of this haunting facility, the veteran agent Ninja-C reveals himself and claims responsibility for the murders. Now K and C are locked a battle to the death…
Every single time I think this book cannot get any better I am proven wrong, every single time. Never in my life have I been happier to hear that as well. I mean when Colin’s life was turned upside down and inside out by Roku and even Neville wasn’t on his side, that kind of betrayal is hard to forgive and forget ya know, everything was absolutely crazy without anyone to trust and nowhere to turn. He made it through all that, not saying for the better but…, he still made it out and is once again returned to active duty worse for ware granted and yet here we find ourselves.
It isn’t any great big secret or revelation that a Government, any government by the way, who has these secret spy organisations is going to have it’s own watch-dog programmes in place to ensure those in certain positions aren’t shall we see compromised in some way shape or form. Secrets have a nasty way of coming back to bite you in the ass when you least expect it and no amount of sanitizing is going to prevent it from happening. Not even to the once top secret MI6 organisation Ninja Programme.
The interior artwork here is so much more than a visual representation of these events. What the guys do here is showcase not only the difference in old school vs. new school in ways you don’t even see. While the story dictates what we see it’s really up to them to really hammer that home visually and what we get it is that you should never underestimate someone because of their age and gadgets aren’t a guarantee for anything. Attitude, overconfidence and arrogance that’s what we see in the artwork that cannot be fully expressed through dialogue and narration.
I am really enjoying the way page layouts are being used so that we can see the angles and perspective in the panels as they showcase some nice eyes for storytelling. There are moments that they are haunting and desolate or resolved and angry and all that comes across and so much more. it’s striking work to be honest and it proves time and time again why Valiant and Colin is such a draw as he is.
I like that nothing in Colin’s past is ignored but constantly used and/or brought up in ways that only serve to tie into the present. Nothing is held back and it all keeps getting stronger in it’s position in Colin’s past. The evolution and connection that we have to the character grows with each new story and while it seems there is a never ending array of badness in his life and keeps going not quite like but like the energizer bunny. I’m beginning to wonder just how much a man can take before reaching that point of no return and are we going to see that.
That may be the ultimate hook when will he break? The writing and artwork here make this one of the industry’s constant must have books. I got news BW wishes he were this cool.