Perhaps Ninjak needs new friends, preferably ones who aren’t good at killing him. At the same time, the respite from being controlled by your homicidal ex-girlfriend is equally treacherous when you end up in the Deadside. It also means that pesky kill-order your best friend put on you is still in effect. As ‘Ninjak vs The Valiant Universe’ continues to delve into this comic book world, we see Ninjak’s half-dead visit with Shadowman and bringing in the team of Archer & Armstrong.
Usually Ninjak is this serious, dark tale about spies and betrayal. That’s still there, but there’s also a thread of comedy that runs along this particular issue that manages to showcase the depths of these relationships. As the Eternal Warrior dramatically eulogizes Ninjak, the expressions on Bloodshot’s face reveal just how long and how well these characters know each other. When the biggest argument is not being able to kill your friend, you know you have some messed up relationships. Then there’s Roku. She sent Ninjak on a quest to get the one thing she knows his friends would be after him for. As well as being bag-of-cats crazy, she’s working for someone. That means Roku is terrified at failing. Just who would make a homicidal psychopath twirl her hair like a child who got caught eating all the cookies?
Although this is a straight-forward, action adventure miniseries, there are still a series of dangling storylines that might not be wrapped up by issue four. Perhaps this tale may bleed into other Valiant comics. For instance, why is Shadowman hanging out in the Deadside? Is he stuck there? Then there’s Gilad, the Eternal Warrior. He has more invested than anyone else, including Neville, whose wife and daughter are being held hostage. More importantly, why does MI-6 have such an important artifact? The Valiant universe is small and interconnected with the major players all appearing in this prelude to the digital series. There should be some set of consequences that latch on to these characters.
Though the comic book is highly enjoyable, with vivid artwork, the live action series it’s based on has yet to come out. Yes, there are trailers, but the production seems to be in a state of limbo where no one is acknowledging that this project was announced last summer with a full cast. On its own this comic works in a Marvel Zombies way. However, it would be nice to actually see the webseries.
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