Ninjak Issues 5 and 6 Review: Anticipation High

Colin King is an Englishman who’s been trained by a monk and happens to be a spy for MI-6. You get the sense that Colin’s life is his work. He doesn’t do relationships well. That maybe in part because of the Ninja program. Its cleaning crew isolates its agents. Everything is for the job. Still some have escaped. With that knowledge Colin decides that as Ninja-K he’ll be the last of the program. Along with Ninja-C the program that has destroyed so many lives may finally come to an end.

Still, if only Ninja-C wasn’t completely insane. You can’t blame him since the agency who didn’t care about him as a human being burned down his life. Eventually, you don’t trust anyone. Ninja-K could easily become crazed with resentment. His parents’ deaths are a mystery, one of his former girlfriends is part of his rogues’ gallery, his family home has been blown up and he’s been betrayed by so-called friends too many times to count. With all this Colin still has to stop Ninja-C. Maybe it’s his training with the Undead Monk or that his parents were once spies, but Colin has a way of dealing with his life in a practical manner. Yes, the Ninja program has used him, but have they ruined all his relationships or is Colin just bad at getting close to people? In either case issue five of ‘Ninjak’ closes the door on the origins of the Ninja program. And though Colin brings a temporary stop to the chaos he doesn’t get personal closure. However, what he does get is a new start.

Issue six brings on a new story arc. Instead of forgetting the past five issues the originator of the Ninja program emerges. As writer Christos Gage alluded to, previous ninjas were discarded. In issue six we learn that Colin was not the first Ninja-K. Your mind continues to be blown when you’re also reminded that Colin isn’t a super-being. He’s had extraordinary training and is an expert in weaponry, but he’s still human. And he’s going to be battling something greater than himself. Though he infiltrates the compound in Mexico easily enough Colin is unprepared for what he meets. People dealing with things they don’t understand always leads to disasters. And Colin can’t do this alone.

Overall, from debris from the Deadside to the remnants of the Armor Hunter war, Gage is setting Colin up to ironically work with a team. In a sense it’s what he’s best at. Joining up with UNITY or teaming with the Eternal Warrior other aspects of Colin’s personality shine through. That with a few surprises and new villains will leave you anticipating how this saga will unfold.

About Donna-Lyn Washington 639 Articles
Donna-lyn Washington has a M.A. in English from Brooklyn College. She is currently teaching at Kingsborough Community College where her love of comics and pop culture play key parts in helping her students move forward in their academic careers. As a senior writer for ReviewFix she has been able to explore a variety of worlds through comics, film and television and has met some interesting writers and artists along the way. Donna-lyn does a weekly podcast reviewing indie comics and has also contributed entries to the 'Encyclopedia of Black Comics,’ the academic anthology ‘Critical Insights: Frank Yerby’ and is the editor for the upcoming book, ‘Conversations With: John Jennings.’

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*