Valiant; $3.99

Colin King, a/k/a Ninjak is having a rough couple of days. Roku forced him to steal the Book of the Geomancer from MI6, putting him at odds with the agency. If that wasn’t enough, Unity, the team of superheroes and his close friends, are on his tail to retrieve the powerful relic.

At the end of the second issue, it looked like Bloodshot was putting the puzzle pieces together – then he shot Ninjak. But, as this issue opens, we learn that Ninjak was pulled between life and death to Deadside where he is met by Shadowman. Bloodshot found nanites in Ninjak’s blood after their fight and knows that he’s being monitored. As some of them begin understanding what is going on, other Unity members are still on Ninjak’s trail and ready to kill him on sight.

This comic miniseries is based on the webseries Ninjak vs. The Valiant Universe in a multi-medium project. The comic script by Eliot Rahal, is based on the screen story by Aaron Schoenke. It’s complicated, filled with action, has a bit of humor, and stars some of the best characters of the Valiant Universe.

The writing is smart and entertaining, the pacing is solid, and each issue combines fights with story progression. Anyone who likes Ninjak, Bloodshot, the Eternal Warrior, and other Valiant heroes should be reading this series.

-Amanda Sheriff