Ninjak is one of Vaillant’s signature heroes, and he just made an epic return in his new comic series by Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Ninjak #1 by Jeff Parker, Javier Pulido, & Dave Sharpe , on sale now
Ninjak is one of the coolest characters in the Valiant Universe. In addition to having received extensive ninja training, he is a master spy and freelance mercenary with an arsenal of high-tech gadgets capable of defeating almost anyone.
In many ways, Ninjak is the ultimate power fantasy. But he is also a complex character, being both cynical, altruistic, and even a bit lonely. Operating in the shadows, he has confronted some of Valiant’s darkest threats. Still, he perseveres, and in his newest series by Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido, Ninjak proves just why he is a fan favorite.
Ninjak (whose real name is Colin King) was created by Mark Moretti and Joe Quesada, debuting in 1993’s Bloodshot #6. More recently, he has received an updated backstory. His parents were landed English gentry with their own castle, but were also spies serving foreign powers. While they were abroad, Colin was raised by an abusive manservant (later revealed to be his biological father). He was trained in espionage by MI6, then learned mystical martial arts techniques in the Himalayas from a psiot called the Undead Monk. Eventually, he was trained by MI6’s Ninja Program, a division of British special forces created shortly before World War II. Despite being trained by and working for MI6, Ninjak remains a free agent, accepting other contracts from numerous clients. He also helped found the superhero team Unity along with the time-displaced Visigoth X-O Manowar, the psiot Livewire and Gilad the Eternal Warrior. More recently, he severed ties with MI6 and working exclusively as a mercenary.
This is his current status at the start of his new series by Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido. The comic begins with his old handler, Neville Alcott, being attacked in a bar by two mysterious super-powered operatives working for an organization called Daylight. This cuts to a scene of Ninjak in Istanbul where he rescues a journalist from a squad of assassins working for “the Crown Prince” (a clear reference to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordering the murder of journalist Jamal Khasshoggi).
This stunning fight showcases his martial arts skills as he cuts down a dozen assassins with his sword, but it also grounds the comic in a more realistic depiction of espionage that reflects actual geopolitical issues. Pulido’s sleek art and inventive page layouts imbue the story with a giddy almost-lighthearted dynamism, while Parker’s script is the most politically grounded of any Ninjak comic to date. By contrast, previous comics had more realistic art but pulpier spy-fi narratives. Midway through the fight, the hero intercepts a message ordering all MI6 agents to abandon their missions and go to ground, even those under deep cover. As he discovers, all of the agency’s spies have had their covers blown – implied to be the result of Daylight having pried this information from Neville Alcott. All over the world, their agents are exposed and gunned down. MI6 has been effectively neutralized.
Ninjak rescues an agent who had been tailing him and the two set off together by train. The comic ends with Daylight’s operatives from earlier crashing the train and closing in on him. Given his freelance status, it seems Ninjak may be the only asset in the field who can stopping this new threat.However, the realistic politics seen thus far suggest this will be no easy task.
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