Ninjak #1: Man of Mystery

Ninjak #1 serves as perfect an introduction to the suave ninja assassin as one could hope for. As the pages go on Matt Kindt not only shows us who Ninjak is on the surface but slips in nuggets of gold building on who Ninjak was when he was just little Colin King and how that shapes him now. Even before the first “real” page of the comic he cleverly uses a page to not only show off how Ninjak has a gadget game so strong Batman would have jealousy issues.

We also get some deep insight to Ninjak as a person, who for all his deadly proficiency is still imperfect beneath the swords and right hooks. This is an ongoing theme Kindt uses to push the narrative along with tons of layer building and character development with just a few sentences, it’s brilliant really.

In the panels to follow we see small pieces of Ninjak’s disturbing childhood but also how despite this he’s an efficient spy with few limits. His precarious yet hilarious infiltration of Weaponeer and his seemingly effortless liberation of Roku, is rock solid proof of just how formidable he is. Kindt’s choice in dialogue and use of some visual humor serves to keep the very intense book from being too intense, it’s a masterful touch that keeps the book from bordering on pretentious in the first outing or becoming almost a parody of itself like over the top action does all too often.

The color choices are simply perfect and does a spot on job making the visual vibe match the tone of the narrative along with balancing the action and humor by suiting both so well. The art by Clay and Seth Mann is gorgeous in itself, hyperkinetic when need be but also shady and Bond like when called for. If I had to describe it in a couple words I’d say it’s like jazz music, beautiful yet prone to dramatic shifts that somehow still keep that grooving beat on point. Ninjak #1 is just an all around beautiful book by any measure.