It’s time for another visit into the Ninja Files with “Ninja-K” #10 as Ninja-H, the short lived ninja of the 1980s enters the fray.
Written by Christos Gage
Illustrated by Larry Strowman
Inked by Ryan Winn
Colored by Andrew Dalhouse
Lettered by A Larger World StudiosA BLOCKBUSTER NEW JUMPING-ON POINT! In Margaret Thatcher’s Britain, meet the future of espionage: the hard-hitting, brutalizing super-spy codenamed NINJA-H!
From the encrypted files of The Ninja Programme, another secret chapter revealed! The Cold War is in full swing and the United Kingdom’s top-secret intelligence unit has come to a crossroads. As their once-elite collection of secret agents finds itself outmatched by the escalation of the United States’ H.A.R.D. Corps division, the spymasters of MI6 are about to develop a new kind of soldier for their never-ending war of global gamesmanship and international intrigue. Part man, part machine, and bound together with the most extreme technological enhancements that the 1980s have to offer, NINJA-H is faster, stronger, and deadlier than any who have come before…
Now, for the first time, the metal-crunching saga of MI6’s one-man, super-powered strike force – and his tragic fall from grace – can finally be told as renowned writer Christos Gage (Netflix’s Daredevil) teams with comics legend Larry Stroman (X-Factor) to declassify the next standalone shadow-laden chapter in the history of Ninjak’s fellow Ninja Programme agents!
At the start of the Valiant relaunch one of the things that made them stand a part and unified their line was how their heroes were all products of a military industrial complex that feared and wanted to control them, viewing them as monsters. For all the James Bond swagger shot through with ninja aestheticism, writer Christos Gage and others frequently remind the reader that Collin King is a Sherlockian high functioning sociopath. As the publishing line has progressed this thematic through line has faded away as others came to the forefront. “Ninja-K” as a series has hearkened back to this earlier inclination as Gage and various artists explore the history of the British Ninja Programme, issue #10 is perhaps the clearest articulation of the monstrous heroics of the Valiant Universe with an issue focusing on the malfunctioning cybernetic ninja known as H (this being British-English I assume it’s pronounced “haitch”.)
After the events of the first arc, ‘The Ninja Files,’ MI6 decided it was time to reappraise and relocate some of their older equipment and files. Among these disregarded relics was Ninja-H in suspended animation, until he wasn’t, and massacres the cleanup crew. An actual cleaning crew not a euphemism for a kill team. Now it’s up to his modern counterpart, Ninja-K, to bring him in before things get more out of hand. As with previous from the ninja files issues, Gage writes a good one shot that is bookended by K’s present day quest. Issue #10 is the most stand alone of the batch and one of the better issues you could give to someone as a sample for the series overall. In an era of hyper serialized storytelling, it was rather enjoyable to read such a well put together one issue story. This isn’t a filler issue, it’s just a story that’s told in 20 pages.
At the center of this issue in Ninja-H and the continued consequences of being a ninja in her majesties secret service. After an early mission leaves him like Alex Murphy from Robocop, MI6 follows the similarities to there conclusion and remake him as a cyborg. Illustrator Larry Strowman with inker Ryan Winn choose some interesting ways to represent the Tomas Giorello and Khari Evans design. Strowman and Winn’s choices run counter to both their’s and cover artists Giuseppe Cammuncoli and Brian Reber’s strong, hardbodied representation of H. These decisions make for interesting and narratively fitting twist on the mass media projection masculinity from that era. Strowman uses lots of vertical paneling and pinup poses for H, but draws him with a long lanky build like a runner. His body is always twisting, metaphorically flaccid, in comparison to earlier images. This approach leads to some realistically false but stylistically sound moments such as when H is fighting off classic H.A.R.D. CORPS where the anatomy of his legs are drawn in such that it would only be possible if they were cybernetic.
Continued belowThese representational choices fit the story they are telling as H doesn’t want to be the murderous machine his government retrofitted him into being. He’s shown at his hardest in the first page as he pierces his forearm sword straight through the cleaner, at the behest of the A.I. voice inside his head. Panels later he immediately shows remorse and tries to fight for control of his body. These choices when mixed with a straightforward subversion of another cyborg trope gives this issue unanticipated amount of emotional heft.
Christos Gage tells the story of Ninja-H by skewing the traditional genre element that undergirds previous stories like the kung fu and Blaxploitation infused story of Ninja-G. H’s story is openly nostalgic and plays out more like a melodrama. Andrew Dalhouse’s colors in the issue overall are on the lighter and softer side, but when mixed with the sepia toned gutters it gives everything a more pronounced nostalgic tone as H speaks on his childhood. This soft nostalgic filter is contrasted with the starker one given to the various brutal acts of wet work H carries out. Strowman and Winn get a good amount of emotive range out of H’s eyes in these shocking moments, often emphasized with a tear running down his remaining organic eye.
It was always going to end in a showdown between ninja. The art teams depiction of the fight isn’t ground breaking, an early page that is told through vertical paneling is perhaps the most obviously stylish page layout. The remainder of the fight is pretty standard and doesn’t muddy what is going on. It is the layout of this fight by Gage. Strowman, Winn that gives it a psychologically sound pro wrestling quality. It isn’t just ninja violence for its own sake, there is a strategy at play and story being told with it.
“Ninja-K” latest reading into the ninja file is a poignant one shot that harkens back to the early days of Valiant. Ninja-K once again comes face to face with the monstrous potential of what he could become with the life he is chosen. Of the Ninja Programme spotlight issues, issue #10 is the most successful overall and among the best in the series.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – The story of Ninja-H provides “Ninja-K” an engaging one shot story that neither feels slight or overstays its welcome.
