Ninjak vs. The Valiant Universe
Valiant Comics
Written by Eliot Rahal
Art by Joel Bennett
His allies have turned against him. His last options have been exhausted. And there is nowhere left to run. Now, Ninjak – the rogue super-spy turned against his former masters by the cunning assassin called Roku – must face the final revelation of his no-holds- barred showdown with the heroes of the Valiant Universe. Bloodied but unbowed, Colin King’s gauntlet ends here…and Valiant’s first-of- its-kind crossover between live action and the comic book page is about to come to an explosive finale that will leave you stunned!
In the issue being touted as the explosive finale to the huge and widely publicised crossover event, Ninjak Vs the Valiant Universe #4 was a little lacklustre. All the tropes and clichés for an excellent finale were there, I’ve no concern over them being beats we’ve seen before, The high stakes, emotional blackmail, a leader in the thick of it, plot revelations and twists and yet, there was just something lacking overall. The aside to Director Alcotts’ back story was a nice touch and lent some emotional weight to the final proceedings, but the resolution to his families capture came too easily won, this was the culmination of all of Roku and her masters planning, not to mention four books, thwarted with ease.
The art work was at its best in the more dynamic scenes, the more static scenes felt a little flat. Credit where credit is due however, there are multiple well loved Valiant characters battling it out across a few panels and they’ve been captured well, which can’t have been easy. The initial explosion and the fight scenes that follow are executed well and fight the style and form of the book and Bennett ensures that everybody has their own panel space and style brought into unison with the overall feel of the arc.
The final panels setting up what’s next for Ninjak and maybe the Valiant Universeas a whole quite nicely and the twist was a nice little reveal, which I won’t spoil for you, but it wasn’t enough to save what was, for me, a disappointing end to an exciting series which contained one of my favourite face offs, Ninjak versus Bloodshot. As this was a tie in event with a much delayed live web series soon to be aired, maybe certain story decisions will translate better on the screen, only time will tell.
