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Ninjak (2015)
Ninjak, Vol. 5: The Fist & The Steel
The Fist & the Steel fight onward!
Many years from now, Earth's immortal master of war and the world's deadliest intelligence operative fight side-by-side. As was foretold in the Book of Death, an aging Ninjak and Eternal Warrior are fated to spend their days as humanity's guardians, protecting it from the myriad threats that loom over the horizon of Earth's future. But when the ultimate menace rises to obliterate all traces of life, can Colin King and Gilad Anni-Padda Ninjak and the Eternal Warrior cement their status as the Valiant Universe's greatest heroic duo or will their legacy go up in flames?
Plus: Back in the present, the unthinkable has happened to Ninjak and his fellow MI-6 agents that survived the horrors of the Deadside! Infected with an aggressive and lethal cancer from his exposure to a noxious parallel dimension, Ninjak must race against the clock for a cure before he makes a permanent trip to the realm of the dead!
Jump on board the steel-shattering adventures of Valiant's number-one super-spy here as New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (4001 A.D.) and explosive artists Khari Evans (Imperium) and Andres Guinaldo (Justice League Dark) read from the Book of Death and bring the full weight of the future crashing down on Ninjak and the Eternal Warrior!
Collecting: Ninjack 18-21
Many years from now, Earth's immortal master of war and the world's deadliest intelligence operative fight side-by-side. As was foretold in the Book of Death, an aging Ninjak and Eternal Warrior are fated to spend their days as humanity's guardians, protecting it from the myriad threats that loom over the horizon of Earth's future. But when the ultimate menace rises to obliterate all traces of life, can Colin King and Gilad Anni-Padda Ninjak and the Eternal Warrior cement their status as the Valiant Universe's greatest heroic duo or will their legacy go up in flames?
Plus: Back in the present, the unthinkable has happened to Ninjak and his fellow MI-6 agents that survived the horrors of the Deadside! Infected with an aggressive and lethal cancer from his exposure to a noxious parallel dimension, Ninjak must race against the clock for a cure before he makes a permanent trip to the realm of the dead!
Jump on board the steel-shattering adventures of Valiant's number-one super-spy here as New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (4001 A.D.) and explosive artists Khari Evans (Imperium) and Andres Guinaldo (Justice League Dark) read from the Book of Death and bring the full weight of the future crashing down on Ninjak and the Eternal Warrior!
Collecting: Ninjack 18-21
144 pages, Paperback
Published February 21, 2017
6 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 3, 2019
Old Man Ninjak.
Hell, yeah.
The gist is that Ninjak has been infected with some magic-y disease from the Deadside. And this something has no cure. At least, not yet.
Entering into a meditative trance, Colin projects himself into his own future to find the cure and save himself.
Enter a very cool team-up with the Eternal Warrior & a guest appearance from Punk Mambo.
This series is the shit.
So, if you're out there bitching about how all the comics suck donkey balls and you're not reading this?
You're an idiot.
Highly recommended.
Hell, yeah.
The gist is that Ninjak has been infected with some magic-y disease from the Deadside. And this something has no cure. At least, not yet.
Entering into a meditative trance, Colin projects himself into his own future to find the cure and save himself.
Enter a very cool team-up with the Eternal Warrior & a guest appearance from Punk Mambo.
This series is the shit.
So, if you're out there bitching about how all the comics suck donkey balls and you're not reading this?
You're an idiot.
Highly recommended.
November 23, 2018
Good, though not as good as usual.
What’s it about?
This takes place in the future when Ninjak is an old man (yes, it’s Valiant’s response to that trend) and the Eternal Warrior needs Ninjak’s help on a mission.
Pros:
The story is pretty interesting, though perhaps a tad gimmicky (I don’t mind these old man superhero stories but there seems to be a lot these days). That being said, it’s well done here.
The artwork is great as always with Valiant, one of the reasons I read so much Valiant in fact.
The characters are pretty cool. This volume includes Ninjak, The Eternal Warrior and Punk Mambo, all pretty bad-ass characters.
This book is pretty unpredictable.
This volume has more comic relief than the previous volumes, it’s pretty funny too. It doesn’t come across as cheesy.
Cons:
The action scenes in this volume are a bit weak unfortunately. They aren’t terrible or anything, just nothing particularly exciting or memorable.
I’ll be honest, the main villain in this volume is sorta lame.
Overall:
This is the weakest volume of a great series. That being said, I still enjoyed this book for a fairly suspenseful story with great artwork and a few laughs but the action and villain could have been much better.
4/5
What’s it about?
This takes place in the future when Ninjak is an old man (yes, it’s Valiant’s response to that trend) and the Eternal Warrior needs Ninjak’s help on a mission.
Pros:
The story is pretty interesting, though perhaps a tad gimmicky (I don’t mind these old man superhero stories but there seems to be a lot these days). That being said, it’s well done here.
The artwork is great as always with Valiant, one of the reasons I read so much Valiant in fact.
The characters are pretty cool. This volume includes Ninjak, The Eternal Warrior and Punk Mambo, all pretty bad-ass characters.
This book is pretty unpredictable.
This volume has more comic relief than the previous volumes, it’s pretty funny too. It doesn’t come across as cheesy.
Cons:
The action scenes in this volume are a bit weak unfortunately. They aren’t terrible or anything, just nothing particularly exciting or memorable.
I’ll be honest, the main villain in this volume is sorta lame.
Overall:
This is the weakest volume of a great series. That being said, I still enjoyed this book for a fairly suspenseful story with great artwork and a few laughs but the action and villain could have been much better.
4/5
July 25, 2017
The quips between the main characters are more than worth reading this volume. Too bad they revisit the Deadzone and face more magic, but this doesn't ruin the story this time around.
A few decades in the future Ninjak goes on a mission for Gilad. Silk intends to use the intelligence mechanism to become immortal, so escapes Ninjak and Gilad through a portal to the Deadside.
A few decades in the future Ninjak goes on a mission for Gilad. Silk intends to use the intelligence mechanism to become immortal, so escapes Ninjak and Gilad through a portal to the Deadside.
August 24, 2021
I really liked this, and I especially enjoyed how the future wasn’t a separate and irrelevant reality, but rather something that directly tied to the current events of Matf Kindt’s Ninjak title. The art was fantastic as well. A great read.
November 29, 2018
In the distant future, Ninjak and the Eternal Warrior wage one final battle against Doctor Silk, while in the present day, Colin battles a magical parasite that threatens not just him but an entire squad of Deadside operatives. But how are these two plots intrinsically tied together?
Valiant likes their 'distant future version of our characters' stories, doesn't it? But this one's a little different. While the main story is important, it's only near the end that the true meaning of the story becomes apparent, which makes it have a much bigger impact on the present day storyline than expected.
Ninjak and Gilad together are always entertaining, and the two of them as older men is even funnier than usual - Ninjak does not have time for anyone's bullshit, even Gilad's, which leads to some great exchanges. I'm glad we see Doctor Silk again too, I always thought he'd be a good recurring foe for Unity but he kind of just disappeared, so having him here (and in Rai) was a nice touch.
The art is mostly Khari Evans, who I really liked back on Harbinger; he does some great work here, although he needs a lot of assistance in the later two issues from Eric Nguyen and Andres Guinaldo (who also pencils The Lost Files sections too) so that's a shame.
The Fist & The Steel looks like one type of story on the surface, but it's something entirely different once you peel back the layers that takes a common Valiant trope and turns it into something unexpected.
Valiant likes their 'distant future version of our characters' stories, doesn't it? But this one's a little different. While the main story is important, it's only near the end that the true meaning of the story becomes apparent, which makes it have a much bigger impact on the present day storyline than expected.
Ninjak and Gilad together are always entertaining, and the two of them as older men is even funnier than usual - Ninjak does not have time for anyone's bullshit, even Gilad's, which leads to some great exchanges. I'm glad we see Doctor Silk again too, I always thought he'd be a good recurring foe for Unity but he kind of just disappeared, so having him here (and in Rai) was a nice touch.
The art is mostly Khari Evans, who I really liked back on Harbinger; he does some great work here, although he needs a lot of assistance in the later two issues from Eric Nguyen and Andres Guinaldo (who also pencils The Lost Files sections too) so that's a shame.
The Fist & The Steel looks like one type of story on the surface, but it's something entirely different once you peel back the layers that takes a common Valiant trope and turns it into something unexpected.
December 22, 2018
The Fist & The Steel (#18-21). One of the joys of Valiant is their willingness to tell stories of the future, recognizing that even if they're not in tight continuity, they can still reveal facets of characters. So this story becomes even future when it becomes obvious that it's not just a future story, but also one with connections to the present. Overall, it's another fine action-adventure but one with some complexity [4+/5].
January 18, 2022
As part of my Valiant Universe readthrough, this was slightly annoying. I had just finished Divinity II, which is Matt Kindt's treatise on how time travel never works to help you alter history, and then I picked up this book about how meditation allows a character to time travel and alter history.
But divorced of that contradiction, this was a solid read. It manages to both tell a compelling story about two heroes in the future (Ninjak and the Eternal Warrior), as well as ground it by telling a current storyline featuring Ninjak, Punk Mambo and some of his other contemporaries.
If you enjoy buddy adventures that focus more on progressing towards a goal rather than "LOL We Sure Are Different!", then this might be the book for you.
But divorced of that contradiction, this was a solid read. It manages to both tell a compelling story about two heroes in the future (Ninjak and the Eternal Warrior), as well as ground it by telling a current storyline featuring Ninjak, Punk Mambo and some of his other contemporaries.
If you enjoy buddy adventures that focus more on progressing towards a goal rather than "LOL We Sure Are Different!", then this might be the book for you.
March 19, 2019
An Old Man Ninjak story with the Eternal Warrior and Shadowman. It's a little sloppy. I read this as part of the deluxe edition. See Ninjak: Deluxe Edition 2 for the full review.
July 9, 2019
Better and better
Ninjak keeps getting better and better and I’m going through these volumes like crazy. He’s becoming one of my favorite comic book characters and I’m loving the other heroes from Valiant. Eternal Warrior and Livewire are two I look forward to checking out now.
Ninjak keeps getting better and better and I’m going through these volumes like crazy. He’s becoming one of my favorite comic book characters and I’m loving the other heroes from Valiant. Eternal Warrior and Livewire are two I look forward to checking out now.
January 31, 2024
Korektno i neinspirativno. Priča je kao neki filler. Očekivao sam barem neku razigranu kemiju između Gilada i Colina, ali ništa od toga. Kao da je Kindt radio nešto drugo, ali je morao odraditi ovo usput. Ni crtež ne pomaže, a kolor je prilično užasan. Nikakva grehota ako se preskoči.
July 2, 2017
I would like more ninja and less Shadowman...because this isn't Shadowman (who does not appear).
April 16, 2018
Another winner. Ninjak works great with other characters. This volume is Eternal Warrior's turn and it is fun to read.
March 25, 2019
An open 'Git gud' challenge to any other ninja books.
February 26, 2020
This is a cool story with a fun time twist as the future mixes with the current events in Ninjak’s life.
July 9, 2021
entretenida historia, continua lo del volumen 3, y deja todo preparado para el cierre en el siguiente. interesante historia desarrollada en 2 tiempos.
December 4, 2024
The Valiant universe is amazing, Gilad the Eternal Warrior and Ninjak on a quest? Sign me up.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews