MI-6′s doomed rescue mission into a parallel dimension is in dire peril as Ninjak and Punk Mambo find themselves face-to-face with the one and only Shadowman! But what is the true nature of the man once called Jack Boniface…and has his time trapped amidst the Deadside’s horrors stolen his humanity once and for all? A battle to save the soul of the Valiant Universe is about to begin – but even the good guys can’t be sure if they’re on the right side!

As Operation: Deadside reaches its penultimate issue, this story arc has become one of the most intriguing Ninjak stories I have read in a long time. Certainly the best in his own series, at any rate, a large part of that is the way in which it’s being told. With the narrative text bubbles taking the form of a debrief from Ninjak‘s MI-6 handler Neville and a commanding officer, we get to see how the official events (and the ramifications of certain things after the story) juxtapose with what actually happened during the mission as we read about it in the comic.

And it’s a doozy.

With Ninjak being teamed up with Punk Mambo for the mission, last issue saw them commandeer a living island (no, I’m not kidding, and yes it was awesome) in order to help them get to their directive. The story is really picking up it’s pace, and with only one issue left for the conclusion, I cant wait to see how it turns out because there’s a potentially universe shattering encounter coming up.

What I’ve most interesting about Operation: Deadside is how the back up strip, The Lost Files, is tying into it. While I expected there to be some cohesion between the two stories eventually, after all there was in the previous arc, I didn’t expect the current The Lost Files strip that focuses on the Magpie to be quite as good as it was. It’s honestly waiting to see how Matt Kindt ties the two in together next issue that has me waiting with bated breath. This isn’t a new reader friendly issue, not really, but you can easily start with Ninjak #10 and be just as good as if you’d been reading since issue #1.

Matt Kindt, Doug Braithwaite and Juan Jose Ryp have given us one of the best issues in the current run of Ninjak. Do yourself a favour and read the full arc.

Story: Matt Kindt: Art: Doug Braithwaite with Juan Jose Ryp
Story: 9 Art: 9 Overall: 9 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review.