For decades, the mysterious figure known as the Jonin trained and tutored the agents of MI-6’s Ninja Programme. In his hands, the men and women of Britain’s most elite secret service were refined into more than spies… They became human weapons capable of inflicting extraordinary damage and defying the laws of nature itself. Now, after decades thought dead, this master killer has resurfaced…and recruited a new circle of undying, seemingly ageless powerhouses from across the Valiant Universe for reasons unknown. The Jonin’s revenge will cast a long shadow – and, to meet it head on, Ninjak has assembled his own squadron of heavy-hitting heroes – including Livewire, Dr. Mirage, Punk Mambo, and GIN-GR – for the ultimate black-ops mission!

A literal team building issue as a recovering Ninjak pulls himself back together after barely escaping in one piece from infiltrating the headquarters of the Jonin, with more than half of the comic dedicated to establishing Ninjak’s relationships with the rest of the newly assembled team. There’s no lengthy exposition to set the stage, rather the body language and odd comment from the titular hero as he becomes aware of each person he’ll be working with to take on the Jonin – the man who trained most of Ninjak’s predecessors.

With the appearance of Dr. Mirage, Christos Gage is able to inject some humour into an otherwise serious comic without ever compromising the feel of the series. Despite the impending doom the team will soon have to face, there is a lot of slower moments that allow readers unfamiliar with the rest of the Valiant Universe to get a sense of who the characters are beyond Ninjak’s relationship with them, with the end result being a book that doesn’t feel like an entry in Ninjak’s solo series, but instead reads as a team book.  When it comes to the art, again, the comic is a winner. Juan Jose Ryp and Jordie Bellaire are top tier talent, and they show you why that’s the case with a varied colour pallet that highlights some wonderfully  diverse backdrops and close detail.

As you can tell, I don’t have too much to say about this issue; it’s a good read, brilliant to look at, but it didn’t generate an awful lot of loquaciousness within your humble reviewer. Essentially, if you’ve enjoyed the series so far then you’ll enjoy this.

Story: Christos Gage Art: Juan Jose Ryp
Colours: Jordie Bellaire Letterer: Dave Lanphear
Story: 8.4 Art: 8.9 Overall: 8.7 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant Entertainment provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review