 |
| Ninjak #3 Cover B by Alitha Martinez |
In Ninjak #3, writer Jeff Parker keeps his fast-paced story humming along. The first portion of the issue's three-act story takes place outside a castle in Scotland. There, Ninjak confronts an assault force preparing to attack the castle.
One of the themes driving this series is Ninjak's stripped-down approach to any hostile situation. Instead of relying on overwhelmingly powerful, high-tech weapons, Colin King travels light, and uses anything that comes readily to hand.
Thus, while Myna wonders how Ninjak will take out the assault team, he employs a simple but effective strategy: surprise.
Another theme of this series is how Myna, this new untested MI-6 agent, remains unflappable. She relies on her preparation or training, while also demonstrating--for Colin's sake--a willingness build upon her skill set. This goes a long way with Ninjak, who has learned the hard way how difficult it can be to trust others.
As his confidence in her grows, he gives her more responsibility. Still, he's mindful that she must learn to walk before she can run.
While the ability to use readily available items is essential to any field agent, so is adequate preparation. These next two panels demonstrate that, before selecting their plane and leaving the airport, Ninjak had assumed Neville's castle would be under siege.
Thus, he brought this handheld winch with him, so he wouldn't endanger Myna and the plane by landing to confront the assault team.
The second portion of Ninjak #3 takes place inside the Scottish castle. There, Colin and Myna learn what happened to Neville Alcott and Mr. Darbin after the psiot from the organization called Daylight read their minds. Writer Jeff Parker continually weaves plot threads like this into each new issue, while always keeping us looking ahead to what comes next.
This second portion, or middle arc of the story, also includes a fun gearing-up scene, in which Ninjak is reunited with some of his tried-and-true weapons. It adds a cinematic quality to this action-packed series, and comes as a welcome respite before Ninjak and Myna rush on toward their next objective.
The final portion of this issue takes place in Norway. There, Ninjak and Myna venture into an isolated research complex. As in the second act, the two MI-6 agents encounter the results of some very weird scientific breakthroughs.
Along with poisons, high-tech weapons, and nanites, those discoveries may make you wonder how many scientific discoveries get labeled Top Secret, and appropriated for government use.
Meanwhile, artist Javier Pulido keeps challenging us. Sometimes he makes us wonder how to interpret his deceptively simple panels. Sometimes he makes us guess which one to read next. It's almost as if he's designing a game, and each new page or two-page spread is a new level for the reader--or player--to unlock and navigate.
In the third act, Javier throws convention on its head. His experimentation with format reminds me of the way enterprising independent publishers carved their own niche into the comics market in the 1980s and '90s. Clearly, there are more ways to challenge, surprise, and delight readers than through the pursuit of realism.
There are many intriguing aspects of Ninjak #3 that I won't mention, as I want you to discover them on your own. But in closing, one topic I will bring up is Myna's hair color. In most panels, her hair looks black. But at times, it looks brown, or even takes on a reddish appearance.
Does Javier Pulido change it from panel-to-panel for thematic or artistic reasons? Or can Myna somehow alter her hair color?
Could it, in fact, be another of those scientific breakthroughs MI-6 and other intelligence agencies develop in secret government laboratories? The ability to change one's hair color to meet the needs of the moment would be a useful ability for an undercover agent to employ. Hey, if Bloodshot can use nanites to change his features and body structure, why can't Myna use another scientifically-derived process to change her hair color at will?
After all, in the world of espionage, a well-trained agent will use any available tool to prepare for and adapt to any given situation, in order to achieve a desired objective.
Dragon Dave
No comments:
Post a Comment