Ninjak #3 Spotlight: Coloring

 

Ninjak #3 Pre-Order Cover by Zu Orzu

In Ninjak #3, artist Javier Pulido plays with lighting to achieve some interesting effects. As Ninjak hurtles down from the airplane, Javier shows Ninjak and the assault squad in silhouette. This suggests that the characters are between us and the sun. 

It's so bright that we can't see their features, or the other colors they're wearing.

As Ninjak swings into action, we get closer to Neville's would-be attackers. Now we're close enough that the sun isn't shining in our eyes. We can make out the characters' features, their skin color, and any other colors they wear.

The muddy yellow is the background: the distant fields and fells, or hills. Interestingly, the ground immediately before us is black.

After knocking the rifle from the soldier's hands, it continues to fly upward. Ninjak swings back up on the rope to grasp it. Higher up, Ninjak and the rifle are between us and the sun again. Thus, we see the sky above the muddy yellow fells in this shot.

As Ninjak adjusts his swinging into a circle, we look down from overhead. The ground immediately below is closer to us than the distant fells, and therefore darker. 

Needless to say, Javier is indulging in artistic license here, and choosing his colors from the color wheel to evoke what he feels is a pleasing combination. Although I've never traveled there, I assume that if he were coloring in photorealistic mode, this Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides would be much more green. 

If he was adopting that approach, he couldn't color the ground-level scene of the attackers getting shot in red, which symbolizes not only their deaths, but the assault team's shock.

In my review, I noted that Myna's hair was a light brown in the next panel. This seemed odd at the time, as I've always seen her as having black hair before. Perhaps it's not truly black, but just dark brown.

Obviously, the sun is high above the plane. With the light shining down, the camera view is from below, looking up. From this angle, Myna's hair looks brown, but the cabin ceiling looks black.

 

Next we're level with Myna. From this angle, we see her hair as dark as it normally appears, and the cabin ceiling is muddy yellow.

Of course, the two panels also contrast two emotional states. In the first, Myna is frightened. She's scared that Colin has been injured or killed. In the second, he's back on board: he's safe!

Also, she won't have to cap off her first time flying an airplane by having to land it on her own.

Inside Neville's castle, we see Ninjak and Myna contrasted against Earthtones. This helps the imposing castle feel homey and inviting.

Javier treats us to a closeup look at the stag mounted on the wall. Interestingly, both Colin and Myna appear to pass it by, without noticing the eye turn light up. Does Ninjak not see the light streaming from it?

The way the eye sends out spiky rays reminds me of Ninjak's throwing stars. The way it glows with blue light, versus white, differentiates the stag from a psiot drawing on his or her power.

Lastly, in this underground scene, we see this trio gazing upon a collection of ninja weapons. The lighting level is low, leaving the characters mostly in darkness. The overhead lighting tends toward the red spectrum., coloring only the top of Ninjak and Myna's heads, and a little of their shoulders and arms.

You can guess who the weapon collection belongs to by the way Javier colors it.

 

In Ninjak #3, artist Javier Pulido uses lighting and colors to bring us into Colin and Myna's world. In doing so, he helps us feel a little of what they experience in their mission to the Outer Hebrides, and beyond.

Dragon Dave