Ninjak #4 Review Part 3

 

Ninjak #4 Cover A by Fernando Dagnino

In the third and final portion of Ninjak #4, Ninjak acts on the information he secured during his mission in Barcelona, Spain. He and his team travel to Molokai, one of the less visited islands of Hawaii. There Ninjak and Myna surveil Daylight's latest gathering, a luau held at an exclusive hotel, while their former handler Neville Alcott serves as backup on a nearby boat. 

 

 

The location suggests that the undercover C.I.A. agent posing as a Coast Guard officer in the first section of the issue boarded Daylight's vessel once it entered Hawaiian waters. This also partly explains Syphon's reaction to her brother's announcement in part one. The Kingmaker is making a very definite statement by excluding a United States government representative from a gathering held on U.S. soil.

 

 

While Syphon and the Kingmaker's ultimate aims have not yet been made clear, Ninjak and Myna discovered what gave birth to the brother and sister's psiot powers in Ninjak #3. Ninjak and Myna also interacted with that strange and powerful substance. 

 

 

While they seem to have suffered no long term effects from that exposure, its worth noting that everyone else exposed to that source died. One wonders what Syphon and the Kingmaker were like before their change, and if Ninjak and Myna may, at some future time, discover new abilities they never knew they had.

 

 

If the Kingmaker wasn't a control freak before that initiating event, he certainly is now. Rather than trying to win people over through kindness or reason, he kills them if they even contemplate acting against them. Power has gone to his head, and God help anyone who stands in his way. Can someone please give this guy a copy of Dale Carnegie's classic book How to Win Friends and Influence People?

After reading writer Jeff Parker's story in Ninjak #4, I'm wondering about the Kingmaker's ultimate goals for Daylight. What does he plan on doing with all the power and money he demands from major corporations and governments? 

 

 

I'm intrigued by the interaction between Syphon and Ninjak in the latter portion of the Molokai sequence. Ninjak's mental strength, built up through rigorous MI-6 and Ninja training, bolster him when she forces her way inside his mind. Yet the way penciler and inker Beni Lobel and colorist Andrew Dalhouse portray their interactions suggest that something more than just a mental attack is going on.

 

 

I'm also impressed by Myna. She's come so far in this new series: from a raw MI-6 agent venturing out on her first field mission, to playing a major role in Ninjak #4. By his body language, and by the way he relies on her in their missions, Ninjak seems to regard her as a friend and trusted partner. That's something he's never had before, in any previous series under his own name.

 

 

Ninjak #4 opens up lots of possibilities for future issues in this evolving and entertaining series. It leaves us with the promise of future battles, complex and growing relationships, and the reshaping of the international intelligence community. It makes me want to learn more about Daylight's plans, and wish that I could travel with Ninjak, Myna, and Neville. 

I definitely plan to be with them on this fun and exciting journey--every step of the way!

Dragon Dave