Ninja-K is being prematurely ended with the next issue (#14) and, for me, this has been one of the best titles on my subscription list. Instead of ongoing stories, it has come to light that Valiant is instead choosing to finish a series once the writer’s story has ended without handing the title over to another writer for further storylines. However, this issue… where do I begin this Ninja-K #13 review?
The writing by Christos Gage is great and the story in this issue is about Ninjak trying to save his friend Gilad (The Eternal Warrior), who has been inhabited by The Dying One, who is possessing his body. So Ninjak must find a way to sever the tie between Gilad and The Dying One without trapping Gilad’s soul in the magical device that is keeping the connection between the two together.
This means we get what should be some excellent fight scenes between the two. We “should” being the key word here. Instead, from Roberto de la Torre (art) and Jose Villarrubia (colors), we get scratchy art and thick bold inking that makes it almost impossible to tell what is going on. Most of the panels even looked like they were rushed when being drawn, inked, and colored.
Gilad goes from looking like a Native American in one panel to Conan the Barbarian in the one below it. I kid you not, he is the spitting image of Conan in a few panels. At one point, Gilad breaks every bone in Ninjak’s right hand, but a few pages later, he is clearly using his sword, in his right hand. Little inconsistencies like that stand out when the story is so good but the art is not matching the same level of excellence. I can only hope the last issue to this series gets back on track with the art.
Who knows how long we will be without a Ninjak title now that Valiant is doing strange things these days? Hopefully, he will show up in the pages of Livewire but that’s just what I’m keeping my fingers crossed for.
Wrap Up
The writing in this series has been excellent, and until now, the art has been just as great. Maybe this issue’s art will only be a blip on the run? We’ll find out next month when Ninja-K concludes.
Last Updated on February 3, 2021.
