Support by buying at your local comic shop http://www.findacomicshop.com/ or purchase a digital copy.

• Price: $3.99
• Rating: T+
• Pages: 40
• On Sale: February 14, 2018
• Writer: Christos Gage
• Artist: Juan José Ryp
• Publisher: Valiant Entertainment

From the Publisher – At the height of 1970s Britain, MI-6’s covert “Ninja Programme” has just activated its first female agent: NINJA-G! As financial instability grips the nation and anarchy brews in the streets, can MI-6’s newest ninja recruit counter a steady tide of double agents, double crosses, and dueling nation states that will take her from the leather-padded corridors of London to the most severe corners of the Soviet Bloc? The life expectancy of a ninja agent is never long…but just how and why are NINJA-G’s missions still impacting Ninjak’s deadly manhunt in the modern day? And could her legacy hold the secret to decoding the murders of the Ninja Programme’s last surviving members – before Colin King is scratched off the list once and for all?

Our We Talk Comics WeView – You could be forgiven if you didn’t know that Valiant had made Ninjak one of a long line of Ninja’s that work for MI-6. In case you were wondering, Colin King is Ninja-K, but this story is essentially the stand-alone origin story of Ninja-G, a badass woman who is reminiscent of James Bond with some modern sensibilities built in.

Christos Gage does a nice job mixing exposition with action. You can tell there is a lot to this story and the individual origins of these characters, so you need a deft touch to keep the story moving and not let it get bogged down in minutiae. Despite the fact that some of these tropes are expected in the spy genre, I found that I liked characterization a lot. It didn’t feel like a rehash of similar characters, but that they put some thought into how they would respond not only for themselves, but for the different time period as well.

It’s been a while since I have seen work from Juan José Ryp, but his style works very nicely on this book. It is quite detailed and certainly looks good the way it is colored. He brings a kinetic vision to the action scenes that helps to progress the flow of the story from page to page. It feels like they could have supported a longer story because the art was so enjoyable.

When I went in to read this comic, I certainly wasn’t expecting the story I got, and in this case, that is probably a good thing. I really enjoyed the way the character’s story was told, and how it related to Ninjak. And even more, I liked the fact that you could easily read this without being up to date on the Ninjak continuity. At the end of the comic you had not only read a really interesting story, but you had the cliffhanger ending that sets up the desire to read the next issue perfectly. This is only issue #4, so it isn’t too late to go back and grab the first three, but if #4 is any indication, this could be the start of a very fun ride. Highly enjoyable.

Rating – Very Fine (VF) or 8/10

Review by Brett

Love the review? Hate the review? Disagree with me? I’m happy to talk comics on twitter @Brett_WeTalk

Three great ways to subscribe to We Talk Comics now. Try us on iTunes. For those of you looking for an alternative we’re now available on Stitcher Radio. You can also check the show out on the versatile TuneIn radio.

And join the We Talk Conversation on Twitter @wetalkpodcasts. Plus give us a like now on Facebook.