REVIEW: Book of Death: The Fall of Ninjak, #1

Matt Kindt and Trevor Hairsine provide a dark but intriguing peek into the future of the Valiant Universe in "Book of Death: The Fall of Ninjak" #1. However, Ninjak's demise is flawed by the uncertainty of the side he has taken.


[I]Full article [URL=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=user_review&id=8897]here[/URL].[/I]

A pretty decent review, but I have to disagree with the sentiment that Nijak's demise is flawed because the side he chose was not clearly delineated. Gilad left Ninjak as the protector of the Earth in his absence, and his students discovered that New Japan was going to drain energy from the Earth...literally sucking it dry. It was his duty to prevent this from happening.

However, I will say it was flawed in that it was unclear exactly what his plan was. If anyone has read Rai, it's obvious he failed, but a brute force attack seems very un-Ninjak-like. On second glance it seems as though a portion of New Japan was severed, and perhaps Kindt will revisit this plot point in Rai.

[QUOTE=BugsySig;1445599]A pretty decent review, but I have to disagree with the sentiment that Nijak's demise is flawed because the side he chose was not clearly delineated. Gilad left Ninjak as the protector of the Earth in his absence, and his students discovered that New Japan was going to drain energy from the Earth...literally sucking it dry. It was his duty to prevent this from happening.

However, I will say it was flawed in that it was unclear exactly what his plan was. If anyone has read Rai, it's obvious he failed, but a brute force attack seems very un-Ninjak-like. On second glance it seems as though a portion of New Japan was severed, and perhaps Kindt will revisit this plot point in Rai.[/QUOTE]

If you read the last issue of Rai, it appears he may actually be addressing it sooner than later based on the cliffhanger. The connection to New Japan was one of my favorite things about this issue, seeing how it all ties in.

One the thing the reviewer got wrong a bit is that these aren't things that MIGHT happen--Valiant has already said this isn't an alt future thing, and that these are things that WILL happen.

I am absolutely LOVING these glimpses into the future of the Valiant universe. While it is sad to see the endings of our heroes, it is still intriguing to see what will ultimately come, especially when you know that this IS the future (according to Valiant) and not just an "Imaginary" tale or a "What If" story. Knowing that requires reading through each of these BOD books multiple times to find MOST of the references to what is to come. In this case, we learn not only about Ninjak, but Gilad, Livewire, Gin-Gr, and New Japan itself. VERY well written and the art gives a futuristic "end of world" feel that melds wonderfully with the writing. Valiant really IS at the top of their game these days, and this book is yet another example of that quality. THIS is how comic book story telling should be!