Ninjak #4 Discussion

[hunter_peterson]

Best of Ninjak because of the last couple of pages... I must say that Matt is very good at weaving mysteries, but not at writing the words/story itself...

I remember his greatest fear in Valiant is Roku with his mother's face... or at least he recognized it as his mother

In the children's story, isn't the girl trying to find her brother? Who is Roku trying to find? Ninjak? This still fits well if Ninjak is among the rank of Weaponeer.

By the way what happens to her power of suggestion? It's only mentioned once when she broke out of that Russian prison and used it to make everyone kill themsevles.

I would guess they could explain it with the 'total body control' as her having the ability to generate pheromones on demand for some kind of low level mind control.

I thought they just killed themselves to avoid fighting her? Been a while since I read it.

[jmatt]

Best of Ninjak because of the last couple of pages... I must say that Matt is very good at weaving mysteries, but not at writing the words/story itself...

I remember his greatest fear in Valiant is Roku with his mother's face... or at least he recognized it as his mother

In the children's story, isn't the girl trying to find her brother? Who is Roku trying to find? Ninjak? This still fits well if Ninjak is among the rank of Weaponeer.

By the way what happens to her power of suggestion? It's only mentioned once when she broke out of that Russian prison and used it to make everyone kill themsevles.

I would guess they could explain it with the 'total body control' as her having the ability to generate pheromones on demand for some kind of low level mind control.

I thought they just killed themselves to avoid fighting her? Been a while since I read it.

I think that was confirmed in a con panel. ?

[grendeljd]

So many Crazy Theories from everyone here - I love it!!

Pixie, nice bit of logical reasoning - but I'm still not convinced it is the Bleeding Monk. Despite the grey region he exists in as far as his motivations & goals, I just can't see him being so malevolent as to allow a dark power like Master Darque have any influence over him or his disciples. This feels more specifically evil to me, and the Bleeding Monk's goals appear to be along the lines of Harada - long term in scale & for the betterment of humanity in scope.

Jmatt - I like your crazy theory (and that you took Hawkeyeps' theory & ran with it) - that's a wild one... already the leader? Wow, where could that plot line go?

And Greg, even if you were beaten to it, love the mythical reference for Rokurokubi. That's fascinating.

Thanks so much to everyone who listened to the VCR episode - always greatly appreciated!

[grendeljd]

Best of Ninjak because of the last couple of pages... I must say that Matt is very good at weaving mysteries, but not at writing the words/story itself...

I remember his greatest fear in Valiant is Roku with his mother's face... or at least he recognized it as his mother

In the children's story, isn't the girl trying to find her brother? Who is Roku trying to find? Ninjak? This still fits well if Ninjak is among the rank of Weaponeer.

By the way what happens to her power of suggestion? It's only mentioned once when she broke out of that Russian prison and used it to make everyone kill themsevles.

I would guess they could explain it with the 'total body control' as her having the ability to generate pheromones on demand for some kind of low level mind control.

I thought they just killed themselves to avoid fighting her? Been a while since I read it.

I think that was confirmed in a con panel. ?

I think your right, jmatt & Hunter.

[grendeljd]

The origin had a sort of video game feel to it, with occasional bosses to face before proceeding to the next level.

It also looked a little like Dig Dug on that one child drawing.

Yes!!

Truly happy to see Darque it's the type of world building that we need. Also nice to know that Roku's origin doesn't lie in some cute name trick that Kindt's been favoring.

You sure about that?

What if it is Rokuroku-B?

Zing!!

[dornwolf]

Truly happy to see Darque it's the type of world building that we need. Also nice to know that Roku's origin doesn't lie in some cute name trick that Kindt's been favoring.

You sure about that?

What if it is Rokuroku-B?

I hate you

[Shadowman99]

Quick thing, who's 'Angelina'? Can't recall reading anything about a character with that name in Ninjak, unless it's the woman Ninjak romanced during his training? That's fairly unlikely isn't it, because she was drawn as an English person I'm sure...

Surprised to see Master Darque, but a bit disappointed by it really. He only served as an apparently minor plot device during the issue so I doubt we'll be seeing him again in the comic

[BugsySig]

Best of Ninjak because of the last couple of pages... I must say that Matt is very good at weaving mysteries, but not at writing the words/story itself...

I remember his greatest fear in Valiant is Roku with his mother's face... or at least he recognized it as his mother

In the children's story, isn't the girl trying to find her brother? Who is Roku trying to find? Ninjak? This still fits well if Ninjak is among the rank of Weaponeer.

By the way what happens to her power of suggestion? It's only mentioned once when she broke out of that Russian prison and used it to make everyone kill themsevles.

I would guess they could explain it with the 'total body control' as her having the ability to generate pheromones on demand for some kind of low level mind control.

I thought they just killed themselves to avoid fighting her? Been a while since I read it.

I think that was confirmed in a con panel. ?

I think your right, jmatt & Hunter.

It's also confirmed in the summary page of this and previous Ninjak issues

Also, haven't seen anyone mention that Ninjak says in Divinity that he learned the trick to escape Abram's mind trap from "an undead monk." So he has encountered this monk previously and was likely another student/follower at some point.

[kjjohanson]

Quick thing, who's 'Angelina'? Can't recall reading anything about a character with that name in Ninjak, unless it's the woman Ninjak romanced during his training? That's fairly unlikely isn't it, because she was drawn as an English person I'm sure...

Surprised to see Master Darque, but a bit disappointed by it really. He only served as an apparently minor plot device during the issue so I doubt we'll be seeing him again in the comic

That would be her. From the backup stories at the end of each issue. It wouldn't be the first time an English woman was transformed into a badass killer in comics.

[jmatt]

Quick thing, who's 'Angelina'? Can't recall reading anything about a character with that name in Ninjak, unless it's the woman Ninjak romanced during his training? That's fairly unlikely isn't it, because she was drawn as an English person I'm sure...

Surprised to see Master Darque, but a bit disappointed by it really. He only served as an apparently minor plot device during the issue so I doubt we'll be seeing him again in the comic

That would be her. From the backup stories at the end of each issue. It wouldn't be the first time an English woman was transformed into a badass killer in comics.

What I think he's saying is that Roku looks Asian. Otherwise, why wouldn't Ninjak have recognized her from the start?

[Shadowman99]

Quick thing, who's 'Angelina'? Can't recall reading anything about a character with that name in Ninjak, unless it's the woman Ninjak romanced during his training? That's fairly unlikely isn't it, because she was drawn as an English person I'm sure...

Surprised to see Master Darque, but a bit disappointed by it really. He only served as an apparently minor plot device during the issue so I doubt we'll be seeing him again in the comic

That would be her. From the backup stories at the end of each issue. It wouldn't be the first time an English woman was transformed into a badass killer in comics.

What I think he's saying is that Roku looks Asian. Otherwise, why wouldn't Ninjak have recognized her from the start?

Yeah, that's what I was getting at

[Blood of Heroes]

Quick thing, who's 'Angelina'? Can't recall reading anything about a character with that name in Ninjak, unless it's the woman Ninjak romanced during his training? That's fairly unlikely isn't it, because she was drawn as an English person I'm sure...

Surprised to see Master Darque, but a bit disappointed by it really. He only served as an apparently minor plot device during the issue so I doubt we'll be seeing him again in the comic

That would be her. From the backup stories at the end of each issue. It wouldn't be the first time an English woman was transformed into a badass killer in comics.

What I think he's saying is that Roku looks Asian. Otherwise, why wouldn't Ninjak have recognized her from the start?

Yeah, that's what I was getting at

In the flashback portion of Ninjak 2, his handler Angelina tasks him with killing a creepy cult lady. He fails.
In issue 3 we see Ninjak and Angelina getting it on back in England. In the last few panels the creepy cult lady shows up, presumably looking for revenge. Most importantly we see that Angelina not only has blonde hair but green eyes as well.
In issue 4 Roku starts the book as a blonde haired, green eyed woman. She also appears to be a member of some sort of creepy cult. And after being buried, she comes back to life (or whatever) and her hair turns from blonde to red.

Maybe the most interesting part of issue 4 is when Roku finishes her trials and states her name to the heads of the Weaponeer organization. The guy with the helmet and long beard looks like he could be a cleverly disguised Ninjak.

[Shadowman99]

Quick thing, who's 'Angelina'? Can't recall reading anything about a character with that name in Ninjak, unless it's the woman Ninjak romanced during his training? That's fairly unlikely isn't it, because she was drawn as an English person I'm sure...

Surprised to see Master Darque, but a bit disappointed by it really. He only served as an apparently minor plot device during the issue so I doubt we'll be seeing him again in the comic

That would be her. From the backup stories at the end of each issue. It wouldn't be the first time an English woman was transformed into a badass killer in comics.

What I think he's saying is that Roku looks Asian. Otherwise, why wouldn't Ninjak have recognized her from the start?

Yeah, that's what I was getting at

In the flashback portion of Ninjak 2, his handler Angelina tasks him with killing a creepy cult lady. He fails.
In issue 3 we see Ninjak and Angelina getting it on back in England. In the last few panels the creepy cult lady shows up, presumably looking for revenge. Most importantly we see that Angelina not only has blonde hair but green eyes as well.
In issue 4 Roku starts the book as a blonde haired, green eyed woman. She also appears to be a member of some sort of creepy cult. And after being buried, she comes back to life (or whatever) and her hair turns from blonde to red.

Maybe the most interesting part of issue 4 is when Roku finishes her trials and states her name to the heads of the Weaponeer organization. The guy with the helmet and long beard looks like he could be a cleverly disguised Ninjak.

Er... Okay. Well, I guess you could be right about that If you are, I'd have to say that it was pretty poorly communicated in the comic if that's the case though.

Beard dude with the martian helmet is no way Ninjak in disguise. Got no proof of that of course, but I've got such a gut feeling on that one that I just know I'm not going to be wrong about that. Martian-Head looks like a bloody weirdo

[BugsySig]

Guy with the helmet is the baddie of the second arc. I forgot his name, but it's def not Ninjak under there.

I think Roku is either Collins handler from the back up or his mother.

[Blood of Heroes]

Er... Okay. Well, I guess you could be right about that If you are, I'd have to say that it was pretty poorly communicated in the comic if that's the case though.

I think that's the point. It's not supposed to be obvious.

We also see his wristwatch mentioned. He says it belonged to his father. In the flashback story, Angelina gives him a watch as a gift. I don't know if it's the same watch, but I don't think the extra story we are reading is just a prequel. It's all going to tie in with the current story.

[kjjohanson]

Quick thing, who's 'Angelina'? Can't recall reading anything about a character with that name in Ninjak, unless it's the woman Ninjak romanced during his training? That's fairly unlikely isn't it, because she was drawn as an English person I'm sure...

Surprised to see Master Darque, but a bit disappointed by it really. He only served as an apparently minor plot device during the issue so I doubt we'll be seeing him again in the comic

That would be her. From the backup stories at the end of each issue. It wouldn't be the first time an English woman was transformed into a badass killer in comics.

What I think he's saying is that Roku looks Asian. Otherwise, why wouldn't Ninjak have recognized her from the start?

Well, it wouldn't be the first time an English woman was transformed into a badass Asian killer in comics.

[grendeljd]

Quick thing, who's 'Angelina'? Can't recall reading anything about a character with that name in Ninjak, unless it's the woman Ninjak romanced during his training? That's fairly unlikely isn't it, because she was drawn as an English person I'm sure...

Surprised to see Master Darque, but a bit disappointed by it really. He only served as an apparently minor plot device during the issue so I doubt we'll be seeing him again in the comic

That would be her. From the backup stories at the end of each issue. It wouldn't be the first time an English woman was transformed into a badass killer in comics.

What I think he's saying is that Roku looks Asian. Otherwise, why wouldn't Ninjak have recognized her from the start?

Well, it wouldn't be the first time an English woman was transformed into a badass Asian killer in comics.

I was thinking that too

And not that it's impossible, but an Asian with green eyes is extreme rare, I think... There are many little clues that point to her being Angela. The dialogue from the monk who talks to her at the beginning when she is tied up & kneeling in front of the prayer wheel (looking like an unwilling prisoner, freshly caught) - suits the possibility of her being a spy/agent prior to the transformation.

[pixierosa]

I don't think she was ever a captive -- it was said by the monk that few sought out their monastery and fewer survived as she had. Made me think that she chose to find this place and train. If that is the case, then the reason why will be the interesting part of the story.

On the flip side, it could be that Angelina (I think that Roku is her) sought out the monastery while on the trail of the bald assassin woman (or of her associates). She then had little choice but to endure the training or die.

[Sunlight_on_Snow]

There are also some curious ways in which the Master Darque sequence resonates with the Japanese folk ghost story "Hoichi the Earless," from Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan, which Kindt is probably familiar with. We have a monk losing his ears by the hand of a personification of the dead -- and a body covered in ornamental symbols (but in this case the body covered with ornamentation is the aggressor). I wonder if the connections to this story are coincidental, inspirational, or meaningful.

In any case, best single page of Ninjak yet!

[grendeljd]

I don't think she was ever a captive -- it was said by the monk that few sought out their monastery and fewer survived as she had. Made me think that she chose to find this place and train. If that is the case, then the reason why will be the interesting part of the story.

On the flip side, it could be that Angelina (I think that Roku is her) sought out the monastery while on the trail of the bald assassin woman (or of her associates). She then had little choice but to endure the training or die.

Your initial idea makes potential sense based on that bit of dialogue alone, but the visuals don't line up with your theory in my mind - she looks physically beaten, roughed up, bleeding & is also tied up. I can't see them tying her up like that if she came voluntarily seeking the monastery...

On the other hand, I do like your flipside notion - she may have got caught while pursuing that bald assassin. I was thinking Angela will be targeted by that assassin, who I think is part of this monastic order, even if peripherally through another order/temple/location.

[leonmallett]

A decent issue and the appearance of Darque certainly surprised me, but I would have liked a lot more context about that: when and how it happened in terms of his circumstances in the first two arcs of Shadowman.

In all, enjoyable for me. I liked the origin story and dare-say it will withstand re-reading.