Cowboy Ninja Viking #4

Written by AJ Lieberman
Art by Riley Rossmo

So just when I was ready to write this series off as being overly confusing, cluttered, and kind of uninteresting, Lieberman went and gave us an issue with some actual explication in it.

The book starts off as muddled as ever, with a group of Triplets having a conversation with each other, but things improve quickly when we cut to Ghislain, the 'Jacob' of the book, to put things in Lost terms, sitting down with a group of Senators, and finally explaining what happened in San Christobel, among other things.

Basically, we now know how many Triplets there are (14 or 15), who Blaq is (Ghislain's protege turned evil), and have a template for where this book is headed. I don't know why we were introduced to the fake Triplet Gary, or how exactly this title was originally supposed to be wrapping up with either this issue or the next. It doesn't really feel like Lieberman is working off a plan here, and that makes me nervous about where this title is headed.

As for the art, my opinions remain mixed. I like Rossmo's style, but find it much better suited to a book that's in full colour, and has characters that are more easily recognizable. I'd rather see him continuing to work on Proof, and this title be given over to someone with a simpler, cleaner approach.

I'm not sure if I'm going to stick with this title or not. I think I'll pick up the next issue, and decide from there.

Cowboy Ninja Viking #3

Written by AJ Lieberman
Art by Riley Rossmo

I think I'm losing interest in this title. The 'high concept,' featuring government-sanctioned assassins who each have three separate, yet somehow contiguous, personalities is a cool one, but the storytelling in this series is messy.

Each of the Triplets, and this issue has three different ones, are constantly having conversations within their heads, and it's not always clear what is being said out loud. Also, characters just pop in and out of this story, with no real explanation of who they are. The art is a little muddy, making it difficult to always recognize who is who.

This book has recently been made an on-going series, and this actually turns me off it. Were it only going to last for a few issues, I could see making the effort to understand and piece it together, but the on-going format means that Lieberman doesn't have to restrict his story to something that can be logically explained in a short span of pages, and this makes me nervous that the present storyline might continue indefinitely.

Cowboy Ninja Viking #2

Written by AJ Lieberman
Art by Riley Rossmo

This is a fun title, but it's hard to follow. I'm not sure if that's the fault of the script or Rossmo's art. The concept is a difficult one to portray - the protagonist and antagonist both house three separate personalities in their heads, but it's actually the other scenes that become confusing.

There's a strange quality to the plotting. Devices seem to come along to fit the convenience of the plot. CNV has to fly coach to Japan because he can't take Ghislain's jet, but then he shows up almost as soon as they get there. I think an editor might have come in handy....

I saw this week that this title has switched from being a mini-series to an on-going book. I'm not sure that there is enough within this concept for that to work....

Cowboy Ninja Viking #1

Written by AJ Lieberman
Art by Riley Rossmo

This is an odd one. The title and Rossmo's artwork got this an immediate order when I saw the solicitation a few months ago, but I really had no clue what this comic was going to be about. I still didn't, until I got to the last few pages, and even then, some stuff is unclear.

Basically, Dr. Ghislain is some major power-broker, along the lines of the guy running the show in Warren Ellis's 'No Hero'. He has a lot of connections, and carries a lot of power in the world. He was involved in some sort of counter-terrorism program that involved training Triplets - people with three distinct and stable personalities - to be assassins, or agents, or something.

The Cowboy Ninja Viking is one such Triplet. Some guy named Yashitiko Ammo is another. I gather they don't like each other, and now that Ammo is diving for poisonous fish, they must fight. I imagine there will be a little more exposition somewhere along the way to explain that last bit.

Lieberman is taking a bit of a backwards approach to telling this story, and while it frustrated me at the beginning of this book, I was okay with it by the end. Rossmo's art is nice as always, but feels a little cramped, which is odd considering that this comic is in the new "Viking-size" that Image is playing with lately. Had this comic come out in a more standard sizing, I'm sure it would be very difficult to follow. Adding to that is the use of blue tones instead of colour - at times it has the effect of muddying up the art, and making it difficult to discern who is who.

In all though, I'm intrigued in this title, and will stick around for the remainder of it.