Cowboy Ninja Viking: Lame Gimmicky Letdown or Actually Quite Awesome?

So it’s fan boy time, and I’ve one question for you; three most awesome combinations of awesome awsomness? Cowboy. Ninja. Viking. I first learnt of this comic book from my browsing of the internets, and I must admit, when I first heard the title, the teenage boy in me squeaked out a little voice cracking yelp of joy. There was that little part of me, that cynical part that has forgotten the joys of summers frolicking in the woodland and such, that said “Stupid title, fan boy wet dream, gimmick driven crap”. The concept is ridiculous, but ridiculous in a way that could also very cool. They kinda thing that would inspire such phrases as so mad it might just work. And in all fairness, it does.

The comic is written by AJ Lieberman with art and tones by Riley Rossmo. Now I have read none of Lieberman’s previous work, though I know that he has done several Batman comics, namely Hush Returns as well as a couple of other DC favorites. He has also written other greats such as I Kill Giants and Chew that I know are greats, only from others.  This was my first outing in the ways of Lieberman, and I will say I liked the sights. He is a good writer, original and funny to boot. The artwork is no let down either. From the front cover which is little stark with the simple image of C.N.V in the foreground and large text in the background stating that this is Cowboy Ninja Viking. Rossmo does the art work for the Alex Grecian written Proof. The black and white with splashes of blue suits the tone of the comic, it’s stylized, detailed, and has a certain maturity about it that some comic artists lack, the ones where it’s all big breasted arse kicking women and men with muscles that ripple more than a swimming pool full of fat men. Rossmo does the art work for the Alex Grecian written Proof, another comic that I have not read, but have a desperate thirst to check out, if for the art work alone.  C.N.V is golden age format, something which adds a little extra something to the comic, as well as the lack of annoying adverts every three pages. This alone made it worth the little extra cash.

So the plot? Five years previous to C.N.V #1, a genius doctor decides it would be a great idea to train people suffering from multiple personality disorder to be assassins. The triplets. (Don’t worry; the comic is fully aware of how lame it sounds.) Things didn’t go great. High powered agents now track down Duncan, the only triplet that wasn’t a complete failure, to attain his help in finding another of the triplets, P.G.O. (If you guess what it stands for, you win the prize!). Simple as people who enjoy Americas Next Top Model.

Cowboy Ninja Viking is a re-reader. If you didn’t get it the first time, read it again and you will. If you don’t the second try and third, if you fail then go back to Witchblade. The art work was amazing, the plot, should it thicken, will be better than a MacDonald’s milkshake, and the characterization was excellent, to a point. This is only issue #1 after all. Cowboy Ninja Viking has something; from the brutal and brilliant dialogue between the Cowboy, Ninja and Viking down to the details of individually designed speech bubbles for each personality. I will admit ignorance and say I don’t know much about Image comics, but after reading C.N.V, I really want to. If you are a little tired of reading the same sort of thing with D.C. and Marvel, and still resentful about the fact Neil Gaiman isn’t chained in a room with a pencil producing work 24/7, give this title a go. It isn’t what the title prescribes, but very much an example of how titles can be misleading. On the other hand, if you were to judge a book by its cover, this would score highly.

Tags: AJ, cowboy, Lieberman, ninja, Riley, Rossmo, viking

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