ELIOT RAHAL | JOE BENNETT | BELARDINO BRABO | ULISES ARREOLA 1 TM INTRODUCTION In a company where dreaming big is an everyday occurrence, NINJAK VS. THE VALIANT UNIVERSE might just set a new bar for ambition. This project isn’t just a comic book – or, rather, it should be said, it didn’t just start as a comic book. Almost two years ago, the Valiant team began internally mulling a complex question: What was the most compelling, most unorthodox way to get our characters in front of new fans? That’s when the idea was born: Valiant would independently produce a live-action, digital-first series introducing Valiant’s biggest and most enduring characters... A project that could exist outside the corporate media mainstream, independent of Valiant’s upcoming plans in film and television, and build a new gateway into the Valiant Universe outside of the traditional comic book store audience... A project that could serve a promotional vehicle for a new kind of comic book-based storytelling... A project that could only be called NINJAK VS. THE VALIANT UNIVERSE. To accomplish that goal, Valiant recruited a veritable murderers’ row of talent from the across the industry, including: directors Aaron and Sean Schoenke, who created the hugely popular Super Power Beat Down YouTube series; Arrow star Michael Rowe to bring Colin King to life as Ninjak; Baby Daddy and New Warriors leading man Derek Theler as X-O Manowar; Power Rangers superstar and pop culture icon Jason David Frank as Bloodshot; Lucha Underground headliner and former WWE Superstar John Hennigan as the Eternal Warrior; and Australian pop chanteuse and rising star Chantelle Barry as Ninjak’s arch-nemesis Roku. That is to name just a few of the incredibly dedicated, hard-working cast and crew that poured blood, sweat, and reams of comic book-fueled inspiration into making NINJAK VS. THE VALIANT UNIVERSE into a groundbreaking undertaking with television-quality production values and a massive sense of scale. But NINJAK VS. THE VALIANT UNIVERSE was always much more than just a digital series. The story that now awaits before you on the comic book page is the other half of the equation – a first-of-its-a-kind attempt to bridge the worlds of live action and comics in a way that has never been attempted before. Bigger battles. Expanded scenes. And an evolving narrative that will be enhanced and augmented as the two halves of comics’ first truly multimedia event come fully into focus. As we dive headlong into this unprecedented adventure, longtime readers take note... Although the world you are about to encounter bears many similarities great and small to Valiant’s comic book universe, NINJAK VS. THE VALIANT UNIVERSE takes place in a world all its own... A world where Colin King is about to betray his friends, his allies, and his country... A world where he will be forced into a ruthless, no-holds-barred confrontation with all of Valiant’s most powerful heroes... A world where all of them might not make it out alive... Fred Pierce Publisher Valiant Entertainment New York City December 2017 STORY ELIOT RAHAL ARTIST JOE BENNETT with BELARDINO BRABO COLORIST ULISES ARREOLA LETTERER DAVE SHARPE ASSISTANT EDITOR BENJAMIN PETERSON EDITOR JOSH JOHNS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF WARREN SIMONS COVERS MICO SUAYAN with DAVID BARON, CAFU with ANDREW DALHOUSE, FRANCIS PORTELA with ANDREW DALHOUSE, BOB LAYTON with DAVID BARON SCREEN STORY AARON SCHOENKE SCREENPLAY AARON SCHOENKE, SEAN SCHOENKE, JOE HARRIS, and ANDREW ROWE NINJAK VS. THE VALIANT UNIVERSETM #1 (of 4) JANUARY 2018 VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC. Office of publication: 350 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 Copyright © 2018 Valiant Entertainment LLC. All rights reserved. All characters, their distinctive likenesses and related indicia featured in this publication are trademarks of Valiant Entertainment LLC. The stories, characters, and incidents featured in this publication are entirely fictional. Printed in the USA. For more information, please visit aliantUniverse.com.V First Printing. WANTED! NEXT MONTH IN #2 ON SALE FEBRUARY 21ST .