Cowboy Ninja Viking

August 30, 2010
The American cowboy, the ninja, and the Viking form a triumvirate of toughness seldom equaled in world—to say nothing of pop culture—history. Each is superbad in his own right, but what about when the most deadly attributes of each can be found in one man? Duncan is such a man, the result of a secret government program to create soldiers for the war on terror. This experimental regimen conscripts people suffering from multiple personality disorder and turns them into "triplets," highly lethal operatives possessing three distinct personalities drawing from warrior/tough guy archetypes. Duncan serves as the reader's entry point into a complex web of espionage and violence that grows more intriguing as we are let in on exactly what's up with Duncan, the people who want to drag him back into the fold, and the rest of the triplets that remain at large. Lieberman crafts a tight and darkly funny plot while Rossmo's scratchy linework perfectly captures the jangled psychological state of its protagonist. This is one of those series whose title alone practically heralds outright narrative stupidity, but it's far more odd and entertaining than expected.