Unfortunately my copy of this expired before I was able to read it, so I'm unable to give feedback. I've given it a neutral 3 star rating in the hopes that it won't affect the rating much

Roku used to be an MI-6 agent before she became the most lethal assassin in the world. With what appears to be psychic powers and incredible hair that seems to have a mind of its own she’s a tough character to beat. Her missions are simple: kill. But now she’s been tasked with killing one person she can’t bring herself to kill!

I love Valiant Comics and was super excited to read this mostly because I adored the cover so much. After reading the summary I was sold! Though there’s a lot of gratuitous violence it all makes sense for what’s going on. I loved how Roku grew on me, I loved how I got to learn a little bit more about her and her reasons for doing what she did. I’ll be honest and say that I definitely did not expect the person that Roku was sent to kill would be Marybeth since she looks so innocent. But as Roku herself said “When you want to seize a weapon, you send a weapon.”

I would 100% recommend this to those of you that have red the Black Widow graphic novels or any of the other Valiant Comics franchises.

Roku is a fun little read. The art is nice and the story is fairly straightforward. Given the skills that the "secret weapon" possesses I would have liked to have seen the story get a little deeper. This didn't have to turn into full-fledged social commentary but making some kind of statement about what the girl represents within our actual society would have added some thought-provoking elements rather than just a generic assassin tale. What commentary is this about our current surveillance state that we live in, especially given that the girl admits that she just picks stuff up all around, not from any web connection, dark or otherwise.

I did enjoy it and will read the next one, should it come out, but I am not waiting impatiently for it.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

The story is overly cliche with nothing new to the mix besides the superpowers that were introduced. The artstyle was fine but not my cup of tea.

Roku is an assassin that's over powered and defeats everyone with her hair and telepathic powers. Despite the bad guy being able to control sharp stuff including her hair, she still managed to beat him by throwing him off the elevator, like that's gonna kill him. He obviously comes back but she manages to defeat him easily (despite her mentioning she barely "made it out") and keeps him alive to share the lies she implanted in his head.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.

'Roku' by Cullen Bunn with art by Ramon F. Bachs is an action driven comic about a killer hairstyle.

Roku is MI-6 agent Angelina Alcott brought back to life as lethal assassin. She has the art of using her hair as a living weapon. She is sent to recover a young girl with an even stranger power, she is the living embodiment of the internet, specifically the dark web. Roku finds that she is not the only assassin sent to retrieve this particular package and finds her loyalties questioned.

That plot could have been the first book, but was stretched out over multiple issues. It's certainly action packed and moves along pretty quickly, but there's not a whole lot here I cared about when it was all said and done. The art is passable, but lacks background details, so it feels a bit flat at times.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Valiant Entertainment, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Meet Roku. Yes, you're right, she does sound like a music app, but she's a deadly woman with the most risibly lethal hair. She can strangle people with it, stab two human skulls with but one thrust of it, all while using the rest to write a better script than this book gets. Issue one shows her in action, while the arc builds into letting us see what happens when she tries to steal a super-weapon before all the Doctor Nyets and Neins of this world fight over it at auction. What happens includes the presence of a Magneto Lite, who can mentally manipulate lots of stabby things. The whole book is pure trash, of the kind that thinks it gets serious when it interrupts things to have Roku yacking to herself about how she was dead once. The only serious is gets is seriously bad, and it stays that way throughout – even for Valiant, it's poor.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel because of its art style and entrenching plot. I would highly recommend this to fans of graphic novels and odd, interesting stories.

Great art, likeable main character personality, decent plot. I feel this is a very good "grab your attention" sort of preview that makes you want more. I, for one, would love to keep reading the series. I would love for more background and world building. Diving more into individual characters. That's one thing I always love about graphic novels. Depth.
It's not perfect, the main character is too overpowered for my taste. The main antagonist was kind of lame and it's pretty predictable. But It's still overall enjoyable.
Thank you for the advanced copy.

What drew me to Roku is the visually stunning cover. The art is amazing but that is about all Roku has going for it. I gave it a generous three stars because it wasn't all bad it just wasn't mind blowing. Roku is a solid attempt at a graphic novel with all the makings of a great story but it sadly lacks in depth. Nothing is ever really explained and you, the reader, are just thrown in the deep end and expected to make your own conclusions. There is a lot to be said about massive info dumps at the beginning of stories but at the same time at least give the reader something to go on. Roku just came off as one note and lackluster to me and it did not leave me needing to know more, as any good tale should.

I have to say I've been a bit disappointed in Valiant comics since DMG took over. That trend continues here. Roku is an overpowered assassin with Medusa like hair and the ability to control minds. The plot is generic with lots of random action. Bachs's art is kind of terrible. There are zero backgrounds in over half the book. The figure art is boring and pedestrian. The whole thing feels phoned in. Cullen Bunn continues his trend of lackluster comics for other publishers and great creator owned ones.

Roku is about the ultimate assassin. But will she follow through on her latest job? Or is it too much to ask?

Cullen Bunn is one of my favorite writers. I love his work with Deadpool, Bone Parish, Dark Ark, Empty Man. Roku is different than what I am used to, just because I love his horror stuff so much. That being said, Roku was still amazing.

The art by Ramon F Bachs is a perfect compliment to Bunn's story. Everything looks great and when combined with Stephanie Paitreau's colors I was blown away from page 1.

Creative Team
Writer Cullen Bunn
Art Ramon F Bachs
Colors Stephanie Paitreau
Letters Dave Menchel

Overall, I'd give the book 4.5 stars. The art definitely gets a five, while the writing gets a four. I like the femme fatale story and the ending was satisfying - allowing for sequels but not relying on a cliffhanger. I'd recommend it to fans of Black Widow, but wanting less saccharine than Marvel provides. I'm continuously interested in the direction Valiant seems to take their comics, always something fresh.

My experience with Valiant superheroes tends to be that they have poorly defined superpowers, which then means they get overextended, which then means the heroes tend to be overpowered.

So here we have Roku, who has been 'altered' so she can telekinetically use her hair as a weapon - edged weapons to be precise. There's a lot of gory stabbing (it is written by Cullen Bunn, who does like his gore). But wait, there's more! She also has telepathic powers that are so vaguely defined they can be ridiculously useful when the plot demands it.

These unclear parameters mean it is made hard for the reader to assess the stakes properly. It doesn't help that Roku isn't a very engaging character. She describes herself as an emotionless assassin, and that isn't half as interesting as some writers think it sounds.

The most engaging character, as far as I'm concerned, is Marybeth, a young girl who constantly receives limitless information from the dark web, surveillance, etc. You could do a lot with that idea - she basically has a limited power to predict the immediate future. Not that anything like that happens in this book, although there are hints towards it.

The art is.. functional. There are a lot of fight scenes, and they're pretty easy to follow. The overall design of the characters is a bit bland.

Roku will return, apparently. Not sure I will be there to meet her.

Roku ( Angelina) was dead and someone revived her and converted her into fearsome assasign.
She kills in a eye blink and has got exceptional powers.
She is on a mission to retrieve most dangerous weapon for her boss.
To get there there are many groups after the same target.
Story is very interesting. It maintains thril throughout.
Artwork is marvellous.
Emotions are painted clearly on face of characters and fight scenes are lively.
And climax is justified and paves basis for another action packed comic.
Roku is out for many more exciting adventures.

Beautiful cover art. It was very generic plot wise and the story wasn't fleshed out enough, at least not to my liking.

2.5 stars
It was alright.

First off, I liked how quickly we dived into the action.
There was no hanging around before introducing us to Roku.

It’s very visual and the artwork is great. There’s something reminiscent of retro comics about it. Bright with vivid colour and lots of action sequences.

I have a soft spot for the female assassin trope, though it can be a little iffy. It’s been done so often so I feel like the trope has to be particularly spectacular to stand out. Unfortunately, I don’t think this brought anything new to the table. It’s an idea that’s been explored many times, so in the end, they all start to sound the same.

Roku’s hair was interesting. It has a lie of its own and she uses it as a weapon. It’s a cool idea, but there were times the artwork of the hair was a little overkill. Tone it down a little, like, I get the point. It’s dangerous and there’s a lot of it.

But she seems to have all these other strange powers that are showcased early on, but not explained. I felt a bit lost at the beginning. This almost feels like a volume 2. Like I should already know all this stuff and already be acquainted with Roku’s personality.

Not the most original idea I’ve ever read, but still a fun read. And I’m all up for ore badass females in books.

I received a digital copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I mean, it's basically Medusa from Inhumans being a hired assassin. Do we really need two super-chicks with red hair that also happens to basically be sentient death-hair? I don't think we do.

Roku...Roku has a killer haircut. Literally. She shreds her targets to pieces with it. She throws nice with it. She dismembers others with it. Roku, you see, is the deadliest weapon on Earth. She overcomes armies of goons in short, blood-spattered action scenes.

It's visually engaging but weakly plotted.

Roku, a graphic novel written by Cullen Bunn, auteur extraordinaire, especially on his creator owned works such as the terrific Harrow County.

On this title, he teamed up with artist Ramón F. Bachs, colorist Stéphane Paitreau, and letterer Dave Sharpe.

This mini-series could have been titled « The Girl Who Knew Too Much ».

Roku is a character initially created by Matt Kindt and Clay Mann for the valiant comic Ninjak. However, this series requires no previous knowledge of the character, and is hence a perfect jumping on point.

Formerly Angelina Alcott, Roku was an agent of MI-6. She died, and was resurrected, but altered. Deprived of her memories, of empathy and compassion, mystically enhanced with psychic abilities (mind reading, mind control, and telekinesis), she’s been made the deadliest assassin in the World.

When her first mini begins, she’s acting as a freelance assassin. After a successful mission, she’s tasked with retrieving a mysterious weapon about to be put up for auction in Moscow.

The nature of this particular and extremely dangerous weapon will put Roku face to face with her past, and make her question her life.

This graphic novel is non-stop genetic and tech powered action, with an hint of espionage. Rather unusual for Cullen Bunn, this is a comic of little words. The art isn’t very detailed which, combined with a fast paced story, makes for a little too quick read. However, the action sequences are well executed, served by an adequate layout. Furthermore, the colors are vibrant, and they render particularly well when seen on a digital device.

Read in TPB form, some recaps are a little repetitive, but do not distract too much from the unfolding story.

The ending is clever, and sets up what could become a very interesting series. However, I have the feeling it would be better served as a series of minis, rather than a monthly that might stretch it too much.

Thanks to Netgalley, Valiant Entertainment, & Diamond Books Distributor for the ARC provided in exchange for this unbiased review.

An exciting, quick read about an altered human-turned assassin. Echoes of BW, but a definitely different take on the idea. I look forward to more installments in the story.