VOLUME 1: THE FIRST THREE STORIES
By Christopher Hastings & Kent Archer
No ISBN
It’s nice to give a heads-up on something that isn’t a lost gem but actually on-going and improving, and stands a good chance of becoming a bit of a sensation in the months and years ahead, so I’m devoting a little space and time to the first printed collection of a web-comic that’s turning a few heads around the place. The strip is Dr McNinja by Chris Hastings, aided and abetted by Kent Archer, and the first three adventures are now available in a handy trade paperback
Despite having a few — well okay, a lot — of rough edges, this tongue-in-cheek, frenetic and contagiously enthusiastic action-comedy features a medical practitioner who comes from a long line of Irish Ninjas but really wants to succeed in his chosen profession. The plots are fast-paced, the situations surreal and absurd whilst the dialogue is captivatingly, laugh-out-loud funny, (I’m delightfully reminded of the very earliest Cerebus issues from Dave Sim) as the conflicted healer deals with his “difficult†receptionist (a stroppy gorilla named Judy), rare ailments like Paul Bunyan’s Disease (which cause sufferers to turn into giant bearded lumberjacks), an ancestral feud with pirates, deadly cartoon Mexicans and his own unhealthy obsession with The Batman. Of course there’s an origin…
The art still lets the story down on occasion but the storytelling on these first adventures improves with every page and the sheer silly, manic exhilaration of high-potential creators having fun while learning their craft makes this a great read, warts and all.
You can obtain copies of the book and check out the latest episodes on the website, and if you like to Guffaw, chortle or just plain laugh, you really should.
© 2003-2007 Christopher Hastings. All Rights Reserved.
For further tales and ordering information please go to www.drmcninja.com
Ah, yes, once again it is a costly affair to visit this blog… 😛 😉
I have seen sporadic mentions of this comic on various sites, but haven’t bothered to actually look up the web-page for it.
I did so now and quickly decided to order both the TPBs (a second one has apparently come out).
Since I was going to shell out for the shipping anyway, I looked around for other books the (wacky!) gang at Topatoco sell and stumbled across the Little Dee one.
After checking out the http://www.littledee.net page I decided to order these 2 collections as well.
Much entertainment is soon to be had!! 😀