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Review: Shinobi: Ninja Princess #1

Who doesn’t like ninjas? They make great bad guys, but also great good guys. They can be funny or deadly series and everything in-between. There are probably one of the most diverse character types in all of the entertainment medium. Think about it, Nazis are always the bad guys. Pirates can kind of swing both ways, but for the most part they’re bad guys and limited to their era. Cowboys? Limited to their era. Ninjas though, you can put a ninja into any story and chances are no one will question it. Shinobi: Ninja Princess is all about ninjas both good and bad. The story opens with an evil ninja clan visiting another clan and accepting the job of finding the master’s runaway daughter who happens to be the star of story Shianndrea.

Shinobi_NP_1-1Back in the Toshigawa Ninja Camp we meet Shianndrea, Megumi and Namasuke, three ninjas in training. Their master assigns them a live field mission for the day and their goal is to find out what their revivals are after. Little do they know, its Shianndre who is put in charge of the mission that is until Namasuke the eldest and only male of the group throws a fit. Shianndre gives up leadership which bites her in the ass later when Namasuke disobeys orders from the master.

The story is pretty simple and definitely on more of the all-ages, tween side of things. It’s not a complex story by any means, but creator Martheus Wade does well with the presentation. Sure it’s a formula that you’ve likely read before, but it works and works again here. The dialogue is borderline cheesy, but in a good way.

The art is manga influenced and there are even manga style mini-characters at the bottom of each page with the page number. The line work is very thick, but clean. Some of the faces lacked detail and some of the facial expressions were too simple, but overall the art matches the fun nature of the story. Again I didn’t take it that this was for adults, but rather for kids and I could see them enjoying it and wanting to read more.

If you’re looking for a story that you can just enjoy and not have to think about then check out this issue. It’s a gateway to a time when comics where simpler and laid everything on the table for the readers to see.


Score: 3/5


Writer/Artist/Creator: Martheus Wade Publisher: Action Lab Entertainment Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/27/14 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital