Mighty Morphing Music Rangers: Black Rockabilly

 By Sam Flegal

Why not end with a small favorite? We did reggae and blues, why not rockabilly?

So with that we end 2022. Been some crazy things going on, so I'll end it with this-happy trails and until we met again, Happy New Year. 

Voltron: Haggar the Witch

 By Jonathan Miller

We've see plenty of Mister Miller's work, and hopefully we'll see even more next year. The days are drawing shorter and shorter folks. Almost over. 

She-Ra revamp: Double Trouble

 By OukaMocha

Nearing the end, so why not some 80's nostalgia? 

Rock Man Retrospective: Heat Man

 By Jonathan Miller

Skipping ahead (or back, depending on your view on continuity) to Mega Man 2, here we see Heat Man. 

Fantomah, Mystery Woman of the Jungle

 By Sam Flegal

Norman Osborn thought he could push Fantomah around. He was wrong. 

Happy Boxing Day!

Resurrection of the Monstress: Vampire Curia

 By Jonathan Miller

Since we had a vampire hunter, why not follow with a vampire? Now this was an odd series. Funny aside, I noticed that every comic/toy shop that gets these figures tends to go out of business in about a year. 

Having seen the toy up close a few times, I like the idea of the figure more than the physical thing. Bunch of accessories that she can't hold, fragile as glass, but she comes with a pretty cool coffin. 

Best as I can tell, the line was made by Yellow Submarine, which closed around 2000 and developed by Yasushi Nirasawa and sculpted by Kenji Ando. 

Her bio:

She is a Vampire Hunter with the blood of a vampire and a demon. With her haunted past, she is destined to wipe out all vampires with her demonic sword "Bloodura". Height-190cm Weight 40-60kg.

The Belmont Legacy: Sonia Belmont

 

By Jonathan Miller

The Castlevania series is a source of some annoyance to me, as I've found myself coming up short against the final bosses and sometimes even the game itself. 

I do like the mythology of the series though, and of the Belmont family as they stomp through impossible castles and whip vampires to pieces. 

So, here's what would have been the first Belmont to destroy Dracula, Sonia of Castlevania Legends. She would have been, had the game not been rendered noncanonical but eh, she's here for completion's sake. 

She-Ra revamp: Mermista

 

By Jonathan Miller

So, had an idea. I remembered the 2002 version of He-Man, so why not a version on She-Ra? This would be my take on the mermaid Mermista. 

Transformers/Timely: The Witness VS Full-Tilt

 By K. Cooper

Digging through the ruins, found this. Another Transformers piece, this time with the Decepticon Full-Tilt taking on Timely Comics character the Witness, while Golden Girl and Slammer rush to his aid. 

Rock Man Retrospective: Mega Man

 From Ratty Creations

Mega Man, or Rock Man if you want. The Blue Bomber is here as we countdown towards Christmas. 

Horror Hosts: Penny Dreadful

 

New England's Official Horror Host

Horror Hosts: Svengoolie

 By Luke Weaver

Chicago's favorite son, Svengoolie (since we did Mr. Bishop previously)

Earth-25: Joanie Thunder

 

From Swainart

Danger 5: Tucker

 By Eddie Price

Luna Lucha-Salior Moon

 

Had an idea some time ago; basically what if Sailor Moon characters were masked wrestlers? Thus Luna Lucha was born.

Pro Wrestling: The Comic Chapter 3, Part 6

 From Frank Salinas

Thus ends this particular chapter. Who will La Santa face when she heads to the US of A? Stay tuned for Chapter 4. 

Pro Wrestling: The Comic Chapter 3, Part 5

 

Art by Frank Salinas, script by me

Friday the 13th: Adam Having a Bad Costume Party

 From Oukamocha

Fighting Crap: Mike VS the Lex Express

 Another series that's been bouncing around the old brain pan. To wit, take a Street Fighter character and have them encounter a wrestling character that most people don't care for.

So, for this we have American boxer Mike taking on a poorly thought idea to get Lex Luger over.

Art by Johnny Segura

Transformers/Timely: American Ace VS Cyclonus

 

From Daniel Khanna

Cyclonus takes in the sights of the big city. Can the American Ace and Broadside save Thunderfist?

Pro Wrestling: The Comic Chapter 3, Part 4

 By Frank Salinas

Transformers/Marvel: Invisible Woman VS Starscream

 

From Manic Mike McElwee

Patreon

Yeah, this has been a year of ups and downs, so this year we'll be posting Monday through Friday! Thrills, spills, holiday chills! 80's pop, wrestling, and some good old fashioned violence (hidden under the cut, of course). Check it out.

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#3 1/2

    "The Day After" Ninja High School#3 1/2 (December 1988) with credits to Ben Dunn (story, art, and editor) and Craig Miller (letters)

And so we end this with a look back at an earlier story, sort of. This issue, as best as I can tell, first showed up not as an issue but rather a backup story in the first Ninja High School graphic novel collection. 

We open the day after the contest. Ichi is finishing up her morning shower when Asrial drops by. She mentions that her marriage to Jeremy has been called off. Ichi points out that her fighting then was just rendered meaningless. 

Before the match can restart, Jeremy comes to take Ichi to class. Asrial is then taken by Mrs. Feeble downtown to get her work permit. She does mention that Asrial is an alien, although the lady at the counter calls the country of Cylutian and ask about the princess. The gentleman at the embassy assures that the princess exists. I'm sure this plot point will be discussed in detail later. 

With her work permit in hand, Asrial gets a job at the local garage and that's how she got her flying car. Yeah, took a junk frame and turned it a flying machine. Pretty good upgrade I think. 

After all that, Mrs. Feeble tells Asrial a story of Jeremy and Ichi back when they were kids. 

The flashback is cute. We see how Jeremy adopted a dog but lost it due to circumstances. He and Ichi are at odds, at least Lendo unleashes his Cat Terminator. Jeremy, bless his heart, tries to defend Ichi but ends up in the river. 

That's when Doggy returns. He's filled out a bit (seriously, now looks like Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star) and he has to leave to compete in a contest between good and evil...

We get to see the origin of Doggy, in case that was a pressing concern, although I'm a bit puzzled. Here they say Jeremy and Ichi spent time together as children, yet the early issues act like they just met when they were teens. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#28

   "Ai-Yai-Yai, Robots" Ninja High School#28 (October 1991) with credits to Herb Mallette (script), Ben Dunn (art), Robert DeJesus (inks), Clem Robins (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

Mr. Fenwick, the debate team coach, is eyeing Jeremy, Ichi, and Lendo for spots on the team. When asked what they would do when the other team cuts them down with a brilliant counter that leaves the judges speechless. What would they do?

Jeremy would simply shake hands and call it day.

Ichi would utter a witty retort before slicing them apart.

Lendo would simply remind the judges he has more money than them.

Fenwick isn't happy, but eh, he'll have to work with what he has.

As the three head home, a meteor streaks through the sky and crashes in the lake. Asrial swops by and picks them up. She doesn't think it was a meteor. 

She's right, but to understand what, we flashback and by flashback, I mean we leap ahead some fifty thousand years into the future.

The Space Craven, of the Galactic Star Corps, is a junker and its crew isn't much better. The crew gets a message from higher ups. Basically, a research station was trying to monitor artificial intelligence and things went wrong. Now the robots are alive and quite annoyed. 

The crew, Steller Losers, points out why them? Command points out that they talked to them as they were about to meet the robots and they simply hoped to slow them down. 

The encounter goes poorly for our space heroes and ends with them blasting back to the past, i.e. the present day. The robots have already infected the ships robots, forcing the Losers to eject, where they promptly run into Asrial's car. 

Retreating back to the school, they come up with a plan and split off into teams. Asrial, when she finds that Nanny has been brainwashed and taken by the other robots, suits up and swears revenge. 

Not bad, although it seems the Steller Losers hadn't been seen since Extremely Silly#1 way back in 1986. If they had explained a bit more of the characters, I would have found it a smoother read, because so far, I'm a bit fuzzy even now who they are or even what their names are. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#27

  "Three Zetramen and a Baby!" Ninja High School#27 (July 1991) with credits to Steve Ross (script), Ben Dunn (art), Clem Robins (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

We open on an alien planet. Dertoza and his sister Leiola have just conquered and enslaved the native population, well, most of them.

A couple managed to escape the roving army of goons. The father readies a spaceship while the mother places their only son in the pod. Saying their goodbyes, they blast the ship towards a place of relative safety.

Yeah, you can see where this is going. 

Detorza blows up the planet, but one of the goons notices the pod flying away. Leiola orders them to follow it, hoping to conquer it on her own and thus prove herself to their father. 

On Earth, Mikey, Howard, and Phrank are heading to a Woody Allen film festival when the pod lands near their jeep. Dertorza and Leiola land shortly thereafter, making their intent to kill the baby then the Earth. This doesn't sit right with the boys and soon the Zetramen are on the case!

Cute; I mean, some of the jokes could be seen from space and yes, Three Men and a Baby is namedropped but not a bad story overall. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#26

 "Rah! Rah! BLAH!" Ninja High School#26 (June 1991) with credits to Ben Dunn (story/art), Clem Robins (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

Sammi wakes up and prepares for her day. Pity that her uncle is still in the bathroom. He berates his lazy nephew, telling Sammi to hurry up and shower and shave...although he finds it odd that Sammi isn't shaving, or showing any facial hair at all really.

Sammi insists she's just a slow starter and quickly kicks her uncle out, cursing her father the whole while. She gets a ride from Lendo to school, but he sticks his foot in his mouth one too many times, causing her to walk. 

At school, Ichi helps her with her homework, but Sandy interrupts, which quickly brings Diane into the fray. Ichi tries to intervene, but Diane brings up the matter of Ichi's tryout. Yeah, it's going to involve Sammi.

The fight occurs, secrets are revealed, and many hammers are used. Lendo is used mostly as comic relief here, but the big Ichi fight? Doesn't even happen, so the whole thing does feel like a waste. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#25

"Sheesh! Boom! Bah!" Ninja High School#25 (May 1991) with credits to Ben Dunn (story/art), Clem Robins (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

New storyline and new characters.

Jeremy and Ichi are heading towards the school's practice field, where Ichi (and we the readers) met Diane and her Koala Cheerleaders. Yup, the cheerleaders are the most popular team in the school, as well as the most powerful. 

Ichi takes offense at the casualness which Diane speaks to Jeremy, and is a bit put off by the knowledge that she and Jeremy were close. It comes to a boiling point and Ichi finally accepts Diane's challenge to try out for the team.

Diane and the team weigh in on Ichi. They aren't impressed, but they need a new member as Diane is set to graduate this year. They have another problem, as junior member Sandy doesn't have a boyfriend yet, and tradition dictates that all cheerleaders must have a boyfriend.

Sandy sees an answer to her problem when Sammi cuts across the field to make a delivery. Sammi tries to be as diplomatic as possible that she doesn't swing that way, but Sandy won't take a hint. Things get worse from there. 

Silly but good way to establish the new characters. Very Rumiko Takahashi, and as I said before, I was reading this before I even knew what manga was. 

Ninjavember: Ninja III: The Domination (1984)

 Ninja III: The Domination (1984) dir. Sam Firstenberg, the Cannon Group

So we end our look back at the ninja films for 2022. Why not end with the best?

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#24

   "Fast Foward" Ninja High School#24 (April 1991) with credits to Ben Dunn (story/art), Clem Robins (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

We open in 1944, just over the North Atlantic. A massive airship is streaking across the sky. The pilots inside muse about how much has changed in just over a year. Yup, Hitler and Hossenfeffer together equals a crushed Russia and England. On to New York City!

In the present day, Lendo notices the storm that's kicked up. Professor Azland is worried. 

Asrial, Ms. Celande, and Jeremy arrive, with May in hot pursuit. The RNC security forces do their best, but May blasts through them with ease, while Professor Hossenfeffer pilots Ms. Celande's time sphere back to the 1940's. 

Can our heroes set time right? Will May becomes another cast member?

Decent ending; our time travel story gets wrapped up and everything gets reset back to normal by the end. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#23

  "The Ides of May" Ninja High School#23 (February 1991) with credits to Ben Dunn (story/art), Alan Nedomuceno (plot) Dan Nakrosis (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

Picking up where we left off, it seems Asrial spent the day watching Ms. Celande's house. When the time tossed teacher returns, she looks worse for wear. Things are bad and they are going to get worse...

Over at the RNC, Ichi and Lendo are chatting. Lendo promises to help Ichi find Jeremy when NOT the Doctor arrives (and his name is Professor Azland). When he learns that Jeremy has been kidnapped, he is NOT happy.

Meanwhile, May (the super powered girl from last issue) is chilling on a roof with a captured Jeremy. She chats about her backstory, which Jeremy uses as a distraction to escape. He doesn't get far, but props for the effort. 

Thankfully Asrial shows up, and after a heck of a fight manges to rescue Jeremy and flee. May swears revenge. 

She swears so much that she dons the armor of Deathsaurus (Japanese Transformer from Transformers: Victory), while Hossenfeffer realizes that a time machine would be quite useful for his work...

Short but a good continuation from last issue. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#22

 "Futuristic Reflections" Ninja High School#22 (January 1991) with credits to Ben Dunn (story/art), Alan Nedomuceno (plot) Clem Robbins (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

We open with what is clearly not the Doctor racing through space, nearly colliding with what is clearly not the Legion of Superheroes. 

Back on Earth, Asrial is bycyling through town, her thoughts on her family and future. 

At Ms. Celande's house, Jeremy is helping her organize her books. We finally get a flashback and yeah, it turns out our teacher with a time machine is actually from the future. 

Yeah, the FUTURE! In which she was a simple student, enrolled in her university's time travel class. She went through most of the semester without seeing the teacher, so when she spots an unattended time machine with the keys in it...

We cut back to the present day. Jeremy is back at school, where he is promptly tackled by Ichi as a strange girl watches on. As Jeremy eats lunch (and Ichi bandages him up from her tackle), a man who again, NOT the Doctor, approaches them holding what appears to be a coffee pot. 

He asks about Ms. Celande, but when informed that she 'left to head back to her college', the man flips out. 

Speaking of our erstwhile time travelers, that's what she's doing. Heading back to her native time, she runs into a time storm of some magnitude. Crash landing a few years before, she exits the ship to find the landscape a windy and blighted hellscape, every inch of land covered in buildings bearing the RNC logo. 

Back at school, Jeremy and Ichi are in Professor Steamhead's class when that strange girl from before interrupts. She says she's looking for Jeremy Feeble. When she spots him, she chucks a science lab table at him. Ichi uses her thunder kick, but the girl easily counters it. 

Arnie grabs her, but she easily tosses him aside before escaping. Turns out Jeremy held on, trying to stop her. Which actually works out great, she beams, since she was sent back to capture him. She leaps off in the distance. 

Ms. Celande, meanwhile, is having a freak out on her own. She knows the streets, but nothing else looks the same. An armored humanoid swoops down and drops her on a nearby roof as he flies off in pursuit of some armored teens.

She makes it to the campus and finds the NOT Doctor, and yes, he was her time travel instructor. It seems the divergent point, when their world went from a utopia to hell could be traced back to the disappearance of two people, Jeremy Feeble and Ichi-Kun Ichinoei!

Good set up, and the NOT Doctor manages to look different enough not to be a total rip off. He pops poky sticks like jelly babies though, and a brown coat and a shag haircut. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#21

   "Paper Jam" Ninja High School#21 (November 1990) with credits to Ben Dunn (story/art), Alan Nedomuceno (plot) Clem Robbins (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

As Jeremy and Ichi rush off to class, Asrial lags behind. She doesn't technically have to take classes, but as she wants something to do so she starts scanning the school's bulletin board. 

That's when the explosion happens.

Ms. Celande's to blame though. It seems the copier is on the fritz, and the school can't afford to replace or repair. Asrial figures she can take a crack at it. One montage later, she's got it purring like a kitten. 

As she leaves, Jeremy pops in to make some copies from a book. He keeps the lid up so as not damage the book, but he is knocked back by the copier's flash. Coming to, he finds the book copied. The copies aren't perfect though, but he figures that isn't his problem. 

That is until another Jeremy pops up, then another, and another, and another...

Darn funny, heard this was based on an episode of Urusei Yatsura but I wouldn't swear to it. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#20

   "Dates" Ninja High School#20 (September 1990) with credits to Ben Dunn (story/art), Clem Robbins (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

In which we learn some important dates in the life of Professor Steamhead.

October 10, 1938-In which the professor is officially made a US citizen; also that he loves using steam to gather uncanceled stamps.

November 11, 1940-In which the professor quits his job, mostly due to his genius being underappreciated, and his refusal to take a backseat to anyone else's research. He is offered a job by the US Army, which he initially refuses at least until he learns that Karl has very busy working for the Axis. He changes his mind on the spot. 

April 17, 1943-In which the professor meets Professor Beanhead for the first time.

October 22, 1959-In which the professor, hiking in the Balkans, searches for zetranite and finds a cavern full of monsters. He is put to the test by Count Boscoe. He passes, and meets Arnie's Big Brother. 

October 2, 1961-At a meeting of the Earth Defense League, the annual grant and award is Dr. Weed Wichards, who plans to launch a rocket to the moon and expose everyone inside to cosmic rays. Steamhead calls this plan insane and storms out. He bumps into his new research assistant, Terry. He also locks her into a tube and exposes her to steam, turning her into Robo-Terry.

July 16, 1966-in which Steamhead accepts a teaching position at Quagmire High School and meets Bob Feeble. 

September 1, 1986-in which Steamhead meets Jeremy Feeble for the first time. 

Good; the jokes land but did we really need that much background on Steamhead? I just think the joke works better if he was just this oddball scientist. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#19

  "Blood and Irony" Ninja High School#19 (August 1990) with credits to Ben Dunn (story/art), Dan Nakrosis (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

If which we see the background on Professor Steamhead

We open in April, 1933 Germany. 

Johann Steamhein is a doctorate student at university. He's set to present his thesis, his best pal Karl is there, even if his theories on sunbeams are silly, and he's going to ask his best gal Sandra to marry him. 

Yup, nothing can go wrong.

Passing a truck carrying SS troops, Johann ignores them. Why shouldn't he? He didn't vote for them, so it's hardly an issue. Arriving at the school, he chats with Karl. Karl is in good spirits, both for his thesis defense and his joining the party.

The National Socialist Party. Johann isn't concerned. Science will save humanity, not politics. 

Sadly politics won't be ignored, as some troops rough up Professor Brunemeyer and kick him out of the school. Johann is outraged, but Karl is more blasé. Things change after all, if some people get ground up by the state, well, its for the greater good, right?

The dissertation goes pretty well, at least until a SS officer storms into the hall. Seems Johann's great-grandmother was Jewish, so as far as the state is concerned, he isn't getting a diploma. Johann leaves, but rushing to Sandra he finds her with a German officer. The same scene plays out. Going home, he finds his possession on the lawn.

Preparing to leave town, he sees Karl, who coldly suggest they don't see each other any more. Johann agrees and leaves on the first boat to America. Onboard, he bumps into science teacher Joshua Feeble, who was pouring over a book on steam technology. The pair strike up a friendship. 

Boy, who would have thought of all the issues this would age the least? We finally see the origin of Steamhead. The art is breathtaking, with Dunn capturing the betrayal in Johann's face in every detail. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#18

 "The Last Kiss" Ninja High School#18 (May 1990) with credits to Ben Dunn (story/art), Clem Robbins (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

Another addition to the cast?

Anna Feeble (Jeremy's mom, in case you forgot) is cleaning house when a delivery truck pulls up and gives her a massive box. A box that looks a heck of a lot like a coffin...

Jeremy meets Ichi on his way, where a stranger eyes them intently. 

Back at the house, Anna and Asrial open the box and find Count Boscoe. He's dressed to the nines and has fangs, but he seems nice. He also thinks Asrial looks familiar, but I'm sure that plot point will be mentioned later. 

The count beings his tale. Seems back in the Motherland (Transylvania, obviously), the count was evicted from his castle for failure to pay any property tax. He tries the usual vampire tricks on the collection agent, but the older man has counters for all of them. Left with no choice, the count wires his niece in Quagmire and shipped himself over.

The issue, however, is that his niece Jesibell lives on 123 Marple Street. The company delivered him to 123 Maple St. 

Speaking of Jesibell, she runs into Jeremy and Ichi. Jeremy is friendly enough, although Ichi seems inclined to behead her. 

By the time Jeremy and co. arrive home, Asrial tells them the count is a vampire. Reformed, he swears, and he doesn't even drink blood. So, what about that intense fellow staring at Jeremy and Ichi? He's name is Slade and hunting vampires is his game. 

He tries to take on the count, for a reason so brilliant I shan't spoil it here, but in the end the Count and Slade make peace, and Anna offers the count a place to stay. 

Decent, and the fight is pretty good. Wasn't expecting a vampire to show up, but why not?

Ninjavember: Revenge of the Ninja (1983)

 Revenge of the Ninja (1983) dir. Stan Firstenberg, Cannon Films

The 2nd of Cannon's ninja films, but it isn't a continuation of Enter the Ninja, rather a wholly new story

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#17

"Food for Thought" Ninja High School#17 (February 1990) with credits to Fred Lee Cain (guest script), Ben Dunn (story/art), Dan Nakrosis (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

Continued from the last issue. We open with some smack talk between the two teams, plus some background on Lord Nemesis and Blitzkrieg, and to a lesser extent Iron Vixen. Professor Gloom unveils his secret weapon-discs designed to bring an individual to their own personal despair point. 

As the good guy team chat and strategize, NOT Stan Lee announces the lineup for the tournament. 

Round 1

Blitzkrieg VS Kenterminator (even the others aren't sure if he's a good guy or not)

Jokester VS Nightstalker

Dr. Gorilla VS Kuma

Rex Ruthless VS Tomorrow Man

Iron Vixen VS Arnie

Lord Nemesis VS Twilight Avenger 

Professor Gloom VS Ramen Rider

The first fight is the Jokester VS the Nightstalker. The clown prince of crime uses his disc right out the gate, sending the dark detective to his knees in despair. Huh, the Batman expy has dead parents? Who saw that one coming?

Ramen Rider thinks his fight with Gloom is going to be easy, and it might have been, had the evil worm not whipped out a giant mech suit. He also uses the disc and takes down the Rider. Seems our hero is sensitive about being called little. 

Arnie goes up against the Iron Vixen. She tries to sweet talk him, but he sees through it. She uses the disc, and wow, seems besides his older brother being lost, Arnie also lost his girlfriend. She was on the shakedown cruise of the SBF-1 when it tested its star jump drive. Things went bad and sent it to the far side of the galaxy, with not enough power to get back home. The memory reduces Arnie to a sobbing wreck. Even the Iron Vixen takes pity on him.

Ms. Celande meets with Grandfather and drops some cryptic hints.

Meanwhile, the Good Team is licking their wounds. Tomorrow Man recounts his fight with Rex. All it took to beat him was a photo of his exploded home world. 

Kuma flashes back to his fight and his memory, and yes, Kuma is actually the older brother of Lendo. Seems leaving the family to serve his father's old partner is still a sore point. As for Kenterminator? Never you mind! (but seriously, see NHS#2 for the details on that).

Ramen Rider thinks he has a counter, however, Ramenjitsu! Yes, an ancient art, combining the art of making ramen and magic!

Over at the Bad Team, the bad guys are patting themselves on their backs, but for round two? What if the good guys somehow overcome the despair discs? Not a problem, says Gloom, they'll just blast the Overseer and have him declare them the winners. 

As Round 2 starts, the Bad Team opts to have the matter settled with one group fight. Things start going bad at once-almost like the heroes are confident! The Bad team and their cheating are quickly discovered, and they are sent back to their respective times 

Turns out the Overseer couldn't be hypnotized anyway, so that was kinda pointless. Oh, and the Ramen Rider? It's actually Sammi!

Cute; the whole tournament plot has been done hundreds of times, but the characters are fun, and we get some more background on the cast, even if it is a bit derivative of Robotech. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#16

   "The Toughest Contest in the World" Ninja High School#16 (December 1989) with credits to Fred Lee Cain (guest script), Ben Dunn (story/art), Clem Robins (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

Here we focus on Arnie. 

Arnie's been a regular character since the first issue. A cross between characters played by Stallone and Arnold, Arnie was mostly there be an occasional joke. 

Here, he's waiting on Ms. Celande. She arrives in her time machine, apologizing for being late. Arnie is competing in the Toughest Contest in the World, and Ms. Celande was picking up his partner-The Twilight Avenger!

Who was a pulp era hero published by Eternity Comics around this time. 

So, with introductions out of the way, Arnie and the Avenger board Galaxy Express 999 (which is being piloted by the Dirty Pair themselves), and from there Arnie flashes back.

Seems this isn't his first contest. No, but it is his first as a participant. His first was a spectator, watching his big brother and Doggie (more on him later). 

Basically this is a contest between good and evil, with the winners have a clear advantage over the other side until the next contest. 

Arnie's brother and Doggie were the last two standing against Evil's champion. The fight wasn't going well, but Arnie's brother managed to distract the demon enough while Doggie opened a portal under its feet and flushed it away, giving Good the win!

Sadly, big brother was gravely wounded. Doggie knew a healer in the Himalayas but warns it might be years before he can recover. The evil team, consisting on NOT Doctor Doom, NOT Darth Vader, and NOT Lex Luthor, are not hapy, but the good team points out they won fair and square. I guess staring down Tomorrow Man, NOT Captain America, and NOT Captain Harlock did the trick. 

Arnie took it in stride. He got raised by NOT Captain Action and went to live in Quagmire. He finishes his flashback and we get the Twilight Avenger's deal. To wit, college student who's girlfriend got shot in a gangland war, donned a costume as criminals were a cowardly and superstitious lot. When Arnie mentioned 'World War II', this does cause the Avenger to freak out a bit, but that's conversation for later.

In Hokkaido, Kuma leaves to join the Good team. His leaving is noticed by the RNC. Rivalsan calls Lendo with an important task-get the Kenterminator ready to join the Good team.

So, with the good and evil assembled at the island, the Grand Overseer introduces himself and tells the teams to get ready.

Roll call (Good)

Kenterminator, Arnie, Twilight Avenger, Tomorrow Man (not quite Superman), Nightstalker (not quite Batman), Kuma, and Ramen Rider.

Roll call (Evil)

Blitzkrieg, Dr. Gorilla, the Jokester (not quite the Joker), Lord Nemesis (not quite Brocken Jr.), Iron Vixen, Rex Ruthless (not quite Lex Luthor), Prof. Gloom (not quite Mr. Mind)

Good setup and exploring the backstory of a minor character. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#15

  "Of Rats and Men" Ninja High School#15 (October 1989) with credits to Ben Dunn (story/art), Dan Nakrosis (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

We open at the gala. Father and son chat a bit. It seems Bob can't travel back to Earth. Last issue they mentioned he absorbed too much rat poison in his system (which seems rather bad) so the transfer would prove fatal. 

Putting that aside, Jeremy and Ichi dance as the party gets underway. Things are going great.

That's when the bombs go off. 

Yeah, the treasonous Baron Klebek is wishing a return to the old monarch, so he decides to front a rebellion. He also took the care to poison Bob's drink. The baron and his men escape in the chaos. 

With Bob bedridden, Jeremy, Ichi, and Captain Pasha take an airship to a remote forest where an antidote may be found. They get to the forest with no issue, but the tree and its berries are gone. 

Yeah, Baron Klenbek wasn't going to let an antidote be left lying around. He's also waiting there and takes the trio captive. Hauling them back to his castle, he makes it clear they die at dawn. 

At daybreak, Captain Pasha is dragged before the firing squad. Before he can be shot, Asrial arrives, decked head to toe in weaponry. 

The baron decides to shoot Jeremy and Ichi himself, but he forgot about Ichi being a trained ninja. She easily dispatches him. With the antidote in hand, Bob is cured and soon father and son share a moment before Jeremy and co. head back to Earth. 

Honestly? Pretty good. Art is great, we get a nice conclusion to the overall story. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#14

 "Rats from Dimension X" Ninja High School#14 (September 1989) with credits to Ben Dunn (story/art), Clem Robins (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

Say, whatever happened to Jeremy's Dad anyway?

Ichi is lounging on the couch and going through the Feeble family album. She is startled by Asrial, who makes it clear she doesn't have any plans for Jeremy. As the two head off to the kitchen for a late-night snack, a rat creeps up the stairs. He's a bit different than your average rat, as he has a photo of Jeremy plus a bazooka. 

Ichi stops him though, but the rat explains the what and why. It seems Bob Feeble, Jeremy's dad in case you forgot, is trapped in Dimension X! The bazooka was simply a portal gun. 

Jeremy, who takes this better than you would think, agrees and pops over to the dimension with Ichi and Asrial in tow. 

Arriving, they find themselves in a sort of Victorian era land populated by human sized rats. Seems Bob has a tale, to wit he used to be a regular exterminator, the best in fact. He was on the trail of the King Rat. Tracking him to the sewers under Quagmire, the two had a pitched battle. Bob might have ended the menace right there if the rodent royalty hadn't whipped out a dimensional bomb.

Instead of dying, Bob found himself in Dimension X. The main population were the human sized rats, long ignored and abused by their former ruler King Rat and at the mercy of marauding roaches. Man sized roaches at that too, but thankfully Bob knows a thing about metalworking and gunsmithing. 

Yeah, Bob drags the populace from vaguely medieval to vaguely nineteenth century. He quickly forms a proper army and fights off the roaches. In fact he has just won the war and to celebrate he brought Jeremy to visit. 

There's a going to a gala affair tonight, but as plans are made, some members of the court are plotting to restore King Rat to the throne...

Well, I can safely say I didn't see any of this going. Giant rats? Waterloo rodents? Jeremy and co. are more side characters this time out, but that's fine. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#13

"An Icy Stare Creates Competition" Ninja High School#13 (July 1989) with credits to Ben Dunn (story/art), Clem Robins (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

Lousy Riverdale punks...

Seriously though, we open in Flugerville, Quagmire's longtime rival. Sammi is there, manning her uncle's food cart. Ichi and Jeremy are there too, with Jeremy being on the receiving end of Sammi's ice cream fastball. 

In which Sammi pitches an ice cream bar into Jeremy's mouth. Seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen, but eh. 

Jeremy and Sammi chat for the first time, and Jeremy nearly gets his hand crushed by Sammi's grip. She mends it, but right as Lendo happens by. He takes Jeremy's bothering his gal rather poorly, but Sammi sets it straight. Lendo is impressed by her spunk and offers her a chance to marry him. She turns him down, which makes him want her even more.

Jeremy quickly runs into Andrew, who happens to be palling around with his buddies Ox, Lughead, and Ronald. Ronald puts some moves on Ichi, which gets him horribly beaten by local rich gal Vernia. Seriously, I think she cracked his skull. 

He explains that he was merely chatting with Ichi, but when Vernia sees Sammi's cart she flips out again. Seems her family's been running the concessions at the fair for a hundred years. Sammi doesn't care. An ice cream fastball stops her from taking a sword to the stand, but Vernia won't concede defeat....

From there, well, it's pretty much Dunn drawing every American superhero he can think of facing off against every manga/anime/tokusatu hero. Ever wanted to see the Chef of the North Star take on the Bulk? Or what is clearly not Captain America facing down what is clearly not Kamen Rider?

Cute, and yes, this is a parody of Archie and the gang. Vernia and Lendo's battle of one-upmanship fits perfectly for both characters, with increasing sides yet lower stakes.  

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#12

  "Blue Food" Ninja High School#12 (June 1989) with credits to Ben Dunn (story/art), Clem Robins (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

A nature Aesop issue.

Nanny (large robot, Asrial's robot nanny, came to Earth a few issues ago) is going about Asrial's ship, taking care to water the tree. What tree?

Seems on Salusia, every inhabitant is given a tree to take care of. The tree outside is doing very well and even bearing fruit. Blue fruit, but fruit all the same.

Ichi walks by and is rather impressed by said fruit. Taking a few with her, she bakes them into tarts. Sammi happens by the Feeble house and tries one. Equally impressed, she heads over the tree and takes a large amount of fruit with her.

Lendo, meanwhile, is fuming. So far he has been deeply unimpressed by the quaint little burg of Quagmire, but hopefully his lunch date with Sammi will soothe the burn...

Or at least it would have, if the restaurant wasn't overcrowded. Seems Sammi baked the blue fruit into tarts too and sold them at lunch, causing a sensation. 

Seeing a profit, Lendo quickly has ALL the fruit picked. 

As Ichi dreams, more fruit starts to bloom under the moon. Unlike the other, this fruit drops the ground, opens some eyes and starts marching. 

They soon break into the RNC HQ and steal the fruit back. Lendo, annoyed, deploys the helicopters, but the tree (now massive) blocks the attacks. Mimi shows up and manages to calm things down when the Spirit of the Tree (looking like Totaro) appears and informs them that Lendo did a bad thing. 

After some public shamming, Lendo lets the tree have its apples back and things go back to normal. Jeremy arrives the next day and asks if anything happened. 

Ok, the nature amok is good. A pinch heavy handed, but not as bad as say, Captain Planet. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#11

 "Days of Past Remembrance" Ninja High School#11 (May 1989) with credits to Ben Dunn (story/art), Clem Robins (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

Where the entire backstory is explained. 

Jeremy and Ricky's time in Japan is coming to an end. Saying goodbye at the airport, with a lone crane standing a lonely vigil, Jeremy relaxes on the plane. He has a gift though-a diary his grandfather wrote. Jeremy opens it up and from there we learn just how Anna got taken into a ninja clan, the origins of the Rivalsan Ninja Corp, even how Anne met her husband. 

A slow issue, but overall pretty good. If you had any questions about the hows and whys, this should answer them. 

Ninjavember: Enter the Ninja (1981)

 Enter the Ninja (1981), dir. Menahem Golan, Golan-Globus Productions 

Moving into the Golan-Globus side of things, and for better or worse this work defined ninjas for the 80's.

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#10

"Diplomatic Impunity, part 3" Ninja High School#10 (March 1989) with credits to Ben Dunn (story/art), Clem Robins (letters), and Chris Ulm (editor)

We open on Salusia. Seems the war with them and the Zardons has taken a turn for the worse; Zardon's have unleashed hell with their new mecha suits. The king ignores this and wants new fleet ships, damn the cost, whereas the queen asks their general to oversee the development of mecha suits of their own. 

Back in Japan, Leeana has her showdown with Asrial. There's a problem, as Asrial refuses to fight her, since that would break the neutrality of Earth. Pity that Leeana doesn't have that same problem. Thankfully Hitomi is there with her special yoyo. 

Securing Leeana, the gals go to find Jeremy. They find the Hitch Squad's ship. They also find the transformation chamber they stuck Jeremy in, but its empty. They soon find Jeremy, but he's been turned into a Salusian! (Largely due the Hitch Squad thought that would help make Asiral marry him faster. She does think he's cute though).

Leeana quickly recaptures him, although she notes how smart they were to turn him into a Salusian, the one thing she won't marry. No matter, she'll just pop him in Steamhead's invention, but that will more than likely destroy reality. 

She's fine with this. 

At this point, the heroes rally and run Leeana off planet. Turns out she's Dog Supreme's master. Big twist, right? 

Not a bad ending, more plot development, even if the 'Jeremy is transformed-no wait he isn't' was resolved in record time. Jokes are good and the references are nice and not overwhelming. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#9

   "Beans, Steam, and Automobiles, part 2" Ninja High School#9 (February 1989) with credits to Ben Dunn (story/art), Clem Robins (letters)

Leeana is putting the moves on Jeremy. He tries to be diplomatic about it, but Leeana drops the sweetness pretty fast. She makes it clear he WILL consummate a diplomatic relation and he WILL like it. 

At the park, Hitomi and Fujiko run into each other. Realizing they've been had, they figure out only person could have done this...

The Hitch Squad, finally out of detention, tracks Feeble. Gearing up, they rush to rescue their target. 

Meanwhile, Leenan is making it pretty clear that if she can't have him, then she will make sure Asrial can't have him either. She pauses to gloat, giving the Hitch Squad enough time to switch Jeremy with a dummy. The squad doesn't get too far before Leeana figures it out. Hitomi and Fujiko confront her, but she easily blasts them aside. 

We have a slight aside as we get why Hitomi and Ichi have such a frosty relationship and more backstory. On the squad's ship, Jeremy comes to, just in time for the ship to be attacked. 

Back at the school, Steamhead and Beanhead have gone over their calculations and discovered a sinister oversight. Seems every time their machine is used, a random effect is generated elsewhere. Hitomi, meanwhile, has assembled the Girl Commandoes with Fujiko and rush back to the school.

Which is now crawling with Xenomorphs. 

While the rest of the Girl Commandoes slice and dice the copyright infringers, Hitomi confronts Leeana. She does pretty good, especially with her yo-yo, but Leeana has the advantage in pure power, which she is about use to the full effect until they get interrupted by...

Princess Asrial?

Good continuation from the previous issue. The plot is moving at a brisk pace but not fast enough to lose us. The cameos are good but not overpowering. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#8

  "Relative Happenings, part 1" Ninja High School#8 (December 1988) with credits to Ben Dunn (pencils/inks/script), James Hanrahan (plot), Clem Robins (letters)

Technically another addition to the cast.

In the fringes of our solar system, the Salusian spaceship the Bilge Rat is on monitor patrol. The three-man crew is already bored and spending most of their time watching whatever TV signals they pick up. Jaka, the commander, is very serious and wishes for a promotion to more important assignments. Baka and Nestor, on the other hand, are more laid back in their demeanor. Jaka is overjoyed when orders come from the very top. Seems a Zardonian spy is on Earth and looking to claim Jeremy Feeble for the Zardon Empire, thus their job is to make sure Jeremy hurries up and marries the princess ASAP.

Speaking of Jeremy, he's on his way to school. Still in Japan, he stops by a shop and has a chat with the owner, which starts out about the Mitsubishi A5M fighter and ends with him mentioning how his father flew one while fighting the Russians and ending up crashing in Mongolia, escaping only with the help of a Russian nurse. 

Enthralled, Jeremy fails to note the time. The owner does, however, and reminds him to get to school. Turns out the owner, and his wife, are in fact Shoji and Hana, Ichi's parents. Shoji reminds his wife that he had reasons for not introducing himself. 

Hitomi, Ichi's younger sister, steps out from the back. She is quite curious to see him and what her sister sees in him. Hana, however, seems to think Jeremy is pure evil wrapped in perversion. Shoji disagrees and the two begin an epic fight.

Which Hitomi doesn't have time to witness, as she has to get to school too. She watches him but fails to see what is so special about him. She still plans to steal him from Ichi, however, as she doesn't want her sister to be first in everything.

The Salusian Hitch Squad is also observing Jeremy. Judging Earthlings obvious inferior, Jaka declares the mission practically won already, at least until the principal catches them as tardy students and makes them wait out in the hall. 

In the girl's bathroom, Hitomi makes it clear that Jeremy is off limits until she has her shot. A new student arrives and scoffs at this. She introduces herself as Leeana, an exchange student. Judging from the triangle marking on her forehead (Zardon markings), she isn't lying. 

As the rest of the girls peep on the boys locker room, Leeana makes it clear she will claim Jeremy, mostly just to spite Asrial. 

Once gym is over, Jeremy is heading to his next class. The Hitch Squad is on the case! At least they would be, if the gym coach catches them and makes them wait out in the hall for skipping class. Leeana tries to make her move, but Hitomi engineers a meet cute moment and already sinks her hooks in Jeremy, her pal Fujiko notwithstanding. 

The fight is broken up by none other than Professor Steamhead. Why is he in Japan? For SCIENCE! Also to work on a project with his good friend Professor Beanhead (who first showed up in the hentai parody NOT Ninja High School). 

The project is a teleporter, basically. When the scientists throw the switch, it blows up. Each doc blames the other's field of study, but Leeana notices their math was off by a decimal. Fixing it, she teleports...Opus from Bloom Country? This is never mentioned again by the way.

Hitomi and Fujiko each find a letter, supposedly from Jeremy. Each make an excuse not to hang out, where as Jeremy gets a similar note. The Hitch Squad swears to make it work this time! Using mech suits!

At least they would, had the suits not messed up the school floors, which they now have to fix. Jeremy, following the letter's instruction, heads to the school storage room. Instead of Hitomi, however, he finds Leeana reclining on a bed. She makes it clear-she wants HIM.

Good cliff hanger, and the Hitch Squad was pretty funny. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#7

 "Three Boys and a Doggie" Ninja High School#7 (September 1988) with credits to James Hanrahan (script), Ben Dunn (pencils/inks), Craig Miller (letters), and Ben Dunn (editor)

Another addition to the cast, and focusing almost entirely on some side characters. 

Howard, Mikey, and Phrank are Jeremy's pals. They helped out Arnie raid RNC HQ a few issues back but that's been about it as far as characterization is concerned. 

Out in deep space, Dog Supreme is bored. His master, seen only in shadow, grants his agent a boon and sends him to Earth, as it sounds backwards and warlike. 

Our previously mentioned trio, however, are unaware of this and decide that the day is just too good to spend in school. Pity Phrank mentions this to Asrial (who's flying car now look like the Mach 5), who promptly rats them out to Ms. Celande.

She decides the only thing to do have the boys do some community service. The cops give them some nice uniforms and have them do some vital community serve, i.e. cleaning up the station basement. 

Dog Supreme, meanwhile, has arrived on Earth and already started his assault. The Earth Defense Force, from Robotech and a few gundams attack and are driven back. 

Back at the station, the boys find a crate. Inside is Terry-a cyborg law enforcement officer. Switching her on, the Dog Supreme alarm goes off. Terry thanks the boys and rushes out. Grabbing some guns, they quickly follow. When Terry is blown back, they step up, but the gun turns out to be empty.

Rushing back to the station, they manage to barricade the doors. The question is, now what? Heading down to the basement, they decide to try the door marked 'keep out'. Inside they find Professor Steamhead, or at least a computer generate image of him. Seems the police station's basement is home to Zetracom-the most advanced defense system ever designed.

Mikey, Howard, and Phrank are then sealed inside three tubes that quickly fill with steam. The computer explains that the steam is compose of zetranite-designed to give them remarkable powers!

Mikey (Zetra One) now has command of water.

Howard (Zetra Two) now has command of earth.

Phrank (Zetra Three) now has command of air. 

And so they rush out to defeat Dog Supreme!

Who at the moment is having a lunch at the local fast-food eatery. The food is so good he's going to spare the Earth! At least until the Zetramen blow up the restaurant and insult him.

Taking him one on one is failure, save for Phrank's fart joke. Summoning the giant robot, as of course they have a giant robot, they challenege Dog Supreme to a final battle-winner takes all!

Yup, rock-paper-scissors time. The Zetramen win but now they face an even more daunting task: Clean up.

When I first saw an ad for Power Rangers, I thought they were ripping off Zetramen. I was wrong, as Zetraman is more a parody of the show Sun Vulcan. Darn funny and really lets some minor characters change and lets them take the spotlight for a bit. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#6

"To Be or Not To Be" Ninja High School#6 (August 1988) with credits to James Hanrahan (script), Ben Dunn (pencils/inks), Craig Miller (letters), and Ben Dunn (editor)

Another addition to the cast.

Asrial is fixing up a car, but she notices she's running late. She rushes over to the Feeble house, but Ichi is rather annoyed, then disgusted by Asrial's rather pungent odor. Fixing up cars can build up quite a sweat, you know. 

Once she's cleaned up, they head out. Where? To the Sakura Inn! The only authentic Japanese restaurant in town (pity Lendo is in one of the booths). The owner, Yamasan, also knows Jeremy's mom. As Lendo daydreams about rescuing Ichi from a giant Jeremy, Yamasan's nephew Sammi arrives. Sammi happens to be the only other employee and is rather tired from the constant biking back and forth. 

As he rants, Ichi slips and fall. Lendo leaps to the rescue! Or at least he would, had Sammi not rescued her first. Yamasan thinks they'd be a wonderful couple. Ichi ponders this, but Asrial points out the whole deal with Jeremy (even using #1 to prove her point).

That night Sammi arrives at the Feeble house, and it seems Mrs. Feeble knows Sammi too. She also knows something rather important about the delivery boy, but she swears she won't tell Ichi. Sammi grunts and takes Ichi out. 

Lendo, who's been watching rather intently, swears vengeance. No more brainwashing-nope. Just good old fashioned brute force attack. The couple have their date at a local carnival. A carnival staffed with ninjas.

Sammi easily smacks them away, but can he handle the combined forces of Brunhilda and Kenterminator?

Yes, yes he can. Pops the Kenterminator's arm off pretty easily too. Lendo decides to handle things himself and challenges Sammi to a duel. Sammi tries refusing, the fight is on. 

Cue two swordsmen in a field, leaping at each other in the pale moon light.

Lendo lands, his sword at the ready. Sammi is still on his feet, but his shirt has been neatly sliced, revealing...

Well, can't quite show the image here, but Sammi is more a Samantha than a Samuel. 

Yeah, turns out Sammi's dad boasted that he would have a strong son. When Sammi was born, well, rather than admit he was wrong they raised her as a boy. Which was fine, at least until she got older. Then she was packed off to her uncle, who has a bad heart, so if Sammi ever told him the truth now it might just kill him.

Ichi accepts the apology. Lendo does too, but as he clasps her shoulder, Uncle Yamasan bursts in at that moment and interprets that moment in the worse way possible. As Lendo is chased off, Ichi asks if this happens often, with Sammi remarking it might...

Pretty good and comedic episode.  

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#5

  "The Girl Who Came in from the Cold" Ninja High School#5 (June 1988) with credits to James Hanrahan (script), Ben Dunn (pencils), Ben Dunn (letters), and Ben Dunn (editor)

We open at the airport. From the previous issue, Jeremy and Ricky are going to Japan for a bit. 

Arriving in Japan, they quickly met their grandfather and his massive manservant Kuma; and whenever Jeremy brings up how familiar he looks Grandfather changes the subject. 

The boys are settling in rather well, Ricky's screaming assault on the vegetables notwithstanding. Grandfather even takes Jeremy to see the snow cranes that visit his estate. It is there they notice one of the poor creatures has a broken wing. 

Taking pity on the bird, they take it inside and set the wing. After a few days of TLC, they release it back to the wild. Jeremy seems wistful though. 

Sometime later, as Jeremy and his grandfather spare, a knocking at the dojo door disturbs them. Jeremy opens it, and finds a nude woman, half dead from exposure. She begs for help before passing out. 

When she recovers, she thanks them for the help. She gives her name, Kyoko Tadasuke, and says she's a computer programmer from Tokyo. Seems she was driving to Sapporo when some robbers attacked her. Grandfather's housekeeper finds her odd, while grandfather finds her familiar.

The next day, Jeremy is in a panic. Kyoko isn't in her room! Grandfather is nonplussed. Kyoko asked for privacy to work. She simply wanted to replay him for their kindness, so she whipped up a computer game. She enters the room and gives the finished floppy to the old man. Jeremy offers her a tour of the grounds. 

As Grandfather plays the game, he muses how Jeremy and Kyoko would make a wonderful couple, wouldn't they? When Kuma reminds him of Ichi, Grandfather only responds with "so?"

His housekeeper, more on the ball than him, drops the mail by the old man. Seeing the letter Ichi sent snaps the old man out of his spell. Donning his proper ninja garb, he sneaks into Kyoko's room. Pity she was waiting for him, and she is more than a programmer. We don't get a good look, but her real form is enough to knock the old man back, plus make him unable to speak the truth.

He can still act, though, and gives Ichi's letter to Jeremy. Snapped free, he too barges into Kyoko's room and finds out the truth...

Rather moving. Based on the Japanese Tsuru no Ongaeshi myth, it rather plugs the NHS character in the story pretty well. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#4

 "That Old Black Magic" Ninja High School#4 (January 1988) with credits to James Hanrahan (script), Ben Dunn (pencils), Ben Dunn (letters), and Ben Dunn (editor)

We open in a small New England village in 1692. A group of Puritans have a woman in a noose, so you know things aren't going to end well. The village elder, Jeremiah Feeble, finds her guilty of witchcraft and not guilty of consorting with the devil. She is then sentenced to hang until dead. As the barrel under feet is kicked away, the witch gives Jeremiah a curse-that he and his will be plagued by a demon until his line is no more. 

We then jump the present day. Seems the previous events were the family history of Mimi Masters, a young witch. Her cat points out that wouldn't be funny if the Feeble curse was still a thing?

Speaking of Jeremy, he's currently playing a game of soccer. Ichi and Asrial are watching, but their enthusiasm is dwarfed by recent transfer teacher Ms. Celande. Her interest in Jeremy seems a tad bit inappropriate. 

As Jeremy is about to intercept a kick, a demonic hand appeared behind him and pushes into the ball's path. Knocked down, Ms. Celande is on him at once, but Ichi and Asrial pull her off. No sooner have they done that, then Mimi lands and throws her arms around him. 

Oh, she's not trying to marry him (much to everyone's relief). No, she announces that Jeremy has a curse! Something that everyone assembled buys rather easy. She throws a vial and reveals the demon's presence. Introductions are made, and the demon admits that Jeremy's poor performance is his doing. He also made Ichi's grandfather insist on Jeremy marrying her, Asrial's computers picking him as a mate, why, he even made Lendo want to murder him! 

Lendo argues he thought of that himself thank you very much.

Jeremy handles this with quiet dignity and grace, i.e. he strangles the demon. Asrial and Ichi pull him off, arguing that he's too sweet and nice to do that. Besides, they want to do that. 

At this point the demon has had enough. Mimi can't do much, as this demon belongs to the 0100 series, so the only person who can remove him is the one who cast the curse in the first place. Which is a problem, as the caster has been dead for about 300 years.  

Ms. Celande has a solution though. They'll just use her time machine to go back and prevent the curse from being cast. 

As the time sphere lands, Jeremiah Feeble rallies the townsfolk and march on the witch's house as she's clearly summoned a sphere filled with demons!

So with this the proper series began. Yes, no more mini-series, after this all main. 

Ninjavember: The Octagon (1980)

 The Octagon (1980) dir. Eric Karson, American Cinema Productions 

While the Ninja High School lookback will continue, why not take a look at some of the films that helped shape the ninja craze here in the US?

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#3

 "Ah, Ha, Oh, Ho, Aiieee" Ninja High School#3 (August 1987) with credits to Ben Dunn (script), Ben Dunn (pencils), Carlos Castro/Robert Bostick (inks), Robert Bostick (letters), and Ben Dunn (editor)

And so ends the first mini-series. 

The choppers are in the air. The RNC air corps are on the job and already have a bogey on the radar. Whatever it is, its damn fast and evading all their weapons. Red Leader is freaking out, more so when Princess Asrial zips over to his cockpit and politely knocks on it. 

She explains that she is looking for Jeremy Feeble, and if they could simply direct her to him, well, that would be swell. They open fire.

She promptly shows them what is means to mess with a Salusian of imperial birth.

Hopefully the tanks will do better.

Yes, tanks. Thankfully Arnie and the boys have nearly the equal in heavy armament and soon the RNC property value is dropping fast. 

Lendo and Hossenfeffer confer in the war room. The professor makes it clear he has an ace up his sleeve and leaves with a proper mad scientist laugh. 

Jeremy, meanwhile, is being dragged deeper into the dungeons. Tossed into a cell, he starts to panic until he sees who's waiting on him-Brunhilda wearing only the finest of the Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS collection. It doesn't go well, for him at least, as one kiss later he passes out. 

Not nerves, mind you, but rather her drugged lipstick. Professor Hossenfeffer arrives and orders Jeremy to be taken to his lab. 

Back at the battle, the RNC forces are not doing well. Lendo orders his forces to retreat as he prepares the RNC HQ to transform (a la Robotech). Arnie and Asrial surrender. Not sure what happened to kids driving Arnie's jeep though.

As the two are taken prisoner, Ichi sneaks inside. Arnie and Asrial are taken to the mysterious JF, who turns out to be...

JEREMY FEEBLE!

Well, a brainwashed and evil Jeremy, but still. Lendo prides himself on his efforts but now is the time for the next phase of the plan-have Ichi marry him. Jeremy is disinclined to agree and orders Lendo to turn over his RNC stock. He also disarms him rather easy.

"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"

Meanwhile, Ichi takes a trip to the center of the mind, Jeremy's to be exact. Sneaking past the RNC guard, she finds Jeremy's inner self. They have a confrontation, but Ichi sees how she manipulated Jeremy and was less than honest with her intentions towards him. 

The two work their issues out and smack the RNC demon down. That, plus Arnie and Asrial shouting, frees Jeremy and turns him back to normal. Lendo doesn't take this well and decides to break out the mechsuit and kidnap Ichi. Arnie and Asrial get taken down. Who can save the day now?

Jeremy, as it turns out. Yeah, grabs a big rock and goes to town on Lendo's suit. He manages to take it down. As he and Ichi embrace, two things happen.

1. Lendo's father calls. Seems he has dipped too much into the company funds and as such, he can't leave Quagmire until he turns a proper profit.

2. Asrial's people contact her. First, it seems the war between the Salusians and Zarbons has finally occured, so a pick up is impossible for the time being. Oh, and the whole 'marry an Earthling' thing? Yeah, the computer goofed so she doesn't have to do anything. Since only Salusians of imperial birth can see the message, that should spare her some embarrassment, right?

No idea how Steamhead can see it though. 

Thus the issue ends with Jeremy asking Ichi to the prom. 

Got to say, pretty good. The action is fluid and everything pays off. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#2

 "The Contest" Ninja High School#2 (1987) with credits to Ben Dunn (script), Ben Dunn (pencils), Carlos Castro/Yauping/Fabin Doles (inks), Punjab/Phil Deadshot (letters), and Herb Mallette (editor)

The day of the contest arrives. Jeremy, befuddled by the ninja living with him, asks what Ichi plans to do if she wins. He also counters with what she'll do if he refuses to marry her. She threatens suicide, which gets Jeremy to rescind his refusal. 

The two teens are being watched by someone, however. Hokoto No Kenterminator-number 1 agent of RNC! (Also either a clever ripoff or homage of Fist of the North Star plus the Terminator, depending on your personal taste). 

Asrial, meanwhile, is waiting. She makes it clear it will be no contest-after all, what hope does a mere human have against a Salusian of Imperial birth? Professor Steamhead excluded, of course. 

The professor asks her to not underestimate her opponent, plus he reminds her of their bargin. If she wins, he gets a small worthless planetoid full of boiling water. Well, worthless to others. To the professor, STEAM is never worthless. 

As the girls head to class (after being stopped from kicking the contest off early by the principal and Arnie-more on him later), Jeremy and the Professor are kidnapped by the RNC and robots put in their place. Waking up in the RNC's dungeon, they are greeted by Lendo and his scientific advisor Professor Hossenfeffer. The two professors know each other and they are NOT friends. Although here their disagreement is based on which is superior-steam or sunbeams. 

Lendo, not wishing to be a bad host, gives Jeremy a tour of the building. With the help of Ms. Brunhilda (Hossenfeffer's daughter, not revealed here) Jeremy ends the tour at another cell, and she is to give him the 'works'. Jeremy, however, makes it clear that he has no plans for Ichi and if Lendo wants her so bad, well, he isn't to stand in his way. Lendo doesn't care and has Jeremy dragged off to the cell.

Never mind all that though, the contest is starting! No one seems to notice that Jeremy and the professor are clearly made of metal. The rules are simple: Find a ring that the professor has hidden someone in town. Asrial, wearing a suit based on the first Gundam series tries to fly off via jetpack but Ichi cuts her down to size. 

Mass property damage occurs. Meanwhile, Professor Steamhead manages to escape to the airducts and finds the phonelines. Which enables him to hack into the Jeremy robot and sabotage Lendo's attempt to sabotage the contest. 

With the robots exposed, the girls call a truce while a small commando force launches an assault on the RNC. Lendo doesn't take it well and orders the entire company to defend the building. 

Pretty good. First issue of the series I bought and I've been hooked ever since. Great action and everything moves at a brisk enough pace to keep you entertained. Funny Fist of the North Star reference too, but at the time I had no idea. 

Slight change to the continuity. Anna (Mrs. Feeble) mentions here that Ichi's father raised her to be a ninja, yet later issues would say that her grandfather was the expert/clan leader and her father was more of a typical salaryman. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#1

  "A New Student Comes to Quagmire High" Ninja High School#1 (1987) with credits to Ben Dunn (script), Ben Dunn (pencils), Carlos Castro (inks), Carlos Castro (letters), and Herb Mallette (editor)

So, the official start of the saga. Let's have a rundown of the main cast.

Princess Asrial-Princess of the Salusian Empire. She is tasked to marry a randomly selected Earthling. Why? Because Earth is a neutral planet and if the Salusians have no claim to the planet (and its resources), then the Zardon Empire will claim one; given that the two empires are currently locked in a war, well, it would be in her planets best interest if Asrial got hitched and got the matter resolved ASAP.

Ichi-Kun Ichinohei-Ninja and heir to the Ichinohei Ninja Clan. Her grandfather, the current head, will step aside and allow her to take over, provided she marry a man of his choice AND said man must ask her first. After that, she is free to do whatever she wants. Ichi figures it should be easy

Rivalsan Lendo-Ichinohei's greatest rival. He has a sweet spot for Ichi and hopes to her merge her clan with his. When informed by one of his tree ninja scouts, he handles this new development with a quiet dignity and grace-i.e. drawing his sword and swearing to murder the infidel who stole his intended. 

Jeremy Feeble-Average teen. He's playing soccer when he gets called in and ordered to show a newly arrived Ichi around school. Ichi mentions that her father and Jeremey's were close. This sets Jeremy off on a flashback where we see his pop leaving. Something about off to slay giant rats. 

Jeremy and his romantic leads both collide. Before the rest of the school can be leveled, mad scientist Professor Steamhead offers a solution. Why not a contest between the two girls-with Jeremy as the prize! Jeremy is less than enthused. 

Back at the Feeble home, we see Ricky (Jeremy's younger brother and ninja in training) and Mrs. Feeble. Seems she used to be a ninja too. In order to leave her clan (Ichinohei, in case you were wondering), she had to promise her first born son to the first born granddaughter of the clan. 

So, this is where everything is set up proper. We have a good sense of the cast and the set up for drama. Compared to what was going on in 1987 with other comics, this was really amazing. Manga wasn't a thing in the US at the time and this captured the feel perfectly. 

Ninjavember: Ninja High School#0

  "The Reluctant Princess/Cat Scratch Fever/the Day Before" Ninja High School#0 (May 1994) with credits to Ben Dunn (script), Ben Dunn/Pat Kelley (pencils), Ben Dunn (inks), Mike Sagera (letters), and Pat Duke (editor)

There were quite a few guest pencillers and inkers but they mostly handled the cameo characters. 

Yes, a new feature here at Geekademia, Ninjavember! Every day this month we'll be looking at something Ninja related, and what better than Ninja High School? I remember seeing this on the rack, but only at Eckerd's Drugs, usually next to the EC Comics reprints. 

So, given this was a prequel to the whole series, this focuses more on the three main characters and what they did right before the action in #1 (which we'll get to tomorrow)

"The Reluctant Princess" focuses on Princess Asrial. She's in her spaceship, heading to Earth. She reflects back on how she got there, namely her father picking her to represent their planet as they enter into an alliance with the Earth. She wishes her mother and two sisters goodbye as she dons a spacesuit to get one last look at her home planet. 

"Cat Scratch Fever" focuses on ninja Itchy as she spars with her younger sister Hitomi. The younger sister does good, but Itchy takes her down. As they bath, the sparing continues, albeit more verbal than physical. Seems Itchy is heading to America to be married. Itchy isn't keen on the idea but her grandfather is insistent she marry the boy of his choice before he will step aside from leading their clan (her parents, by the way, are not ninjas nor are they happy about their elder's deal). Itchy takes it all in stride-after all, this is simply an obstacle she can overcome, right?

"The Day Before" focuses on normal teenager Jeremy Feeble. He's enjoying a game of soccer when a rival player busts his nose. He shrugs it off, but goes to the doc anyway. Walking home he chats with some pals from school (more on them later) and plays catch with his little brother Ricky. His background isn't delved into that much, but we do learn that his dad is missing. 

Overall good, although a wee bit pointless. All the info here we learn in the first few issues and honestly in much more detail. Princess Asrial's father is given more character here and he comes across as a jerk, conflicting later portrayals. 

Horror 2022 Countdown: The Dark Half (1993)

The Dark Half (1993), dir. George A. Romero, Dark Half Productions 

And thus another year of spooks and ghosts draws to a close. Before we slam shut the crypt door, one more yarn before the fire, and look at that, Stephan King and George Romero together again. 

Horror 2022 Countdown: Crash (1996)

Crash (1996), dir. David Croenenberg, the Movie Network/Telefilm Canada

Croenenberg AND JG Ballard together?

Horror 2022 Countdown: I'm Dangerous Tonight (1990)

I'm Dangerous Tonight (1990), dir. Tobe Hooper, BBK Productions/Coastline Partners/MCA Television Entertainment 

Tobe Hooper, man. The 80's saw him working on three big budget flicks for a real studio, but when all three failed to set the box office ablaze, Hooper was cast down. When Spontaneous Combustion went direct to video after a paltry showing in theaters, Hooper fell even more into the realm of made for TV movies. Well, he did 'Salem's Lot and that was great, right?

Horror 2022 Countdown: Deadly Friend (1986)

Deadly Friend (1986), dir. Wes Craven, Warner Bros./Pan Arts/Layton

Wes Craven had made the biggest boogeyman of the 80s and some lesser films too. Like his contemporaries he got picked up by a studio to handle a film. 

Horror 2022 Countdown: They Live (1988)

They Live (1988), dir. John Carpenter, Alive Films/Larry Franco Productions

How would Carpenter end the 80's? With possibly the most satrical look at the decade ever made.

Horror 2022 Countdown: The Hole (2009)

The Hole (2009), dir. Joe Dante, Bold Films/BenderSpink/The Hole

Joe Dante's career has been one of ups and downs, but would this one be one of the former?

Horror 2022 Countdown: A Bucket of Blood (1959)

A Bucket of Blood (1959), dir. Roger Corman, Alta Vista Productions 

Corman shot this in five days, arguably the first in a trilogy of cheaply shot and produced horror/comedies.

Horror 2022 Countdown: Strait-Jacket (1964)

Strait-Jacket (1964), dir. William Castle, William Castle Productions 

Moving onto the master of shlock, Willaim Castle and Joan Crawford together! With an axe! No ballyhoo, no skeletons or winking at the camera. No, the gimmick this time out was Joan herself. A big star doing horror?