Shinobi: Ninja Princess 4

After the escape of Shianndrea and her team in New Tokyo, the Oni sets his sights on the southern security outpost of the Toshigawa Clan. Master Gaudient chooses a team to assist their fellow ninja but orders Ai and Shianndrea to stay behind. The girls make the risky decision to join the battle anyway. Meanwhile, Hamasuke's anger from being "overshadowed" could prove to be the downfall of the Toshigawa clan.

With a renewed interest after the last book and a constant appreciation for ninjas, I was ready to move onto the next issue.  I’m glad I always try to give any type of series a chance past the first few even if I’m a little shaky on them.  This ended up being a good rule to follow, as Shinobi: Ninja Princess is really starting to come into itself.

This chapter by far is where some of the best action has happened.  With a full team deployed to the field, the clan faces off with the big bad Oni once again.  Even with twice as many members as before they really struggle.  That is of course until Ai and Shianndrea show up against orders and Shi gives us another look at her true powers.  With the furry bastard down for the count, at least for now, the team needs to regroup for what is likely going to be another challenging mission.

With so much going on in this issue, the artwork naturally needed to pick up that intensity.  The illustrations of fight scenes were explosive and brought the level of action that had to bring them to life.  From time to time, there were pages or even panels that seemed stronger than others, but it’s still good work all around.

Now that things have really started to pick up, I’m much more hopeful for the series.  This is especially true after the impressive display that Shi gave in the faceoff with the Oni.  Plus, the unfortunate betrayal by one of the members is still being poked at.  I’m really curious to see just how powerful Shi is going to get and will gladly check out the next issue for the chance to find out.

For more information on Shinobi: Ninja Princess or other Action Lab books, check out Action Lab.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.