Shinobi: Ninja Princess 6

Captured and alone, Shianndrea is faced with the realization that the world may just be better off with her in the custody of her father. Meanwhile, Kim, Turra, and Ai conduct a suicide mission to rescue their friend. But is it enough to save them all?

Although there were certain components of this next issue I was already expecting, there were others I was merely hopeful for.  That in itself is always a good sign of a comic pacing itself well when you look forward to possibilities in the following issue.  With all the action and surprises potentially in store, I opened issue six of Shinobi: Ninja Princess anxious to see what would be seen next.

With Shi captured, her clan wastes no time in formulating a plan to rescue her.  A small elite team dispatches to quickly move in to rescue her, and with some crafty ninja deception and misdirection, Kim makes it to her.  This doesn't mean they get out as easily, but fortunately this leads to some more awesome reveals on how powerful Shi is.

There were some pretty nice fight scenes and of course Shi's powers that showed off more of the artwork here.  One specific page with Shi kicking ass was illustrated really well and totally put you in the scene.  Also, seeing her facing off against the Oni and the results of that fight was a fun thing to follow along with.

Over the course of the last half dozen chapters of this ninja tale, it's really been getting better and better.  I did have a little trouble getting into it at first, but luckily I gave it the chance it deserved and it paid off.  There always seems to be cool new content being thrown in to keep it fresh and makes this a good title to check 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.

Shinobi: Ninja Princess 5

As the fists, feet and swords fly during Shianndrea's Masters Test, the Azumi Ninja locate the Toshigawa stronghold and attack. A huge battle ensues and Shianndrea is confronted by the evil Kokoro. With Kim, Gaudient and the rest of the Toshigawa Masters busy defending the stronghold, it's up to Hamasuke and Shianndrea to defend themselves against the leader of the Azumi Ninja.

After the intense battle from the last issue, I had no idea what was going to get thrown at me next.  So far, there have been very few points at which the story slowed down much if at all.  Lo and behold, the action just keeps on speeding forward in issue five of Shinobi: Ninja Princess with no sign of it letting up soon.

The day has arrived when our clan princess ninja Shianndrea aka Shi faces her test to become a full fledged master.  But of course, the Azumi are not about to worry about interrupting this, along with the Oni that I had a feeling would be back.  With so much going on, Shi gets separated and through an act of planned redemption, Hamasuke tries to keep her safe but sadly fails.

Between Shi’s test and the Azumi attack, there was again no shortage of opportunities to illustrate some cool action scenes.  One difference this time was the burning of the Toshigawa stronghold, which as unfortunate as it is, made for some nice backdrop for the fighting.  There were a couple of places I had to double back to make sure I understood the story flow, but it was nothing major.

With Shi now captured, I’m expecting some big reveals in upcoming issues.  Plus, I’m really glad to see that the apparent betrayal from Hamasuke was not the case after all.  Between that and the story still doing a good job of keeping me interested, I will gladly look forward to the next book and continue reading on.

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.

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.

Shinobi: Ninja Princess 3

Rekishi (History): When Ninja Master Jubei sees that Shianndrea is upset over the revelation of Kim and Ai’s romantic relationship, he tells her the story of her ancestor, Yamoto Toshigawa, the Princess Tokuhime and their fight against the all powerful Oni named Dagamon. Meanwhile, Hamasuke makes plans to win back his honor and become the hero he feels he should be.

As much as I love ninjas, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt going into this book.  I’ve been a little on the fence with how much I like it so far.  Overall, Shinobi: Ninja Princess has been a decent book given that it’s only a few issues in.  My only worry was the strong teen drama theme, but luckily issue 3 kept my interest going.

The bulk of this issue focuses on a story being told to Shianndrea about her powerful ancestor.  This serves to help her feel more confident with herself in light of the recent jealousy she is dealing with.  It also gives us as the reader a nice bit of history on her clan.  As with before, we also get another tidbit of events from when she was much younger.

With the story bouncing between the present and past, a wise choice was made to use two different art styles.  The watercolor style used for the bedtime tale was a good option for that portion of the story.  Although there really wasn’t a whole lot of action overall, the areas that did have it benefitted from the watercolor art.

I honestly appreciated the story moving away from the teen drama for a bit.  I understand that it will likely come back, but this issue was a good place to give us some history on Shi’s clan to break it up.  Now that we have an idea of her potential, I’d like to see where it goes from here and will say it’s still a good buy.

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.

Shinobi: Ninja Princess 2

After successfully completing her first mission, Shianndrea is allowed to accompany Kim on reconnaissance to New Tokyo in order to spy on the Azumi Ninja Clan. Things can't be better! However, just when things are getting cozy between the two ninja, Ai joins the mission, making these three ninja a crowd.

The initial selling point of a new ninja story was enough for me to be interested in the first issue.  Moving on to the sophomore effort with Shinobi: Ninja Princess 2, I was curious to see where they would go next.  The teen side of things really comes into play here, which if you read issue one should come to no surprise.  Still no sign of turtles either, but I’m not really expecting them.

Following the events of the first book, the adolescent shinobi team moves into recon mode against the rival clan.  With the appearance of an unexpected third team member, Shianndrea is up against a new foe – jealousy.  Before that can go far though, the trio has to face off together against a dark, magic creature.  Behind the scenes, a potential betrayal is also brewing that stemmed from the first mission.  Also melded into this issue, we also get a flashback sequence from Shi’s past.

Martheus continues to take on the role of both writer and artist for the title.  With some new characters and the fight with the evil beast, we do get to see some new design work which is nice.  We also get to see a couple of character bios that highlight their specific designs.

While the story is moving along, this issue felt a little broken up with the way it was presented.  I honestly had to go back a couple times to figure out where I was with the story.  Past that though, it’s still a decent title so far.  If you can get past the blatant teen drama, this is not a bad book to pick up for a quick read.

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.

Shinobi: Ninja Princess 1

14 year-old ninja princess Shianndrea Toshigawa and her strike team have a new mission: spy on their rivals, the Azumi Ninja Clan, and discover what secret dealings they have with the evil Emperor of Japan!

I can’t remember the last time I read a comic about ninjas.  I’m pretty sure the last time I did was when they were green and all the craze for the children.  This is sad, because ninjas are awesome and I’m always up for more.  Lucky for us, Shinobi: Ninja Princess is now available thanks to the team at Action Lab.

The story here is pretty straightforward as far as ninjas go.  Rival ninja clans, shady missions and of course, a terrible emperor behind it all.  Now although the good ninjas aren’t mutated turtles, they are however teenagers.  I’m sure as the story goes on, their naivety and attitude will come into play more than it has already.  Without giving away one particular detail, I’m curious to see how Shianndrea reacts to her connection to the emperor.  She’s proven herself a strong ninja, but I’m sure that even she won’t handle it well.

Wearing multiple hats for this series, Martheus does a nice job of doing all the illustrating and coloring the story as well.  Some areas came off a bit flatter than others, but all around great work otherwise.  I noticed in particular the expressions characters show are very well done.  One little extra thing that was thrown in which was neat are the chibi designs with the page indicators.

For all you ninja fans, and even those on the pirate side of the fence, Ninja Princess looks like it could be a cool book to pick up.  It has all the perks of a clan war thrill ride mixed in with teen angst and from the last page, some very out of the ordinary foes.  On a side note, I did notice one inconsistency which I wonder how many people will notice.  If you’re curious to see and read a fun ninja book at the same time, seek out a copy.

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.