Ben Dunn’s iconic series, one of the essentials of the AmeriManga (aka the OELManga) experience, is turning 20. Not quite Silver Anniversary, but a milestone especially now that we’re on the doorstep of Ninja High School #150, which promises something big.
But that is shortly (to come as we speak), this is the review of the 1st Quarter of 2007, NHS #146 to #148.

In #146 somebody rips off SW : Episode I as we are confronted by strange little critters that seemingly are a threat to the entire universe… oh, and now former studster Jeremy is a married man (to that alien chick Asrial) and now a giant humanoid skunk or raccoon person… eh?
Anyway turn towards the Earth and the love triangle of Jeremy’s bro Ricky, the new lead character of the series (and his female problems)… yeah, after the dissolving of Jeremy’s love triangle after awhile I don’t think we’ll see Ricky settle down and pick a female anytime soon.

Anyway somehow one of these “dangerous” creatures end up on Earth, as well as the strange (strangely dressed) Tomorrow Girl… oh, and a giant talking furry that is so NOT My Neighbor Totoro… didn’t I see large inflatable versions of this creature in Super Swing Golf for the Wii?
(I wonder if it’ll burst if I shoot a golf ball at it… probably not.)

In #147 witchcraft not associated with the forever in rerun series “Charmed” takes center stage as a certain female finds out that her parental lineage is about to grant her some serious “firepower”. That’s all well and good, but since she’s not in the universe where Hogwarts exist (and the Harry Potter theme park is but a twinkle in the eyes of a major theme park developer in Florida) she’s going to have to turn to the resident Sorceress Sup… uh… Witch Wonder… uh… oh, never mind. It’s Mimi Masters, last time we saw her review wise was during the Lich King incident during the early days of Gold Digger’s Golden Age. Anyway since this isn’t a feel good magical class issue (or a lesbian romance story… sorta… kinda… meh…) something, or somebody (a few somebodies), is bound to drop in and cause trouble.

Finally #148 turns into girl’s night out… just make sure the one you’re trying to cheer up actually wants to be cheered up this way. Oh, and by the end of the issue there’s a cliffhanger and it looks like things are going to be interesting as we head into the 2nd Quarter and #150.

Short review, but it’s better to read these than just hearing me talk about them.
Ben Dunn no longer writes the series (that’s the work of Mr. Bevard), but the series continues to excel and hold onto it’s high score as a series you should be reading. Finely drawn (Mr. Dunn is holding court as the series artist), finely written, and overall one of the essentials of AmeriManga, NHS (along with Gold Digger) is two series from Antarctic that should have a prominent place in your collection.
If you only have six subscriptions this year, this should be one of them.

Ninja High School #146 to #148 gets 5 Tomorrow Girl promoting LensCrafters out of 5.