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2 – Books and Manga

VN REVISITED: A look at ZANPEI KUMOTORI manga
4 Dec 2015

VN REVISITED: A look at ZANPEI KUMOTORI manga

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga | 0

Lots of new readers lately, and I always love delving into the archives, exposing folks to some of the great stuff we posted back in the early years, so here’s an EXPANDED revisit of an article originally from November of 2009: … Continued

Takao Saito, Zanpei Kumotori
Reading in progress…
31 Aug 2015

Reading in progress…

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV, 2 - Books and Manga | 0

Yeah… THAT Ninja novel, and yeah… THAT John Carpenter! Coming later this year, big feature about this craze-kindling novel, the differences between it and the scripts, its time in big studio ‘development hell’ and what could have been (warts and … Continued

Eric Van Lustbader, John Carpenter, THE NINJA novel
Eastern Block ninja pulp
5 Mar 2015

Eastern Block ninja pulp

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga | 0

There were a couple of sellers on eBay last month that had ninja-themed comics from what was formerly Yugoslavia. Sadly, I’m broke as hell for the foreseeable future and they were priced too high anyway, so I didn’t keep track … Continued

Yugoslav comics
Some ARASHI manga goodness…
22 Jul 2014

Some ARASHI manga goodness…

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga | 0

I may just love the illustrated version of Henshin Ninja Arashi more than the much better known tokusatsu version… Kamen Rider and Cybog 009 creator Shotaro Ishinomori‘s manga slightly preceded the Toei TV show, although what would have had more production lead … Continued

HENSHIN NINJA ARASHI
7 May 2014

Ninja by Belgians in KOGARATSU

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga | 0

You find some real gems in the dollar boxes and discount bins of comic book stores sometimes. This was a recent find, the early 80s chambara graphic novel series Kogaratsu by the Belgian creative team of Serge ‘Bosse’ Bosmans and Marc ‘Michetz’ Degroide. … Continued

Kogaratsu
13 Apr 2014

VN REVISITED: Airborne combat in LEGEND OF KAMUI

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga | 0

Originally published June 2009 With the movie [now in wide release], I’m re-reading and re-loving Shirato Sanpei‘s second run of Kamui manga. The godfather of ninja comics debuted the character in 1964, then re-imagined the property as a more grown up … Continued

kamui, Shirato Sanpei
3 Aug 2013

DER RODE RIDDER vs. the ninja

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga | 0

The Dutch-language comic strip and graphic novel series Der Rode Ridder (The Red Knight) features a King Arthur-like crusading swordsman getting into all sorts of historical trouble, often thanks to the meddling of wizards like Merlin. The second era of … Continued

Der Rode Ridder
29 Jun 2013

Martial Arts Paperbacks

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga | 0

If I had a bigger pad, I’d do nothing but trawl used bookstores and paperback collector shows for vintage martial arts pulps. Fill an entire wall like it was an old Walden Books from Shopper’s World in Framingham. (apologies for … Continued

ninja pulps, Wade Barker
17 Feb 2013

Shirato Sanpei… NOT lazy.

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga, 5 - Art and Advertising | 0

Shirato Sanpei‘s manga epic Ninja Bugeicho had dozens of characters, and hundreds more victims of these characters, too. Being a ninja comic, he could have gone the easy route and just hooded-up most of these people, lessening the burdens of … Continued

Shirato Sanpei
28 May 2012

KANA – the *ORIGINAL* G.I. NINJA

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga | 3

It was August of 1981, a few months before Enter the Ninja would kick off the outright “boom.” The word “ninja” wasn’t a household term yet, but between Shogun on TV, Eric Van Lustbader (The Ninja was already a bestseller) and Andrew Adams’ … Continued

80s comics, E.R. Cruz, G.I. Combat, KANA, Murray Boltinoff, Robert Kanigher

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Welcome to VINTAGE NINJA — dedicated to old ninja movies from Japan’s 60s boom to the 80s American exploitation craze and beyond, with a ton of vintage toys, comics, and sharp pointy stuff thrown in for good measure.

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