Meaty thighs and a taste for steel. She’s a keeper!
Great art by prolific shinobi manga magnate Mitsuteru Yokoyama. Someone throw my a translation, will ya… apart from the headline kanji for ‘ninja’, what are the subheads and copy here?
Kunoichi cover girl
Via Robert Grunzanki – cover from the 1988 ninjutsu book Shononki, possibly the only female cover from the 80’s craze books. That mission gear is pink or purple, as she’s actually a tour guide / theme park character from the … Continued
A great collection of ninjutsu books
I highly recommend browsing the cover collections and article reprints hosted by Robert C. Gruzanski on a memorial site to his father, renowned knife thrower and author of Ninja Weapons: Chain and Shuriken, Charles Vincent Gruzanski. Charles Gruzanski trained with a who’s … Continued
GARO covers by Shirato Sanpei
GARO was an eccentric, cutting edge alternative to traditional 60’s manga, and had an effect on a generation of readers akin to what Heavy Metal did for us in the U.S. in the 80’s. It’s backbone was Shirato Sanpei’s re-imagined … Continued
Remembering “Silent Interlude”
It was the winter of 1984 that Marvel Comics and creator Larry Hama quietly let loose one of the most significant pieces of media of the entire 80’s craze. Seeing as the massive and ridiculous GI Joe movie is #1 … Continued
80’s Coloring Book
Well this is about as generic an 80’s ninja product as you could ask for… I’d love to see how bad the illos are inside. And how many dolphins died in that tuna net…
More KAGEMARU…
Yep, it’s official – I LOVE the hooded Kagemaru and hate the unhooded drawings. Say, while you’re here, check out the newly updated Kagemaru vinyl figure post over in Toys and Statues!
KAGEMARU manga covers
Mitsuteru Yokoyama is probably the second most prolific creator of crossover ninja properties next to Shirato Sanpei. Both Kagemaru of Iga and Masked Ninja Akakage expanded from their pulp roots to multiple incarnations in anime and live action film/television. I’m … Continued
Osamu Tezuka’s ninja
It’s ComiCon week here in SoCal, so I’ll be posting a lot of manga and comics stuff over the next few days. We’ll start things with the king – the emperor? – the ultimate genius? Hmm, I just don’t have … Continued
Airborne combat in LEGEND OF KAMUI
With the movie pending, 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 and severe manga in the 80’s. Kamui … Continued