Hokusai climber
Detail scan of an 1817 Hokusai manga. (Referenced on the surprisingly fair and well-rounded wikipedia entry on ninja.) The original page feature an array of practicing martial artists:
A Force of… FUN???
I highly recommend tooling around the excellent Wrong Side of the Art poster archive, particularly the martial arts section. You come across oldies but goodies like this Chuck Norris classic: NOW, from the same site, take a look at this … Continued
Sate of the Ninja – the 2000s
The 2000s was a strange decade for martial arts and martial arts cinema. Unlike the Bruce Lee-inspired kung-fu 70’s, the Sho Kosugi-driven ninja 80’s or the VanDamme-inspired kickboxing 90’s, the 00s didn’t have a definitive iconic star nor a decade-dominating … Continued
Press stills from NINJUTSU GOZEN-JIAI
The 1957 Toei FX romp Ninjutsu Gozen-Jiai (aka Torawakamaru, the Koga Ninja) is the perfect example of the pre-60’s craze kid’s ninja film: mischievous wizard hero, evil sorcerer, spirit-creatures fighting in the clouds, etc and so forth. Before the real … Continued
Scanning around some other sites…
More VHS clamshell art, via DRILLPOP: Formal from an Onmitsu Doshin wedding or the Demon Spies prom? A baffling image via the amazing Black and WTF photoblog: A review of this nifty capsule figure of Sega video game kunoichi Hibana over … Continued
Generic Ninja
We’ll wrap-up a month of toys and merch with a look at some nameless, non-property-based ninja toys from the 80’s. Wind-up toys sold in subway stops or off swap-meet blankets, supermarket tchotchkes, vending capsule minatures, even cake-toppers – these are … Continued
ARASHI stocking stuffers
Next to Kaiketsu Lion Maru (which in a modern context some find waaaay to ‘furry’ for comfort) Henshin Ninja Arashi was easily the most outre ninja hero ever — weird silver bird-like, but scaly, with some parts that look kinda … Continued
FWAK!-tastic ninja designs!
In my non-ninja creative endeavors, I’m known for some pioneering work in bringing the Mexican masked wrestler thing to American pop culture prominence in the 90’s. Those efforts led to some great collaborations with animation studio FWAK!, and we may … Continued
Hasbro NINJA galore on eBay!
While Hasbro’s “Storm Shadow” from the GI Joe line is easily the most prolific ninja toy produced during the 80’s craze (permutations are still best-sellers today), the same company later released the non-property-based Ninja Warriors: Enemies of Evil line. Dojo … Continued