3 out of 5

What I love about Dr. McNinja – or at least the early strips, having not read the current stuff yet – is how little advantage it takes of its ridiculous premise.  I mean, wait, it’s totally ridiculous, with Raptor-riding banditos and shamrock shuriken and… flesh jetpacks (?), but I feel like the title suggests the series is going to just be an ongoing random mash-up, trying to outdo itself with silliness, and instead, it’s a legitimate ongoing story, albeit a humorous one.  To put it another way: the concept of Dr. McNinja – a ninja who is also a doctor, wearing a white doctor’s coat and stethoscope over his ninja garb – makes me laugh, as it seemed to do for the members of the forum out of which the strip (I believe) sprang.  But the comic rarely makes me laugh… it simply makes me perpetually smile.  It’s fun to read; it’s not exhausting to read because it’s avoided becoming a one-joke pony.

And that’s all true of this inaugural volume, which apparently starts after the first first McNinja story (which I’ll assume ties into evil clowns, based on a comment in issue 3 in this collection), but which creator Hastings excluded for not being the best intro to his character.  As the story that opens volume 1 – Doc curing a boy of “Paul Bunyan” disease, which would cause him to turn into a giant lumberjack – puts several of the main elements into place effectively, and introduces the oddball but story-bound flow of the series, I’ll trust the man’s decision.  Thereafter we get a charming intro to McNinja’s family, who are, of course, disappointed with his decision to pursue doctorism instead of ninjahood, and then those aforementioned banditos and jetpacks.  Hastings’ art is effective for the most part, kept clean by his inker pal Kent Archer, but some really poor panels creep in here and there.  More refined skill would come with time.  What’s important is that Chris doesn’t sacrifice story for his art limitations, going for broke with the action and settings and rising to the challenge such that the read never suffers.  The lettering has that computer-typed webcomic look, but Chris’ sense of pacing with his dialogue is good; pages aren’t crowded.  Alt-text is also included, along with some bonus strip and sketches in the back.  The Topatoco printing of this is a cute, slightly-undersized book, with bright white pages and supportive but flexible colors, plus good spacing from the binding so you don’t have to crack the spine.  The cover is also hilarious.

So I’m not going to pitch McNinja to you as the funniest thing to ever have existed.  But it’s just so solid and satisfying; I love that Chris took what could’ve easily been a gag-a-week strip and actually started to concoct a world and story.  Funniest thing?  No.  Worth reading?  For sure.