Product Description

Both an epic 80-page graphic novel and a document of his vibrant drawings, collages and posters, Ninja is the first book by Fort Thunder co-founder and Lighting Bolt drummer Brian Chippendale. The graphic novel, a work 5 years in the making, takes readers through a fantastic landscape delineated in Chippendale's dense pen and ink line-work and starring a Ninja hunted by the forces of evil. It functions as both a great fantasy story and a social allegory about an artist's struggle with money, gentrification, and city politics. Nearly every massive comics page is drawn in a different elaborate style somewhere between Darger, Panter & illuminated manuscript. In between each chapter of the story is a related section of fine art: from bright, exuberant paintings to visionary drawings to the posters for which Chippendale is internationally recognized. Half art book, half graphic novel, this collection is a unique adventure in art and comics.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #588900 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-25
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 128 pages

Customer Reviews

Amazing, Disturbing, Original Stuff
I've been following Brian Chippendale's musical career for several years now, and I'm a big fan of his work, especially with Mindflayer and his Black Pus projects. When I saw this book, I thought I'd check it out, and I'm glad I did. I wasn't sure what to expect, but he's really impressed me with the utter strangeness of Ninja. The first part of the book mixes dense, rather mysterious little stories of the title character with what appear to be Ninja cartoons he did around the 5th grade. It sounds odd, and it is, but it works. Then the book shifts gears and the Ninja disappears completely. The second half of the book takes place in the crumbling town of Grain, which is undergoing upheaval at the hands of corrupt politicians, sadistic thugs, greedy land developers, and inter-dimensional beings. I can't exactly explain what happens, but it's the kind of story that is both incoherent and totally absorbing. His drawing style is messy but extremely intricate, much like the story itself. And don't let the happy cover fool you - it's dark and scary stuff, with more than a little sex and violence. I am always on the lookout for something really original and imaginative, and this book fits both those criteria. Highly recommended.