However, in addition to being a scientist, I am a creator of comic books. Sure, it seems like an odd hobby for a molecular biologist, but you can only look at DNA strains for so long. The comic I designed is called Space Ninja. Okay, it is a stupid name and I feel, a stumbling block, but I'm working on that. The major stumbling block for me is that I am not a very good artist and no matter how good the story is, you can only go so far with crappy art. Just take a look at the picture on the right, man did that suck. Key note is my lack of comprehension of anything beyond a flat dimension. The only memory I have of such things is what I learned in drafting class and I got a C - in that so what are ya' going to do. My hope is that someday my art will become honed enough that I can submit the work to a real company for publishing. Until then, this forum will have to do.

The example on the left shows how my skill improved over the course of 18 and 1/2 issues that I have drawn.
    Perhaps I should give you a little background on Space Ninja, okay. Back in June of 1985 myself and a couple of other friends were working on a TV station. A really bad TV station. We were desperate for any material so thousands of ideas popped up in our heads. We also drank a lot of beer and played Role Playing Games (hey I'm a scientist who liked math in school, what else was I supposed to do). Anyway, Space Ninja was one of my characters. After we would play a game, we would sit down and put the Ninja and the other heroes on paper. Ironically, if you check out the early issues of the Ninja, many of the heroes and villains are blatant rip-offs of Marvel characters . . . and man, did the stories suck. That would change.
    The first original character I developed was Thunderball. A pretty lame character, but original none the less. Over the course of time, more heroes and villains were developed. The villains for the most part always worked for Doctor Octagon, one of the rip-off characters from the past. In fact there were only five major villains in the series. First off is Doctor Octagon. and the two organizations he fronted, the Chaos Corps and the Proton Ninja.  The Doc is Space Ninja's arch enemy and throughout the series, as the character developed, so did the twists in the plot. Doctor Octagon has a major role in issue 20, which is not yet finished. Octagon has killed a lot of people, he's probably the second most ruthless villain in the series.
Next is Gold Dragon, who appeared in two issues and issue 20. Gold Dragon may not seen like a strong villain, but you will see why in issue 20. He was responsible for the death of some of the Ninja's friends, but not as many as Octagon. Then there is the Cricket, who also had two complete issues plus issue 20. The Cricket goes back to a character created by Dave James, one of the Marvel Role Players, but he allowed me to use him. The Cricket is a fun character because he is a complete clown. Full of wise cracks and arrogance. Plus talking insects are cool. He fronts the Cricket Corps (seems as if that word pops up a lot, its a comic book thing). It is with the Cricket Corps that I myself made myself a character in Doctor Itchyfinger, the Crickets science lackey. Look for me when I put that issue up. Doktor Apokalypse has only appeared in 2 issues. One of those issues was the long since lost Freedom Factor first issue. The only place you can see Freedom Factor any more is in issue 20. Apokalypse, Gold Dragon and the Ninja have a lot of intertwining issues, which I only began to touch on in the series.
    Now I get to Beetlemania, and I'm not talking about hysteria over a band from England. I know, it is a name even stupider than Space Ninja, but I got so used to it, I couldn't change it. Again, he is one of the rip-off villains that evolved into his own character. He was a lackey of Doctor Octagon who evolved into his own villain. He was in two issues in a row, that culminated in a massive bug battle (oh yeah). Right now I'm debating what to do with him as the stories develop, maybe I'll change his name, maybe I'll kill him. When you read the issues, you'll discover that the co-villians of Beetlemania are actually better than the man himself.
    What's in store for the future, well, issue 20 does a lot of loose end tying up. Who is this chick? You will find out in later issues. Who the hell is Samurai Sam? What is the deal with the Master and the Kaibab Ninja. Do you want to see a cigar smoking Mexican super hero named the Crimson Cape? What's the deal with the guy on the right?
Well if you actually are interested. Starting January, I will be posting encapsulized versions of the issues.  If you like it, you can E-Mail me and request I send you the ZIPped version of that issue.  I would post them on my server, but they are over a meg and a half in size.
    Want more gouge? Got more questions? Have suggestions? Send me an E-Mail