What's Better Than a Doctor? A Ninja Doctor!

I've periodically thought about making some kind of remark on the webcomic The Adventures of Dr. McNinja. Every time I do, though, I think of the fact that Chris Sims has probably said the best of what could be said.

But when I thought about it, I realized that there's a feature of the comic which Sims tends to gloss over that should not be overlooked: Dr. McNinja is a genuinely conflicted character.

"Of course he's conflicted!" you say. "He's an Irish-American ninja with a medical degree!"

What's remarkable about it, though, is that McNinja is a character of genuine pathos, whose inner self is revealed with a surprising level of subtlety. And, of course, far more remarkable is the fact that this occurs in the same comic which features a disease that transforms children into fifty-foot lumberjacks, ninja robot bears, and a ghost wizard that uses a spell called "Knife Attack" that makes the victim believe everything is made of knives.

These are not things that can normally coexist in the same fictional universe, much less the same story. Subtlety is not usually the trademark of a comic where a guy punches out snakes.

-Signing off, before I feel any sillier trying to talk about this than I do already.