Nth Man: the Ultimate Ninja #6 (December 1989)

The 1980s were a good time to be one Larry Hama. He made his name on Marvel's G.I. Joe tie-in title, and he was also working for the House of Ideas as an editor, working on Crazy (a Marvel humor magazine in the vein of Mad magazine), the Conan the Barbarian titles, and another title that we've seen on this blog: The 'Nam. If you want to learn more about how The 'Nam came about, I recommend looking at my review of The 'Nam #52 (January 1991).

It was during this time writing G.I. Joe that Hama also worked on another book for Marvel: Nth Man: the Ultimate Ninja. It told the tale of a man known only as John Doe. Doe was an orphan raised by "Doc" Irving Yagyu, an elderly Japanese man...who worked for the CIA. Doe grew up to be the titular "Ultimate Ninja", who faced off against Alfie O'Meagan, childhood friend who went mad due to his having psychic powers that grew to allow him to mess with reality itself. The characters first appeared in Marvel Comics Presents #25 (August 1989).

The series was actually meant to go for twenty-four issues, but only lasted 16. Despite this, Hama was able to resolve the storylines in the book (thanks to a one year timeskip). Ron Wagner, the artist of the book for its entire run, blamed the book's lack of costumed superheroes and it also not being part of the mainstream Marvel Universe. However, the book's character would appear in the mainstream Marvel Universe...thanks to Excalibur. The UK-set X-Men spinoff team would enter the world of Nth Man in Excalibur #27 (August 1990). In that comic, the titular team would end up coming to the Nth Man's world thanks to the antics of the mad reality warper Jamie Braddock.

Since then, the Nth Man has become an obscure book. And since I picked up an issue of it in the back issue bins at a mall comic shop, I figured I'd give it some attention and spotlight. So, let's take a look at Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja #6!

The cover is awesome. It's a Ron Wagner piece. We have a giant Alfie O'Meagan sitting on Lincoln's chair at his memorial, and soldiers firing at him. It helps give an idea of just how powerful the psychic man is, and I find it interesting that he's wearing civilian clothing on the cover. You'll see what I mean.

"Switching Channels"
Writer: Larry Hama
Penciler: Ron Wagner
Inker: Fred Fredericks
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Mark Chiarello
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with what looks like a madly-grinning Galactus going King Kong on some jet planes in Washington DC.

"Oh dear, Galactus ate an alcohol planet again..."

"Galactus" then shrinks himself down and enters the Lincoln Monument. He removes his helmet, revealing himself to be a wild-eyed man with dark hair, who then proceeds to behead the statue of Abraham Lincoln, and then sit in his chair.

"ORF WIV 'IS 'EAD!"

Meet Alfred "Alfie" O'Meagan, a man with psychic powers so great he can warp reality. His name is also a bit of a pun. Alfie O'Meagan. Get it? Alpha and Omega. Hur hur hur, it's funny. Anyway, Alfie wants to free the entire world, and he's angry that people are trying to stop him from doing so. He produces a remote and creates a giant TV. The soldiers remark that he looks like a comic book character from the 60s. Yeah, this comic is not set in the mainstream Marvel Universe, much like The 'Nam originally was.

The soldiers discover that Alfie is using the TV set to hack into the CIA's database at Langley, Virginia. In particular, he's trying to find information on himself. We next shift scenes to Russia. There, a group of Russian Spetsnaz soldiers are checking out a barn. But why are these Russian Special Forces checking out a barn? Well, there's some people hiding out in said barn.

Lead farmers tend to be a bit on the paranoid side.

The white-haired man is John Doe, aka the titular Nth Man. He's hiding out there with his friends Irving "Doc" Yagyu, Debra "Deb" Levins, and a boy named Sasha. Sasha freaks out and pulls a flare gun on John, worried that he's going to attack more Russians. Deb pulls her assault rifle on the boy, but John is able to calm them down. He's going to try and defuse the situation...hopefully without killing anyone.

"Does...does he think we're playing American Football here?!"

John tries to tell the soldiers that he's just a farmer (While hoping they're impressed by his abs. He worked hard on them). However, they're not buying it. He's not dressed like a farmer, for one thing. His boots clearly came from a KGB officer, and the accent he's using is a Moscow one. They think he's a deserter and is about to pump the Ultimate Ninja full of lead. However, ol' Johnny has a cool ninja trick up his sleeve. Cover your eyes, Sasha.

NINJA MAGIC IS REEEEEEEEEAL!

John seemingly flips the world upside down, confusing the Spetnaz men. He hopes Alfie liked that little trick. Back in Washington, Alfie's trying to read the stuff he picked up from the CIA's database. However, it ended up upside down. He still can read it, but it makes no sense to him. Something about a Program Omega. The screen suddenly goes to static, and Alfie angrily smacks his TV. It switches to another program, and Alfie grumbles that his subconscious is picking the channel again.

Underrated sitcom, right here.

Welcome to the latest episode of "The Continuing Adventures of John and Alfie at the Orphanage". It's a neat way to transition into a flashback. We see a truck arriving at the orphanage. A young John Doe is eager and excited. The mailman is here! He gives Mr. Biggot, the head of the orphanage, a check from the state. The money is intended to help fund the orphanage, but the mailman hints that Biggot is lining his own pockets with it. The mailman has a surprise for John: A little package.

A happy Doe takes the parcel back to the playground area, where he meets a young Alfie O'Meagan. The two boys are friends, you see. A young Alfie is also a big of a comic-book fan, enjoying himself an issue of the Fantastic Four. He marvels about how tough Galactus is. Alfie is excited. You see, Doe had gotten himself a pack of toy soldiers sold in the ads of a comic book. Back in the day, they did ads like that.

The boys discover that the toy soldiers are just flat figures, barely resembling the pictures in the ad. Alfie feels like Doe was ripped off. Should've put his money in comic books. Alfie has a complete run of Fantastic Four comics. Could be worth money someday. Depends on the era, kid. And if you keep them in good shape. Doe doesn't mind. After all, you get what you pay for.

Alfie puts a bucket over his head and proclaims that he is Galactus, the Devourer of Planets. He starts stomping on the flat little soldiers. Doe is unhappy about this, as he still wanted the toy soldiers. Another pair of boys, one fat and the other skinny with a bird-like nose approach him and ask why John is just letting Alfie stomp on his army men. The white-haired boy is very Zen about it, saying that Alfie can't help himself, and they're just cheap plastic toy soldiers.

The fat boy is disgusted by this, and decides that he needs to teach John a lesson...in the form of a beating. Alfie just watches and is all like "Aww, you're not really that badly hurt, Johnny!" Alfie thinks John is trying to guilt-trip him, and he's not falling for it. He flips the TV upside down, and decides to watch something more entertaining: One Col. Vavara Navikova, KGB. She's been pursuing the Nth Man across Russia.

Yes, she is wearing that dress while in an area that could be a warzone.

Anyway, she's working with two Americans: One Colonel Darling, and a Sergeant Marvin Sargent. Yes, Sergeant Sargent. I bet Larry Hama was laughing his head off when he wrote that. It is rather funny. The three are examining some dead Chinese soldiers and abandoned equipment. Sargent notes that the men were killed by Spetsnaz men with silenced weaponry. Their wounds point to the usage of subsonic ammunition. They also wired the vehicles with plastic explosives to avoid burning the vehicles (as the smoke would give them away). Sargent examines some nearby footprints, and notes based on them that they're looking for a man wearing KGB officer's boots. Funny name aside, Sergeant Sargent is awesome. He's got that Holmesian vibe I think is cool.

Hey, wasn't our titular character wearing a pair of said boots? Well, yes...but turns out there's another man who owns a pair of boots like those himself.

"Call me Longface again! I DARE YOU!"

Meet Captain Alexander Ivanovich Soloviev, KGB Spetsburo. Basically, the assassination bureau. He's a world-class sniper, and he's got his sniper scope aimed at the Nth Man. You see, Soloviev has a bit of a crush on Navikova. And he wants to take out the Nth Man, hoping it will impress her. Alfie sees Soloviev about to pull the trigger, and is furious. "NOBODY KILLS JOHN DOE BUT ME!" He angrily shoves his hand into the ground. The soldiers in Washington see that he's distracted.

Back in Russia, Alfie's hand erupts from the ground, stopping Soloviev's bullet.

Talk about your Hand of God!

Alfie broke John's concentration, and the Spetsnaz men start firing. As Doe himself says, "So much for non-violent appeasement!" Deb and Doc Yagyu start firing at the Spetsnaz men. Alfie starts attacking the Russian soldiers. One of the men fires an RPK at the barn, hitting Doc.

"AGH, MY GOOD PEC!"

John is furious, and gives the RPK's user a broken neck for it. John fires at the men with the gun, lamenting that he never wanted to hurt anyone. Soloviev decides to take another tactic. If he can't hit the Nth Man...well, his friends will make good targets. Back in Washington DC, a distracted Alfie is hit in the shoulder by a bazooka, making him retract his hand.

The enraged Alfie starts stomping on the American soldiers as John shoots at the Russians. Soloviev manages to hit Deb in the shoulder, badly wounding her. Things seemingly calm down as Navikova, Darling, and Sargent arrive. Doc Yagyu has a surgical kit, so he can try to help Deb. She should have listened to him and wore some body armor like he does. Back in Washington DC, Alfie smirks and says John got ripped off, the dead soldiers on his foot paralleling his stomping on Doe's toy soldiers when they were boys.

"Aww, they got blood on my boot."

I enjoyed this comic, although I will admit, I did feel a little bit lost sometimes. I did feel a bit of confusion over who some of these characters were. Although to be fair, this was a comic in the middle of a story, and these characters are not exactly well-known. Also, I think Hama was showing a bit of fondness for puns in the book. One of the characters is called Sergeant Sargent, and the character of Vavara Navikova? Wearing that dress in a warzone? Va-va-va-voom. Heh heh.

I did like the parallel between the giant Alfie stomping on the real soldiers and his child self stomping on John Doe's toy soldiers. Nice way of showing that even though Alfie has grown up, he is still the same kid he always was, never truly matured.

The art is very good. One detail I did like was the panels flipping around when John Doe did his little mind trick on the Russian soldiers. I thought it was a nice way of showing what the soldiers were going through from their perspective.

Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja has never been collected in trade, as far as I know. As such, if you want to read this yourself, you'll just have to search the back issue bins of your local comic shop. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you like it, spread it around! Join me next time, when we join...the Captain America Corps?!