SUPER-CRAZY NINJA ACTION!
That was the tagline for Reckless Life: Locke and The Las Vegas Ninjas and I think this story does a pretty good job of delivering.
This is the first Reckless Life story that drops the melodrama (I was raised on the X-Men) in favor of straight-up fun. I won’t say I never looked back but this was definitely the story where Reckless Life decided it was an action-comedy, not just a beat ‘em up comic with some jokes.
This story was born, as many good comics are from the creator (me) just wanting to draw something fun. (Ninjas.) As anyone who knows me will attest I tend to overthink things, especially when I was younger and one of the beauties of this story is I really did just want to draw some super-crazy ninja action and then just went with it.
I also had fun leaning into the tropes, Should a cat burglar with no martial arts training be able to take on a horde of ninjas? What not? Why does he have a melee weapon all of a sudden? So he can get into ninja weapon fights? Is Donatello my favorite ninja turtle? WHY SO MANY QUESTIONS?
That was kind of my approach to writing this one and I threw the kitchen sink at it. I don’t recall where I came up with girl-on-girl robot battle or the big bad or the ninja-hooker but I’m pretty sure it was just me trying to have as much as possible. Hopefully, you agree.
The main henchmen was definitely my stab at a 90s anime character too. I feel like the long-haired swordsman in the trench coat was in every anime at that time so who am I to deny the people what they like?
The artwork once again takes a leap forward with the start of a new arc though there is a lot more computer-drawn stuff in this story than those before it and some of it looks pretty flat. That, like most things, gets better as the series progresses.
Until then, I hope you’re still ready for some SUPER-CRAZY NINJA ACTION and this tale leaves you ready to argue about who the best ninja turtle is.
(It’s Donatello.)