The Adventures of Dr. McNinja is a webcomic written and drawn by Christopher Hastings, and inked formerly by Kent Archer and after 2010 by Hastings himself. Published three times a week on its own website, it features the fictional adventures of a character named Dr. McNinja, a thirty-five-year-old doctor who is also a ninja. Dr. McNinja is highly story-driven, with twenty- to ninety-page issues. The first story was published in the summer of 2004 as a one-off, and the comic was published regularly from 2005 to 2017.
The Adventures of Dr. McNinja is a member of Dayfree Press.
History
In 2003, when Chris Hastings was a forum member of Something Awful Forums, his screen name was "Dr. McNinja". During a drawing contest involving a characterization of user screen names, Hastings drew an image of Dr. McNinja behind his desk with a sword on his wall and a speech bubble reading, "Should anyone need the services of a ninja or a doctor, my office is always open." Shortly afterward, Chris made a full-length comic about McNinja for an art class.
Strips were presented in a high contrast black-and-white, and then for a period of time were shaded digitally. Starting on 11 August 2008, comics began to be drawn in full color, provided by Carly Monardo (the author's wife). On February 9, 2009, Monardo stepped down to focus on her job on The Venture Bros., and Anthony "Nedroid" Clark replaced Monardo.
List of characters
McNinja family and associates
Dr. Patrick McNinja A cliché ninja as well as a practicing medical doctor whose medical expertise ranges from general medicine to podiatry and dentistry. He is usually seen wearing slacks, a button-down shirt and tie, a lab coat, a ninja mask, and a stethoscope around his neck. He is 35 years old. Though Dr. McNinja's full face is never seen, he has blue eyes and auburn eyebrows.
Gordito Delgado A 12-year-old Mexican boy whom Dr. McNinja took on as a sidekick at the end of the third storyline. His last name, Delgado, was revealed on his grave stone on Hastings' April Fool's page. His first name means "little fatty" in Spanish, while the last name is the Spanish adjective for "thin" (Making his name an oxymoron).
Judy A large gorilla and Dr. McNinja's secretary and receptionist. She is extremely strong and possesses intelligence comparable to a human; she cannot speak, but she can not only understand spoken English but also read and write and even perform emergency first aid and blood transfusions. She can also communicate with sign language and operate machinery.
Yoshi Dr. McNinja's Velociraptor, named after the Nintendo character Yoshi. Yoshi can be more accurately described as a Deinonychus, and should be portrayed with feathers, but Chris Hastings has stated in the alt-text of "There is a Raptor in My Office" on page 7 that this confuses his brain and he is just going by the Jurassic Park version.
Dan McNinja Dr. McNinja's father, an Irish-American ninja who is disappointed by his son's choice to be a doctor.
Mitzi McNinja Dr. McNinja's mother, a Jewish-American "convert" to the McNinja clan who strongly disapproves of her son's choice to be a doctor.
Sean "Dark Smoke Puncher" McNinja Dr. McNinja's younger brother, named after the author's brother, Sean Hastings.
Old McNinja One of many clones of Dr. McNinja created by Ben Franklin II. He became a farmer and expert in agricultural science.
Antagonists
Donald McBonald An evil mime who owns a fast-food empire and is similar to Ronald McDonald in appearance but with blue hair and thinner red makeup. Initially, Hastings actually used the famous character, but as the comic became more popular he retroactively altered the character's name and appearance to avoid any future copyright issues.
Frans Rayner An enemy of Dr. McNinja who appears to be inspired by parodies of Michael Dudikoff – especially the American Ninja movies – and Jean-Claude Van Damme in movies such as Bloodsport.
Dr. Knickerbockers A dwarf scientist who works for Frans Rayner.
Dracula An old Transylvanian vampire and an homage to Count Dracula.
Hortense Dr. McNinja's athletic redheaded ninja ex-girlfriend from college.
King Radical Formerly Sir Sicknasty of Spades and Chuck Goodrich, a crime boss that dresses in a style similar to a stereotypical king, the Burger King mascot, or the Joker on a playing card.
Sparklelord An evil unicorn and King Radical's primary antagonist.