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SYRACUSE — Sometimes, all it takes is a little ambition.
In 2011, Blake Hansen, a medical student living in Syracuse, created a strategic board game that featured cowboys in a shootout. After testing it out on friends, he realized he wanted to improve upon it and make it into something bigger. He worked on refining the game for months before reaching out to cartoonist, Christopher Hastings. Hastings is the author of Marvel’s “Fear Itself: Deadpool” and is the the creator of “Dr. McNinja” — a favorite comic book series of Hansen’s.
“I’ve been a long time fan of this comic,” Hansen said. “It’s actually very well done, very humorous and typically very clean, so all around it’s a great comic,” Hansen said.
Initially, Hastings received the cowboy-shootout version of the game from Hansen, with the proposition that they could work together to make it into a “Dr. McNinja” themed game. After playing the prototype game with friends, Hastings agreed to the collaboration.
“Dr. McNinja” is the story of, not surprisingly, an Irish doctor who is also a ninja encountering everything from Count Dracula to zombies and raptors. Anything can happen in the comic book, and the game plays off of the idea that “if something crazy can happen, it must.”
“I really enjoyed the way it breaks down this storytelling style into a game that anybody can recreate and have their own fun with,” Hastings said.
The two have finished the design and "Dr. McNinja's Legendary Showdown" is ready to print after getting funding, which they hope to obtain independently through Kickstarter.*
Hastings is no stranger to going about his dreams in an ambitious and independent or creative way. “Dr. McNinja” is the result of such.
While attending the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Hastings realized his drawing skills were not up-to-par to Marvel or DC standards. So he shifted his focus to writing great text for his “competent” drawings. Soon, “Dr. McNinja” was born and his teachers confirmed that he was a gifted writer. After sending out pitches to various publishers and not hearing anything back, he developed a simple website and started publishing his comics online.
“I got tired of waiting from some publisher’s permission to make comics” he said.
Now, Hastings has a book deal for his comic, releases three “Dr. McNinja” cartoons a week, is writing "Longshot Saves The Marvel Universe" for Marvel and illustrates the “Galaga” comics.
For the game, Hastings has used images from the comics, remastering some, and drawn all new images. Each of the character cards uses humor to describe the characters that people who have not read the comics may be familiar with, Hansen said.
“(A) 12-year-old gun-slinging raptor-riding bandito who grew a mustache through sheer force of will,” reads the character card for Bandito.
For more information, check out the "Dr. McNinja" website or their Kickstarter campaign page.
*ksl.com has not verified the accuracy of the information provided with respect to the account nor does ksl.com assure that the monies deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
