Ninja Bear began as a joke, inspired by a cheap, plastic toy found in a dollar store.
The year was 1996. The weekly comic strip Stay as you are., in the works for about a year, was about to be unleashed on the public in the form of its first zine. But there might have been a problem of tone...
Grounded in reality and fastidiously analytical, there was a concern that its intellectual nature might be off-putting, the kind of comic strip produced by someone who refers to himself in the third person. To eliminate any whiff of pretension, the character of Ninja Bear was created.
Bloody, mindless, and primarily action-oriented, the dimunitive ursidae stood in stark contrast to the regular Stay as you are. strip, and necessitated an explanation. The characters of Brad the artist and his own subconscious were introduced (but not seen), appearing only as word balloons — Brad framed in a box, his subconscious in a wavy blob.
The year was 1996. The weekly comic strip Stay as you are., in the works for about a year, was about to be unleashed on the public in the form of its first zine. But there might have been a problem of tone...
Grounded in reality and fastidiously analytical, there was a concern that its intellectual nature might be off-putting, the kind of comic strip produced by someone who refers to himself in the third person. To eliminate any whiff of pretension, the character of Ninja Bear was created.
Bloody, mindless, and primarily action-oriented, the dimunitive ursidae stood in stark contrast to the regular Stay as you are. strip, and necessitated an explanation. The characters of Brad the artist and his own subconscious were introduced (but not seen), appearing only as word balloons — Brad framed in a box, his subconscious in a wavy blob.
They argued primarily about whether or not Brad would rather be drawing Ninja Bear instead of the smarter but less visually exciting fare, while Ninja Bear dispatched whichever villain he was facing in that episode. The dual-layered stories making fun of the cartoonist and his struggle against producing more populist material proved a hit, becoming the highlight of the strip amongst some fans. Brad usually lost the arguments as the Ninja Bear appearances continued throughout the years until the last Stay as you are. zine, when he was killed off.
Or so we thought...
Or so we thought...
After releasing his first novel, Lessons I'm Going To Teach My Kids Too Late, and the compilation The Complete Stay as you are., Brad was invited to attend VanCAF as an invited guest. Being surrounded by all that talent and creative energy for a weekend, he caught the drawing bug again. It was suggested that he should draw something new for next year, and the idea to revive Ninja Bear came to him 10 seconds later.
The Return of Ninja Bear!
The last Ninja Bear appearance in SAYA and the first two pages of Ninja Bear #1 — click to enlarge
Ninja Bear #1 wasn't really planned out. Initially, I thought it might be an 8 page folded zine I'd give away at conventions. But as I drew, I realized how much I was enjoying drawing again, so I kept going until I had enough material for a whole comic book.
I pulled ideas from everyday life, just like I used to do when I drew Stay as you are. I suppose 20 years of not venting on a weekly basis had built up. Anti-vaxxers, influencers, and Elon Musk buying Twitter all inspired episodes. The overarching quest to find and kill Qu'An-on was perfect — a mysterious, mostly-unseen villain working behind the scenes who could be responsible for any plausible or implausible situation? Yes, please. With Brad and his subconscious arguing about the whole thing, and even making live appearances? It's the Ninja Bear / Stay as you are. crossover we've all been waiting for!
I pulled ideas from everyday life, just like I used to do when I drew Stay as you are. I suppose 20 years of not venting on a weekly basis had built up. Anti-vaxxers, influencers, and Elon Musk buying Twitter all inspired episodes. The overarching quest to find and kill Qu'An-on was perfect — a mysterious, mostly-unseen villain working behind the scenes who could be responsible for any plausible or implausible situation? Yes, please. With Brad and his subconscious arguing about the whole thing, and even making live appearances? It's the Ninja Bear / Stay as you are. crossover we've all been waiting for!
If you have the comic, the back cover is a fold-in, like Al Jaffee did in Mad Magazine. When I drew it, I didn't know he would pass a few months later, but it became a nice tribute. And, as usual, I hid my own face in it. I didn't really consider it when I had the book printed with 100 lb. paper, so it's a bit tough to fold nicely.
