Ninja ( Serbian: Ninđa or Nindža) was a Yugoslav

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

published by

Dečje novine Dečje novine (; ''Children's newspaper'') was a publishing house based in Gornji Milanovac. It was known as the largest comics publisher of the former Yugoslavia. It also published books, magazines and sticker albums. They had almost exclusive ...

. Created in 1986, it was based on the series of

pulp novel Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

s of the same name written by Yugoslav writer Brana Nikolić.

Creation and publication history

Comics and pulp novels were very popular in former Yugoslavia. From 1971 to 1981, 11,611 issues were printed, a total of 717 million copies in the country of 22 million people. Following the

chopsocky Chopsocky (or chop-socky) is a colloquial term for martial arts films and kung fu films made primarily by Hong Kong action cinema between the late 1960s and early 1980s. The term was coined by the American motion picture trade magazine ''Variety'' ...

craze, comics and pulp novels about

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

s gained popularity in Yugoslavia. In 1982, writer Aleksandar Obradović and artists

Branislav Kerac Branislav "Bane" Kerac (born September 7, 1952, Novi Sad) is a Serbian comic book creator, known best for his series '' Cat Claw''. In the US he also published under his pseudonym H.M. Baker. Credits in American comics include '' The Black Pearl'' ...

(

pencil A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage, and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail ...

) and

Branko Plavšić Branko Plavšić (1949 – 2011) was a Serbian comic book artist, best known for his work on ''Tarzan'' and '' Blek''. Professional career Still a student, Plavšić published his early drawings in ''Male novine'' (Oslobođenje, Sarajevo). Ins ...

(

ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thi ...

) created a ninja character named Fred Nolan, who debuted in the 40th issue of the

comic magazine Comic magazine may refer to: * Comics anthology * ''Comic Magazine'', a 1986 Japanese film * Comic Magazines, the parent company of Quality Comics * Franco-Belgian comics magazines * Japanese manga magazines * A periodical containing comic strips, ...

''YU strip'', published by

. The second episode of the comic came out in issue #56 in 1983, this time written by

Svetozar Obradović Svetozar Obradović Toza (12 November 1950 – 15 August 2020) was a Serbian writer, best known for his comic books. He also wrote articles, essays, stories, books and radio dramas. Professional career Obradović debuted with ''Lieutenant Tara ...

. In 1983, Dečje novine started publishing pulp novels from the ''Ninja Master'' series, written by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

writer

Richard Meyers Richard Bowman Myers (born March 1, 1942) is a retired four-star general in the United States Air Force who served as the 15th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As chairman, Myers was the highest ranking uniformed officer of the United Stat ...

. Six Meyers' stories were published before Dečje novine entrusted Yugoslav writer Brana Nikolić with the creation of new ninja stories. Nikolić, writing under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Derek Finegan, created a hero named Leslie Eldridge, who debuted in the story entitled "Washington, D.C.", published as the continuation of Meyers' series. From 1983 to 1998, more than 150 stories were published, gaining huge popularity. Leslie Eldridge debuted in comics in 1986, in the 485th issue of the comic magazine ''Eks almanah'', also published by Dečje novine. From 1986 to 1989, 28 black-and-white stories were published (some of them in sequels), most of them written by Svetozar Obradović, Dragan Stokić Rajački "Rajac" and Petar Aladžić and drawn by Stokić Rajački and Miodrag Ivanović "Mikica". The only episodes not created by the mentioned artists were episodes "Ninja protiv jakuza ("Ninja vs.

Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

", published in the 513th issue of ''Eks almanah''), which was written by Miodrag Krstić and drawn by his brother Vladimir Krstić, and the last episode of the comic, "U ime starog prijateljstva" ("In the Name of the Old Friendship"), which was signed by Branislav Kerac and

Sibin Slavković Sibin Slavković (b. 1953, Žunjevići, Yugoslavia) is a Serbian comic book artist, illustrator and editor. Professional career Since making a debut in '' Politikin zabavnik'' in 1973, Slavković worked as a comic book writer and artist for maj ...

. The ''Ninja'' comic ended when ''Eks almanah'' magazine folded with 538th issue, due to the collapse of the Yugoslav economy. In 1991, ''Ninđa''

sticker album A sticker album is a book in which collectable stickers are stuck into designated sections. Sticker album themes can be sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup, English Premier League or TV shows, Movies, Animals or Music. Panini were the fi ...

was published. The album was essentially a

comic album a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

, with stickers filling in empty panels. The comic was signed by Kerac, Slavković and Plavšić. In 2019, Serbian publisher Forma B printed a comic album with the collection of ''Ninja'' episodes drawn by Miodrag Ivanović."Predstavljanje integrala 'Šrafko' i 'Nindža' u Somboru!", Strip Blog
/ref> In 2021, Cultural Center Zoran Radmilović from

Zaječar Zaječar ( sr-Cyrl, Зајечар, ; ro, Zaicear or ) is a city and the administrative center of the Zaječar District in eastern Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the city administrative area has a population of 59,461 inhabitants. Zaječar ...

published a collection of episodes written by Rajački.

Fictional character

In Brana Nikolić's pulp novels, the titular hero named Leslie Eldridge (Serbian: Lesli Eldridž) is a ninja based in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. Other characters include his lover Sumiko and best friend Tabasco Pete. However, in comics Leslie usually acts alone and only occasionally teams-up with Sumiko, a ninja herself. In episode "Povratak iz mrtvih" ("Back from the Dead") (written by Obradović and published in 1987 in the 490th issue of ''Eks almanah''), it was revealed that the Ninja's

birth name A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth r ...

was actually Dick Flanders. Left for dead, Dick returned from Japan as a ninja and got his revenge on his brother, who had tried to murder him. With a new name, he became a masked vigilante, fighting American mobsters, human traffickers and foreign warlords, but also demons, cyborgs and other ninja.

List of episodes

All episodes were published in ''Eks almanah'': * "Gospodar zla" ("Master of Evil") * "Paklena noć" ("Hell of a Night") * "Klan Tomosuke" ("Tomosuke Clan") * "Duh planine Đotaro" ("Ghost of the Jotaro Mountain") * "Povratak iz mrtvih" ("Back from the Dead") * "Novi saveznik" ("New Ally") * "Neuspela osveta" ("Failed Revenge") * "Policajci" ("Policemen") * "Vraćeno pamćenje" ("Memory Returns") * "Skinute maske" ("Masks Taken Off") * "Kamakura" * "U carstvu podzemlja" ("In the Empire of the Underground") * "Mrtvac koji hoda"("Dead Man Walking") * "Susret sa klovnom" ("Encounter with the Clown") * "Kad sunce udari u glavu" ("Sunstroke") * "Nepobedivi Danijel" ("The Invincible Daniel") * "Dah pustinje" ("Breath of the Desert") * "Ninja protiv jakuza" ("Ninja vs.

") * "Demoni ipak postoje" ("Demons Do Exist") * "Paklena kutija" ("Hell Box") * "Ukus smrti" ("The Taste of Death") * "Veliki dan malog muvca" ("The Big Day of the Little Fly") * "Senka pravde" ("Shadow of Justice") * "Noćni letač" ("Night Flyer") * "Krvavi lov" ("Blood Hunt") * "Pljačka u kockarnici" ("Casino Robbery") * "Sinovi velikog zmaja" ("Sons of the Great Dragon") * "U ime starog prijateljstva" ("In the Name of the Old Friendship")

References

{{Reflist Serbian comics titles Yugoslav comics titles Serbian comics characters Ninja comics Fantasy comics Fictional ninja Fictional swordfighters in comics 1986 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1986 1989 comics endings Vigilante characters in comics

Creation and publication history

Fictional character

List of episodes

See also

References