Go, Ninjago!

Good morning, spawn campers! Its Wednesday, November 16, 2011, I have a mighty beard, and this is The Side. Yes indeedy, I'm doing the No Shave November, which is very useful in reminding me why I like to remain clean shaven. Yes, I am talking about my face, you pervos. Its pretty much the consensus that I do indeed look good with a beard. It is nice to not have to deal with keep my face shaved, because like most dudes, I don't like going through the hassle. The itching that tends to go along with growing a beard doesn't really bother me. Still, it feels like I'm wearing a mask and its not really me. Oh well, we're past the half way point in the month, so I'll be staying ruggedly good-looking for a couple weeks yet.

In other news, I've been asked to review something that isn't software, or a pheromone based cologne. Its early review time. PARTY!

COMIX!

Having two little rugrats who like comics, I'm always on the lookout for something that they might like. So, when I was asked to check out the LEGO NINJAGO graphic novel, I jumped at the chance. Its from Papercutz, the same company that's released the SMURFS comics, so that's got my attention. Before reading this I had no clue about anything with Lego's Ninjago line of toys. In fact, those who know me know that my stance is mostly anti-ninja. This book already had an uphill battle ahead of it in winning me over.

The book is a solidly written piece. Going in with no knowledge of the Ninjago mythos, I got a quick and painless crash course in everything I needed to know. In fact, I've fairly confident that I can now execute some basic Spinjitzu techniques. The story itself from Greg Farshtey is nice and straight forward. The artwork by Paulo Henrique and Laurie E. Smith is well done and managed to bring a lot of life and character to the little Lego dudes running around. It's a simple book, but a fun one. After reading it, I'm completely comfortable in letting my little girls read it.

The big question is: will my little girls want to read it? As far as Legos go, their main experience with the line is the LEGO BATMAN game for the Wii. They love that. I showed them the book, and they eagerly flipped through it. They liked it. One of them wanted to take it to bed with her so she could read it a bit before bedtime. Of course, she couldn't because mean, old daddy has a review to write, so maybe tomorrow.

Bottom line: if you've got kids who like fun and action in their stories, then this is a great book for them.

MUSIC!

Today, we're gonna party like its Windows 95!



That's a wrap for this go around. I'll see y'all Friday.