Ninja High School

Ninja High School (also known as NHS) is a comic book series created, written, and illustrated by Ben Dunn, published by Antarctic Press (at one point being published by Eternity Comics). On occasion other artists and writers have contributed to the series, including Katie Bair, Fred Perry, Robby Bevard, Carlos Castro, and Fabian Doles.

NHS takes place in a suburban town known as Quagmire, located "somewhere in the Midwest". The series originally centered on the misadventures of Jeremy Feeple, a 16-year-old boy attending Quagmire High School; an alien princess named Asrial from a planet called Salusia; and a young female ninja named Ichi-kun Ichihonei, from Japan. As the series progressed, more backstory was given to the main characters, and a large cast was created. Most of the cast are manga archetypes of varying degrees.

NHS started out as a limited series that mainly parodied famous anime and manga conventions. Rumiko Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura appears to be the main influence, although the title "Ninja High School" was commonly used in the 1980s to refer to Fujihiko Hosono's series Sasuga no Sarutobi, which was actually about a high school for ninja students.^{[citation needed]} Later story arcs became more serious, delving into murder, drugs, and other more mature subjects.

After its initial four-issue run, the comic was popular enough to become a full series, currently totaling over 160 issues (as well as two limited series, Ninja High School V2 and Quagmire USA and the color limited series The Prom Formula). There were also two-issue furry parodies, Furry Ninja High School and Furry Ninja High School Strikes Back. Fan-contributed editions of the series include the Ninja High School Yearbook and Ninja High School Swimsuit Edition.

While not reaching great heights in critical or financial success, Ninja High School is one of few successful, long running manga-styled comics produced in the United States.

Ninja High School was initially published as a three issue miniseries by Dunn's own Antarctic Press in 1987, followed by an issue #4 in January 1988 described on the cover as "Now a regular series!" In 1988, Eternity Comics collected the miniseries, along with a new part four, into a "graphic novel" in preparation for the ongoing series. The ongoing series began bi-monthly with issue #5 in June 1988, running a total of 35 issues until issue #39 in August 1993. During the period Eternity was publishing the title, the company published several NHS limited series and spin-offs, including a Ninja High School: Special Edition (re-releasing the original mini-series with new art, reprinting "part four" of the graphic novel as issue #3.5, and reprinting issue #4), Ninja High School in Color (1992–1993), and a two-issue intercompany crossover with NOW Comics' Speed Racer in 1993. When Eternity shut down, Antarctic Press took over publication of NHS starting with an issue #0 in May 1994. Resuming the numbering with issue #40, Antarctic published 137 issues, ending with issue #175 in August 2009. Story continuity was "reset" three times, between issues #57 and #58, issues #74 and #75, and issues #129 and #130.

During this period, NHS crossed over with its fellow Antarctic Press title, Gold Digger; Antarctic has since published many associated one-shots and limited series.

Issue #74 (publication date April 2000) of the original series completed the Jeremy storylines, and in 1999–2000, Antarctic published a twelve-issue NHS Volume 2, focusing on Jeremy's younger brother, Ricky. Set four years after Ninja High School #74, Volume 2 reset continuity so that Ninja High School #1-74 took place in 1989, not 1986. NHS Volume 2, therefore (as well as all issues of NHS after issue #75+) took place in the 1990s.