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You know something? I’d honestly love to say I’m going to miss this title.
No, really, I would. Now that we are at the end of the story arc (again) it looks like we’re about to see the series close up shop for good (once again) and, well, I’d miss it.
I’d miss it if not for the fact it looks like there’s a fair chance that this is going to spin off into a third run with Pirates vs. Ninjas III (if rumor holds true, allegedly) so I guess there’s not much to miss here… since it’s, you know, coming back and all.

So since we’re not missing anything because it won’t go very far (maybe or maybe not) let’s sit down and relish the last two issues of the second run (which should be the end of Pirates vs. Ninjas II Volume 2 the Graphic Novel or Pirates vs. Ninjas Volume 3 depending on how they numbered it and all.

As we ended the last review it looked like there was only one way to fix the further troublesome antics caused by Mr. Montague (and his bringing the whole Viking slash Norse gods and that Valkrye chick into this by apparently stealing the “only in some dimensions does it carry the stamp of disapproval against those not worthy to wield” hammer of Thor) , and that was a shaky alliance between the Pirates and the Ninjas.

You know, since they were not faring too well separately maybe an alliance will help them fare better against the whole Viking onslaught thing. Right? After all at the start of Issue #6 they did catch up to Montague and his female ninja companion again, right? So that’s… no, wait, he’s the reason all of this is screwed up in the first place. Well, this can only be bad.

Anyway Issue #6 had abit of backstory filling in to do, including the actual reason the Vikings are in this past the whole hammer thing (hint, it has to do with the whole prelude thing from way back when with the start of this whole Pirates vs. Ninjas things in the past and what happened to one of the early lead combatants way back when).

So they’ve taken Montague to reveal all the loot and stuff he’s hidden from the end of the first Pirates vs. Ninjas (this time they managed to actually bind him up so he doesn’t try to escape—again), and as Issue #7 rolls in (oh, yeah, if you’re wondering there’s hinting about that Montague and his female ninja pal might be… yeah… if that turns into something oh damn will that be just horrible—or not—maybe) the engagement between Pirates vs. Ninjas vs. Vikings rolls into the highlands of the Vikings themselves (right up to their front door and into their “crib” no less in the snowy wastes of their territory.

Now before you think this is actually going to work out by the end of Issue #7 the Pirates and Ninjas are back to backstabbing and the once fruitful alliance begins to break down.
Issue #8? Well now that the alliance is on it’s way to doomsday (and the Vikings not yet anywhere near being defeated) it’s time to wonder if there really will be a Pirates vs. Ninjas III at this rate… or if this is all going to come to a bad bad end right now.

Whew! No Pirates vs. Ninjas III… I hope.
Because if it is, and yes Montague is not going to be disappointed with the way this ends (once the bad blood is spilled maybe something good can come from all this fighting that went on for all of 12 issues) it’s not going to be with the present hand dealt this volume.

One spoiler. None of the female cast, except maybe the Valkryie gets toasted in this series so… well… something is going to happen with them, just not anything lesbian in nature. No, not that.

So that’s it. Without saying too much we might still see some sort of ending. But how it ends may just be… well… you know what? Let’s not jinx ourselves here! It’s over, it wraps nicely, and that’s the way it should be. Something great happens and we come to a closure and things look great. And if there is a Pirates vs. Ninjas III it’s going to be something fresh and new.

In the end there is a nice payoff, and all that reading to get here really was worth it.
So my doubts aside… until that rumor about a Pirates vs. Ninjas III becomes real… dear god I hope not… I have to say in the end I was happy with this one once the smoke cleared and we saw how it ended. So, all doubts gone I’m going to score this one.

Loved the artwork (despite the fact it seemingly kept shifting throughout the run as I suppose Artists changed hands here and there), the story ties up nice and tight and with an ending that will make it worth the whole read (and I do mean the whole read from starting volley back in Pirates vs. Ninjas Volume 1 to the present end… which is either Pirates vs. Ninjas II Volume 2 or Pirates vs. Ninjas Volume 3 depending on how they marked it.

Either way now that it’s over I’m going to give it a good score.
In the end, Pirates vs. Ninjas II #7 to #8 (and indeed the whole of the II trilogy) gets 4 happily ever afters (if such a thing can really happen to Pirates, or Ninjas, or strange troublesome bookworms with a perchance for making things very wrong who ends up getting hooked up with a hot asian lady who turns out to be a ninja who… well, you’ll find out when you read it)… phew. Long story short (I know, too late) it gets a 4 out of 5. There. I said it. Nuff said. Now no more Pirates vs. Ninjas , I really really liked the way this ended and I don’t want to jinx it or anything—unless it was that curiously fun undead version from Holloween, that was cute. I could go for another round of that (and see if you can’t include that in the third graphic novel, Antarctic Press!!)

Pirates vs. Ninjas © Antarctic Press

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