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That’s right, Yumiko can speak – sometimes.

The KickStarter is still on target to meet our goal, but I’m a greedy jerk and want more. More!

When we meet our goal, NN4B will have a bonus update. And for every $1,000 we go above our goal, we’ll do ANOTHER double update. If we reach $10,000, that’s a month of bonus updates. Crazy!

Thanks to everyone who has already backed our project. We’re working really hard on getting this book ready to meet our promised deadline, and we are cutting no corners in making sure it’s a book we can be proud of! Spread the word, get more comics!

Published on December 7, 2014 by Joseph Kovell

charles81

Nataku, to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.

Ken knows how a good Kabuki play ends.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Oh, you’re quoting Wrath of Kahn! Wait, that’s not where those lines originated from??
  - charles81
    
    Moby Dick. The book most well known for telling the story of a man with unrelenting hatred and quest for revenge to the point that it is all which constitutes one’s life and purpose.
    
    “Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale!”
    - charles81
      
      Probably more popular than the following quote promoting friendship and harmony… or not as the case may be:
      
      “Squeeze! Squeeze! Squeeze! all the morning long; I squeezed that sperm till I myself almost melted into it; I squeezed that sperm till a strange sort of insanity came over me, and I found myself unwittingly squeezing my co-labourers’ hands in it, mistaking their hands for the gentle globules. Such an abounding, affectionate, friendly, loving feeling did this avocation beget; that at last I was continually squeezing their hands, and looking up into their eyes sentimentally, as much as to say,—Oh! my dear fellow beings, why should we longer cherish any social acerbities, or know the slightest ill humour or envy! Come; let us squeeze hands all round; nay, let us all squeeze ourselves into each other; let us squeeze ourselves universally into the very milk and sperm of kindness.”
      - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
        
        That particular passage did not, perhaps, age as well as others. Or maybe it aged wonderful, depending on your perspective! Either way, I’m still grinning stupidly.
  - Hfar
    
    It is indeed very cold in space…
Flaming Squirrel

Agreed! You don’t let stuff like that go. You punch it. Hard. With a sword.
- Sam DunKley
  
  When you do it with a sword it’s called stabbing. See, you punch it *first*, then stab it, then you get *creative*.
  - Xinef
    
    But punching with a sword and stabbing with your fists is fun!
    - Sam DunKley
      
      There will be no fist-stabbing! Does this look like Bleach?!
      - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
        
        why’s anyone need to fist stab in Bleach when their swords are literally soul linked to them? Wait, I forgot that literally anything goes in Bleach!
Nameless Marauder

Bad-Ass level up!
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Jerk-move level up! (It was kind of a jerk move, gotta admit!)
  - Nameless Marauder
    
    Not really, if you account everything, he believed he was the sole survivor, revenge is the only thing that drive him right now, not only add insult to injury he got owned by the very guy he wanted dead, the other sole member of his clan bested him in combat and still that very member chose to stay hidden. Unlike her, he can’t let it go, after all…
    
    Quoting Agent Smith:
    
    “There is no escaping reason; no denying purpose. Because as we both know, without vengeance, he would not exist. It is vengeance that created him. Vengeance that connect him. Vengeance that pulls him. That guides him. That drives him. It is vengeance that defines him. Vengeance that bind him. He is here because of it, Vengeance!”
    - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
      
      Certainly in his own mind, Ken is doing the right thing, and he’s got plenty of motivation to walk out on Yumiko! There’s also the potential benefit he can be to the main cast as extra muscle in a fight. But it’s not like he decided to stay and explain his complex ooey-gooey feelings to her, he just got up and left!
      - Nameless Marauder
        
        About that, isn’t time for him to get a time traveler helper too? He needs to man up a bit, perhaps someone annoying like the 3D glasses black dude all in white, he could wreck him a little, after that make some cryptic comments and finally do a Morpheus stunt on him like
        
        “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill — the story ends, you live up as a drunkard and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill — you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes”
        
        Also i’m quoting Matrix far too much, maybe i need to watch Clockwork Orange or Goonies again to get back to the classics….
      - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
        
        Oh nono, quoting The Matrix is totally acceptable, it’s one of my top ten favorite movies, easily my number 1 favorite action movie of all time.
      - Nameless Marauder
        
        Matrix 1 & 2 are nice and very memorable, i treat Matrix 3 the same way as Mass Effect 3 the creators were drunk when they made it, therefore is non-canon.
      - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
        
        I would argue that Matrix 1 is a masterpiece of an action film, while Matrix 2 was a plodding, convoluted mess of nonsense with a couple of standout fight scenes (namely the chateau fight and highway chase), and Matrix 3 was a plodding, convoluted mess of nonsense with NO memorable fight scenes and a self important ending that made me hate it to death.
      - KungFuKlobber
        
        But Matrix 3 had that one memorable fight scene with ha ha ha, no it didn’t. Because they only spent about 20 minutes in the Matrix. That’s more screen time than Batman got in The Dark Knight Rises, but it’s still nowhere near enough!
IDPounder

Ken may say he has no need for Bushido, but it sure seems like he’s taken Chushingura to heart.
- Thiago Kurovski
  
  He is actually the most honorable character of the comic: an orphan fighting to avenge his detroyed clan. It’s just his sense of honor is a little… okay, maybe a lot… actually, make that extremely warped.
  - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
    
    I don’t know if he’s honorable so much as he’s vengeful! He doesn’t seem to care about how his actions are perceived by others and he doesn’t follow any particular code of chivalry. He’s a big jerk! If only Yumiko knew! I guess she knows now, actually.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  He doesn’t seem like the type who’d end his vengeance mission with a bit of seppuku, though.
  - Xinef
    
    Maybe he’d drink himself dead? Or he’d try and fail?
Jonathan B

I find myself just wanting to hug Yumiko after that. Both of their responses to things make sense. And I still suspect there are ways she’s fought that Ken doesn’t know yet.
- Thiago Kurovski
  
  Leave the Yumiko-hugging to Ken, you clan-reviving-kunoichi-wife-stealer!
  - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
    
    It’s cool, Yumiko’s very selective about who get to hug her.
  - Jonathan B
    
    As far as clan revival goes, Ken can revive the clan with any female, can’t he? His children would bear the Daisuke name.
    
    Whether Yumiko’s children would bear the Daisuke name becomes more complicated, possibly depending on the rank of her family in the Daisuke clan and the relative rank of any potential suitors other than Ken, plus anything specified in the marriage agreements. My knowledge of feudal Japan is too shallow to know for sure if there are cases of females retaining clan name after marriage, and what circumstances are required, so the latter part is guessing.
    - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
      
      Generally speaking, it was common enough practice to adopt into or inherit a clan name if you could prove you had even the slightest bit of blood ancestry, which resulted in a lot of people faking it. Since the class system was so rigid, name inheritance was one of the few ways to move up in station. Although I suppose that’s more Tokugawa shogunate era, during the Senguko era, just being a badass and taking a lot of heads on the battlefield could get you promoted to samurai class.
      - Jonathan B
        
        Awesome. So I just need a badly burned document that appears to vaguely hint that my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather’s brother married a woman whose clan name started with Dai, the rest of which is sadly burned away. Add in an heirloom pottery shard that has a fargment of a mark on it that might possibly be the tail of a dragon (and totally isn’t a bird’s wing) and I’m good to go!
      - Jonathan B
        
        Granted this would also mean Nine-fingers would want to kill me then, but you take the bad with the good, right?
      - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
        
        Nataku’s pretty into killing whoever, so I don’t know if you’d be in any greater danger around him.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  They’re simple, wildly conflicted people, theses Daisuke.
Hfar

*jaw to the floor*
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  We did not intend to shatter your mind!
  - jwkovell
    
    I did. It’s my top priority!
    - Hfar
      
      *le gasp* Now it becomes clear! You…you…you breaker of minds you!
    - Mike
      
      “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it…” now we can fix his mind! I’ll get the glue-gun.
  - Hfar
    
    Too late. Mind is thoroughly blown. And what a mess it is.
KungFuKlobber

Not while there’s one bystander yet to be punched, one cup of sake yet to be drunk, one door yet to be kicked down, one Ennosuke Nakamura play yet to be seen, and one Wataro yet to be kadooshed.
- John Smith
  
  Not until “Nine-Fingers” becomes “No-Fingers”.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  *Drops the mic*
AmberOne

OOOOOOOOMMMMMMMGOOOOURD! Could this page BE any more fraught with tension, sadness and all sort of other gooey emotional feels?
- Sam DunKley
  
  There could have been an ocean sunset in the background. Underground. In the dark. Among the remnants of theirs lost cla-ignore, me I don’t know what I’m talking about.
  - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
    
    No, no, keep going! This is good stuff! Throw in a full moon during the underground ocean sunset, with some sakura petals and fireflies!
    - Xinef
      
      Don’t forget an eclipse, falling stars, and some accidental conjunction of some more heavenly bodies for added effect.
- IDPounder
  
  I do have to say, Yumiko’s expression when she speaks, and Ken’s reaction, are tots adorbs.
  - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
    
    I tried to make them look ’emotionally vulnerable’.
    - Gillsing
      
      And here I read her revealing her face and _speaking_ as an attempt at sneaky ninja-seduction, what with that half-closed eye and that luscious lower lip. Not that she can’t be emotionally vulnerable while she’s trying to manipulate someone she cares about, but that’s not what I saw.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  I’m glad that came across!
Astralfury

I wonder if for the briefest moment he considered it?
- IDPounder
  
  Well of course he did. Because, you know, girl abs are hotter than hell.
  - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
    
    Eyepatches are sexy, too.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Undoubtedly. I suspect Ken will be running that decision over and over in his head for some time.
  - John Smith
    
    Right up until his next bottle of sake.
anon

new party member get, I hope. I’m really liking her interactions with Ken and don’t want them done yet
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  They are far from done! But they are going to be put on hold for a bit.
Scila

I ship it. There.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  And now it’s canon!
Sunwu

well looks like one of my theories went out the window, and it seems “rebuilding” the clan will have to wait.
- Xinef
  
  Well… this suggests a different theory though. It’s simply a mental disorder. I mean… who says all ninja are healthy people without any health problems? This is realism at it’s finest!
  - Thiago Kurovski
    
    She has swore not to speak except to a True Daisuke (TM)!
  - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
    
    ‘simple’ is not the word I’d use to describe a mental disorder! Joe and I debated whether her muteness would be a disorder or a physical disability for some time before we settled on disorder. Partly because we thought having her be able to say a few words here and there would add more dramatic impact.
    - Xinef
      
      By “simple” I mean “as simple as breaking a lightsaber with your bare fists, and piercing your opponent with the broken off part of the blade”.
      
      I mean, who hasn’t done this as a kid?
      - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
        
        Well I appreciate the clarification!
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Sometimes you’ve gotta put a hold on the good things in life so you can get back to the killin’.
http://www.zapcomic.com/ Pascalle Lepas

Woof.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Growl.
  - charles81
    
    Yipe.
- Speedy Marsh
  
  Pascalle, when I saw your name and that “Woof”, I immediately imagined Clifford saying that after witnessing the exchange between Ken and Yumiko. Now, I really wanna see a time warped crossover between NN4B and Wilde Life. (Or maybe a character in Wilde Life with the family name Daisuke)
greg zahn

Ddddddaaawwawaaaaaawwww an annxiettyyy dissorrrdddeerrrrrrrr
Yuuumikooo TT^TT
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Just a little one.
greg zahn

By the by Yumiko, Genchu has something for your collection! You should stick with Ken if you want it!
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Someone’s rather observant!
Mike

Holy bananas she CAN speak. And not sure whether to applaud Ken’s devotion to his cause or smack him and explain why leaving lethal, beautiful and probably upset women at your back is a really bad idea.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  I don’t know if there’s anything about Ken’s cause that’s worth applauding, seeing as how it’s just straight up revenge!
  - Mike
    
    Not his cause, his devotion to it. Also I split hairs to pass the time!
Aetre

Kickstarter support’d; good luck!
- jwkovell
  
  Thank you! We’re less than $700 away from a bonus update! I, uh… better write some script.
Da’Zlein

Aw, she used one of the few words she has left and he doesn’t even want to acknowledge it…
Kid Chaos

Live and let live? No; Live and let die!
Ben Johnston

Now go after him! Train him in the ways of the Stealth so that he may combine it with the Kadoosh! Then the deadliest force imaginable – the Stealth Kadoosh – may finally be BORN!
Neska

Ken may be fighting a hopeless battle (at least until he made some friends to help), but he never, ever, gave up: live or die, he’ll keep fighting as long as he can. Sounds like Yumiko gave up a long time ago: she claims to have moved on while obviously clinging to the past without the will to do anything other than survive. She may come around, especially if she really cares about Ken . . . but that may just mean she dies dramatically . . .
Insane Disciple

You deserve that huge ass sword, Ken

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