Fuzzy Baseball V02: Ninja Baseball Blast has the same fun illustrations as before (Fuzzy Baseball V01) but this second book does not hit the home run story that the first book did. John Steven Gurney, you dropped the ball, my friend.
Ninja Baseball Blast starts out with a smooth pitch. You see several pages of a baseball fans baseball card collection grace the front pages. The cards are neatly put together in a sheet with each team up to bat. And then the actual story starts, and we find our heroes The Fernwood Fuzzies baseball team wondering if the Sashimi City Ninjas (that of the legendary Manga league) are as great as everyone says it is. But people tell The Fuzzies, baseball is baseball no mater where you go. Or is it?
And here is where it starts to go foul. The Fuzzies and The Ninja’s organize a game between the two teams. The Fuzzies fly to the Ninja’s country (obviously Japan) and all these quirky things happen. The point is, that sometimes things can be different even if they are called baseball. The ending (SPOILER) or should say, ending one of two was disappointing, weak and frankly cliche. The second has a little more believably but still, not great. This graphic novel for the aged 7 to 10 might please the baseball fan, or the fan of out there, off beat, goofy humor, but it was just too over the top for me.
I guess sometimes even a great team has a few strikes.