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When we discovered the web comic The Adventures of Dr. McNinja last year, writer and artist Chris Hastings had completed three installments. Now, another six episodes sit aside those early tales. When we checked in with Chris, he told us what's next for his sword-slinging surgeon (or podiatrist or dentist), what it's like to have a Wikipedia entry, and what he thinks of comics today...

Hi Chris. It sounds like a Dr. McNinja book is on the way. Who's publishing it and how did it come about?

I'm publishing it myself, and it came about just because people have been asking for it. I'm shocked how many people want to pay for what I'm giving them online for free.

How old are you anyway?

I just turned 24, but I came up with Dr. McNinja when I was 19.

Are you and your inker, Kent Archer, still roommates?

We sure are! Kent is upstairs, and I live in the basement.

Who wrote the Wikipedia entry, do you know?

I have no idea who wrote the Wikipedia entry. I know it was at least three or four people, but it could have been more. What weirds me out about the Wikipedia thing is that it mentions I named Dr. McNinja's brother after my brother, and I can't remember when I ever said this publicly.

How much do you hear from fans?

I get a few emails every day.

Any negative response from the medical and/or ninja communities?

Surprisingly not! I think my biggest fans are the blackbelts in med school.

What are some of your influences from comics?

I'd say my biggest influences were my professors at The School of Visual Arts. Klaus Janson, Joey Cavalieri, Sal Amendola, David Mazzuchelli, Walter Simonson... They're all established creators with some great comic hits under there belts. I learned from the best. And I'm sure my career shames them greatly.

No way! Anything currently happening in comics that's exciting to you?

Nothing in mainstream comics is really exciting me right now, because the industry is going through one of it's "event" phases. "EVERYTHING WILL CHANGE, WE MEAN IT THIS TIME, SERIOUSLY." And with the death of mass market comic sales, they're not really doing anything to attract new readers. Not to say there aren't good stories being told. I just don't think it's very exciting.

I know I'm biased, because I'm part of the movement, but I think the Internet is the most exciting thing to happen to comics in some time. It's given a great deal of power to independent cartoonists who can now get a greater audience then they could have ever hoped for without a publisher's approval. Some can even manage to make a living from it. And it's great for the public too, because they have easy access to all sorts of great comics they would have never known about before, because the comics aren't in tiny hidden shops the people wouldn't go out of their way to find. There's an infinite variety of comics are right there on your computer, for free.

Has anything surprised you from the whole McNinja experience?

I was able to quit my day job only seven months after starting the comic. I thought it would take five years to get to a point where I could make a living being a cartoonist. I think you're going to be hearing that story with other cartoonists more frequently as time goes on and more people find out about webcomics.

That's awesome. Thanks for talking to us—and good luck, Chris!

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