Samurai Jack: # 1 - 3 Review

Pros: The art work is really good. Really conjures the world of the cartoon. This Samurai Jack is better than no Samurai Jack

Cons: Very Shallow. Too much is glossed over which makes it feel half-assed. Also, I'm 3 issues in, where is Aku?

Would I Recommend it?: No, at least not at full price. Even for big Samurai Jack fans I would wait to snag it in the bargain bin.

I absolutely loved the cartoon Samurai Jack by Genndy Tartakovsky when it aired on Cartoon Network. The artwork was interesting and really unique, the voice acting was amazing, and the storyline was epic and engaging. I always thought it was a shame that Cartoon Network pulled the plug after season and 4 and we never got to see Jack return to his own time to vanquish Aku.

Last week when I was making my very first comic book run I was pleasantly surprised to see an old childhood friend on the cover of a IDW comic book. Though I haven't heard anything about it, I happily grabbed issues 1 through 3 between handfuls of Batman and Before Watchmen comics. Unfortunately, the surprise of finding Samurai Jack in comic form was much more satisfying then actually reading the comic.

The Samurai Jack comic series is written by Jim Zuab and illustrated by Andy Suriano and picks up right where the canceled cartoon left off. The first story arch as Jack chasing magical strands of time which he hopes to put together into a rope in order to finally travel back to his proper time to defeat the demon Aku.

The greatest thing about this comic by far is the art work. Though the cartoon was canceled years ago

visually this comic hasn't skipped a beat. The artwork actually looks like stills from the cartoon which makes me very happy.

However, everything else about the comic has been lacking. The plot of the comic is good in theory, and is a good fit for the Samurai Jack mythos, but the execution has been poor so far. Rather than telling a cohesive story that leaves a sense of epicness the comics seem more like a highlight reel- jumping from place to place so fast that you can't get a feel for any of the characters, even Jack seems horribly underdeveloped. This really disappointed me because the cartoon did such a great job with characters.

Floppies are by nature short. In fact that is probably the biggest draw back of comic books. Rather than working within the confines of the medium the creative team seems to be fighting it. Instead of feeding the story in bits that fit within their limitations, the creative team tries to cram so much into just a few pages. This destroys any depth the story might have and makes it hard to feel attached to the plight of Samurai Jack.

 If they stretched out the storytelling for more than 5 issues I believe the team could put forth a comic worthy of carrying on the Samurai Jack brand. As is stands now the comic isn't very interesting outside of the artwork. The bit of nostalgia I felt when I opened issue 1 was nice, but I don't think I will be purchasing any more issues – At least not until it hits the bargain bins.