Jim Alexander teams up with previous collaborator Luke Cooper to bring us a new one-shot from Planet Jimbot in the shape of The Samurai.
Jim’s tales help introduce the central character and explore his motivations with revenge at it’s core. As our central character returns to his village as a battle-weary warrior his hopes of the warm embrace of familiar surroundings are short-lived as his time away has left the village itself vulnerable to attack. The remains of his village and the people he loved is the trigger for his single-minded, uncontrollable revenge and the local goons become his first targets.
The second story takes our revenge-filled hero onto another village that’s suffered a similar fate at the hands of cannibals……and his methods are just as swift & effective in trying to bring balance and the need for revenge seems to pour from his very soul. Jim hits us with a swift one-two combo across these two stories and while a fairly muted tone suits the controlled methods of the central character his motivations are instantly recognizable & understandable. There’s no grey area with this as everything slips into a black or white/good or bad category and we’re firmly on his side and although he may have some questionable intent we get a new indie anti-hero to support.
The artwork matches this tone & outlook of the central character perfectly and it’s another instance where Jim & Luke are in-sync with the story they’re producing. A surprising sense of calm comes into the story as the belief in his abilities and conviction in his cause are almost tangable thanks to the creative team behind it. It results in another impressive addition to the Planet Jimbot list of titles and one that eases into that “must recommend” pile let alone the “must read” pile. Great stuff.
Go grab a copy in the Planet Jimbot shop or keep tabs on what’s happening over on the Twitter page.
9/10
G-Man
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