FAMILYFANS Books & Comics

SAM NOIR, SAMURAI DETECTIVE #1: Payback's a Niche

by Manny Trembley and Eric A. Anderson

(Image Comics)

Reader Appeal: Teens to Adults

Genre: Comic Books / Detective

I hate to say it - especially knowing that some other FAMILYFANS.com reviewers think differently about this one - but in my opinion this comic wasn’t very good at all. The images in it were grabbing, but the story was lacking, and even a bit lame.

Sam Noir Samurai Detective is about a samurai turned P.I. named. He's been hired to following a woman for months and falls crazy in love with her just by watching her. Then she suddenly arrives in his office asking for help, but is killed on the spot by henchmen of Master Fuyu. Sam immediately jumps out his (third-story!) window and quickly dispatches these men, but not before he finds out who their leader is. Through his tracking down Master Fuyu, he happily kills several men, and only just finds where Fuyu is supposedly hiding, before this story ends in a cliffhanger.

The artwork in this comic was pretty much the only good thing it had going for it. Since the comic is in all black and white, there would seem to be something missing, but it is pulled off masterfully. There are many brilliant close-up images of important details. There are also some scenes in which the drawings seem to be almost 3D. The contrast of grays adds to the quality and creates a photographic negative sort of picture throughout. There are also some interesting visual angles used to show the action, making the illustrations in this comic filmic, enigmatic, and often mesmerizing.

Even though the artwork was great, there wasn’t anything else that was. The story was boring, even during some scenes that could have been exciting because of the fight sequences. It was just not attention grabbing, and lacked the expertise of a skilled writer. The script was almost exactly like the stereotypical, second-rate crime noir films that we all look back on and laugh at because of their corniness. Our Asian hero uses dumb American lingo like “Why does every sad story have to start with a dame?” and “I needed her. I needed her to need me.” He says those kinds of things that seem to come straight out of a bad romance novel. He also seems to be invincible. He is the typical tough guy detective that doesn’t get sad or hurt, just goes around mindlessly killing people for no good reason.

Which brings us to one last point, the violence. There is a lot of it in this comic, and most of it seems \ gratuitous. Sure you want to see the bad guys get what is coming, but they all get run through, and die. Not much of a fight, ever. It was really not entertaining.

I would suggest looking at this one in the store to check out the artwork, but then leaving it there because the story was just bad.

FAMILYFANS RATING: C-

AFTER THE STORY (optional)

If your family members are interested in this book, then encourage discussion about it afterward. You can use these questions to get started:

• What was your impression of the way this story was told visually? How about narratively?

• What makes for a great story?

• What do you think was the greatest story ever told?

--TN

Note: All book or comics-related graphics in this column are standard publicity/promotional shots and are owned by their respective publisher.