Mighty Samson #1 Review

Mighty Samson #1

Another return of a classic hero from over 45 years ago from the great minds behind Dr. Solar and Magnus Robot Fighter. Today I will be reviewing Mighty Samson #1. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

So let’s talk about the book. The setting is the post apocalyptic future. The army of Jerz is attacking the tribe of N’Yark because they cannot pay the increased tribute that the newly crowned queen of Jerz is demanding. The people of N’Yark are heavily outnumbered but are barely able to defend their town. Its not until the opposing lieutenant plays a trick on them that the town is overtaken and the village leader is killed. The army begins to take prisoners when they stumble upon a mother and her newborn baby. As the lieutenant tries to take the baby to kill it, the baby rips off one of his fingers. That’s when the commanding officer calls a retreat. The army leaves but the commander is slain by the lieutenant in a secret ambush. The new leader of N’Yark, the old leader’s son, orders the child killed for being cursed. The mother, however, manages to flee with the child. She runs to the forest where she is rescued from death by a nomadic tribe of Jews. They accept the outcasts and name the baby Samson. Flash forward nineteen years later and Samson is a grown man with immense strength. He leaves with his mother to return to his tribe and his father, who is still living there. When they reach N’Yark, the Jerz are attacking again. Samson defeats the entire army single handed, but not before his mother is slain. He is accepted into N’Yark as a hero, much to the envy of the tribe leader Zarsk, who quickly befriends Samson and gives him slaves. Meanwhile, the survivors of the Jerz army return to their queen Terra and tell her what happened. She demands retribution. In addition, we get a reprint of the first Mighty Samson story from 1964. And that’s the book.

So let’s talk opinions. What an amazing book. There was action and excitement from the first page. The story was amazingly solid and the characters felt familiar and relate-able. Jim Shooter is doing a much better job with Samson that he is with Solar or Magnus. Or maybe my opinion is biased because I read the Valiant version of those characters and think these re-imaginings are slightly inferior. The art was great. Clean, dark when necessary. Reminded me of old school Conan art that Barry Windsor Smith used to do. So far this book is awesome. There’s drama, betrayal, conniving, war. Everything that makes a book a page turner. The reprint was a nice added bonus as well. I’m definitely going to keep this one on my pull list for a while. That’s my opinion folks. Take it or leave it.

Tags: Jim Shooter Mighty Samson