Comic Review: Samurai Jack Lost Worlds #2

Jack vs the Empty Village

Overview:

As Samurai Jack continues his travels, he settles into a bar for a drink before following the road through the mountains.  When the locals find out where he is going, they warn him about the Empty Village.  The haunted town is supposedly so terrifying that no one dare go there causing families and the tourism industry to be torn apart.

Of course, Samurai Jack ventures directly into the Empty Village.  He is quickly attacked from the shadows, demanding he leaves.  When Jack refuses to go, he takes a beating after beating throughout the abandoned village.  Not able to get Jack to leave, the attackers end their bombardment.  After healing him back to his feet, they explain to him that they are from far away and have taken the Empty Village as a place to hide from the other towns that would not understand them.  When Jack leaves, he decides to keep the new villagers secret.

 

Our Take:

After the astoundingly conceptual first issue of Samurai Jack Lost Worlds, what to expect from the next book was anybody’s guess.  The inaugural issue featured Jack facing down his own cybernetic doppelganger and finding the urge to travel the lands once again.  This left the door wide open as to where the story could progress.  From the first few pages of this issue, it is evident that it stands as it’s own separate plot.  Essentially, this is like bringing back a stand-alone episode of the original series.

There honestly isn’t a lot to say about this issue.  About half of the pages are of Samurai Jack being beaten up by invisible entities.  Even for a comic being full of action, without giving Jack something to fight, this is literally panel after panel of Jack being hit from different directions.  Anyone familiar with Samurai Jack will come into these books understanding that the pacing is going to be much tamer than other titles.  However, this one, in particular, lacks a lot of substance.

That’s not to say that the plot is not well-written or conceptually on-point with the series.  There is a certain aura that you instantly fall into when it comes to Samurai Jack content.  And, thus far, these books have managed to emulate the same energy that the show produced.  The idea of a ghost town is a cover for a group of misunderstood creatures is precisely what you would think to find in the Samurai Jack universe.  And, having Jack do what is necessary to discover the truth is genuinely in his character.  So, if nothing else, this issue is true to form.

It is a difficult challenge to score this issue.  On the one hand, there is a significant lack of content with multiple pages repeating themselves and offering nothing to further the story.  On the other hand, the plot is well constructed, and the artwork is as beautiful as you would hope for.  If anything else this issue gets you excited for some more content, so that is a positive.  Though, it is tough to give a big score for a book where the majority of the pages have little to offer.