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Samurai Jack #4
Released by: IDW Publishing
Released on: January 22nd, 2014.
Purchase From Amazon
The fourth issue of IDW's resurrection of Cartoon Network's most noble warrior finds Jack continuing his quest to recover all of the strings of time in hopes that once he does this, he'll be able to get back to his own time (check out our reviews of the earlier issues here and here for the back story).
The story begins when Jack scales an icy cliff, noting as he does that the threads he's gathered so far guide him to the others, which would explain why he's now searching arctic tundra inhabited by a deadly saber tooth tiger. He safely makes his way to a village in search of food and shelter but he's pushed away and teased, being told that it's so cold he'll soon toot an ice cube!
But as luck would have it, Jack has arrived in this strange town full of strange people just in time for Queen Krystle's birthday party. It seems that though the townsfolk are starving, their ageless queen has been doing just fine. When Jack fails to bow in her presence, he's attacked by her guards and while he puts up a great fight he's soon outnumbered and put to work in the Queens' kitchen. There he meets an old man named Ruest, a man who was once mayor of the town prior to the Queen's rule. Jack uses his skills to break out of the kitchen and free some of the slaves so that he can find the thread that he senses is near - but when the Queen's army of Musket Knights is massive, nothing can be easy.
The story builds off of what came before it as the threads Jack has acquired in the first three issues now play a bigger part in what he does and how he does it. Of course, the issue ends with a big ol' 'TO BE CONTINUED' as it should when there's still more story to be told, but this more or less self contained story continues what writer Jim Zubkavich and artist Andy Suriano have thus far done so well. This is all very much in keeping with the spirit of the show, finding that interesting balance of honor, mysticism, action and humor decked out with tiki inspired trappings and wacky character design that made the cartoon this comic book is based on the cult classic that it is now regarded as.
Making some amusing historical references and even working in a good fart joke (everyone loves a good fart jokes!) the story moves at a good pace. Suriano's artwork continues to impress and completely nail the look of the original show, with fantastic work from Josh Bucham in the coloring department helping to really make for some truly beautiful work in the visual department. With the 'Threads' storyline starting to come to a close it'll be interesting to see how all of this plays out and how it affects future storylines for everyone's favorite misplaced cartoon samurai, but so far so good with this series. It continues to impress.