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Samurai Jack #13
Released by: IDW Publishing
Released on: October 22nd, 2014.
Written by: Jim Zubkavich
Illustrated by: Andy Suriano
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Picking up where issue #12 left off and continuing the story that began in issue #11, this latest effort from writer Jim Zub and artist Andy Suriano finds Jack roaming the streets of the city, his face plastered on 'WANTED' posters all over town. He's sporting a long beard and dressed so as not to stand out, so no one seems to notice when he starts tearing some of those posters down.
He wanders into a convenience store and there are commentators on the TV news talking about what happened to him and discussing how important it is that everyone works together for Aku to find him. When he bumps into, and cuts himself on, a robot that robot identifies him and opens fire, chasing him through the streets. They do battle and draw a crowd, at which point he's recognized by the general public. Jack knows at this point the city is no longer a safe haven for him and so he flees, eventually heading into the desert without his sword or any food or water. He passes out and sees a vision of his father from years ago. The elder samurai tells the young Jack how he got his magic sword in the first place as he battled Aku with the help of three monks, three gods and three hammers all of which culminated in the creation of the sword Jack no longer possesses.
Jack wakes up from his vision and sees a talking crow who introduces himself as Muninn. The bird transports Jack and what's left of his shattered sword to a temple where he must face those that made the weapon…
The saga of Jack and the broken sword continues as things intensify once again in this third chapter. What made issue #12 work well proves successful yet again in issue #13 as Zub continues to reveal some interesting backstory that makes Jack a more interesting character than he once was and that in turn makes the matter of the broken sword a much bigger deal than most of us will have realized. There are going to be consequences for this and it'll be interesting to see how and when those consequences take shape. The issue ends, again, on a cliffhanger but that's not a criticism, merely an observation. As such, this isn't the best jumping on point for new readers but for those who have been following things up to this point, yeah, damn right you want to know how it ends. Nice job, Zimbo.
As to the art, once again the team of Andy Suriano and Ethen Beavers turn in appropriately 'Samurai Jack' looking art that suits the tone set forth by the series that inspired the comic but still manages to live and breathe on its own. Lots of thick lines help to build atmosphere and convey action while little details like facial expressions and quirky body movements add to the humor inherent in Zub's script in nice ways. Josh Burcham's colors are as strong here as they have been in the issues preceding and the creative team behind this run continue to fire on all cylinders.
