Soul of A Samurai is an unusual project from Image Comics in many ways. It uses a smaller format, about the size of The Path Traveler that also ships this week but with a smaller page count and slightly smaller price tag. It's got a sort of amber/gray wash look to it, not quite black and white but not color. And it's a somewhat philosophical story in the samurai genre, outside of most of Image's output thus far and feeling more like a manga release. It feels a little lightweight for its pricetag, but it's undoubtedly beautiful and intriguing, and there's a twist at the end that leads me to question the premise and wonder what's going to happen next.
As you might expect from the title and the somewhat melancholy appearance of the cover, Dixon's story is about more of a poet than a warrior, a samurai who is more interested in life than death. Though Shinzu is a formidable warrior, it's clear that his interests lie more with his fallen lover or the crisis of faith that he is suffering rather than acquiring glory or honor for himself and his lord. In accordance with this, one of the most gripping sequences in this story actually comes in Shinzu's encounter with strangers who offer up some wisdom of an unusual nature, with a zen quality but certainly easy enough to understand in context of the story.
Which isn't to say that the story lacks for action. The sword battle between Shinzu and Takashi is terrific, with forced perspective and speed lines serving to give the whole thing an active, anime feel. Dixon's work on the chain weapon that Takashi uses is also very elegant, giving the weapon a life of its own and making it appear as dangerous as the blades wielded by the other characters.
Dixon's artwork in general has a beautiful painted quality to it, with hard pencil lines giving shape and definition to the work but the color coming in more airbrushed looking patches. The look is similar to charcoal drawings, except that the color has an amber touch to it that helps to give the artwork an archaic look, bringing the reader into this historical setting effectively.
The book ends somewhat strangely, almost as if Dixon was interrupted by the necessity of serial storytelling rather than planning out a finale. An unexplained new character appears on the penultimate page, and a strange supernatural element makes itself known on the last page. In some respects, the latter makes the book more compelling, raising questions about what's actually going on and if it's more than a young noble on the run, but it also feels a bit jarring in the way it was done. At any rate, however, the basic approach here is very interesting, and worth checking out for those with a fondness for the samurai genre.
