Review - Samson #1

Nazis Create Their Greatest Enemy

I’m a big believer that real life inspires great fiction.

Writer Ben Lacy uses the Nazi injection experiments on twins as insight to develop protagonist Samuel Zucker and his twin brother Sol.

Nazis made great villains for Indiana Jones, and they do here as well. In fact, both of the main Nazis in Samson are based on real Nazis. The villainous Dr Jules Scherner, the main Nazi doctor in our story, exudes the complete lack of humanity that you’d expect. He’s highly reminiscent of Major Arnold Toht of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and that’s not a bad thing.

Story

Our jewish hero, Samuel Zucker aka Samson, is coaxed out of retirement by the revelation of the Uberfuehrer’s discovery.  Uberfuehrer is what you’d expect him to be, a super powered Nazi. Presumed dead, Samuel knows that if the rumors are true that he’s alive, that the body count bringing in this war criminal could be catastrophic.

Our opening scene is a flashback, in which a young Samuel and Sol are first brought to Dr Scherner, and it’s a little too real. But by knowing his origins in Auschwitz, it helps emotionally invest you in the main character. Through narration you know that Samuel will live through the ordeal, but it’s inevitable he will suffer terrible loss.

Flashback/Forward

Flashbacks and Flashforwards happen often in this book, but they do a great job of filling in the gaps in story from current events to past events. In fact, those flashbacks are a critical part of Samson’s story. They are woven together in a way to provide two stories at once that complement one another—one of the young Samuel, and another of the older Samuel dealing with shadows of the past returning.  I can’t help but think that reveals of the past will pay off in the current day storyline.

I’m especially curious about the current day (circa 1990) Uberfuehrer, as well as the cliffhanger of an ending for young Samuel in the past.

Number 1s

Like most #1s, there is a lot of story building here, so you need to have some patience.  Samson is not heavy on action (yet), but with a superpowered hero and a cause to fight for, I expect that to change in dramatic fashion in future issues.

And as such, in its first issue it utilizes the atrocities of the Nazis in order to tell a comically plausible tale of experimenting on jews in the attempt to perfect a super soldier serum.

The book includes an insightful Author’s Note, helping to understand the passion project that is Samson #1 for Writer Ben Lacy.

Bottom Line

Samson is serious fiction.  Captain America with a Schindler’s List origin.

Samson is a thoughtfully written survivor’s tale, brought to life with heart for the superhero genre.

This is why I love indies, you will find many great hidden gems that are more than popcorn fodder. The world NEEDS more books like Samson.

Some evils of this world need to never be forgotten, lest history repeat itself.