He’s not your typical superhero. But he’s the hero you need.

When a mysterious man starts living in an apartment located in a crime ridden community, the lives of his fellow tenants change forever. If you were to ask around for the name of this mysterious man, the only thing you’d hear is “Smith.” Not much more is known about the hero of this story—other than he’s there to help.

This was a fast read for me; I just couldn’t put the book down. I really enjoyed this story because a lot of it felt real to me. And the writing and dialogue were terrific. Nothing felt fake or out-of-place.

When it comes to this kind of story, the creators have to be careful that it doesn’t fall into stereotypes or rehash stories that have been done to death already. I’m glad to say, you won’t have to worry about that when it come to The Samaritan.

Now, you might say when you look at this book, “Hey, this kind of reminds me of the Luke Cage Netflix series.” But I’d say the Luke Cage series is more like the Samaritan rather than the other way around. After all, The Samaritan was here before the Netflix show was.

The black and white art may be a drawback for some, but don’t let that stop you from picking this up. With a style reminiscent of Frank Miller’s Sin City, the artist, Ren McKinzie, does a great job on this book. What I really like with his art is his ability to draw realistic facial expressions; it really helps to convey the emotion that the characters are going through.

He also does a good job when it comes to the use of the black and white style. This is tricky because if the artist isn’t careful with black and white, things can get kind of hard to make out. But there was no such problem going on in this book.

I don’t know if these two gentlemen have any plans going forward with doing more of The Samaritan, but if they do, they’ll definitely have my money.

If you’re a fan of good storytelling and enjoy the Luke Cage Netflix series, I suggest you give this book a chance. You won’t be disappointed.

I’m giving The Samaritan:

4 Out of 5 Whiskey Shots

Published by Spencer Church

Spencer is a comic book lover and artist turned writer. He is the co-creator of DPW and has taken up the craft of writing to share his love of great storytelling with the world. when he's not writing he's probably buried beneath a giant mountain of comics and novels View all posts by Spencer Church