The Story of Samson the Nazirite
Summary
The Story of Samson the Nazirite by Luis Serrano is a flashy, violent, and true-to-the-Biblical-account graphic novel of Samson. Shying away from nothing, this comic series brings the best of modern-day superhero adventures to the ancient tale. Covering the complete story found in Judges 13-16, this series is perfect for any fan of Conan the Barbarian and Red Sonja.
Assessment
The comic series is an incredibly faithful retelling of the story of Samson, God’s strongest judge in the book of Judges. With epic feats of strength, tumultuous romantic life, backstabbing, and all-out warfare, Samson’s story is one of the most easily translated into comic book format. The author of Samson, Luis Serrano, brings this Biblical superhero story to life in a stunning and well-paced graphic novel.
The Biblical story of Samson is full of violence and sex (both inside and outside of marriage) and this comic doesn’t shy away from depicting either. The sex scenes are implied, using a skip-to-the-next-morning transition, but there are a lot of barely clothed or covered-by-a-strategic-cloth women throughout the series posing in enticing or suggestive ways.
The violence is mostly depicted by spurts of blood and undefined carnage, although there are a few severed limbs and heads. Samson’s fighting style is, obviously, pretty brutal and the comic doesn’t shy away from that, even if it takes the gory details down a notch or so. There’s a lot of throwing people around and smashing heads into hard surfaces. The comic doesn’t linger long on these scenes, either; there is no sense of trying to completely shock and horrify the reader by showing dismembered and decapitated corpses. It is simply depicting the action as it likely would’ve gone down.
Light-o-Meter
Artwork: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Writing: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Age-Appropriateness: Not suitable for younger teens or kids; lots of graphic violence and several scantily-clad women/suggestive scenes.
Theological Message: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Overall: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Talk
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this rendition of the story of Samson! It was faithfully told and any embellishment was simply there to fill in little details or smooth out transitions between actions or scenes. I also like the fact that they had QR codes that you could scan with links to music for each chapter. I’m a little concerned that the links may go bad in a few years, but for now they all worked as expected and it added an excellent layer of depth to the reading experience.
Despite the suggested age of 10-18, this is definitely something I would not recommend for anyone under the age of 18 based on the suggestive themes. As previously stated, the sex scenes are entirely implied, using a “fade to black and cut to the next morning” kind of technique, but there are a few women clad in very tight dresses and the strategic cloth coverings to warrant a Not for the Younger Crowd stamp from me.
As for the violence, I actually appreciated how the brutality of Samson’s abilities were portrayed in the comic. It was graphic enough to show the raw power that the Spirit of the Lord granted Samson, but not so disgusting that I had to look away. I also really liked how they were faithful to have Samson’s power be directly from God, rather than his own innate strength!
Wrap-up
All in all, The Story of Samson the Nazirite is an excellent, violent, and faithful retelling of Judges 13-16. While some of the content is not suitable for most teens, this comic is a must-have for fans of Conan the Barbarian comics and stories.
Where to Enjoy
Amazon [Kindle]: Samson the Nazirite: Volume 1 - Kindle Edition
Amazon [Paperback]: Samson by Luis Serrano (amazon.com)
Comic Website: THE STORY OF SAMSON (samsonstory.com)
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