White Savior #1
Todd Parker finds himself getting a front-row seat for Japanese history in White Savior #1, by writers Eric Nguyen and Scott Burman, artist Nguyen, colorist Iwan Joko Triyono, and letterer Micah Myers. This issue is a slice of comedic awesomeness that grabs readers right off the bat.
Todd Parker has been told the story of the Inoki clan for years by his grandfather, how the village held out for the prophesied white savior and paid for it. He goes out for the day, gets robbed by a girl he tries to save from being robbed, and then sees her at the restaurant he’s eating lunch at. He chases her down but somehow winds up back in time at the Inoki village. His arrival saves the day for his ancestors, but he faints when he’s skimmed by an arrow. He awakens later, has a conversation with the village chief, and realizes where he is. Then he meets the white savior and loses all hope.
When someone buys a comic called White Savior, they expect a certain level of comedy, and this issue delivers. Nguyen and Burman throw readers right into the thick of it. From the opening flashback to the captions to the dialogue, there’s joke after joke. The great part is that the humor is varied; a book called White Savior has one obvious joke, and it definitely uses it, but there are plenty of other ones as well. Comedy is all about variety, and this first issue gives readers that.
It also gives readers the perfect character for that comedy. Todd Parker is a Japanese kid who was given the most American-sounding name so that he would assimilate better. It works so well he’s basically not Asian, and a lot of the jokes come from that. He’s the perfect character for this story and helps make the comedy of the first issue work so well. The issue isn’t only comedy, though. The plot is intriguing and works to do what it needs to do. It lays out everything a first chapter needs to and hooks readers wonderfully.
Nguyen and Joko Triyono’s art is a lot of fun. The faces could be a little better at times, but when Nguyen is really cooking, the pencils are beautiful. Comedy in comics needs to have art that makes it work, and Nguyen and Joko Triyono deliver it. The use of color is also quite interesting, with the colors of the foreground really popping. The art is unique and will stick in the mind’s eye, which is very important.
White Savior #1 is an excellent kick-off issue. There’s a very obvious joke here that the creators aren’t scared of, but the first issue doesn’t lean on it. Todd is a fantastic character and is a big reason this issue is so successful. This book lays out a fun story that readers will enjoy and is definitely worth checking out.
