Dark Horse comic reviews 2/15/23 – White Savior #2

February 19, 2023February 18, 2023 Jeffrey Lyles 0 Comments Dark Horse Comics, Eric Nguyen, White Savior

With its razor sharp dialogue, unique time travel gimmick and a main character determined not to let terrible history repeat itself, White Savior has been a welcome early 2023 treat.

Writers Eric Nguyen and Scott Burman eviscierate the white savior trope — best illustrated in Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai, but also in The Blind Side, Dangerous Minds, Radio, Avatar, etc. — with one question that changes everything. What if the white savior was an idiot that had no clue how to be the hero?

Enter Todd, who has somehow magically been transported back in time to a land his grandfather repeatedly told him about.

When an evil warlord threatens to destroy everyone, salivation arrives in the form of Nathan Garin, a drunken buffoon who as history and Todd’s grandfather remember, led the village to their collective deaths because he was not in fact the savior, but their downfall.

Nathan doesn’t know anything about the culture of Yoshihiro’s people or have any notable strategies, but the people assume he will save them based on a old prophecy.

It’s up to Todd to convince Yoshihiro and his people to stop listening to Nathan and devise a strategy that will actually save the townsfolk. But it’s Todd that’s labeled the village idiot for trying to save them. Now Todd has to turn to the fellow time displaced waitress/thief Maggie in hopes of keeping the villagers alive.

Nguyen and Burman aren’t focused in telling some deep historical tale or create this think piece on the white savior trope — they’re here for the comedy.

Whether from Todd’s narration, his conversations or just the editor’s notes, the book is intended to get many laughs out of the reader.

Of course comedy is one of the hardest genres to pull off especially in a comic book. Some jokes land flat, which feels more a result of Nguyen and Burman trying too hard to make a gag work. Their successful joke percentage is about 85%, which is very respectable.

Nguyen pulls double duty and also handles the art. The character models are fine, though their hair looks choppy in most panels. Nguyen gives the characters plenty of personality with their poses giving a constant sense of movement.

Iwan Joko Triyono provides smooth colors that have a watercolor like flow and letterer Micah Myers incorporates some creative methods of laying out the dialogue.

White Savior is perfectly irreverent with a clever concept that with its brief four-issue run won’t overstay its welcome.