Samurai #1 page 17 - Aircel Comics 1986

Script by Barry Blair and Bruce Blair, pencils by Patrick McEown and Guang Yap, inks by Barry Blair and Guang Yap.

Samurai #1 — Aircel Comics, 1985

One of the inaugural titles from Aircel Comics, a small Canadian publisher that emerged when Barry Blair convinced his employer — an insulation company that had lost its government contract — to reinvent itself as a comic book publisher. Samurai was among Aircel’s first three series, alongside Elflord and Dragonring, and was notable for its manga-influenced art style at a time when Japanese comics were virtually unknown in North America.

Set in a near-future world of international espionage and martial arts, the series follows Toshiro Kimura, a skilled samurai warrior recruited by Commander Velvet Black of the Naganata — a top-secret United Nations space battleship — to combat global terrorism. In this debut issue, Toshiro is enlisted to investigate the disappearance of Professor Stringfellow, believed to be held captive on a remote island. The story blends science fiction, Cold War-era intrigue, and classic action-adventure with a distinctly independent comics sensibility.