Lone Wolf and Cub

Just one great thing about Dark Horse's Lone Wolf books: the first few volumes
have cover art by none other than Frank Miller.

And now it's time for something different.

I've always wanted to be a little more into manga than I am. I've only started a handful of series over the years, and have always been pretty selective of what I pick up. I'm aware that as with most other things manga is a case of the good, the bad, and the ugly, and so far I've managed to stay with a lot of the good stuff.

But the stuff I have liked the most is still Lone Wolf and Cub. I read the beginning and ending parts of the 28 volume series through the local public library. It was strange to read the first handful of volumes and then have to jump to the end of the story. There was really only one thing that I did know for sure...the parts of Lone Wolf and Cub that I could actually get my hands on were unlike any other comics I'd ever come across.

So now probably five years have passed and I recently read through the first two volumes of the series a second time. The plan is to keep going and eventually be able to give a comprehensive 28 volume review of the series. As is typical with manga series, these books are quick and exciting reads, and once you put one volume down it's hard not to dive right into the next!

Lone Wolf and Cub is a story about an assassin for hire named Ogami Itto. He might be known as the Lone Wolf, but he never travels by himself. The Cub is his young son (I'm guessing he's four years old or so) named Daigoro. Those are the only characters who stick around in these first two books. Other important names to remember are the series' creators, writer Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. Both of these men are just incredible at what they do. The first two volumes already feature more than a dozen unique and interesting stories of Itto's many hired killings. And the art in Lone Wolf is a realistic, inky recreation of feudal Japan down to the last detail.

"Just another day on the job:" the life of Ogami Itto.

I guess I'd like to just point out a handful of scattered thoughts:

Ogami Itto is a man who kills and kills and does so in exchange for money. Sounds marginally scummy at best. But throughout these comics you never doubt that he is a man of integrity, and although he is ronin ( a samurai without a master), he still has honor. The  Lone Wolf is such a complex character and it's because there is so much to take into consideration about him. He's undeniably a caring father and a man who respects people when he isn't cutting them down. And even then, he usually still honors the people he kills.

People looking for great battle scenes should really look no further. Part of the "quickness" in reading Lone Wolf and Cub is that there is always plenty of space dedicated to wordless battles. Kojima's art is so vital and expressive that you get drawn in no matter how many times you see a sword cut strait through someone.

I'd like to officially nominate Daigoro as one of comics' all-time cutest kid characters. He's one smart little boy, and he always has fun riding in the baby cart or dancing and singing for people. Not only is he smart, but the kid is as tough as they come. In one story, Daigoro has to be left behind in a small cave in mountainous terrain while his father completes an assassination. An avalanche is triggered and Daigoro's hideaway is swallowed up in snow. Itto, who is almost always a complete stoic, is obviously worried about his son and thinks that he has died. He looks anyway and finds his young child scared but otherwise okay once he is removed from the harsh wall of frost.

One thing I remembered quite clearly about Lone Wolf and Cub was reinforced by reading again. Although at heart the story is about a man slaying many other men, Koike came up with a host of interesting female characters to round out the series. This is a good manga series to read not only for the battle scenes but also for the depth of the characters, and there are plenty of memorable women introduced throughout the many chapters of the saga.

So far I've only revisited less than 10% of Lone Wolf and Cub, and it's exactly the comic gold that I remember from years ago. I can't wait to get to all of the books that I never had the chance to read before.