Lone Wolf and Cub Omnibus Volume 1

Be me. Be a single parent for 18 years. Fear failure at every turn. Clinch your buttock at every parent teacher conference, sporting event, and social function the child is involved with for fear that you haven't told him something or let him down in some way. Watch him graduate HS, then college, then move in with a great partner. Have basically nothing to complain about your child. Wait for the sensation of success to wash over you but instead drown in sadness and lonely lack of purpose. Buy this book and wallow. 5 stars.

The series is one of the best Japanese comics ever created, up there with the likes of Akira and Berserk...I think. For whatever reason, when Dark Horse decided to pick the series up and reprint it as they've done with numerous Japanese comics in the past, they decided to release it in an incredibly small size, smaller even than the usual "digest" size manga softcovers that people are used to. I started reading it quite awhile ago, but found that I couldn't fully enjoy the artwork (or read the text) due to the insanely small print.

Well, Dark Horse has finally come to their senses and release the series in the usual "digest" size they use for all their other reprint manga properties. Not to mention, they also added more story (the volume contains the contents of the first two and a half original LWAC books). Why they didn't do this sooner, I can only imagine. But I look forward to reading (and in some cases re-reading) this series from the beginning.

Like a lot of people, I first became aware of Lone Wolf and Cub by watching Shogun Assassin. I was working in a movie store, and a regular customer would talk about martial arts and samurai movies with me regularly, and one day, he came in to lend me his copy of Shogun Assassin. I’d never seen anything like it before, and fell in love with the character of Ogami Itto, who may very well be the original one-man army character. I looked up as much info as I could about it, and found out that it was actually an edited version of portions of a series called Lone Wolf and Cub, which was based on a very long comic series. I set out to read the comics in no time, and quickly became addicted. About 10 years has passed since I finished the series, and now that these huge collections have been released, I’m going though it again to see how it holds up. I’m happy to say that this comic, which started all the way back in 1970(!) very much holds up, and a lot of comic artists and writers could learn a thing or two by reading just one story in any of these volumes.

Ogami Itto was the shogun’s executioner, and has chose to live the path of an assassin, offering his sword and son, Daigoro, to anyone willing to pay for his services. Itto has more than enough skill to deal with the most feared foes, armed with his dotanuki sword and expert tactics. He does whatever it takes to get the job done, even if it means appearing weak. One case has him allowing himself to be captured by the enemy, dismantling them from the inside out once he’s in their lair. Another has him entering a prison with some of the toughest criminals out there, getting unceremoniously beaten, then allowing himself to get put on death row after he kills a few of the guys that beat him after he gets the info he needs. The funny thing is, with all these dangerous situations, the guy’s rarely in any serious trouble because he’s just -that- good. This first volume of the Lone Wolf and Cub Omnibus contains 16 chapters in the series, with each chapter showing why Ogami Itto is probably the baddest fictional dude to grace any form of media.

As much as I could go on about how awesome the brutal fights are in this series, I think that everyone gets that by now. Fights are over very quickly in Lone Wolf and Cub, making you wonder what happened to manga where many fights are drawn out over the course of several books in some cases, usually just to showcase how powerful characters are, or worse- letting characters “power up” over several chapters. Goseki Kojima does a fantastic job showing how skilled Itto is with any weapon in just a couple of panels, never wasting a single space with unnecessary flash. Kazoo Koike’s writing is top-notch, and there is some very clever stuff in here. Ogami Itto isn’t a mindless killing machine- he has reasons for doing things the way he does them, and the majority of what he does in this volume is all planned out in advance. There were a lot of times I found myself smiling because of how tricky something was.

To be completely honest, I loved every single chapter here except for one which felt like a short filler episode. But even that one wasn’t bad by any means. It just wasn’t anywhere near as good as the others. Some of my favorite were:

-Chapter 5: Suio School Zanbato. Ogami Itto has a duel with a high ranking samurai, even getting a written note from the guy stating that he agreed to the duel. After dispatching him, the samurai’s men seek revenge on Itto, planning to ambush him on horses.

-Chapter 8: Wings to the Birds, Fangs to the Beast. Probably one of the more well-known chapters here. Itto and Daigoro head to a hot spring that’s ruled by outlaws at the moment, who’ve taken the nearby village hostage. Itto does a very noble thing to save a prostitute, and deals with the outlaws in a way that only he can. Having a baby cart that’s full of built-in weapons sure helps.

-Chapter 9: The Assassin’s Road. This is the one chapter where we learn something about Ogami Itto and Daigoro, going over part of what led them to this path they walk. One of the duo’s most memorable moments comes at the end of the chapter during a duel where Itto bows his head down while dashing at his opponent, revealing Daigoro on his back wearing a mirror on his head to reflect the sunlight at the opponent, blinding him.

-Chapter 12: Tragic O-Sue. This is basically a Daigoro story. With his dad sick, resting in a small temple somewhere (and having some pretty gnarly nightmares about demons), Daigoro is left to fend for himself after he gets imprisoned by a high ranking samurai’s family. The master of the house wonders if Daigoro is the son of the infamous Lone Wolf and Cub assassin he’s heard so much about.

-Chapter 16: Half Mat, One Mat, A Fistful of Rice. Finally, we end the book with the first opponent who actually stands a chance against the assassin. A highly skilled samurai turned sideshow attraction takes the father and son out for a meal after accidentally almost harming Daigoro. He doesn’t like the path that Ogami Itto is on, and wishes for him to stop, for his son’s sake. Itto refuses, for both him and his son have chosen it. As a result, he chooses to stop the former executioner himself in a duel. This leads to a very intense moment where the two stare down each other, and visualize several possibilities of what’s going to happen when they make their moves.

And keep in mind those are only 5 of my favorites, and there are at lest 5 others I could go on about! What are you waiting for? This is a crazy-good deal for so much of the story. My only issues are that it would be so much better if the volumes were in hardcover format, because the paper covers do start to wear down quickly due to how much content there is, and I’m still not happy that they reversed everything. Yes, this reads like a standard US/European comic, from left to right, and as a result, all the artwork is reversed too. Dark Horse has a reason for it, and it’s not a very good one. Maybe in another couple of decades they’ll finally put it out as it was originally published?

Those minor complaints aside, nothing should keep you from buying this book.

Lone Wolf and Cub is truly one of the greatest manga/comic epics of all time. It's beautifully written and illustrated, full of violence and beauty. And I absolutely love these new Omnibus editions. Much bigger size, crisp and clean print, and 700 pages long instead of 300 or so like the old editions. That means there will probably only be 10 or 12 to collect instead of 28. Much praise to Dark Horse for giving us this amazing series in the first place with the old editions, and now with these awesome new editions. I immensely enjoyed collecting and reading all 28 of the original editions, and I look forward to collecting these new editions and reading it over again! Maybe they'll do Omnibus editions of Samurai Executioner next...

This is one of those books that anyone who cares about manga, and comics, needs to check out. When Dark Horse first started releasing their groundbreaking 300-page, 4" x 6" volumes, one a month, for the entire two year and four-month period it took to publish all 28 volumes, it was quite an achievement. The translation was consistently excellent, using appropriately R-rated language to capture the rough speech of the various bandits and yakuza that Ogami Itto and his young son Daigoro encountered on the way to Meifumado, the road to the Buddhist Hell. Kazuo Koike's tale of the former Kogi Kaishakunin* to the Tokugawa Shogunate, whose name is dishonored and his wife murdered, by the scheming of Retsudo Yagyu, patriarch of the Ura-Yagyu clan (*The Shogun's 'second', integral to the rite of seppuku; though it was pretty unlikely the Shogun would ever feel compelled to commit hara-kiri, any lord who wore the crest served as his proxy, and this was how the Kogi Kaishakunin stayed busy; after the lord disembowelled himself using a wazikashi or tanto blade, the Kogi Kaishakunin then finished the ritual by severing his 'masters' head with a dotanuki, leaving a small patch of skin on the throat intact, so the head will drop face first onto the chest, instead of rolling away; only the most skilled swordsman could be entrusted with such a task). The Kogi Kaishakunin is a position of great importance; as the Shogun's high executioner, he is charged with making certain that any Daimyo (feudal lords) who anger their lord pay the price; they can die honorably, committing seppuku, to be decapitated by the Kogi Kaishakunin, or dishonorably, and still end up decapitated. As one of the three high positions of power in the Shogunate, Retsudo frames Ogami Itto to claim the post for himself, and ensure the Yagyu's dominance.

Lone Wolf and Cub is one of the biggest, most sprawling epics in sequential art history. Koike collaborated on this project with artist Goseki Kojima, whose brushwork and naturalistic rendering rejects the heavily stylized art of most mangaka of the 1970's for art that is closer to the ukiyo-e wood-block prints of the edo-period. His cinematic compositions and pacing fit well with Kazuo Koike's scripts; both men were devoted admirers of film-maker Akira Kurosawa. Yojimbo, Seven Samurai, and Rashomon, as well as dozens of other classic samurai films, leave their footprints throughout the pages of Lone Wolf and Cub (there is also a distinct resemblance to Toshiro Mifune, Kurosawa's favorite actor, in the features of Ogami Itto).

The 'way of blood and demons', Meifumado, is the only path left open to Ogami Itto if he is to find vengeance; no longer bearing the Tokugawa crest, dishonored in the eyes of the Shogunate, Itto was expected to commit seppuku. Instead, he travels Edo-period Japan as a Ronin, offering his services as an assassin while pushing along a cart carrying Daigoro. His work takes him to every corner of Japan, and Koike has a genius for incorporating accurate historical facts and events into the various desperate situations that bring Itto into people's lives. There is no one better at creating visceral scenes in which characters are called upon by the Shogunate, by their loves and hatreds, by the Bushido code, and by their own conscience, to commit terrible acts if they are to forestall even more terrible consequences... for example: a teenaged Daimyo is unable to raise the taxes due the shogunate, because the villages he governs lost their crops, and are now starving; his loyal retainers beg Itto to accept the task of killing the beloved young lord on his way to Edo, staging a brutal robbery that will protect the young man from a worse death by seppuku, and leave his honor intact. More often than not, the person that Itto is paid to kill is far from deserving of such an end, but the near invincible swordsman has dedicated his suio-ryu technique and heavy dotanuki to the path of vengeance, and fulfills his terrible obligations with a frightening philosophical certainty. But as navigates the ocean coastlines and the treacherous paths through snow-covered mountains, he moves with purpose. With each new village he learns the secret methods by which the Ura-Yagyu (the 'Shadow Yagyu' branch of the larger clan that operates in secret), is consolidating power and loyalties.

The moral relativism of this series puts it far ahead of it's time. It is filled with shocking violence and graphic sexuality that often involves rape -- definitely not a kids' book. At some 9 000 pages, this series is huge, but well worth the investment of time and money. Although the smaller original editions were great, very affordable, I found the format too small at times to make out the smaller details, particularly in the complex battle scenes and samurai duels. These larger format, much longer omnibus editions are an excellent way to experience Lone Wolf and Cub; going from the 4" x 6" of the first books to the 5.5" x 7.35" dimensions of the omnibus editions makes a considerable difference.

P.S. As big as this series is, in a way it is actually bigger; Koike and Kojima continue their tale of edo-period Japan through the character of Decapitator Asaemon, one of Ogami Itto's most dangerous foes. The ten volumes of this series, 'Samurai Executioner', were published by Dark Horse in the same format as LW&C; they are now being collected in the omnibus format as well. Then there is 'Path of the Assassin', by the same creators, that is set before LW&C. It tells the story of ninja Hattori Hanzo, and the friend he has sworn to protect, Tokugawa Ieyasu -- the man who would one day become shogun and unify Japan. Again published in the same format, it totaled 15 volumes. Taken as a whole, Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima created a tale of life under the Tokugawa Shogunate that totaled 53 books, each one around 300 pages, equalling an impressive 16 000 pages. Truly epic...

Lone Wolf & Cub Omnibus Volume 1
A very nice thick manga from Dark Horse Manga, over 700 pages of pure black and white action, intrigue, and self exploration in this book.
This is my first manga, I believe. The closest I ever came to this type of stuff was Scott Pilgrim and SharKnife, the latter being absolutely deplorable.
The story revolves around a Ronin out to atone or avenge the death of his wife, carrying his son with him. Why he has his son at all is revealed halfway through the book and is one of the more powerful scenes so I won't go through it now with you.
Basically, he's an assassin. He often uses his son and puts him in grave danger to meet his mission, but his reasoning is "Even a Wolf Cub is still a Wolf", seeing as his son is strong and can take care of himself.
This is absolutely brilliant and I for sure will be buying volume two in this series. Lots of action, lots of neat problem solving and unique murders and stories to keep you guessing each time. It did end softly with the last two stories but 98% of the book is gold.
Definitely check it out, even if you've never read this sort of thing (like myself), you might like it.

I recommend getting the single volumes if you intend to read this book multiple times. The size of the book has made it so the spine is extremely flimsy. I feel kind of ripped off. After reading it once, the first quarter of the book has already separated from the rest.

I first read Lone Wolf and Cub in its 36 issue entirety in the mini-manga format from my local library. I was so impressed by the work that I immediately began looking into owning the entire series. Unfortunately it is too price prohibitive for me to do so. So I was thrilled when Dark Horse released the series in a three issue Omnibus with a $19.99 cover price.

The story centers on Ogami Ittō, the Shogun's Executioner, during Japan's feudal period. Framed as a traitor by the agents of a rival clan he is forced to take the path of an assassin in his quest for revenge. It is a choice he also gives his son Daigoro by allowing the toddler to choose between a ball or a sword; when the child chooses the sword their fates are sealed. They are reborn as Lone Wolf and Cub, Swords for hire.

The series follows the pair as they participate in countless assassinations, with Ittō employing tactics ranging from subterfuge to military strategems from the Art of War to succeed in his duty. Often times hidden in such a way from the reader that the "reveals" of the strategy are as surprising to us as the targets of the assissination.

More than just a hack and slash title, the stories focus heavily on the way of the ancient warrior, the code of the samurai, and the roles and ranks present in feudal Japan. Within this first Omnibus the attentive reader will find passages dripping with buddist concepts, samurai honor, and more than a few pages of Art of War. These sensibilities are brought home with the art work as well. Within the mix of panels depicting gruesome deaths and manga sex, will be the quiet landscapes, the mist strewn temples, and the majestic mountaintops of rural Japan. When reading (true reading the images and the words) Lone Wolf and Cub I was often reminded of the Japanese poetic form Haiku; where within a firm structure and short length the words transcend their literal purpose and resonate with a beauty and meaning far greater than they should. Panels and their words, combined and yet conflicting, elevate the page.

Just as our hero Ittō rises above elevates the assassin to a code of conduct befitting a samurai, just as he is above the mundane politics that offer pay him his salary, so does this story/art arise above what could have been a very mundane comicbook and places Lone Wolf firmly into the realm of literature.

The only thing keeping this from a 5 star rating is the book format. The good news is that the pages of this volume are much larger than the mini-manga format and, therefore, gives you a much better look at the gorgeous artwork. However, at over 700 pages the book is over 2" thick. Given the condition of the spine after one reading I can imagine what this will look like after several readings and wonder if separation will not be an issue. For that reason, I will be very stingy with loaning out this fantastic read.

If you're a fan of Lone Wolf & Cub then this omnibus edition is a MUST HAVE! Cover and paper quality is great. The size of the book is a lot bigger than the original books, not to mention a lot thicker due to the 700+ pages of pure awesomeness. I can't wait to buy ALL of the omnibus books.

Having no prior conception of this series, I was intrigued by the images I found online and summary enough to purchase this.
The art is phenomenal and ought to be savored as some truly beautiful spectacles unfold for the reader.
The stories told are also gritty and certainly of a harsher sort, with my one complaint being that they start to take on the nature of serial adventures; the worst trope of that being that the main character almost never seems to be in any real peril, as he always demonstrates an untouchable degree of martial skill.
Still, watching the Lone Wolf hack people up is done in grisly good detail, and though many of the potentially interesting side characters and villains are usually just killed off I liked almost all the stories for one reason or another.