Rating: 
Summary: The Return of a Great Character!
Review: Like the other reviewers, I have really enjoyed reading Lone Wolf and Cub again after all of these years. Moreover, having a complete series in English is a thrill! The attention to historical detail, and the short essays at teh end of several volumes, makes this series a perfect introduction to Japan during the warring era.I would strongly suggest that readers of Lone Wolf go ahead and look at the books of Stephen Turnbull, perhaps the English-speaking world's leading expert on Japanese military history. His "Samurai Warriors" has absolutely incredible artwork by James Fields, and is essential reading for anyone interested in the world of the samurai. Enjoy. Gambatte!
Rating:
Summary: Classic.
Review: Lone Wolf and Cub has few equals, if any. The most frequent comparison I've seen is to Hiroaki Samura's Blade of the Immortal series, but the only real link between them is that each features kendo, Japanese fencing. Blade of the Immortal tells an engaging story, but it has a cyberpunk sensibility and is little concerned with historical or cultural context; Lone Wolf and Cub, on the other hand, is a sprawling epic which deals with weighty emotional and moral issues and frequently delves into the minutiae of Japanese political and cultural life under the Tokugawa shogunate. Though largely humorless, Ogami Itto's constant grimness is always contrasted by the human warmth of his child, Daigoro. On the surface, Goseki Kojima's ink artwork is serviceable -- adequate but far from extraordinary. Looking more closely, however, his skill becomes apparent: point of view is constantly shifting, sweeping between cinematic wide angles and tight close-ups on dew-laced leaves. And the reader is frequently treated to beautiful frames shaded more subtly than plain black-and-white line drawings, painted in the calligraphic style of traditional Japanese landscapes. Start with this volume, but be aware that you won't find the best this series has to offer until the next and following books. The overall story arc is epic and intricate, told in bits and pieces over many thousands of pages. (It could also be described as "historical fiction," one possible explanation of the historical disappearance of both the Ogami and Yagyu clans.) Most of the early stories, however, are self-contained, and they vary widely. All are interesting, but the narrative point of view and even the apparent genre changes with each story; the broad range of Kazuo Koike's storytelling, and his skill with manipulating narrative time, is only hinted at in this first volume. The translation is good, much more sensitive than the partial version published by First in the '80s. As a final point, I didn't find the small format to be a problem. I read many of these stories in First's run, printed in full-size format, but I quickly adapted to the smaller print and graphics in this Dark Horse printing. Dark Horse made the courageous decision to re-translate and publish the series of over 8000 pages -- a vastly greater scale than First attempted; printing each of 28 (?) volumes in full-size format would be prohibitively expensive for Dark Horse and for us. You'll adapt quickly to the smaller format -- and you'll be grateful to Dark Horse for bringing us this incomparable epic in its entirety.
Rating:
Summary: Purely enjoyable manga!
Review: Lone Wolf and Cub is amazing. The story is captivating, the art is absolutely gorgeous to observe, and the characters are very unique and interesting as well. I feel that later volumes are better because the story deepens much more, but this is still a great literary (yes, LITERARY) achievement! I think that all comic book/graphic novel lovers as well as all fans of Japanese art (anime, manga) will thoroughly enjoy the Lone Wolf and Cub series! Enjoy! -Taylor
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Lone Wolf and Cub tells the story of a samurai assasin who travels with his toddler son. He uses his son to accomplish the assasinations, which was a big pull for me. The ways in which a toddler can be used to get victims to let their guard down or otherwise manipulate them were clever. This book contains the beginnings of a huge series in which the toddler grows up and many complex plot issues arise. This first book in the series did an excellent job of setting things up without obviously setting things up. The story flows well through the smaller self contained chapters each of which would stand alone well also.
The concept of the father and very young son assasin team has been influential since this comic came out, most recently in Road to Perdition but other stuff too. Occasionally I hear about Lone Wolf and Cub and I recognized the title when I saw this. Historically this comic is important because of the influence it has had on art in general.
The drawings in Lone Wolf and Cub were good. Page layouts were excellent. Some of the images stuck in my head after reading. The copy I read was tiny - about postcard sized pages. This keeps cost low, but I would have preferred to see the pictures reproduced larger even if it raises cost. So if in the future a larger scale edition is available then try to find that one. Eigther way the graphics were excellent.
I recommend Lone Wolf and Cub to one and all with the reservation that there is violence and nudity.
Rating: 
Summary: impressive but...
Review: OUSTANDING STORY!!! BUT THE FORMAT SUCKS , VERY TINY LETTERS ,IF THE BOOK WERE A LITTLE BIGGER IT WOULD BE 5 STARS.
Rating:
Summary: MANga!
Review: Recently I started reading "Blade of the Immortal" (which I absolutely adore), and based on hearing comparisons of that series to "Lone Wolf and Cub", I picked up this first book. Throughout the first seven stories in this volume, I kept wondering what the big deal was about: although the stories nicely reveal Ogami's craftiness and tremendous fighting abilities, they seemed a bit too macho and dated. The eighth story hinted of a deeper plot, but just when I was about to give up on this manga, the last story was a welcome shocker with its scope and unflinching honesty. My interest was definitely piqued and I seriously considered continuing with the next book, but in the end I decided against it due to some slightly gratuitous nudity. Recently an anime magazine I read gave some awards for the manliest MANime of all time. If they were to do the same for manliest MANga, "Lone Wolf and Cub" would be up there. If you're a fan of macho but deep manga, this series is for you, but otherwise (even if you're normally a shoujo-lover like me), go for "Blade of the Immortal" (which is still manly, but not like this) instead for its beautiful artwork and more modern sensibilities.
Rating:
Summary: Enter Meifumado: Nine Steps on the Road to Hell
Review: The concept of Lone Wolf and Cub is, in a word, fascinating. A stoic Ronin wanders the countryside of ancient Japan, carting his small child in a vessel that more than meets the eye, with a banner to advertise: `son for hire, sword for hire.' Over mountains and through cities he travels, offering his unique services to those needy - and to those who can pay. The legend of Ogami Itto and his precocious son Daigoro spreads far and wide; he gives hope to the desperate, vengeance for the bereft, a chance of rogue justice in an unbalanced society. And more: LW&C walk the path of meifumado, the Buddhist hell of demons and damnation, to achieve a private vendetta: to lay rest to the tragedy that has set father and son upon the assassin's road - a dastardly deed only hinted at in this first volume.
Until Dark Horse decided to publish the entire series in 2000, Lone Wolf and Cub had existed beforehand as a manga-mythos of the Far-East - extremely popular in its Nippon homeland, where it begun serialization in 1970 and continued for many years, spawning six films and critical acclaim in its wake; but published sporadically and incomplete on western shores. Dark Horse's commitment to the series was an audacious one - the story spanned some 28 volumes, an expensive investment for publisher and readership alike - but the end result was, to me and other scholars of Eastern culture, invaluable. For LW&C not only entertains with its blend of samurai-noir and vicious sword-play, it educates on the finer points of Japanese culture, as it existed in the Tokugawa era, and displays vividly the struggle of existence, from lowly peasants to the most upright nobility. LW&C is an Epic, and one of the finest I've chanced to read.
`The Assassin's Road' sets the tone of the series: small self-contained vignettes concerning the adventures of Ogami Itto and Daigoro, usually-but not always-concerning the grisly reality of their occupation. Intertwined are digressions into matters of Bushido, Buddhism and other aspects of Japanese society; and, sprinkled throughout, the larger and eventually more encompassing storyarc of LW&C's feud with the shadow-family of the Yagyu, `official' assassins of the Shogun. I have to admit that, structurally, the Ogami vs. Yagtu storyline is the most compelling aspect to the series, at least initially: and it comes in such rare intervals early on in the series that one continually hungers for more information, more contact with the central conflict...and yet, the minor storytelling is just as potent, if not more so - for here we are given insight into Ogami Itto's character, and that of his son; here we are exposed to the personalities, petty conflicts and personal struggle of Japanese history - and Japanese character.
This volume contains nine stories, nine steps for Ogami Itto and his son on their thousand-mile journey to meifumado...and beyond.
1) Son for Hire, Sword for Hire - the opening tale for the entire epic. Ogami Itto enters the *shima* (death-zone) to take down a scheming politician. A fitting, if mysterious, introduction to the characters and overall style of the manga.
2) A Father knows his Child's Heart, as only a Child can know his Father's: The relationship between father and son is explored in this short tale of deception and retribution; the concept of meifumado is given, and a deeper framework to LW&C's actions hinted at. Contains sexual content - gratuitous to western eyes; but not, I think, to those of the east, considering how *some* manga are...different cultures, different standards.
3) From North to South, from West to East - LW&C are hired to assassinate a vassal before he is taken to Edo for torture and confession. A decent story made valuable for its explanation of Shogun politics.
4) Baby Cart on the River Styx - the corruption of small town officials, and what lengths they will go to protect their malifecience, is at the heart of this tale. One begins to perceive Ogami Itto as not just a scruffy assassin, but a man concerned with honor and justice.
5) Suio School Zanbato - Daigoro `accidentally' urinates upon the head of a passing nobleman, who subsequently challenges the Lone Wolf to single combat. Like most of vol. 1, this story serves the purpose of exploring who and what LW&C are: Ogami's sword-style - and the lengths in which he will use his son as accomplice.
6) Waiting for the Rains - Daigoro meets a sick woman at a shrine; it is revealed that she was used by a shinobi (ninja) to help discredit her family house. Ogami Itto waits in the shadows, confident that the guilty ninja will return for his abandoned lover...
7) Eight Gates of Deceit - LW&C travel to a remote mountain village, only to find the inhabitants slaughtered, his contract void, and eight female warriors hunting for wolf's blood. A rousing action tale with a philosophic conclusion.
8) Wings to the Bird, Fangs to the Beast - my second favorite in this compilation. LW&C travel to a hot springs for rest and relaxation. A gang of bandits has occupied the town, however, and they take Ogami Itto prisoner. At the end of this story, we are given a vital clue into the history of LW&C, which leads directly into...
9) The Assassin's Road - a flashback sequence shows us (some) of the events that led LW&C onto the assassin's road. The evolution of Daigoro throughout the series is its emotional keystone, at once riveting and heartbreaking.
LW&C vol. 1 - `The Assassin's Road' does an admirable job of setting forward the characters and conflicts that shall dominate the Epic as a whole, but on its own, it is perhaps the least of the twenty-eight volumes. The art, storytelling, and language translation all improve with successive volumes. The last two stories alone make this compilation worth the price, however, and I whole-heartedly recommend Lone Wolf and Cub to both manga-enthusiasts and those curious about Japanese history.
Rating:
Summary: Read this book
Review: The Lone Wolf and Cub series is a must-read on multiple levels. First, it's a great introduction to the Japanese psyche. Second, it's a great introduction to Japanese history; LW&C just reeks of scholarly research. Third, but not last, it's just a fun set of stories to read. Even if you've only seen Lone Wolf and Cub mentioned in a movies listing, you should run out and get these books. Book one introduces the characters and sets the stage for what happens next. The artwork is good to excellent. Go for it.
Rating:
Summary: Don't skip it if you have the comics.
Review: There is very little to add to all the great and well deserved complements that this series has earned however I neglected to purchase this copy (starting at issue 13) because I have the entire Dark Horse run. However I happended to leaf through this issue at a local store and found to my shock that the first 8 stories were totally unknown to me. They are first rate although for the first two stories the art seems uneven as if the Artist hadn't settled exactly how Ito would look. The 8th story where Lone Wolf is revealed as the Shogun's former executioner is the best of the lot. The final story is Issue #1 from the Dark Horse series. Even that story has some slightly different translation in the dialoge and is worth your attention for that. Whatever the reason this is the finest comic series that I have seen in my 28 years of collecting. There is not a better choice for your money.
Rating:
Summary: Don't skip it if you have the comics.
Review: There is very little to add to all the great and well deserved complements that this series has earned however I neglected to purchase this copy (starting at issue 13) because I have the entire Dark Horse run. However I happended to leaf through this issue at a local store and found to my shock that the first 8 stories were totally unknown to me. They are first rate although for the first two stories the art seems uneven as if the Artist hadn't settled exactly how Ito would look. The 8th story where Lone Wolf is revealed as the Shogun's former executioner is the best of the lot. The final story is Issue #1 from the Dark Horse series. Even that story has some slightly different translation in the dialoge and is worth your attention for that. Whatever the reason this is the finest comic series that I have seen in my 28 years of collecting. There is not a better choice for your money.
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