Lone Wolf & Cub, Volume 11: Talisman of Hades

Rating:
Summary: At long last, Ogami Itto gets emotional over Daigoro
Review: "Talisman of Hades" is a nice title, but "Thirteen Strings" is the one you are not going to forget of the four stories collected in Volume 11 of the "Lone Wolf & Cub" magna epic. We had been confronted with a major development in the story as Ogami Itto stole the Yagyu letter. All pretenses were dropped as Reshido Yagyu declared open war on Ogami Itto, but Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima were showing the same sort of audacious subterfuge as their heroic creation, for as Ogami and Reshido crossed blades, Daigoro lost is hold on his father's shoulders and literally fell over a cliff. Suddenly the mystery of the Yagyu letter has become secondary because father and son have become separated. Their search for one another continues in these stories and for the first time we see Ogami Itto express emotion for his son:

(55) "Talisman of Hades" finds Ogami Itto is now putting up pictures of a baby cart where once he had pasted the talismans of meifunado to invite clients of death and assassination. A group of young students on their way to an academy stumble upon the mystery of the signs and when they see the strange ronin slay a "priest" (another Yagyu assassin in disguise of course), they decide they must intervene, forcing Lone Wolf to teach them a valuable lesson.

(56) "Ailing Star" has Daigoro finding a place to stay with an old granny who lives under a rotted bridge in danger of collapse. The locals keep trying to convince the old lady to leave, but she refuses. "Ailing Star" forms an interesting counterpart to "Talisman of Hades" as Daigoro has his own little lesson to impart.

(57) "Thirteen Strings" is an 118-page story where Koike and Kojima come up with their own version of a Kurosawa film experience (the rain during the last acts of the story is a clue). When we come to end of this epic tale, surely "Thirteen Strings" will be one of the most memorable episodes. A runaway horse is about to trample a child in the road when Ogami Itto intervenes. The horsewoman turns out to be the Lady Kanae, Daughter of the Go-Jodai of Odawara Han, and a spoiled brat who fancies herself a samurai. Ogami also learns of a larger conflict between the Go-Jodai and the farmers. Drought has blighted the harvest for four years and the Go-Jodai has tightened the screws on the farmers, who "hire" Ogami to attend a meeting between the two sides (because if anything happens to Chosuke, the leader of the farmers, Lone Wolf will bring word back to the farmers). Go-Jodai has his own agenda for implementing fundamental agricultural reform. Meanwhile, his headstrong daughter seeks revenge on the ronin who has insulted her. But then the rains bring a sudden flood that changes absolutely everything. This is a memorable story of surprising depth, showing that Koike and Kojima are absolute masters of their craft.

(58) "A Poem for the Grave" has Ogami Itto seeking help in finding the secret of the Yagyu letter. This turns into another assassination job, which results in an encounter with another honorable soul who seeks to turn Lone Wolf from the Assassin's Road. The question is whether things might be different this time because of Ogami Itto's separation from Diagoro.

I am in awe of Koike and Kojima maintain this level of excellence through a story that is not even halfway over by this point in the telling of the tale. I continue to savor one story each night at bedtime so that I can think about how it fits into the big picture and the ebb and flow of the story. An absolute masterpiece, not just as a comic book, but as an epic narrative.

Rating:
Summary: At long last, Ogami Itto gets emotional over Daigoro
Review: "Talisman of Hades" is a nice title, but "Thirteen Strings" is the one you are not going to forget of the four stories collected in Volume 11 of the "Lone Wolf & Cub" magna epic. We had been confronted with a major development in the story as Ogami Itto stole the Yagyu letter. All pretenses were dropped as Reshido Yagyu declared open war on Ogami Itto, but Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima were showing the same sort of audacious subterfuge as their heroic creation, for as Ogami and Reshido crossed blades, Daigoro lost is hold on his father's shoulders and literally fell over a cliff. Suddenly the mystery of the Yagyu letter has become secondary because father and son have become separated. Their search for one another continues in these stories and for the first time we see Ogami Itto express emotion for his son:

(55) "Talisman of Hades" finds Ogami Itto is now putting up pictures of a baby cart where once he had pasted the talismans of meifunado to invite clients of death and assassination. A group of young students on their way to an academy stumble upon the mystery of the signs and when they see the strange ronin slay a "priest" (another Yagyu assassin in disguise of course), they decide they must intervene, forcing Lone Wolf to teach them a valuable lesson.

(56) "Ailing Star" has Daigoro finding a place to stay with an old granny who lives under a rotted bridge in danger of collapse. The locals keep trying to convince the old lady to leave, but she refuses. "Ailing Star" forms an interesting counterpart to "Talisman of Hades" as Daigoro has his own little lesson to impart.

(57) "Thirteen Strings" is an 118-page story where Koike and Kojima come up with their own version of a Kurosawa film experience (the rain during the last acts of the story is a clue). When we come to end of this epic tale, surely "Thirteen Strings" will be one of the most memorable episodes. A runaway horse is about to trample a child in the road when Ogami Itto intervenes. The horsewoman turns out to be the Lady Kanae, Daughter of the Go-Jodai of Odawara Han, and a spoiled brat who fancies herself a samurai. Ogami also learns of a larger conflict between the Go-Jodai and the farmers. Drought has blighted the harvest for four years and the Go-Jodai has tightened the screws on the farmers, who "hire" Ogami to attend a meeting between the two sides (because if anything happens to Chosuke, the leader of the farmers, Lone Wolf will bring word back to the farmers). Go-Jodai has his own agenda for implementing fundamental agricultural reform. Meanwhile, his headstrong daughter seeks revenge on the ronin who has insulted her. But then the rains bring a sudden flood that changes absolutely everything. This is a memorable story of surprising depth, showing that Koike and Kojima are absolute masters of their craft.

(58) "A Poem for the Grave" has Ogami Itto seeking help in finding the secret of the Yagyu letter. This turns into another assassination job, which results in an encounter with another honorable soul who seeks to turn Lone Wolf from the Assassin's Road. The question is whether things might be different this time because of Ogami Itto's separation from Diagoro.

I am in awe of Koike and Kojima maintain this level of excellence through a story that is not even halfway over by this point in the telling of the tale. I continue to savor one story each night at bedtime so that I can think about how it fits into the big picture and the ebb and flow of the story. An absolute masterpiece, not just as a comic book, but as an epic narrative.

Rating:
Summary: The reprints end here
Review: Back in the late 80's and early 90 I owned a comic book store. This was one of the items I looked forward to every month. The writing was incredible and the artwork supurb. Out of dozens of issues I can only think a one or two that weren't worth my time.

When I first saw these book at the local comic store I ignored them. After all I had all of the issues and didn't need to spend money on smaller reprints even if they were in the origional format. However with the middle of this issue we have stories that were never published in America before.

It didn't hurt that one of the best stories (and the last) story of the full sized comic was here "Mazohoshi Maeesho" For people who don't know the series that story will say it all. The intro story also paints a path for those unfamilar with the series.

It would frankly be a waste of verbage to describe each story. The quality level is as always so high and the stories so interesting that there is little more to say.

If you never read this series start with #1 and enjoy. If you like me didn't buy it because they were reprints then go wild.

Rating:
Summary: The epic continues...
Review: I happen to be quite a fan of big, sprawling epics, no matter what the medium may be. "Lone Wolf And Cub" is certainly turning out be quite an interesting one indeed. Continuing the plot from the previous volume, samurai-for-hire Ogami has been seperated from his son Daigoro during a brutal attack by his former masters, the Yagyu. As we begin this book, Ogami is on the search for Daigoro, but on his way he will run afoul of assassins and lone samurai. This volume lays out some great stories, as well as new developments in the series that will keep me reading indefinitely. For those unfamiliar with the series, it's best to start back at the first volume. For me (entrenched in the series already), this is another piece in Ogami's search for vengeance and another piece in the big puzzle of Lone Wolf And Cub.

Rating:
Summary: Ogami Itto is hired for several intriquing assassinations
Review: The mystery of the Yagyu letter is apparently forgotten in the five Lone Wolf and Cub tales told in Volume 12, "Shattered Stones." However, one thing that really stood out in these stories is that since he was reunited with his father after they were separated by circumstances, Daigoro has been smiling a lot more:

(59) "Nameless, Penniless, Lifeless" is one of the most disturbing stories in the Lone Wolf and Cub saga. It begins with a woman putting on a sex show for peasants. But what is even more shocking is that the woman has lost her mind and that her husband, whose face is half scared by terrible burns, is the one who talks her into her displays. There is more here than meets the eye, as is often the case in these stories, and the way in which the truth is revealed might remind you of part of Shakespeare's "Hamlet."

(60) "Body Check" is another one of those tales in which Ogami Itto has to use his brains to put himself in a position to use his sword for his next assassination.

(61) "Shattered Stones" begins with one of the most different ways that Ogami Itto has met someone who wanted to hire him for an assassination. On top of that the rules of the assassination are quite different (again, I am reminded of a Western parallel in the novel "Sophie's Choice").

(62) "A Promise of Potatoes" is an amusing little change of pace story for this series. Daigoro is off by himself again, being beaten up by a group of kids, when he is rescued by a con artist who teaches the boy to sit by a bowl looking pitiful as a way of making money. But where there is Cub can Lone Wolf be far behind...

(63) "Wife Killer" is a wonderfully ironic title, which we learn is used to describe somebody who gives away the tricks of magicians, who are known as "hand wives." Noronji Hoya, the Princess of Magicians, who has been using a delighted Daigoro as her "assistant," is about the encounter the "wife killer," an old saki-sotted magician who travels with two thugs who extort money from magicians: pay up or have your secrets revealed. But Noronji Hoya has a better proposition: she will perform a trick and if the old man can reveal her secret she will kill herself; if not, then she will take the old man's eyes.

Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima are back to telling tales in which Ogami Itto is more often than not more of a spectator to the action in which other characters carry the stories. One of the testaments to the greatness of this manga epic is that the title character can be almost incidental to the story and it is still completely riveting. Here we are, not even halfway through this saga, and they are still coming up with new and intriguing variations on the basic themes they established early on. The fact that they can maintain this high level certainly justifies the exalted status Lone Wolf & Cub has in the international world of comics.

Rating:
Summary: Ogami Itto is hired for several intriquing assassinations
Review: The mystery of the Yagyu letter is apparently forgotten in the five Lone Wolf and Cub tales told in Volume 12, "Shattered Stones." However, one thing that really stood out in these stories is that since he was reunited with his father after they were separated by circumstances, Daigoro has been smiling a lot more:

(59) "Nameless, Penniless, Lifeless" is one of the most disturbing stories in the Lone Wolf and Cub saga. It begins with a woman putting on a sex show for peasants. But what is even more shocking is that the woman has lost her mind and that her husband, whose face is half scared by terrible burns, is the one who talks her into her displays. There is more here than meets the eye, as is often the case in these stories, and the way in which the truth is revealed might remind you of part of Shakespeare's "Hamlet."

(60) "Body Check" is another one of those tales in which Ogami Itto has to use his brains to put himself in a position to use his sword for his next assassination.

(61) "Shattered Stones" begins with one of the most different ways that Ogami Itto has met someone who wanted to hire him for an assassination. On top of that the rules of the assassination are quite different (again, I am reminded of a Western parallel in the novel "Sophie's Choice").

(62) "A Promise of Potatoes" is an amusing little change of pace story for this series. Daigoro is off by himself again, being beaten up by a group of kids, when he is rescued by a con artist who teaches the boy to sit by a bowl looking pitiful as a way of making money. But where there is Cub can Lone Wolf be far behind...

(63) "Wife Killer" is a wonderfully ironic title, which we learn is used to describe somebody who gives away the tricks of magicians, who are known as "hand wives." Noronji Hoya, the Princess of Magicians, who has been using a delighted Daigoro as her "assistant," is about the encounter the "wife killer," an old saki-sotted magician who travels with two thugs who extort money from magicians: pay up or have your secrets revealed. But Noronji Hoya has a better proposition: she will perform a trick and if the old man can reveal her secret she will kill herself; if not, then she will take the old man's eyes.

Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima are back to telling tales in which Ogami Itto is more often than not more of a spectator to the action in which other characters carry the stories. One of the testaments to the greatness of this manga epic is that the title character can be almost incidental to the story and it is still completely riveting. Here we are, not even halfway through this saga, and they are still coming up with new and intriguing variations on the basic themes they established early on. The fact that they can maintain this high level certainly justifies the exalted status Lone Wolf & Cub has in the international world of comics.

Rating:
Summary: Yagyu Retsudo renews the quest to kill Ogami Itto & Daigoro
Review: The Yagyu letter continues to gnaw at Yagyu Retsudo who gives ample proof in Volume 13 of the Lone Wolf & Cub saga, "The Moon in the East, the Sun in the West," that he will go to any length to get his revenge on Ogami Itto. In the five chapters of the manga epic included in this volume is the most shocking act of violence we have yet wetness in this bloody saga:

(64) "The Moon in the East, the Sun in the West" has Retsudo ruminating on how he has sent all of his legitimate sons to be slaughtered by Ogami Itto. But the old man has an illegitimate son and daughter, and horrible plans for them both.

(65) "'Marohoshi' Mamesho" is another one of the fascinating characters created by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. This time around the title character is an old policeman from the capital on the verge of retirement who stumbles across Ogami Itto being commissioned for his next act of assassination. "Marohoshi" has spent his life protecting people and he is not going to let this ronin continue on the assassin's road.

(66) "Spoiling Daigoro" is an offbeat story where the family that hires Ogami Itto persuades him to let Daigoro stay with them while he goes off to do his job. They have a son who is a coward and a weakling with no friends, and the boy's father thinks that having Daigoro around might be good for Suzunosuke. Ogami Itto agrees and thinks go well for a while, but Suzunosuke soon grows tired of hearing his parents praise Daigoro day and night.

(67) "The Hojiro Yaguy" finds Retsudo's illegitimate son planning on using poison darts that can stop a charging horse to slay Lone Wolf. It looks like there is no way on earth Ogami Itto can escape, but, of course, he always has something up his sleeve. Warning: The ending of this one is unexpectedly brutual and shocking.

(68) "The Bird Catchers," is another episode where Lone Wolf and Cub are spectators for the most part as they come across a group of female falconers preserving a dying way of life. But what makes this tale of some significance, especially as the last one in this volume, is that in the eyes of his son, it seems Ogami Itto might have finally gone too far.

"The Moon in the East, the Sun in the West" is another superb collection of stories in the Lone Wolf & Cub saga. Koike and Kojima still manage to provide a new twist and turn in every volume while stringing us out as long as possible with both the short term mystery of the Yagyu letter and the long term quest of Ogami Itto to get his vengeance on the entire Yagyu clan. I read one episode a night right before bed and am almost always surprised to see what new direction each night's story might take. This has to be one of the ten greatest comic epics of all time.