Lone Wolf 2100: Shadows on Saplings

Rating:
Summary: "They were a force of nature"
Review: When I saw that Dark Horse Comics was starting a new Lone Wolf series set in the 22nd Century, I was quite interested. Typical of me, I really didn't think through the changes required to move the story several hundred years into its future. How this is done will make or break the story, especially since the moody atmospherics of the original series is so well known.

Instead of a father and son team, we find Itto, the Lone Wolf, is a battle android of awesome powers. He is fleeing Cygnat Owari's corporate hegemony where he was once high in its security organization. A modern samurai, if you will. His young companion is the small daughter of Dr. Ogami, who was working on a cure for a war created plague before Itto was ordered to kill him.

Thus the story's basis echoes the original, but many of the similarities are indistinct. Daisy, the young girl, is still nothing like the original son - she is a purely passive plot device. The technology overwhelms the story while what made the original was the careful cultural setting. And Itto falls short of the ingenuity of his predecessor.

Really the differences are extensive, but that is the creators' right. This is not intended as a slavish imitation, but a new thing that acknowledges its origins. But, I found it quite jarring at first when things refused to settle into the old pattern. Once I got my head around it, though, I began to like the work more and more. However, I do think it lacks a bit of the artistry of the original series.

The artwork is good - in color as well. It has moments where it captures the original style. I thought that it as almost to wordy, but there is a lot to explain in the first issue to get the reader oriented. Given a chance to develop, the series has considerable potention, and is worth hunting down for a close examination.

Rating:
Summary: "They were a force of nature"
Review: When I saw that Dark Horse Comics was starting a new Lone Wolf series set in the 22nd Century, I was quite interested. Typical of me, I really didn't think through the changes required to move the story several hundred years into its future. How this is done will make or break the story, especially since the moody atmospherics of the original series is so well known.

Instead of a father and son team, we find Itto, the Lone Wolf, is a battle android of awesome powers. He is fleeing Cygnat Owari's corporate hegemony where he was once high in its security organization. A modern samurai, if you will. His young companion is the small daughter of Dr. Ogami, who was working on a cure for a war created plague before Itto was ordered to kill him.

Thus the story's basis echoes the original, but many of the similarities are indistinct. Daisy, the young girl, is still nothing like the original son - she is a purely passive plot device. The technology overwhelms the story while what made the original was the careful cultural setting. And Itto falls short of the ingenuity of his predecessor.

Really the differences are extensive, but that is the creators' right. This is not intended as a slavish imitation, but a new thing that acknowledges its origins. But, I found it quite jarring at first when things refused to settle into the old pattern. Once I got my head around it, though, I began to like the work more and more. However, I do think it lacks a bit of the artistry of the original series.

The artwork is good - in color as well. It has moments where it captures the original style. I thought that it as almost to wordy, but there is a lot to explain in the first issue to get the reader oriented. Given a chance to develop, the series has considerable potention, and is worth hunting down for a close examination.