Released by: Dark Horse Comics
Released on: Apr. 02, 2014
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This 700-page TPB collects four complete stories from the Lone Wolf and Cub series - volumes 8, 9 and then three stories from volume 10.
For those not in the know regarding this long-running Japanese comic the story focuses on Ogami Itto, the former Kogi Kaishakunin or Shogun's Assassin, now on the Six Paths, the Four Lives, living meifumado, with his infant son, Daigoro. Their battle is primarily against the Yagyu clan, the Sato-Iri Shinobi ninja, led by the power-hungry, blood-thirsty maniac Retsudo.
Chains of Death - The opening story is the typical Lone Wolf & Cub story, wherein the pair seem to wander aimlessly but unstoppably, this time into a trap in a small mountain village. It begins, though, with an introduction to Retsudo calling for the Kurokawa clan to rise up on their own behalf (but, really, to benefit the Yagyu) and strike down Ogami Itto once and for all. Itto attempts to convince his attackers of Retsudo's ulterior motives but they have their own score to settle here. They surround him and Daigoro, using the chains of the title to create a “star of death†surrounding and trapping them. But Itto - as is often the case in this series - is a force of nature that cannot be stopped and, soon enough, his attackers are all dead in the snow, leaving Itto and Daigoro to walk away yet again.
Naked Worms - This story gets into the main tale of Ogami and his fight against the Yagyu. It involves Ogami infiltrating the hadaka-mushi, the “naked worms†of the title, who ferry people across a dangerous river. They are a predatory lot, often ripping off the people they're transporting and then sexually molesting any female passengers. They think they're untouchable, too, since the river warden needs them for one purpose alone: Getting the Shogun's precious packages - the gojo-bako, top-secret messages - across the river. Without the hadaka-mushi, those won't go through and it'll be his head. So they act with impunity - until Ogami intervenes, seeking to become one of them. They give him a chance and he carries out his task of ferrying people on his back or on litters across the river tirelessly. They are impressed but don't trust him. However, their leader recognizes Ogami's resolve and rewards it by letting him stay on as one of them. So when it finally comes time to cross the swollen river with a gojo-bako he selects Ogami as one of the litter-bearers. Halfway across, though, Ogami tips the litter, steals the package and kills the guards. Returning to shore, his co-workers want him dead but, again, their leader intervenes, respecting this “true samurai†as such a rare sight that they'll want to live, just to tell this story to their kids and grandkids.
The Yagyu Letter: Prologue - The events of the previous story roll into this one, where Retsudo discovers that Ogami Itto has stolen that package, one that contains incriminating evidence of the Yagyu treachery. This enrages the old man and forces his hand, finally throwing their own clans forces in with his “errand boys†of the Kurokawa. He plans to use them as the first wave and then another wave with archers and riflemen to follow, to finally put this menace down once and for all.
The Yagyu Letter - Retsudo and the clans ride out once Ogami is spotted and he lays out his plan to eliminate the assassin. The Lone Wolf & Cub have stopped off at a mountain inn, giving him time to stay one step ahead of his killers. It also allows for a flashback, before all this, when he learned of the Yagyu treachery and how they've hijacked the Shogun's communications for their own ends. Back to the present, the first wave of Kurokawa approach and propose meeting him in the open in a fair fight. He's busy dispatching them when one goes after Daigoro who cleverly defends himself using one of the spears attached to his baby cart. With that battle won, the father and son depart, walking eventually into the trap of the second wave. The archers' arrows only strike the cart, though, and as the gunners take aim Ogami is able to set off the multi-barreled cannon he's mounted into the cart and fire it at them, seriously decimating their numbers. This allows him - with his infant son clinging to his back - to wade into the vast number and strike them all down. This leaves just the last wave, of Retsudo and his Yagyu goons.
The Tears of Daigoro - This begins with the fight then between them all, with Ogami laying into their number and coming into a duel with Retusdo. However, during that portion of the fighting, Daigoro falls from his father's back, down the steep hillside. Ogami follows suit himself but in a different direction, fooling the Yagyu by taking the secret letter with him and forcing the Yagyu to chase him down. Daigoro, meanwhile, is unconscious and found by mentally-challenged young man who informs his good guy of a father. They take the boy in then and work to restore his health. The father is a former samurai himself and recognizes that Daigoro has that in him, too, and suspects that something more sinister must be at work here. So he's not surprised when a group of “travelers†appears seeking shelter. They talk some, the father revealing his past and his duty to his son who needs his help. He sees that as his role with Daigoro, too, and so when these assassin attack he fights them, allowing the kids to make their escape. He fights unarmed and still manages to hold the majority of them off before he's fatally struck down. As they escape the kids encounter one last assassin. The boy, though, is as resolute as his father where it counts, attacking the larger, armed man and dragging both of them fatally over a cliff. Daigoro is left alive and alone then, good people having sacrificed themselves to save him, and that finally elicits tears of sorrow from the old-soul, world-weary infant.
The Fisherwoman's Love - The last story in this collection follows Daigoro as he makes his way resolutely on his own. He encounters a group of fishermen who offer to feed the wayward child but he refuses to take anything from them, not after seeing how hard they work for the fish themselves. One woman in their midst is particularly taken with the boy and comes back later for him, finding Daigoro doing his own fishing (with great difficulty). He finally then calls her, “Auntie,†and she's happy with that, taking him home with her to get proper food and rest. However, on the way, they encounter the village priest who's horrified at what he sees in Daigoro's eyes, what he terms as shishogan, massive amounts of bloody slaughter and death that can only mean bad luck for anyone near him. The priest demands that she abandon this child at once, for the safety of their village. But she doesn't and he's welcomed into her home. Daigoro smiles even, hanging out with the nice grandpa and the woman's own baby. The priest shows up again the next day and, seeing this child still around, figures he must kill the abomination himself. Yet in doing so he starts a fire that burns the house down, bringing all the fishermen running and the fisherwoman terrified for her baby. They want to blame Daigoro who's still there, standing in the nearby woods - but, as it turns out, guarding the baby that he saved from the fire. The adults are all shocked and Daigoro runs away, knowing that part of what the priest said was true about him...
This collection also comes with a handy glossary of the Japanese terms and concepts used in the stories, to help out with the translation. Also included are short profiles of series' creators Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. This massive volume is an excellent addition to any collection, for both the casual and hardcore fan alike of this series and is a great value as well. The stories collected are a great example of the variety the entire run of the series covers as well, the one-off tales to the vast, more epic conspiracy storyline. But those all serve to detail this samurai world and the time of feudal Japan very well. The cover art from Frank Miller doesn't hurt, either...