Most excellent. Lone Wolf is the definition of "bad-ass". I've heard great things about this series, but for once my expectations were exceeded.

I have a bunch of those comics. They are copy in the japanese style, only difference is the translation of the dialogues to english and the way you read the book (from left to right).
The story is somewhat based in real context and some cultural points are visible, what's very interesting and pleasing for a fan of the japanese culture.
As for the plot, it doesn't vary much. The basic story (even if a compeling one) of father and son in a quest for vegeance and survival.
I think what is more disapointing is the fact that the fighthings don't vary much, he kills them all (in the style of a japanese samurai movie). In fact the story telling is very cinematic what in a way makes some of the interest of the comic.
With a more deep plot I belive it could be better, but in general and since you can't find much of this kind in translation I think it's a good try.
To know the all story you need to have all the books anyway. ( )

Only the expense of buying many volumes have kept me from finishing this series. These stories are short and self-contained, with crafty twists and a "statement" to be found in each. This ronin and his son serve as critics of the social order of the time and expose the distance between claimed values and practiced ones. I don't tend to enjoy the art style of a lot of manga, but I found these quite pleasing to the eye. Children and those seeking kawaii/cute should steer clear, but those mature readers with a bit of understanding of the culture should find the series enjoyable.

An samurai of superb skills, because of political reasons, goes his own way, and takes his kid with him, partly to stop him from being murderered.

Along the way, of course, you will get all the sword slinging, head slicing samurai action you could want.

A grim, uncompromising and violent man, this is not your fluffy kids manga, so worth a look from that point of view. Not too many of those around in English, with an art style that is more likely to appeal.

http://graphicsf.blogspot.com/2007/03... ( )

Reading Understanding Comics alerted me to some of the differences between Japanese and American styles of comic-book storytelling. This, in turn, inspired me (months later) to read a little manga. I've never been into it in the past; before Lone Wolf and Cub, all I'd read was Akira and a few issues of Crying Freeman. A serious gap in my comic book literacy, I decided.

I don't remember a lot of the peculiarities of manga that Scott McCloud identified, but as I was reading this book, I did have the feeling that something not quite "normal" was going on, as if I was watching a foreign movie. The structuring of the plot never seemed quite logical to me, and the conclusions were never fully satisfying. After seven or eight episodes, though, I started to get the feel of it.

The stories themselves are pretty formulaic, which helped. Itto the assassin and his son Daigoro show up somewhere, looking innocent; it turns out that someone is involved in illicit dealings involving land ownership or feudal succession; there's a big fight in which Itto's unbeatable samurai technique and/or the unexpected involvement of Daigoro carry the day; and we finally learn that Itto was hired by someone and on the job all along.

It's an enjoyable formula, though, and the strangeness helps to keep you engaged. The book is also interesting as a piece of historical fiction. It turns out (according to the last story in the book) that certain aspects of the decline of Japanese feudalism, particularly the disappearance of the shogun's assassin and executioner clans, remain unexplained; Lone Wolf and Cub, says Koike, "is one answer to this mystery."

Original post on "All The Things I've Lost"