LONE WOLF & CUB OMNIBUS VOL. 3 (Dark Horse, 2013; Softcover)
Collects
Lone
Wolf and Cub
Vols. 5-8 (Dark Horse cover dates January, 2001- April, 2001),
originally published in Japanese in Weekly
Manga Action
between 1970 and 1976)
Writer:
Kazuo Koike
Artist:
Goseki Kojima
Brilliantly
written, beautifully illustrated, and breathtakingly brisk, Lone
Wolf & Cub continues to amaze me. While this series is old
hat for many a comic fan, particularly those of the Manga persuasion,
it is new to me. I only began checking this series out when Dark
Horse launched this line of bang for the buck Omnibus
paperbacks. I am a sucker for completism and for thick books.
The
thing that I love about this series is the contrast between the
pastoral Japanese interludes and blood spurting over the top
violence. In between all of that we see genuine character development
of Ogamma Itto and his son, Daigoro. Much of the emphasis is on three
year old Daigoro and the impact that assassin life has had on him.
While
I am normally not a fan of nudity for the sake of nudity in comics,
this is all artfully and tastefully done. Most importantly, it has
something to do with the actual story and not just adolescent fanboy
pandering for those who think that “boobies” make for mature
comics. Similarly, the graphic violence is over the top but never
feels cheesy or sensationalist. You could turn the body count in a
drinking game...if you were suicidal. If you did a shot for every
person murdered you would die of alcohol poisoning by the end of the
book.
 |
| I really need to focus on one book at a time... |
It
goes without saying what an influence this stuff is on modern comic
books. I can read something different and appreciate it for being
something creative and unique even if I am not necessarily looking
for more Manga which is only a notch away stylistically. I am in for
the next volume for sure.
Junk
Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.
The
OCD zone- This is not your typical Dark Horse Omnibus. Both the
dimensions of the book and the materials used are radically different
from the rest of the books in this line. This book measures 5
x 7.1 inches (12.8
x 18 cm for my friends in the Metric system using world outside of
the United States) as opposed to the size of the rest of the books in
the Dark Horse Omnibus line, which are 5.9 x 9.1 inches (5.9 x 23.5
cm ).
DVD-style
Extras included in this book: A five page
glossary.
Linework
restoration rating: ? out of 5. Your guess is as good as mine. I
do not have access to the original single issues or the Dark Horse
digests for comparison. I see no pixelation or any other defects,
although some pages look better than others. I defer to Manga experts
on this one. Original Dark Horse series editor Mike Hansen, curator
over at All Day Comics, told me that the material in Volume 1 looked
completely rescanned from what he could tell. He would know, right?
Paper
rating: 4 out of 5. This has a nice thick pulp paper. Manga has
traditionally used cheap paper to help keep costs down. That could be
why this stuff sells millions of copies in Japan.
Binding
rating: 4.5 out of 5. This has glued binding, and the spine of
the book has a bizarre flexibility to it. It actually rounds inwards
when you are reading it. There is no creaking of the glue, and there
is nice thick band attaching the pages to the cover. It seems highly
durable.
Cardstock
cover coating rating: 5 out of 5. This has a dull matte finish
but is scuff resistant.
I want to start buying these, but the fact that they're even shorter than the regular DH Omnibus line makes me tremble. I just can't picture a good way to put them on my shelves.
ReplyDeleteI bought some of those Readers Digest/ TV Guide sized acid free boxes and store them in there with my Marvel digests like the defunct Spider-Girl and Power Pack lines.
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