- Paperback: 302 pages
- Publisher: Dark Horse (30 Oct 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1569715033
- ISBN-13: 978-1569715031
- Product Dimensions: 15.4 x 10.7 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 254,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Few works can legitimately lay claim to the mantle "landmark". Dark Horse Comics is proud to present one of the authentic landmarks in graphic fiction, Lone Wolf and Cub. Acknowledged worldwide for the brilliant writing of series creator Kazuo Koike and the groundbreaking cinematic visuals of the late Goseki Kojima, Lone Wolf and Cub contains unforgettable imagery of stark beauty, kinetic fury, and visceral thematic power that influenced a generation of visual storytellers both in Japan and in the West.
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
There is an obvious shift in what is going on in "The Gateless Barrier," the second volume in the Lone Wolf and Cub epic. When I started this saga I decided I would read one story each night. In the first volume, "The Assassin's Road," there were nine stories, while "The Gateless Barrier" offers up only five tales as the stories take on more depth. You would think that the key story in this transition was "The Assassin's Road," the last story in the first volume and the one where we find out the backstory on Ogami Itto, the Kaishakunin executioner for the Shogun, who has turned Ronin. But there is nothing in this second volume that really follows up on that origin.
Instead, Lone Wolf continues to work as a hired assassin in four of these five stories. The change of pace tale is (12) "Tragic O-Sue," where it is actually young Diagoro who causes trouble; but even then everyone assumes this is just another one of those convoluted ploys used by Lone Wolf to assassin his impervious victim. Diagoro is certainly up to more in that episode in all the others to this point combined and I find some of it farfetched, but I also appreciate the twist on the standard story line.
There are subtler twists in the other stories from writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima as well as the Lone Wolf continues to earn his pay. In (10) "Red Cat" we see the familiar ploy of Ogami Itto allowing himself to be captured to gain access to his target, yet there is still a surprise ending. Then in (11) "The Coming of the Cold" finds the assassin acting in concert with others rather than going it alone to achieve his goal. I know (13) "The Gateless Barrier" is the key story in this volume, with its introspective look into the psyche of the main character, but once again the best story is the last one in the volume, (14) "Winter Flower."
Much is made of the cinematic artwork of Goseki Kojima, which makes a lot of sense because "Winter Flower" looks like an illustrated movie. In a brothel a samurai is killed while making love to a prostitute, while another prostitute commits seppuku immediately afterwards. The official investigating the deaths is troubled by what he finds, especially since it is clear the second prostitute was the daughter of a samurai, who allowed herself to live a degrading life and then killed herself. The reader knows who can make the connection between the two incidents, but the why remains the big mystery. I even appreciate the irony that this story, the best in the series to this point in the saga, is probably the one in which the Lone Wolf appears the least. It is tempting to read more than one story a night, but the road is long and patience is a necessity.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
The stories in this volume become longer and a bit more complex than in volume one. There are five in this volume, as opposed to nine in the first, but the stories are more fully developed and slightly different in narrative style. We see more ingenious methods of assanination from Lone Wolf, as well as some brilliant character developement, but some of the stories take a slightly different approach. In a couple, Lone Wolf himself is nowhere to be seen at first, the story instead focussing on characters who eventually come to cross his path. One of these, Tragic O-Sue, is an unusual mix of dark farce and tradgedy, both amusing and sad.
There is very little in the way of background story in this volume, like the last story in the first book, but we still learn more about Lone Wolf and his way of life. At the end of this you will be itching to get the next volume. Even at this early stage, it's clear that Lone Wolf and Cub is one of the best comic books ever written.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
This volume contains 5 stories about the Lone Wolf and Cub (Kozure Okami in Japan). These 5 adventures of the assasin Ogami Itto and his son Daigoro are really brilliant. The stories are quite unique --- the most philosophical one being "The gateless barrier", and "Tragic O-Sue" is perhaps the most emotional. A great insight into life during Edo-Period Japan.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent read
Initially I was put off by the small dimensions of the book, but once you get into the story, this doesn't matter so much as the entire experience makes up for it. Read more
Published on 27 Dec 2004 by ofcourseistillloveyou
Lone Wolf
Like all the Lone Wolf and Cub series this is ground breaking stuff. The graphics are superbly drawn and the stories just seem to fold you into them. Read more
Published on 30 Aug 2003 by "gailkmacgregor"
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