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Lone Wolf and Cub

Kazuo Koike
Art: Goseki Kojima

Reviewed by Lorenzo Princi
Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike
Cover concept by Lorenzo Princi, 1 March 2015
Can I return all I have acquired since birth, all skill, all knowledge, all experience, to emptiness? … Can I reach that place with no words, free of all emotion, free of all self?

Ogami Itto, the Shogun's Executioner, proud and loyal, returns home to find his wife murdered and household in ruins only for the authorities to arrive with proof he has betrayed the Shogun. Vowing vengeance on those who have stripped him of his honour and family, Itto takes his new born child and wanderers feudal Japan, becoming a Ronin, a master-less Samurai and assassin for hire.

Lone Wolf and Cub is a vast, epic narrative of short chapters, each working as a unique parable in its own right but also helps shape the greater whole. Itto, much like the striking, cinematic visuals, is an unstoppable force, teaching his young son the ways of Bushido along the way to a climactic finale.

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