Lone Wolf and Cub Omnibus 3

Lone Wolf and Cub, Omnibus 3 by Kazuo Koike
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Railroaded by his enemies, fallen samurai executioner Ogami Itto travels the assassin's path with his infant son Daigoro as... Lone Wolf & Cub!

Things really started hitting in this third volume. Itto and Daigoro encounter a wide variety of characters, many of which wind up dead by Itto's hand. Gunsmiths, fallen samurai, corrupt daikon, all fall by the assassin's blade. Daigoro has a few solo tales that wound up being my favorites, probably because he's not much older than my son.

Kojima's art is impressive as hell with his intricate linework, moody inks, and dynamic, expressive style. Koike's writing keeps the book from devolving into a "find 'em and kill 'em" bloodbath. Itto's sense of honor tends to complicate things. I also like how Koike works some Japanese history into the narrative without bogging things down. In a lot of ways, the writing reminds me of Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo.

Lone Wolf and Cub Omnibus 3: Now I'm on board for the duration. Five out of five stars.

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