Lone Wolf and Cub and The Saga of the Swamp Thing

Lone wolf and Cub-

This groundbreaking manga, written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Goseki Kojima, is a highly influencial work that emerged from the 1970s and inspired a number of films, including Shogun Assassin. Huashaaaww! The manga series enjoyed great popularity in Japan, with it's gritty, blood- drenched portrayal of the Tokugawa era. Comic book publisher Dark Horse eventually picked up the series for American readers, issuing out 28 volumes, the last of which was released in 2000. The cover art for the early volumes of Lone Wolf and Cub were illustrated by Frank Miller.

Lone Wolf and Club is the story of Ogami Itto and his son Daigoro. Formerly an executor for the Shogunate, Ogami's wife is murdered and Ogami himself his sentenced to death for his insults against the Yagyu clan. Choosing to kick ass instead of committing seppuku (ritual suicide where the person spills his own intestines and a kaishakunin beheads the other to ease the pain), Ogami and his son embark on a path of vengeance against the shogunate, while taking various assassination jobs along the way. More often than not, Ogami's employers betray him, though he always knows this beforehand and simply frappes them later, so it's all fine. Much of this graphic novel is new to me, but many scenes from Shogun Assassin are taken direclty out of chapters from this comic. Chapter 8, Wings to the Bird, Fangs to the Beast, is faithfully remade scene by scene in the film where Lone Wolf and Cub travel to a spa only to be trapped in the violent, depraved world of bandits.

I thought this was a really good read. I'm no judge of the authenticity of the story's setting, but one really gets a sense of the period through Koike's meticulous study of Edo period Japan. As for the art, Kojima's black pen platters over the pages as Ogami hacks and slashes his way to vengeance, and every panel and action sequence flows smoothly and effortlessly.

My only gripe about Lone Wolf and Cub is how Ogami deals with all of his enemies with such ease, that it's impossible for the reader to feel any level of concern for him, knowing that not only will Lone Wolf and Cub survive every battle, but will walk away unscathed. Invariably a guy will challenge Ogami saying "I am the greatest swordsman of this region" or "You can't survive my so and so technique". And he does. Every time. Frank Miller's illustration portrays Ogami limping away from scattered dead bodies, his bloody face grimacing in pain as he hobbles away with his child. I don't actually recall anyone even scratching the guy throughout the whole volume. Maybe volume 2 and beyond will have Lone Wolf and Cub encountering enemies of a higher calibur and we can actually fear for their safety.

Still, this is a really cool graphic novel, and I recommend reading it. Each chapter is a bombshell; the action never disappoints and the story's gripping the whole way through. So check it out, and find out where Shogun Assassin comes from.

Saga of the Swamp Thing-

It would totally suck to be a scientist in a comic book universe. With all the disfigurations and mutations going on, it's surprising anyone anyone would bother. The comic's hero, Alec Holland isn't deterred, as he works on a bio-restorative formula. His experiment is sabotaged. On fire and covered in his experimental formula (pretty bad day at the office) he retreats to a nearby swamp, emerging as the Swamp Thing. He then sets out on a mission to become Alec Holland once again.

Alan Moore's Saga of the Swamp Thing takes up where the original story by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson left off. The Swamp Thing, shot and cryogenically frozen, is soon studied by a half man/half plant botanist named Jason Woodrue. Woodrue, also known as Floronic Man, is a fascinating villain who harbors a deep hatred for people, calling them "sobbing steak" and "screaming meat" he condemns "the red world" and its war against the green. Chapter One, "The Anatomy Lesson", is presented in Woodrue's chilling inner monologue about his study of the Swamp Thing and the murder of his employer. Woodrue makes a groundbreaking discovery of the Swamp Thing's origins, betrays his boss by thawing out the Swamp Thing's, and leaves him alone with the enraged creature. After reading Woodrue's report, Swamp Thing stumbles upon a deeply upsetting truth of his origins. Swamp Thing was never Alec Holland, never will be; he is just a pile of vegetative matter that ate Holland and absorbed his intelligence. The plant matter then designed its body to imitate a human.

After a massive psychological break, the Swamp Thing roots himself into the swamp, intending to live out the rest of his existence as part of the ecosystem's consciousness. In Saga of the Swamp Thing, the villain wants what the hero has, and the hero wants what the villain has. Woodrue is a human who wants to fully become a plant, and Holland is a plant who wishes it was human.

Woodrue taps into the samp thing's brainwaves as a means of communicating with the forest. Woodrue then takes on the responsibility of acting on behalf of the plants, waging an all-out war on mankind. The Swamp Thing is forced out of his coma to stop him. Swamp thing undergoes a profound trauma similar to separation anxiety in children when they first realize the burden of being an individual. No longer a part of a comfortable collective consciousness of the green, the Swamp Thing must reclaim whatever humanity he had and separate himself from the swamp to try to stop Floronic Man's insane aggressions against makind.

The first part of the comic is the conflict between Woodrue and the Swamp Thing. The second half is about the arrival of a mysterious man named Jason Blood, who claims to be the devil and the summoning of Fear, an amorphous demon who takes the shape of whatever a person fears.

Since this is written by Alan Moore, I guess what everyone's thinking is, "How good is it compared to Watchmen?". I would say that it's at least as good as Watchmen, but that's just me being weird again. This volume exceeded all my expectations. It has fascinating environmental themes, rich characters, intriguing villains, and special appearances by: Superman, Green Lantern, Beezelbub, and others. The writing is superb. "The night...The night can make a man see himself, can make him look into his own insides, and the night can make him honest enough to accept what he finds there. All the weakness, all the selfishness, the clammy desires and the small cruelties. He's been thinking, thinking since she walked out the door... She needed his help, and he wasn't there. the night... it can bloody up a man's conscience. He's going after her, going to help her, going out into the cold... the dark... the night. The night can make a man more brave, but not more sober. The frozen tableau, crystallized in time, hangs poised like spilled blood yet to reach the ground..." The book is full of this, and it's just awesome. If you see this in a comic store buy it. If you can't buy it, steal it. This was a really hard book to return to the library. Hopefully I'll be able to get my paws on this volume and the others.

Next Topic: Watchmen, the redundant movie.