Lone Wolf and Cub

AUTHOR: Koike, Kazuo

ARTIST: Goseki Kojima (illustrator); Guy Davis (cover artist); Darin Fabrick (cover artist); Vince Locke (cover artist); Frank Miller (cover artist); Bill Sienkiewicz (cover artist); Matt Wagner (cover artist)

PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics

FIRST SERIAL PUBLICATION:Kozure okami, 1970-1976 (partial English translation, 1987-1991)

FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION: English translation, 2000-2002

Publication History

Lone Wolf and Cub was originally serialized from 1970 to 1976 in the Japanese magazine Manga akushon (manga action), published by Futabasha. This manga magazine, first published in 1967, was one of the earliest magazines to publish seinen manga aimed at adult male readers. Writer Kazuo Koike researched the samurai feudal culture and everyday life of commoners during the Edo period and authentically re-created the historical setting in this epic manga, working in collaboration with self-taught painter and manga artist Goseki Kojima. Koike made his name with this work, earning the respect of other creators and artists. The immense popularity of the Lone Wolf and Cub series led to a series of film adaptations, television serials, and even theatrical plays within Japan.

The first partial English translation was published from 1987 to 1991 by First Comics, an American comic book publisher that was active from 1983 to 1991. American comic artist Frank Miller was assigned to draw the covers for the first twelve issues of the First Comics edition, which helped popularized the series among readers in the United States. After First Comics ceased business, Dark Horse Comics began to publish the series in a trade paperback edition in 2000, releasing all twenty-eight volumes by 2002.

Plot

The main plot of Lone Wolf and Cub concerns a vengeance journey against the Yagyu clan by protagonist Itto Ogami and his three-year-old son, Daigoro, but the series is also full of episodes about the people whom Itto encounters on the road and Itto’s work as an assassin. Flashbacks, inserted occasionally, reveal the past events that have led to the protagonist and his son’s current status.

The story is set in the Edo period, during which the Tokugawa shogunate rules over Japan by defeating other feudal lords throughout the country. To secure its rule, the shogunate implements a strict punitive system that demands the discharge of positions and termination of clans that exhibit the slightest sign of defiance against the government. To maintain the reign of terror, three different organizations are established: tansakunin, the network of ninja spies (the Kurokuwa clan); shikyakunin, the secret assassins (the Yagyu clan); and kaishakunin, the executioners at a feudal lord’s seppuku, or ritual suicide (the Ogami clan). Itto Ogami is the kogi kaishakunin, the shogun’s executioner, and is allowed to wear a robe with the Tokugawa hollyhock crest on it, which signifies that he is the proxy of the shogun himself. This balanced system is destroyed when the Yagyu clan begins to take over the powers of other clans, secretly aiming to gain control of the Tokugawa government.

After taking control of the Kurokuwa clan, Retsudo Yagyu, the leader of the Ura-Yagyu (shadow Yagyu), attempts to obtain the position of kaishakunin. Itto becomes a victim of Retsudo’s ploy; his wife is murdered and he is considered a betrayer of the shogunate. Discovering Retsudo’s ruse, Itto escapes from the scene and vows vengeance against the Yagyu clan. Becoming an assassin for hire, Itto roams Japan with his son, Daigoro. Forsaking the ethos of Bushido, Itto decides that he and his son will keep the way of meifumado, the Buddhist path of hell, the way of demons and damnation.

Noticing the governmental investigation of the feud between Itto and the Yagyu clan and seeking to clarify that there is no “personal grudge” involved, Retsudo officially proclaims that the Yagyu will not attack Itto unless he enters the city of Edo. However, Retsudo uses different official authorities, clandestine groups of ninja and assassins, and minions under the control of the Yagyu to try to hunt down and destroy Itto. All of Retsudo’s attempts fail, resulting in the abolition of the Kurokuwa clan as well as the deaths of all Retsudo’s sons and daughters, who are slain by Itto.

On his journey, Itto acquires one of the secret documents of the Yagyu. Realizing that Itto has acquired the document, Retsudo begins to attack Itto outright. In a battle between the two, Retsudo loses an eye via an arrow thrown by Itto.

Finally, Itto travels to Edo to achieve his long-sought revenge. There, the manipulative Tanomo Abe serves as a food tester for the shogun. Knowing of the feud between Itto and Retsudo, Tanomo plots to use it to destroy them both. Because of Tanomo’s miscalculations, however, the city of Edo is almost submerged in a flood. Because of this crisis, Itto and Retsudo agree to make a temporary truce and save the city together by detonating a bomb to create a dam. Soon after, Tanomo finds the secret document and reports it to the shogun, who places Retsudo in custody within Edo castle. Even in this confinement, Retsudo succeeds in summoning all the ninjas in Japan to Edo, instructing them to carry out a final attack against Itto. Retsudo sends a sword polisher to Itto under the pretense that it is a proper samurai gesture before a duel, but the sword polisher is truly a minion of the Yagyu. The group of ninjas attack, and Itto’s dotanuki sword is broken.

The climax of the series is a duel between Itto and Retsudo by the riverside. This final fight, which continues for more than 150 pages, ends with Itto’s defeat. Lone Wolf and Cub closes with a sequence in which Daigoro, after his father’s death, grasps a spear and runs toward Retsudo. Holding Daigoro tightly with both hands, Retsudo allows the blade of the spear to penetrate his body and tearfully calls Daigoro “grandson of my heart,” a statement that concludes the series.

Volumes

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 1: The Assassin’s Road (2000). Collects the stories “Son for Hire, Sword for Hire” and “A Father Knows His Child’s Heart, as Only a Child Can Know His Father’s,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 2: The Gateless Barrier (2000). Collects the stories “Red Cat” and “The Coming of the Cold,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 3: The Flute of the Fallen Tiger (2000). Collects the stories “The Flute of the Fallen Tiger” and “Half Mat, One Mat, a Fistful of Rice,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 4: The Bell Warden (2000). Collects the stories “The Bell Warden” and “Unfaithful Retainers,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 5: Black Wind (2001). Collects the stories “Trail Markers” and “Executioner’s Hill,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 6: Lanterns for the Dead (2001). Collects the stories “Lanterns for the Dead” and “Deer Chaser,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 7: Cloud Dragon, Wind Tiger (2001). Collects the stories “Dragnet” and “Night Stalker,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 8: Chains of Death (2001). Collects the stories “Tidings of the Geese” and “The Frozen Crane,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 9: Echo of the Assassin (2001). Collects the stories “Wife of the Heart” and “Wandering Samurai,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 10: Hostage Child (2001). Collects the stories “The Yagyu Letter” and “The Tears of Daigoro,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 11: Talisman of Hades (2001). Collects the stories “Talisman of Hades” and “Ailing Star,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 12: Shattered Stones (2001). Collects the stories “Nameless Penniless, Lifeless” and “Body Check,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 13: The Moon in the East, the Sun in the West (2001). Collects the stories “The Moon in the East, the Sun in the West” and “‘Marohoshi’ Mamesho,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 14: TheDay of the Demons (2001). Collects the stories “One Rainy Day” and “O-Shichiri Man,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 15: Brothers of the Grass (2001). Collects the stories “The Castle of Women” and “The Women of Sodeshi,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 16: The Gateway into Winter (2001). Collects the stories “Umbrella” and “Sayaka,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 17: The Will of the Fang (2002). Collects the stories “To a Tomorrow That Never Comes” and “Bounty Demons,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 18: Twilight of the Kurokuwa (2002). Collects the stories “Firewatchers of the Black Gate” and “The Immortal Firewatchers,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 19: The Moon in Our Hearts (2002). Collects the stories “Four Seasons of Death” and “Wives and Lovers,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 20: A Taste of Poison (2002). Collects the stories “Good Fortune, Ill Fortune” and “Lair of the Nighthawks,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 21: Fragrance of Death (2002). Collects the stories “Poison Currents” and “Flood of Fire,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 22: Heaven and Earth (2002). Collects the stories “The Last Fistful” and “Totekirai,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 23: Tears of Ice (2002). Collects the stories “Frozen Edo” and “Tears of Ice,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 24: In These Small Hands (2002). Collects the stories “Child of the Fields” and “In These Small Hands,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 25: Perhaps in Death (2002). Collects the stories “Perhaps in Death” and “Tales of the Grass: Oyamada Shume,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 26: Struggle in the Dark (2002). Collects the stories “Tales of the Grass: Nindo Ukon” and “Struggle in the Dark,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 27: Battle’s Eve (2002). Collects the stories “To Protect and Defend” and “For Whom to Die,” among others.

• Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 28: The Lotus Throne (2002). Collects the stories “Corpse Tree” and “Flute and Wave,” among others.

Characters

• Itto Ogami, the protagonist, is a traveling assassin for hire who vows to destroy the Yagyu clan. Formerly appointed the shogun’s executioner, he is the master of suio-ryu swordsmanship and carries a dotanuki sword. He is trapped by the Yagyu clan’s ploy to seize power and punished as a betrayer of the Tokugawa shogunate. To fulfill his revenge against the Yagyu clan, he roams around Japan with his young son, Daigoro. Read in the Japanese name order, his name, Ogami Itto, sounds similar to okami itto, which means “lone wolf.”

• Retsudo Yagyu, the primary antagonist, is the leader of the Ura-Yagyu. He attempts covertly to control the shogunate by managing the other clans and entraps the Ogami clan with his scheme. He is an elderly man with a long white beard, but he is a superb swordsman.

• Daigoro Ogami is Itto’s son, a three-year-old child with a top-knotted hair bun. Generally taciturn, except when calling for his father with a shout of “chan!,” he travels in a wooden cart pulled by Itto. When asked to choose between a Japanese handball or a sword, he approaches the sword and reaches for its hilt, which signifies his fate as a samurai.

• Tanomo Abe, a.k.a. Kaii, is the food taster of the shogun. He has been trained to concoct poisons, with which he repeatedly plots to kill Itto and Retsudo. He manipulates people through the use of opium. He is a clownlike figure and a fat, sleazy, greedy, and lecherous coward.

Artistic Style

In contrast to the simplified, cartoonlike illustrations common in manga, the art of Lone Wolf and Cub is characterized by the abundant use of dynamic and thick drawing lines. Some critics call such a style gekiga. Kojima uses this style extensively to depict violent and graphic fight scenes, with the contrapuntal depiction of the static tranquility of natural features such as rivers, deep woods, and snowy plains. Lone Wolf and Cub also features various cinematic techniques, such as switching angles, different framings, and deliberate use of mise-en-scène. Using pens and brushes with India ink for calligraphy, Kojima creates the appropriate mise-en-scène for each scene.

Both creators tell a story skillfully using only visuals. In some instances, the reader does not encounter a monologue or dialogue for several pages; instead, a narrative sequence develops visually, without any words. Most notable among these examples are the fight scenes, but the introductory expositions of the characters and settings are also conducted without words. Comic artist Miller has noted that when he collected the complete set of Lone Wolf and Cub volumes published in Japan, he enjoyed the series without any knowledge of the Japanese language.

Themes

One of the main themes of Lone Wolf and Cub is vengeance, which, by definition, is a quest for retribution as a response to grief. In Itto’s case, the death of his wife and the stripping of his official position fuel his need for revenge. The degradation of his noble status, which turns him from an honorable samurai into a drifting ronin, is part of a traditional Japanese narrative structure that literary critic and folklorist Shinobu Origuchi calls the kishu-ryuri-tan, or the “exile of the young noble.” Seen in Japanese mythology and Genji monogatari (c. 1004; The Tale of Genji, 1925-1933), this literary trope encompasses a young aristocrat’s (or a god figure’s) journey into a distant, hostile place, where he experiences a series of hardships, and his eventual return to his homeland as a hero. With its classic narrative of revenge, Lone Wolf and Cub aligns itself with this Japanese literary tradition.

Another theme is the importance of the samurai code. Itto declares that in order to achieve his revenge, he must abandon the ethos of Bushido and become a demon, walking in meifumado, or the Buddhist hell. However, he offers help to others who are in similar situations. Also, he inherits the spirit of the samurai warriors who die for what they believe. Even in his duel with his archenemy, Retsudo, Itto maintains the authentic manner of samurai, following the proper procedures in fighting. The final duel is observed with courtesy by all the officials, including the shogun himself, signifying Itto’s acceptance as a genuine samurai.

The father-son relationship is also a central motif throughout the work. Itto claims that Daigoro is ready to die anytime on the journey; indeed, on one occasion, Itto does not try to save his son even when he is drowning. However, throughout the series, the strong bond between the protagonist and his son is implicit. In the last section of the series, this motif becomes explicit, with a Buddhist implication. Itto tells his son, “In my next life, I will be your father and you will be my son. We are eternally father and son.”

Impact

Lone Wolf and Cub became a best seller, selling more than 8.3 million copies following its publication in Japan. Its impact went beyond the limited audience of manga readers, with film adaptations of Lone Wolf and Cub created soon after the series’ publication.

As the creator of many influential manga, Koike has had a tremendous influence on a generation of manga artists and writers. In 1977, he established Gekiga sonjuku (gekiga school) with the intention of training and educating future manga/gekiga writers and artists. Several popular contemporary manga creators studied at this school, including Tetsuo Hara, illustrator of Hokuto no Ken (1989, 1995-1997; Fist of the North Star, partial translation 1983-1988) and Rumiko Takahashi, creator of InuYasha (1996-2008; English translation 1998- ). The success of Lone Wolf and Cub gained considerable attention from creators and artists who later played major roles in its reproduction and adaptation through different mediums of popular entertainment.

Lone Wolf and Cub has also influenced American comic book artists, most notably Miller, who has identified Koike and Kojima’s work as a major inspiration for his graphic novel Ronin (1983-1984). Max Allan Collins has also remarked that his graphic novel Road to Perdition (1998) is an “unabashed homage” to the manga. In 2002, writer Mike Kennedy and artist Francisco Ruiz Velasco reimagined the original manga epic in the graphic novel Lone Wolfe 2100, which features characters with similar names but has several differences in story lines and characters. Explicit homages and allusions to Lone Wolf and Cub also occur in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films (2003-2004), in which the daughter of the female protagonist insists on watching Shogun Assassin (1980), an American edition of the film adaptation of Lone Wolf and Cub, as a bedtime film.

Films

Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (Kozure okami: Kowokashi udekashi tsukamatsuru). Directed by Kenji Misumi. Katsu Production, 1972. This live-action film adaptation is the first in a series of six films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama as Itto Ogami.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (Kozure okami: Sanzu no kawa no ubaguruma). Directed by Kenji Misumi. Katsu Production, 1972.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades (Kozure okami: Shinikazeni mukau ubaguruma). Directed by Kenji Misumi. Katsu Production, 1972.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril (Kozure okami: Oya no kokoro ko no kokoro). Directed by Buichi Saito. Katsu Production, 1972.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons (Kozure okami: Meifumado). Directed by Kenji Misumi. Katsu Production, 1973.

Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell (Kozure okami: Jigoku e ikuzo! Daigoro). Directed by Yoshiyuki Kuroda. Katsu Production, 1974.

Shogun Assassin. Directed by Robert Houston. Anim-Eigo, 1980. This film is an edited compilation of footage from the first two films in the 1972 Lone Wolf and Cub series. It has been dubbed in English.

Television Series

Lone Wolf and Cub. Nippon Television, 1973-1976. This live-action television program stars Kinnosuke Yorozuya as Itto Ogami.

Lone Wolf and Cub. TV Asahi, 2002-2004. This live-action series stars Kinya Kitaoji as Itto Ogami. The program differs from the manga in that it does not feature the character Tanomo Abe.

Further Reading

Koike, Kazuo, and Goseki Kojima. Path of the Assassin (2006-2009).

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Samurai Executioner (2005-2006).

Koike, Kazuo, and Kazuo Kamimura. Lady Snowblood (2005-2006).

Bibliography

Gravett, Paul. Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics. London: Collins Design, 2004.

Koike, Kazuo. “Kazuo Koike: The Dark Horse Interview.” Interview by Carl Horn. Dark Horse Comics, March 3, 2006. http://www.darkhorse.com/Interviews/1261/Kazuo-Koike--The-Dark-Horse-Interview-3-3-06.

O’Rourke, Shawn. “Lone Wolf and Cub Part 1: History and Influences.” Popmatters, December 2, 2009. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/116502-lone-wolf-and-cub-part-1-history-and-influences.

Schodt, Frederik L. Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics. New York: Kodansha International, 1986.