Lone Wolf and Cub
by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima
Dark Horse Comics

If you've gone into the graphic novel section of a bookstore lately, you have probably seen them: a series of small, thick, multicolored comic books with little thumbnails of medieval Japanese carnage on their spines. You may have chatted with the owner of the store, who would tell you that the collection is a "classic."

But what made the many volumes of "Lone Wolf & Cub" worth reprinting after so many years?

"Lone Wolf & Cub" is no mere samurai comic. It is one of the most engrossing ruminations on the separation of morals and ethics that you will ever read. Add to that artful historical touches and chillingly rendered combat, and you begin to see what this series is all about.

For the purposes of this review we will define morals and ethics in the following manner: Ethics are a code of rules and actions that society dictates; morality is an internal compass that navigates right and wrong in personal terms. "Lone Wolf & Cub" explores the consequences of needing to choose between one and the other.

The code of the samurai is the perfect territory for exploring these conflicts. It is a combination of fierce loyalty, art, and death. Loyal retainers are expected to sacrifice their lives instantly rather than be dishonored, and embrace death as a way of life.

The main character in the series is Ogami Itto. An amazingly talented swordsmen, and loyal samurai of the Shogun, Itto is appointed to the powerful position of Kogi Kaishakunin, the head executioner of the Shogun himself.

Itto is destroyed politically by treachery from the Yagyu clan, the Shogun's spy network. The head of the clan, Retsudo, feels that the Yagyu need the power of Kogi Kaishakunin, and sabotage Itto's family and reputation, anticipating that he will do the only honorable thing left, commit seppuku along with his new son, Daigoro.

The Yagyu anticipated that Itto would make the only ethical choice for a samurai — accept responsibility, and die. But Itto takes an unexpected path — he abandons the ethical code of the samurai, and leaves Edo alive with his son, swearing revenge on behalf of his family.

This ethical shift is emphasized throughout the series. Samurai often die by Itto's hand when he throws his sword — an act unthinkable under the samurai code. They are shocked and appalled, even as they collapse in a bloody heap. Itto is unchained in combat, and this makes him nearly undefeatable. But Itto has not abandoned ethics: he has adopted the code of Meifumado, the assassin's road.

It is strange to root for an assassin, and the series reminds you quite often of the awfulness of Ogami's decision. Yes, he is an ethical man, but his ethics have lead him to be a murderer. And the series doesn't soften the blow by having only "bad guys" get it — his victims are quite often honest hardworking people who have managed to get in the way of someone powerful. Priests, beggars, loyal retainers all fall to Lone Wolf's sword, and it is awful.

In the third volume, Itto encounters a ronin, an ex-samurai. He is an expert swordsmen, but has abandoned the path of the samurai. He makes a living for himself by dodging weapons as a carnival trick. His reasoning:

Samurai and peasant. We're all people. We eat the same rice, dump the same shit. But the samurai gets Seisatsu Yodatsu, the right to butcher the peasant.... being a samurai got to feeling pretty pointless, and so I found the only other way I could use my art."

The samurai-turned-beggar pleads with Ogami to set aside the path of the assassin, and eventually states "killing for money is evil in the eyes of the world! No matter what your quest, you steal the lives of others for your own ends! I cannot permit your assassin's road!"

They duel, and the beggar is destroyed. Itto remarks that as he leaves with his son that "there are some lessons that sear the heart ..."

This is the true core of the series: the conflict between ethics and morality. As the story continues, you begin to see that even Ogami's hated enemies are trapped by their own ethics as well. Men and women trying to navigate a world of pain, with two sets of rules, the rules of the world, and the rules of the heart.

The series is chilling, thought-provoking, and immensely satisfying. And dude: ninja.

— Dan Norton)