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By Kazuo Koike & Goseki Kojima (First Publishing 1988)
ISBN: 0-915419-47-5
Whichever English title you prefer – Wolf and Baby Carriage is what I was first introduced to – the grandiose, hell-bent Samurai tragedy created by Kazuo Koike & Goseki Kojima is without doubt one of those all too rare world classics of comics literature.
Itto Ogami was once the Shogun’s official executioner, capable of cleaving a man in half with one stroke. When his family was murdered and his clan dishonoured due to the machinations of the treacherous and politically ambitious Yagyu Clan, the Emperor orders him to commit suicide.
He rebels, choosing to become a Ronin (masterless samurai) and assassin, and to revenge himself on the Yagyus until they are all dead or until Hell claims him. His one surviving son, the toddler Diagoro, also chooses the way of the sword and together they wander the grim and evocative landscapes of feudal Japan, in a sprawling epic of intrigue and action.
The thousands of beautiful black and white pages produced by these gifted creators has gripped and captivated generations of readers around the world and, more importantly, influenced many successive creators. The manga and movies that the stories have inspired are impossible to count. Frank Miller, who illustrated the cover of this particular edition, has referenced the works in his science fiction saga Ronin and The Dark Knight Returns, as well as Sin City. And Max Allan Collin’s Road to Perdition is an unashamed tribute to this Japanese saga. Even children’s cartoons such as Samurai Jack can be seen as direct descendants of this strip.
For the last seven years Dark Horse Books have been reprinting these tales, but for sheer artistic value you should try to hunt down the First Publishing edition if you can. Behind the painted dust-jacket by Bill Sienkiewicz and the aforementioned Miller pencil on sepia cover are six big stories on big pages for greater enjoyment. As well as the initial outing, ‘The Assassin’s Road’, are ‘The Coming of the Cold’, the poignant ‘Pitiful Osue’, ‘The Flute of the Fallen Tiger’, ‘Headless Sakon’ ,and ‘The White Way Between Two Rivers’.
As an added bonus there is also a gallery of paintings from Kojima, Olivia De Berardinis and Alex Wald. Great value, but if beyond your means or resources settle for the Dark Horse editions. Comics this good belong on shelf and in your life.
©1988 Kazuo Koike & Goseki Kojima. All Rights Reserved.
 
 