Book Report: Lone Wolf and Cub Deluxe Vol 1

Once again, I could not resist the random Amazon coupons, so I ended up buying Lone Wolf and Cub Deluxe Vol 1, published by Dark Horse Comics, for $28. There is a total of 12 volumes, with Volume 4 scheduled for March 2027 (Volumes 5-12 have not been announced yet but they should all be published by 2028).

Lone Wolf and Cub (子連れ狼) is the long-running Japanese manga (comic book) series written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Goseki Kojima, published weekly September 1970 to April 1976, and is widely considered one of the most influential manga series of all time. You might have seen the super violent Japanese movies, or the American re-cut of the original six movies called Shogun Assassin in 1980. I think next to Zatoichi and Toshirō Mifune, Lone Wolf (Ogami Ittō) is probably right up with all the famous samurai (at least in America).

Originally, when they tried to bring the epic Lone Wolf’s 8,700 pages to America in 1987, First Publishing was only able to produce about 2,500 pages before they went bankrupted and closed down in 1991. Still, that first 12 issues with new covers by Frank Miller were a joy to collect (followed by the great Bill Sienkiewicz covers), back in the day.

Since First Publishing never completed the story, I had to buy all 28 volumes of the Dark Horse Comics’ “Tiny” trade paperback. I hated the small size, but at the time (from 2000-2002), it was the only way to get the full story. Dark Horse would later print larger version in 2013 (still smaller than standard comic book size) of Lone Wolf and Cub in 12 Omnibus volumes… It is those Omnibus collections that is now being presented in a full size as a new Deluxe Editions.

So, what’s new in the Deluxe Editions that wasn’t previously available before? For starters, the size is now at American standard 7×10 inches, making it the largest format you can get (this is considered “oversized” for traditional manga fans).

The hardcover (with fake leather cover and texture grain), with a built-in ribbon bookmark, also stands out… giving the book a premium look and feel. This is a book you want displayed on the bookshelf.

For the first time in America, the story is now presented in the original right-to-left format. You see, Japanese reads right-to-left, but Americans reads left-to-right. So, in the early days of bringing manga to the States, publishers would “flop” the image. It mostly works, but for characters with none-asymmetric looks, such as the eyepatch on the right side of their face now looks correct. This is especially important for the two main characters: Lone Wolf with his dominate right-hand sword style and the head of the Yagyū clan, who wears an eyepatch.

While these little things may not be important to the average reader, it is definitely very important for those who want the most authentic (and correct) reading experience. Especially seeing the artwork the way it is meant to be seen.

As for the paper, it’s matted and bright white, with dark blacks. The grays (the originals were probably in color), is sometime hard to make out due to the contrast. I do wish the grays were a bit lighter. The Black and White print is not as expensive to print as full color comics… so Dark Horse is passing the savings to you at retail price of $55. A book of this size (700 pages) would normally cost $100, so I appreciate the lower cost. And speaking of colors, there are four glossy pages at the end of the book to reproduce the Frank Miller and Kojima’s cover painting.

Overall, I am very happy with the Deluxe Edition. I do feel bad for those fans who bought the softcover Omnibuses, because for a long time I did contemplate on double-dipping because I wanted a bigger option than those tiny books that I purchased 26 years ago. The Deluxe basically made all previous prints obsolete. It is currently the best version to own.

I do have some minor complaints. These are just my opinion and should not really affect your buying decision. What I hated most is the cover, which looks generic and bland. I understand it is probably due to the limitation of the fake leather and texture… but I would have appreciated a Goseki Kojima cover (or even Frank Miller), in the small vertical obi-strip instead of the Lone Wolf and Cub Japanese letters.

The advertised “foil stamping” is nowhere to be seen. Unless I am misunderstanding what foil stamping means. There may be stamping, but there is no foil.

I wish the color pages were in color, instead it’s printed in grayscale. Those watercolor pages, in gray, looks a little muddy to me and those pages would have benefited being in color. I understand it is probably a cost-saving thing, but it was somewhat disappointing to see everything in black and white (except those four covers in color).

No special features, other than the glossary that was standard in previous Dark Horse editions. I understand this is just basically the Omnibus in Deluxe format, but I would have liked to see some extra artwork or those original weekly covers. Maybe even an introduction (to American readers) or new content (for people like me who already read the original work).

Again, I’m very happy with what we got with the Deluxe Editions. Will I be buying the remaining 11 volumes when they publish in the future? The short answer is no… but if I can get them for $30 or less, I will be happy to purchase. Like I said, I already own the entire original Lone Wolf and Cub on those small format – and also on digital, so there are few incentives for me to re-buy them. Besides, knowing my luck, as soon as I complete my Deluxe Editions, they’ll announce an Absolute Edition!

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