In another ending this week, two days ago I finished reading the final volume in the 28-volume reprint collection of the greatest samurai manga ever written: Kozure Okami, or known here in the U.S. as Lone Wolf and Cub.

The tale is one of historical fiction based upon a real-life mystery: the disappearance of the once-powerful Yagyu clan from prominence in a relatively short time. The story of Ogami Itto, the former official executioner of the Tokugawa shogun, is that of a wandering assassin. Together with his infant son Daigoro, he uses his wits, his personal code of honor, a baby cart full of tricks, and his hell-sent skill with a dotanuki battle sword to make the Yagyu pay for the dirty deed they done did to this dude.

Yes, swordfights abound. Yes, it's bloody. And yes, it's damn good.

Dark Horse Comics released the series in translation, in manga compilation form; the only change apart from translation is that they reversed a number of pages to account for left-to-right reading. Frankly, given the propensity of authors Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima to create unusual, page-spilling panels, it's a tremendous feat that Dark Horse could pull it off at all. On top of that, some of the most noted names in comics took turns painting the cover art for the translated volumes, beginning with none other than Frank Miller, author of The Dark Knight Returns.

Each volume includes a context-specific glossary, for easy reference of the Japanese terms that have been retained wherever possible; in addition, there are continuing bits of interview with the creators of the characters in each volume.

If you consider yourself a comics reader, or even if you just like westerns or samurai films, you owe it to yourself to start reading Lone Wolf and Cub. In fact, I'm going to be writing an article on this manga in an upcoming essay, in collaboration with CH, for a prospective comics focus in the Books Section of Paste Magazine.