Lone Wolf and Cub question...

[delta chameleon]

Hello all,

I just recently within the past several months began reading the Lone Wolf and Cub series of comics. My local comic store had about 30 of the First Publishing release of these comics for sale for 50 cents each. I really love the series and want to be able to finish it eventually. I know that First Publishing ended up just releasing the first third of the series, not the entire series. Which really is a shame because I liked the format they had with it. Anyways, I know that Dark Horse publishing ended up reprinting the entire series in a smaller sized but larger paged TPBs that don't match up with the First Publishing releases. It's also confusing since Dark Horse ended up reusing a bunch of the Frank Miller covers, so I don't really know which is which.

My question is, does anyone know what volume of the Dark Horse TPBs would pick up where the First Publishing issues ended. I know First Publishing made 45 issues that were about 60-100 pages each from what I have seen. Dark Horse made 28 TPBs that were about 256 pages each.

Thanks for any info guys. It is greatly appreciated!!

Eric

[Steve Hubbell]

Hello all,

My question is, does anyone know what volume of the Dark Horse TPBs would pick up where the First Publishing issues ended. I know First Publishing made 45 issues that were about 60-100 pages each from what I have seen. Dark Horse made 28 TPBs that were about 256 pages each.

Thanks for any info guys. It is greatly appreciated!!

Eric

When First Comics published their editions, they did not publish the stories in the original sequence, so matching them up to the Dark Horse volumes in difficult. If you like the series, invest in the whole Dark horse version as well, the story is definitely worth it. The Samurai Executioner 10 volume series makes a nice follow-up to it as well.

Here is a list of the story titles for the Dark Horse volumes. The numbers in ( ) following some of the titles is the issue in which the same story appears in the First series.

01. THE ASSASSIN’S ROAD
1. Son for Hire, Sword for Hire
2. A Father Knows His Child's Heart, as Only a Child Can Know His Father's
3. From North to South, From West to East
4 Baby Cart on the River Styx
5. Suio School Zanbato
6. Waiting for the Rains
7. Eight Gates of Deceit
8. Wings to the Birds, Fangs to the Beast
9. The Assassin's Road (1)

02. THE GATELESS BARRIER
10. Red Cat
11. The Coming of the Cold (1)
12. Tragic O-Sue (2)
13. The Gateless Barrier (3)
14. Winter Flower

03. THE FLUTE OF THE FALLEN TIGER
15. The Flute of the Fallen Tiger (4)
16. Half Mat, One Mat, A Fistful of Rice (5)
17. The White Path Between the Rivers (6)
18. The Virgin & the Whore (7)
19. Close Quarters (8)

04. THE BELL WARDEN
20. The Bell Warden (9)
21. Unfaithful Retainers (10)
22. Parting Frost (11)
23. Performer

05. BLACK WIND
24. Trail Markers (15)
25. Executioner's Hill (12)
26. Black Wind (14)
27. Decapitator Asaemon (16)
28. The Guns of Sakai (18)

06. LANTERNS FOR THE DEAD
29. Floating Spirits (15)
30. Deer Chaser (17)
31. Hunger Town (19)
32. The Soldier Is the Castle (20)
33. One Stone Bridge (21)

07. CLOUD DRAGON, WIND TIGER
34. Dragnet (22)
35. Night Stalker
36. Cloud Dragon, Wind Tiger (23)
37. Inn of the Last Chrysanthemum (24)
38. Penal Code Article 79

08. CHAINS OF DEATH
39. Tidings of the Geese (25)
40. The Frozen Crane (25)
41. Chains of Death (26)
42. The Infinite Path (13)
43. Thread of Tears (27)
44. Beku-no-ji

09. ECHOS OF THE ASSASSIN
45. Wife of the Heart (28)
46. Wandering Samurai (29)
47. Echo of the Assassin (30)
48. Naked Worms (31)
49. The Yagyū Letter: Prologue (32)

10. HOSTAGE CHILD
50. The Yagyū Letter (32)
51. The Tears of Daigoro (33)
52. The Fisherwoman's Love (34)
53. Drifting Shadows (35)
54. Straw Boy (36)

11. TALISMAN OF HADES
55. Talisman of Hades (37)
56. Ailing Star (38)
57. Thirteen Strings (39)
58. A Poem for the Grave (40)

12. SHATTERED STONES
59. Nameless, Penniless, Lifeless
60. Body Check (41)
61. Shattered Stones (42)
62. A Promise of Potatoes
63. Wife Killer

13. THE MOON IN THE EAST, THE SUN IN THE WEST
64. The Moon in the East, the Sun in the West
65. "Marohoshi" Mameshō (44)
66. Spoiling Daigoro
67. The Hōjiro Yagyū (43)
68. The Bird Catchers

14. DAY OF THE DEMON
69. One Rainy Day
70. O-Shichiri Man (45)
71. The Kyūshū Road
72. Day of the Demons

15. BROTHERS OF THE GRASS
73. The Castle of Women
74. The Women of Sodeshi
75. Brothers of the Grass
76. Five Wheels of the Yagyū
77. Incense for the Living

16. GATEWAY INTO WINTER
78. Umbrella
79. Sayaka
80. Clouds of Silk
81. Demon Hide, Demon Seek
82. Gateway into Winter

17. THE WILL OF THE FANG
83. To a Tomorrow that Never Comes
84. Bounty Demons
85. The Will of the Fang
86. When the Wolf Comes
87. Life in Death

18. TWILIGHT OF THE KUROSAWA
88. Firewatchers of the Black Gate
89. The Immortal Firewatchers
90. Paper Money
91. Lifeline
92. Twilight of the Kurokuwa

19. THE MOON IN OUR HEARTS
93. Four Seasons of Death
94. Wives and Lovers
95. The Marksman
96. A Mother's Flavor
97. The Moon in Our Hearts

20. A TASTE OF POISON
98. Good Fortune, Ill Fortune
99. Lair of the Nighthawks
100. Blighted Leaves
101. Abe-no-Kaii
102. A Taste of Poison

21. FRAGRANCE OF DEATH
103. Poison Currents
104. Flood of Fire
105. Fire, Water, and Poison
106. Fragrance of Death
107. Kaii's Lullaby

22. HEAVEN AND EARTH
108. The Last Fistful
109. Tōtekirai
110. Heaven and Earth
111. Fire on the River of Blood

23. TEARS OF ICE
112. Frozen Edo
113. Tears of Ice
114. The Day of Meeting
115. Death in the Moonlight
116. Silent Snow

24. IN THESE SMALL HANDS
117. Child of the Fields
118. In These Small Hands
119. Kaii Triumphant
120. The Last Cherry Blossoms
121. Stone Upon Stone

25. PERHAPS IN DEATH
122. Perhaps in Death
123. Tales of the Grass: Oyamada Shume
124. Tales of the Grass: Nakodera Bushō
125. Tales of the Grass: A Day Like Any Other
126. Breakfast, Lunch, Snack, and Brunch
127. By His Own Hand

26. STRUGGLES IN THE DARK
128. Tales of the Grass: Nindō Ūkon
129. Struggle in the Dark
130. Song of the Spirit
131. Great Reversals
132. Scarlet Summer, Silver Fall

27. BATTLE’S EVE
133. To Protect and Defend
134. For Whom to Die
135. Way of the Warrior, Way of the Man
136. Battle's Eve
137. Grass That Never Flowers

28. THE LOTUS THRONE
138. Corpse Tree
139. Flute and Wave
140. The Lotus Throne
141. Empty Stirrups
142. Arms

[delta chameleon]

Thank you so much for the response. How does the artwork hold up in the smaller format?

Eric

[Steve Hubbell]

I thought the arwork was still good in the smaller size. I was skeptical at first on whether or not I would like it when they first started releasing the digest sized books, but it is the size in which it was initially published in Japan, so it works out nice. It is nice having the larger First editions for comparison and to see the detail in the artwork, but the Dark Horse editions are fine for reading and enjoying the story.