New Releases by Goseki Kojima

Collects materal previously published in the Dark Horse graphic novels Samurai Executioner. Volume 3: The hell stick; Samurai Executioner. Volume 4: Portrait of death; Samurai Executioner. Volume 5: Ten fingers, one life.

For the past fourteen volumes Hanzo''s long walk down the tightrope of political intrigue and human melodrama has been bloody, dramatic, and awe inspiring. Every page filled with the densely researched and poignant delivery you''ve come to expect from the godfathers of samurai manga. Lone Wolf and Cub creators Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima, experts ofgekiga samurai manga, deliver the penultimate volume of Path of the Assassin.

A master ninja''s duty is to protect the boy who would grow up to become Shogun and unify Japan.

This volume of Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima''s rich series finds Ieyasu both fighting for his life and looking to the future. First, a couple of eerie and mysterious ninja try to take his life, but find themselves foiled by the increasingly able ninja Hattori Hanzo. And then a nation''s tribes face off and spin through intrigue and tactical webworks, all while fascinatingly dark ninja politics weave subtext and sexy action throughout the masterly drafted pages.

The story of Hattori Hanzo, the fabled master ninja whose duty it was to protect Tokugawa Ieyasu, a great leader who would go on to unite Japan.

Le shogun a donné un dernier avertissement à Yagyu Retsudo : s''il n''a pas exécuté Ogami Itto d''ici un mois, le clan Yagyu sera déchu. Désespéré, le doyen des Yagyu s''adjoint les services des Guetteurs de feu, un groupe de redoutables guerriers triés sur le volet ! Le loup solitaire survivra-t-il à leur attaque ? Un grand classique du manga par les créateurs japonais Kazuo Koike et Goseki Kojima.

A master ninja''s duty is to protect the boy who would grow up to become Shogun and unify Japan.

A master ninja''s duty is to protect the boy who would grow up to become Shogun and unify Japan.

It''s not easy being Hattori Hanzo. If he''s not teaching the young and upcoming shogun how to love, then he''s either behind the scenes teaching Ieyasu how not to die in case of a momentary lapse of protection. Or he might be in the shadows making sure Ieyasu''s leadership is effective by any means necessary. In this quasi-historical tale from the masters of Japanese samurai culture, Path of the Assassin shows a side of feudal japan that entertains with action as well as political drama.

"Parental advisory: explicit content"--Cover.

A master ninja''s duty is to protect the boy who would grow up to become Shogun and unify Japan.

The book is published "manga-style," in authentic Japanese right-to-left format.

A master ninja''s duty is to protect the boy who would grow up to become Shogun and unify Japan.

A master ninja''s duty is to protect the boy who would grow up to become Shogun and unify Japan.

A master ninja''s duty is to protect the boy who would grow up to become Shogun and unify Japan.

Readers of Lone Wolf & Cub came to know a samurai of such high honor that he was not only able to perform but enjoyed and, in fact, learned from basic daily tasks. Cutting wood, cooking food. That wasn''t something a samurai did back in feudal Japan. These same human elements are apparent in Kubikiri Asa, the main character in Samurai Executioner. He''s a man of the people, though his job is to separate many of those same people from their heads. In this volume, however, we''re treated to three fantastic stories of amazing weapons skill, both on the part of Asa and those around him. Witness, for the first time in this series, a duel between two great samurai, in the slow, contemplative tradition. Observe Asa''s extremely precise sword stroke. And read a charming story of a young peace officer who practices the use of his specialized weaponry to the point of utilitarian, life-saving perfection. It''s more classic samurai stories in our third volume of Samurai Executioner. FOR MATURE READERS

As Samurai Executioner continues in its own world of crime and punishment, honor and bushido, we are beginning to learn more about the characters and situations involved in Edo-era justice. We learn about Kubikiri Asa, the shogun''s decapitator, and his stoic, joyless existence, with stories of his childhood and their impact on his present life. We also learn more about the peace officers of the era, such as Catcher Kasajiro, the charming young man who uses a hooked rope and a chained cudgel with such great skill.

Striking similarities between Lone Wolf and Cub and Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima''s sidebar story line, Samurai Executioner (known as Kubikiri Asa in Japan), are evident in the cool attitude, rebellious honor, and unflappable bushido of the lead characters of both series, but readers will delight in the whole new crime-fiction genre of Edo-era samurai spirit in Samurai Executioner. Here, we enter a world of harsh and violent crime and the forces that stand against it. In this volume, after initial stories of criminals'' lives leading to their executions, we meet two Edo-era police officers and explore their specialized methods of capturing crafty criminals. Then, in Koike''s signature fashion, the volume ends with a psycho killer''s grueling and violent end. It''s a history lesson, an art education, and a pulp sensation, all wrapped up in one fantastic series. • FOR MATURE READERS

The stoic bushido world of Samurai Executioner is one full of flying, disembodied heads and odd happenings, and this volume is no exception. There are always stories of crimes and their ensuing punishments, and plenty of squirting blood, but this volume promises a story that will fascinate and inspire a few grins. A mysterious woman with a turtlelike demon tattooed on her back and the ability to swim like no other is stealing weapons from men around Edo. She''s scarring egos and causing lots of problems. Of course, Kubikiri Asa has the answer to the mystery. And in a surprise turn, a samurai cop whom we''ve met before finally captures the woman, and does so in a rather erotic way. • FOR MATURE READERS

The Shogun''s executioner has received many strange last requests from those about to lose their head, some stranger than others. A woman condemned for murder wants her locks severed by the killing blade to be given to a lost love. An old man asks that his own decapitation follow that of his prized chrysanthemum, and that his executioner grow another from its cuttings. And elsewhere, the woman who once stole the weapons of samurai policemen is asked to serve as a cop herself to use her own unique skills to help solve a puzzling murder.

Relates the adventures of Kubikiri Asa, known as the Decapitator Asaemon, who was responsible for testing the swords for the shogun.

From the creators of Lone Wolf and Cub comes Samurai Executioner. It’s true! Before Koike and Kojima created Itto Ogami, they created Kubikiri Asa, better known to Lone Wolf readers as Decapitator Asaemon. He was the equal to Itto, bearer of the sword Onibocho, the man charged with the duty of testing the swords for the shogun. Samurai Executioner is based on the decapitator himself, in life before his fatal duel with Lone Wolf. Expect the same legendary drama, frantic action, and stoic samurai stature, combined with the exemplary art and storytelling that made Lone Wolf and Cub one of the most popular and influential comic books in the world! • Never before published in America, Samurai Executioner was the precursor to one of the most seminal works of manga, Lone Wolf and Cub! • Since the inception of its Lone Wolf and Cub publishing program in 2000, Dark Horse has sold over 800,000 copies! And the series continues to sell thousands per month! • FOR MATURE READERS.

Spring is a season of rebirth and delight, but not for Kubikiri Asa, the Shogun''s executioner. And for those condemned to lose their heads to Asa''s sword, this spring will be their final season. Samurai Executioner, the Edo-era samurai crime drama by Lone Wolf and Cub creators Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima, continues down its path of heinous crime and diligent, bloody justice.

It''s the same classic style you''ve come to expect from Koike and Kojima. The same tale of an honorable samurai and a similar great sword in the hand of a similarly fantastic swordsman, but make no mistake—Samurai Executioner is very different from its brother, Lone Wolf and Cub, sometimes frighteningly so. In a prison world, there are few good stories, and this is the world of Kubikiri Asa, the beheader and master samurai under the shogun. It''s a world full of vengeance, greed, and violence. A world of depravity and sin. One man can set things straight if he can keep his wits. This is a story of extreme proportions, of sword study thick in tradition and with grim purpose, of blood rivers, agonizing screams, bondage, torture, and the evil prevalent in human failure. Drafted by the confirmed masters of the international medium of manga, Samurai Executioner is a shocking combination of darkness and fire, fine lines, and a fine man in the face of human decline. • FOR MATURE READERS.

Dark Horse Comics is proud to present one of the authentic landmarks in graphic fiction, Lone Wolf and Cub, to be published in its entirety for the first time. Lone Wolf and Cub is an epic samurai adventure of staggering proportions -- a 17th century story of a disgraced Shogun''s executioner wandering the country as an assassin.

Dark Horse Comics is proud to present one of the authentic landmarks in graphic fiction, Lone Wolf and Cub, to be published in its entirety for the first time. Lone Wolf and Cub is an epic samurai adventure of staggering proportions -- a 17th century story of a disgraced Shogun''s executioner wandering the country as an assassin.