Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Eric Heisserer
Artist: Miguel Sepulveda
Release Date: 6th January, 2016

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The first line of the first page tells you what you need to know. Lone Wolf 2100 is inspired by Lone Wolf and Cub, one of the most highly regarded Manga of all time. The original series was an epic in the truest sense of the word; spanning 28 volumes, each around 300 pages, it’s safe to say there is a lot of source material to draw from!

The series was originally published in 2003, also by Dark Horse, and I can only apologise when I say that I have absolutely no idea how this new imagining of the story differs. To give a brief recap, it follows your typical “girl has cure for virus, girl has Cyborg Samurai protector, Cyborg cares for girl and kills baddies to project her” story. Gotta love the classics. There’s more to it though; the first issue wears its influences on its sleeve, the most obvious one being Lone Wolf and Cub (of course) but there are nods to other manga such as Akira, and just a hint of I am Legend.

Heisserer has managed to stay close enough to the source material, but with a much more modern twist, such as the inclusion of the military wanting to solve things in their own way. The casual racism/one-upmanship is shown here, not in an offensive way, but in a mocking way that we portray ourselves anyway? There are action scenes in here that flow gracefully around the page, giving homage the past, with swords and guns being used in equal measure (not like Gun-Kata, we’ll forget that’s a thing. Can we forget that’s a thing?). Itto is every part the badass that a samurai cyborg should be, and it’s evident throughout that he truly cares about Daisy.

Sepulveda’s art flows beautifully. With such simple, clean linework, he has managed to keep the feel of old-school Manga while retaining a Western sense of characterisation and everyone having their own distinct look. It’s a very barren world, and could have easily been overdone with dystopian tropes aplenty, but they are used sparingly enough to let the story breathe while still reinforcing the fact that what we’re seeing is taking place in a time that isn’t our own.

While the series isn’t likely reach the 28 volumes set by the original, with 4 issues to work with there’s definitely some groundwork being laid for an incredible story here. My only worry is that there’s just not going to be enough space to do it justice.  Definitely a title to look out for, especially for the sheer the strength of the concept.

Rating: 3.5/5.

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PREVIEW ARTWORK
[Click to Enlarge]

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The writer of this piece was: Chris Bennett
Article Archive: And Now For Something Completely Different
You can also find Chris on Twitter.

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