At long last, Sanpei Shirato's epic Legend of Kamui series is being collected in book form in English. Originally serialized in the pages of Garo during the 1960s, and then published by Eclipse comics during the first wave of manga that hit the shores of North American in the late 1980s, Kamui straddles the border between the action adventure of Lone Wolf and Cub and the underground æsthetic that emerged around Garo.
This is the first of, we beleve, two volumes. Here's was D & Q has to say.:
The iconic series that launched the alt-manga bible GARO becomes available in English for the very first time.
At long last, manga titan Shirato Sanpei’s groundbreaking epic makes its way into English. Celebrated as a watershed of both the Japanese counterculture and dramatic, longform storytelling in manga, The Legend of Kamui serves up clashing swords and class struggle to create a timeless political allegory set in feudal Japan. This ten-volume series is a must-have for fans of samurai and ninja manga and anime, and of other giants of postwar manga like Tezuka Osamu, Mizuki Shigeru, Tsuge Yoshiharu, and Lone Wolf and Cub’s Kojima Goseki.
It’s the 17th century in Japan. Child outcast Kamui lives on the fringes of a miserably stratified society. Fueled by pure grit, rage, and a dash of cunning, his only way out is to take up the mantle of ninja. Follow scrappy peasants, cold-blooded ninja, and warriors both disgraced and exalted as they navigate the unforgiving hardships of a violent yet hopeful age. With its vivid and critical attention to social injustice and environmental issues against a backdrop of heart-pounding action and romance, this multilayered gekiga drama not only redefined ninja and samurai fantasy, it also offers astonishing parallels with the modern day.
Originally serialized between 1964 and 1971 in the legendary alt-manga magazine GARO, The Legend of Kamui is translated by social historian and decorated academic Richard Rubinger with Noriko Rubinger. Additional translation by Alexa Frank.
D & Q has also provided a nice PDF preview, HERE. ANyone unfamiliar with the Legend of Kamui should take a moment to check it out.
