OTAKUSWAG: Spotlight on Akaneiro & Lone Wolf and Cub

Dark Horse goes hard in the manga paint with two rad offerings.

While they’re typically known for their robust comic book offerings which run the gamut from the horror-tinged awesomeness of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy in Hell to the lightsaber-laden adventure of Brian Wood’s Star Wars, Dark Horse has made serious inroads into both manga and heavily Japanese-influenced titles. Case in point: this week sees both the release of Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima’s seminal manga series Lone Wolf and Cub and the comic book adaptation of American McGee and Spicy Horse Games’ Akaneiro: Demon Hunters by Justin Aclin. Both titles are more than worthy of shelf space in any discerning otaku’s collection, but because we love you guys, we’ve teamed up with the manga mavens over at Dark Horse Comics to give away two copies of Lone Wolf and Cub Omnibus, Vol. 1, so click through to enter to win a prize that’ll have you howling with delight.

For the uninitiated, Lone Wolf and Cub is a landmark manga series from writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima that spanned over six years, twenty-eight volumes and 8,700 pages of staggering samurai action. The story centers on Ogami Ittō, the Shogun’s executioner who, disgraced by false accusations from a rival clan, is forced to become a wandering assassin. But Ittō-san is only one half of the titular duo; he is accompanied on his quest for vengeance by none other than his three year-old son Daigorō. Handy with a samurai sword and a loving, caring single father? Now this guy is a serious candidate for father of the year (or at least the Edo period)! And with over 700 pages in this omnibus edition, you can guarantee that you’ll be glued to the action for quite some time.

In addition to a manga classic, Dark Horse is giving American McGee’s recently Kickstarted game, Akaneiro: Demon Hunters, a comic book adaptation, courtesy of Justin Aclin and Vasilis Lolos. Steeped in Japanese folklore and mythology, Akaneiro reimagines the classic tale of Red Riding Hood as the tale of a young woman torn between two cultures who must battle treacherous demons and yokai for the fate of the world itself. Want to go deeper into the feudal Japanese fairy tale world of Akaneiro? Our pals over at Nerdist caught up with series scribe Justin Aclin to talk about the difficulties of adapting a video game for comics, the allure of the Japanese setting and bringing Akaneiro‘s world to life! And remember – just because you’re a lone wolf doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enter to win a copy of Dark Horse’s Lone Wolf and Cub Omnibus!

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