Path of the Assassin TPB (2006-2009 Dark Horse) comic books 2008

Volume 9 - 1st printing. "Battle for Power: Part 1 of 2!"

Written by Kazuo Koike. Art and cover by Goseki Kojima.

The world of samurai and ninja is not just killing, politics, intrigue, and actioin. It's also about family, spirit, love, and sex. If there were ever an issue of Path of the Assassin that could be entitled "the sex issue," this would probably be it. Not just the act of sex, but the feelings, doubts, methods, results, and politics of sex. The results can mean a son or daughter fated to the politics of advantage and danger. The doubts can lead to an unfocused mind. The methods can be a result of doubt, but can be their own distraction as well. The feelings can be good, bad, and ugly. And all of these elements amount to the politics of sex.

However, if you fear that all this talk of sex means this volume of Path of the Assassin lacks the the expected swordplay, gushing blood, and drama you've come to love, well please don't worry. Rather the sexplay only provides a framework for those standards, making for an oddly exciting volume of our samurai/ninja tale of conquest.

Softcover, 4-in. x 6-in., 304 pages, B&W. MATURE READERS

NOTE: These are Japanese manga-style GNs and are meant to be read right-to-left.

Cover price $9.95.

Volume 10 - 1st printing. "Battle for Power: Part 2 of 2!"

Written by Kazuo Koike. Art and cover by Goseki Kojima.

The fighting clans of pre-Tokugawa Japan are gathering their arms and are on the move. Classic historical warlords, such as Takeda Shingen, Oda Nobunaga, and a young Ieyasu Tokugawa himself take the field in this quasi-historical graphic novel series, Path of the Assassin.

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.

Softcover, 4-in. x 6-in., 296 pages, B&W. MATURE READERS

NOTE: These are Japanese manga-style GNs and are meant to be read right-to-left.

Cover price $9.95.

Volume 11 - 1st printing. "Hikuma Castle!"

Written by Kazuo Koike. Art and cover by Goseki Kojima.

Ninjas, samurai, hot lovin', political intrigue, and gold! Path of the Assassin has it all in spades! Hanzo, the heroic ninja for the future shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa, has been in some tight situations before, but nothing like the trap set for him by a ninja from a competing warlord's clan! And to settle this trickery, a sexy battle of wits and weapons. Meanwhile, Tokugawa is moving across the battlefield on his way to Japan's future.

Path of the Assassin is a pinnacle in (Lone Wolf and Cub creators) Koike and Kojima's fantastic and seemingly unending stable of awesome samurai manga. And as usual, these works don't wane as they draw toward their final volumes!

Softcover, 4-in. x 6-in., 320 pages, B&W. MATURE READERS

NOTE: These are Japanese manga-style GNs and are meant to be read right-to-left.

Cover price $9.95.

Volume 12 - 1st printing. "Three Foot Battle!"

Written by Kazuo Koike. Art and cover by Goseki Kojima.

The march continues as Japan's future shogun moves to the center of Japan to claim it as his own. But along the way he'll have to deal with intense and complicated politics, strange and sometimes perverted fighting techniques, and a rapidly changing samurai culture in old Japan. And often the history of Japan all rests on the wiles of shogun-to-be Ieyasu's clever and loyal ninja, Hattori Hanzo.

Lone Wolf & Cub creators Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima are experts at weaving an intense and sometimes oddly sensational yarn, and this quasi-historical tale of a young man's rise to the top of samurai politics doesn't pull any punches.

Softcover, 4-in. x 6-in., 320 pages, B&W. MATURE READERS

NOTE: These are Japanese manga-style GNs and are meant to be read right-to-left.

Cover price $9.95.

Volume 13 - 1st printing. "Hateful Burden!"

Written by Kazuo Koike. Art and cover by Goseki Kojima.

In the politics, struggles, and battles that lead to the birth of a nation, sometimes even good people must die at the hands of allies. And now it's down to only a few warlords of Edo-era Japan.

History already tells the story of the victor, but the real guts of Path of the Assassin lie in the characters behind the scenes--the ninja warriors doing the dirty work. Theirs is a story of families and war and intrigue, only far more mysterious and untold.

Softcover, 4-in. x 6-in., 304 pages, B&W. MATURE READERS

NOTE: These are Japanese manga-style GNs and are meant to be read right-to-left.

Cover price $9.95.