Strain TPB (1998-2001 Viz Digest) comic books 2001-2003

Volume 1 - 2nd and later printings. Written by Buronson. Art and Cover by Ryoichi Ikegami. Mayo is a cool, disinterested killer for hire, but the real reason he charges only $5 for a hit is a secret. It seems that teenage prostitute Shion has a secret too--one that even she doesn't know. Now that that Mayo has screwed over the local crime syndicate by taking pity on Shion and her mother, they are both on the run from the criminals, a murderous cop, and their own secrets! Softcover, 5 1/2-in. x 8-in., 224 pages, B&W. MATURE READERS Cover price $15.95.

Volume 5 - 1st printing. Written by Buronson. Art and Cover by Ryoichi Ikegami. Framed, nearly executed, and exiled to Malaysia's slums, Japanese assassin Shingo Kusaka joins a group of outcasts in the fight against his elder brother Shunichiro, a power-hungry aristocrat, and the monolithic Chinese Sai crime family. The prize: a gigantic oil strike in Borneo - money and power enough, perhaps, to realize the dream of a united Asia. The current owner: the Kusaka corporation. But who will claim it? Kusaka's CEO, the ruthless Shunichiro, has just resigned in favor of Shingo, the "adopted" black-sheep younger brother whom he long tried to kill. Shunichiro has conceded his great secret - it's Shingo who is the natural son, not him. Blood will tell, but how much more must be spilled? Who will tie the skein of the "strain?" Softcover, 5 1/2-in. x 8-in., 216 pages, B&W. MATURE READERS Cover price $15.95.