Lone Wolv and Cubby

Lone Wolv and Cubby

or: Seal of Approval

This weeks grab bag turns up X-Men Unlimited #50 by yours truly and, to some degree or another, legendary Lone Wolf and Cub writer, Kozuo Koike. I'm not sure if he had anything more to do with this other than approve the work of one of his staff writers, Kengo Kaji

It seems our heroine, Renge, is about to lose the mystical blade, Mikage, to the treacherous Azuma. Wolverine objects. Hi-jinks ensue.

What I remember most about all this is it contains one of my all time favorite panels. Rather than attempt any particular look I let the brush do whatever it wanted and was particularly rewarded with a shot of Azuma in the alley. The lack of affectation gives a sense of grace, simplicity, and naturalness I'd love to maintain but, I don't know what I did. It just happened.

The other thing I remember is the saga of Tama-Chan, the wayward arctic seal, who had taken up residence in Japan's interior waterways to the delight of the nation. So much so they granted him residence status complete with photo ID. I snuck him into the story via a stuffed doll and a T-shirt which is unfortunately vague. My internet image search skills du jour never turned up a decent hi rez image, foo.

Anyway, much fun was had all around, at least by me.

Wash your hands, put on your @#$%! masks and leave the seal alone!

Happy Trails

Smitty