I don't know much about Lone Wolf and Cub 2100. I believe that it started out without the 2100 and was based long ago in Japan, and an offshoot of that story was placed in the future year of 2100. This is a graphic novel of the futuristic story. We start off with two people riding through the wasteland of Chicago. The time is one year after "T-Day," and we are told that most of the population has either been killed or turned into creatures known as the Thrall. The two run out of fuel and are forced to stay in an old museum for the night. The museum is full of Thrall, but something about the man and young girl keep them at bay.
Meanwhile, a group of corporate looking people are discussing something called a Ronin model, which is an android that is capable of destroying up to 10,000 Thrall before being destroyed itself. This seems like the right path to take. However, the Ronin factories can only make 2 per month, which is too slow to help protect the remaining citizens from being murdered by Thrall. The decision is made that instead of waiting for Ronins to be produced, they will instead rely on the discovery of one of the people at the meeting, which is dousing the country with a poison that bonds only with those infected with whatever makes people into Thrall.
Back at the museum, the man finds a sword and a gun in the displays and takes them. Outside, a few civilians show up. They see the abandoned vehicle and start to take parts from it, but before long are swarmed by Thrall coming from the museum. They open fire and kill them. The man tells them to stop killing and return to their homes, to which one of the group responds that the man is, in fact, a Ronin, and is supposed to be killing the 'bugs' (Thrall), but instead is protecting them. There is a battle, and the Ronin wins.
Rewind 10 days. Two brothers reunite, one telling the other that he has found a cure for the Thrall that completely reverses the effects. The cure is with his daughter, Daisy, and with it she is safe from Thrall as the cure repels them. He explains that through contacting the other countries around the world, they could work together to help manufacture the cure and help everyone. The other brother is angered by this, explaining that there is a world-wide race to become the first country back on their feet and kills his brother.
Back in the present, Ronin is contacting the leaders of the other countries to try to get everyone to work together and get the cure. Instead of working together, they all turn vicious and demand the girl with the cure flowing through her veins. It is revealed that Daisy is being kept at a ranch full of orphans all saved by a rancher, and because of their geographic location the Thrall haven't discovered them or the ranch, making it a haven for the children as well as some horses.
Ronin, whose name is revealed as Itto by one of the leaders, decides to destroy the computer since every leader besides that of Japan has grown vicious and will not work together, but not before one of the leaders lets Itto know that they have tracked his location. Outside a jet has arrived and dropped three armored men with guns. A battle ensues and Itto is knocked out and captured by the men, but not before Itto kills one. Thrall are approaching as Itto is taken onto the ship. One man stays on the ground fighting back Thrall while the others get the ship prepared, but not before Itto reveals that he was faking being knocked out, kicks the men to the ground to fight the thrall and leaves with the ship. As he begins to take off and moments before being overtaken by Thrall, one of the men shoots the ship out of the air. Itto emerges from the wreckage, muttering only the word "humans." Itto retrieves Daisy from the ranch; they head for the coast and board a ship headed for Japan.
We're now at roughly the halfway point of the book, and I'm going to stop here since by this point you've probably decided since this is your kind of book. As for the art, it's pretty good but nothing mind blowing. Thrall look like what you would imagine them to look like. Future stuff looks futuristic. Nothing really stands out, which I suppose adds a bit of realism in the sense that while most storytellers and artists make grand changes when telling a story of the future; this seems to pump the brakes in a way that says, "sure, some stuff will change by 2100, but a lot will remain the same or at least similar." The art itself lacks a lot of detail in most places which didn't bother me but definitely didn't impress.
The storytelling was nothing impressive, either. Everything felt like it had been done before. Even this story is one that I've either read in a book or seen in a movie at least a few times before, so it didn't really hold my attention. The dialogue was very cliché, with the main character being calm and collected the entire time while everyone else is yelling and whatnot. Nothing felt deep or moody or anything either, just flat and expected.
Overall, this just wasn't my kind of book. I like the idea of a futuristic ninja cyborg protecting people and whatnot, but this story and art didn't do anything to try to use that foundation story and run with it. Instead, it gave us a very lackluster experience that I won't be revisiting. It wasn't badly written or badly drawn, just boring overall.
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Lone Wolf 2100: Chase The Setting Sun Writer: Eric Heisserer Artist: Miguel Sepulveda Colorist: Javier Mena Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $15.99 Format: TPB; Print/Digital
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