In a prior post, I raved about Samurai: Heaven and Earth and this next comic in the series is no disappointment.
Chapter 1
The samurai Shiro is back and still hunting for his lost love Yoshiko. In Enemies and Allies, Shiro travels to Spain to find the Arab slave trader who sold Yoshiko in the first place. He forces the Arab to join him on his quest for revenge against the Spaniard Don Miguel Ratera (funny last name - in Spanish a ratero or ratera is a thief), and in keeping his vow to find Yoshiko. Shiro tells the Arab of his vow that nothing on Heaven or Earth will keep him from her and together they set off to find them. Meanwhile, Don Miguel is keeping Yoshiko captive as they board a ship to Veracruz.
As in the other comics, there are flashbacks to Shiro's and Yoshiko's life in Japan and some of the images are so heartbreakingly lovely that you have to stop and catch your breath.
The artwork is astounding and I can’t say enough about it. The story has you on the edge of your seat and rooting for Shiro while the artwork has you right in the midst of bloody samurai battles, on the ship, and in the beautiful gardens of Japan. Stunning, stunning, stunning!
Chapter 2
In Land and Sea, the samurai Shiro along with the Arab he has forced into helping him, hunt for Don Miguel Ratera and his love Yoshiko who have boarded a ship bound for Vera Cruz. Shiro and the Arab leave Barcelona and board a ship headed for the Americas in pursuit.
Once they are on board and halfway across the ocean, Shiro finds that the ship Yoshiko was on was captured and the people on it taken to Egypt to be sold. Frustrated at being stuck on a ship with no way out or to Yoshiko, he battles the crew and jumps ship, taking the Arab along with him. Yeah, he takes on an entire armed crew by himself! Incredible.
Meanwhile Yoshiko is sold to a pasha and taken away to a harem where she will live out her days. Don Miguel is also sold to the same pasha. Will he find a way to the harem?
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