Sunday, June 3, 2007

Hanzo the manga

Those of you who've read my Stray Dogs & Lone Wolves: The Samurai Film Handbook may be familiar with the ourtragous Hanzo the Razor trilogy (1972 - 4). This trio of period exploitation films starring Shintaro Katsu follows the crime-fighing adventures of Itami Hanzo, the most well-endowed cop in Edo, who doesn't hesitate to use his massive member in the service of justice! The films were adapted from a manga by Kazuo Koike (creator of Lone Wolf and Cub and Lady Snowblood).

Anyhow, a friend in Australia recently sent me these images from the Kamisori Hanzo manga and I thought I'd share:



2 comments:

OnionPuppet said...

I have to say, I love both "Lone Wolf and Cub" and "Path of the Assassin" but the Hanzo comics are something else. The movies would probably be fairly disturbing if it wasn't for the funky soundtrack and Shintaro Katsu swaggering about. It manages to become almost camp.

Patrick Galloway said...

No doubt, if it wasn't played for laughs, the Hanzo the Razor series would definitely verge into Toei exploitation territory (a la Quick Draw Okatsu). Hell, The Snare is pretty disturbing even with the laughs!