Blades of the Guardians

Xianzhe’s lavish manhua debut combines Chinese fighting fantasy tropes with the visual dynamism of ninja and samurai manga. Dao Ma, a roguish bounty hunter, travels the lawless outer territories of a medieval Chinese empire with his chipper young son, Xiao Qi. He tries to avoid bloodshed by cutting underhanded deals—or just makes sure his son’s eyes are covered against the worst gore. Most enemies are bandits and crime lords, but supernatural menaces include rakshasas, a desert monster of Hindu folklore. Trustworthy friends—such as Ayuya, a tough woman who carries a torch for Dao Ma—are few and far between. The figure of a lone assassin traveling with child owes obvious debt to Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima’s Lone Wolf and Cub series; Xu’s excellent, visceral, and thickly inked art likewise recalls historical action manga from the 1970s and ’80s. Heads fly from bodies in sprays of blood, men in broad-brimmed hats ride into Arab villages like the antiheroes in a spaghetti western, and Dao Ma gets into a nude hot-spring fight worthy of Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises. Fans longing for the throwback thrills of classic action manga will find plenty to pump their fists about. (Mar.)