Goseki Kojima is the artist of the epic Japanese manga 'Lone Wolf and Cub', written by Kazuo Koike. Kojima was born in Yokkaichi and began his career as a poster artist and painter, before settling in Tokyo in 1950. There, he worked as an artist of "kamishibai" (illustrated stories) for many years. In the late 1950s, he was also turning to mangas and created serials like 'Onmitsu Yûreijô' (1957), 'Yagyû Ningun' (1959) and 'Chôhen Dai Roman', a series of classic novel adaptations (1961-67), all distributed through libraries. In 1967, he switched to a more conventional distribution and made appearances in several magazines. Together with Kuzuo Koike, he created 'Kozure Okami', published in Manga Action from 1970 to 1976.
Kozure Okami (1970)
This grand series was first introduced to English readers under the title 'Lone Wolf and Club' in 1987, when the publisher First Comics brought small parts of it to the market. It immediately captured the attention and fascination of many comic readers, for the intelligent, action-packed stories and stunning artwork. Artist Frank Miller has been especially influenced by this work. In addition to 'Lone Wolf', Kojima and Koike cooperated on series like 'Kawaite Soro', 'Kubikiri Asa', 'Hanzô Nomon', 'Bohachi Bushido' and 'Tatamidori Kasajiro'. In 1994, he became editorial consultant for the magazine Manga Japan.
