Blood Sword Volume 28 (untranslated Jademan reprint volumes) Jademan Comics (1991) scanned by Hedron in 2011 Special thanks to masw1 Continuing the NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN issues between the English translations of The Blood Sword and Blood Sword Dynasty. The story moves on after the defeat of the Black Dragon Society, but they have left a trap for Greenie and Fire Fox... I have to laugh as our heroes are as gullible as ever. Fire Fox and Greenie just escaped the clutches of the Black Dragon Society, so now is the best time to go wandering around in the jungle? These people are clueless. How can the villains fail to beat them every issue? Ghost Server shows why he won't win 'Father of the Year' award. I suppose Chris and Zeo asked him to take them to Disneyworld one too many times... (I'm trying to be funny, it's just a baffling scene to read through.) The highlight of this issue is Hero's surprise duel with a mystery character that I don't want to spoil by revealing. If Hero thought he had no one to fight until his fated duel with Invincible later on, he was wrong! Invincible has a duel with his Japanese mentor. I wonder if this is the rival kung fu school that we see in Blood Sword Dynasty later on (represented by Saber). Invincible and his master rip off every move seen in the duel between Itto Ogami and Retsudo Yagyu in Lone Wolf and Cub. Got to give credit to the Chinese, they know a good fight when they see one. Why not re-use it? This mentor for Invincible looks sort of like Unmoveable Creep from the Iron Marshal comic. Invincible is deliriously happy trying to stab one of his old friends. Then he should be even happier when the Black Dragon Commander drops by to kick his butt as well! As if that weren't bad enough, Kim Hung and Yarn Girl (Invincible's annoying daughter) show up to pester him as well. Don't they know this guy is a loner? Yarn Girl's thugs try to grab Invincible. Now this is simply unbelievable. Of all people, they should know this is a quick way to be sliced, diced, and chopped. Oh well, they all fall in pieces. It's hard to find good help these days! Suffering a head injury from his master, Invincible charges away, maddened by the pain. He comes across a corral of horses, and their whinnying is too much for him to resist. He chops! (Invincible almost reminds me of John Belushi's old Saturday Night Live sketch 'Samurai Delicatessen'.) The owners of the horse ranch come running out of their home, to find a delighted Invincible standing amidst the piled corpses of their herd. They all start vomiting at the carnage! (Will someone revoke this guy's passport? I mean really, for a tourist, he's wearing out his welcome.) Hero finds what the guardian serpent had been protecting all these years. The darn thing had been planted there by Sword Saint! It's a wall of Sword Saint's ultimate swordplay kung fu, devised to defeat Shou Pi Yung. When Hero meets Shou Pi Yung later in Blood Sword Dynasty, he is easily defeated by the old man. Either Sword Saint's kung fu isn't the wizardry he envisioned, or Hero was a poor study. (But it might help against Invincible.) Sword Saint wrote on the wall that he had wasted all his chi on Hero, and he hopes someone uses this kung fu to kick his butt. Well, that's what Hero's shocked expression looks like, anyway. Rather, I believe Hero is reacting to the revelation that Sword Saint was not the best, he admits here that Shou Pi Yung beat him in a duel. (How will Hero find Shou Pi Yung? Maybe he won't have to wait till Blood Sword Dynasty. See printed page 118.) Kim Hung regroups at China House, where he is happy to find his bird Silver Hawk on the mend. He is attacked by Doug, the son of Black Dragon assassin Eunice. (See, it pays to pay attention.) Greenie and Fire Fox are mending from their foolish encounter at the Guardian Serpent's crypt. Kim wants to track down Nix Kid for killing the Guardian Serpent. But Yuen Mo appears to caution the hot-headed kids, warning that they should not go looking for trouble. Yuen Mo was previously called the 'master of weapons'. Should they now call him the 'one-armed master of weapons'? He didn't do so hot against the Commander. Greenie tries to give Kim Hung the book of thumb thrust extreme, Kim doesn't seem too thrilled at the prospect. I daresay the Purgatory King's Dream Note kung fu is probably better. Why would Kim want this? (He ends up handing it back to Greenie and Fire Fox, wishing them well on their impending nuptuals.) ---------------------------- HOW TO VIEW MY SCANS I recommend using the PC freeware program Cdisplay. Go to Configure and choose 'Fit Width C+W'. This fills the screen perfectly, then tap space to read. Since these are Chinese comics, they are meant to be read from right-to-left. Cdisplay has a 'Japanese Mode', other software may have something similar.
polner