Blood Sword Volume 30 (untranslated Jademan reprint volumes) Jademan Comics 1992 scanned by Hedron in 2011 Special thanks to masw1 CONCLUDING the NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN issues between the English translations of The Blood Sword and Blood Sword Dynasty. Yes, the duel concludes here, too big for only one volume: Hero verses Invincible the Blind Samurai! And FINALLY, the cover to the volume matches the story! I have no idea why they did not, before. Hero and Invincible tear up the Statue of Liberty, all of the Chrysler corporations repairs going undone. Meanwhile, Invincible's daughter (or maybe he's her godfather) Yarn Girl and Kim Hung have their hands full trying to battle Big Sword. This is the Black Dragon Society assassin who crippled Hero 15 years ago, they are no match for him. Kim's bird, Silver Hawk, helps out. In the process of trying to fly Kim away to safety (as he has done many times before), Silver Hawk is struck by a projectile from Big Sword. But before the bird dies, he lands a crippling beak right through the man's shoulder. Silver Hawk dies protecting his master. Kim chokes out Big Sword with a stranglehold, knocking him unconscious. Mourning his lost bird, Kim considers finishing Big Sword off. But after words of wisdom from Yarn Girl, Kim instead drives the water out of the drowned man, and restores him to life. Kim is too kind-hearted to kill, something that he strives to hold onto in the latter series, Blood Sword Dynasty. Hero defeats Invincible's swordplay, using a 'flying sword' technique lost since it was used by the Invincible Swordsman. (But that guy is long dead, right?) Yarn Girl tries to console Invincible, who erupts in lunatic rage and slices her in half. Kim Hung is horrified, and races to the girl's aid. Hero turns back as well, his son is now within Invincible's killing range! Invincible creates a katana out of pure chi, destroying the Blood Sword. The deadly shrapnel from the shattered Blood Sword stops him only momentarily. Fighting with chi born of a reckless desire to die, Invincible drives Hero back despite the power of Infinite Hedron palm. Invincible delivers a lethal palm blade to Hero's neck, driving his helpless form off the pier and deep into New York harbor. Kim Hung cries out for his father, has his father been killed? Invincible certainly seems to think so, laughing in maniacal joy that he has murdered more people. Hero never surfaces, the battle is over, the Blood Sword destroyed. It is the end of an era. Watching with his binoculars, the Black Dragon Commander mourns the loss of a worthy foe. Kim Hung runs across the pier, striving to avenge his father with Invincible's own broken katana. Invincible brushes him off, Kim's grief is overpowering as he struggles to figure out how to kill the man that could kill his father. Kim tries again. Invincible dreams that Yarn Girl is running towards him, and opens his arms to sweep her into an embrace. But it is Kim Hung that he embraces, as Kim runs him all the way through his with own katana. This completes the ripoff, er, homage, to Lone Wolf and Cub that Blood Sword depicts here. (And yes, that is a spoiler for that series.) No originality here. And every Chinese and Japanese reader when this was published knew it. I wonder why the need to replicate another series that was only 10 years old at the time the Blood Sword started publishing? Funeral services are held for Invincible, Yarn Girl, Silver Hawk, and Hero. Ghost Server thinks he senses a familiar presence, but the bandaged figure waves him off and slips away. Ghost Server knows the truth. In a series of flashbacks, we learn that Hero did not fake his own death! He was going to die out there in New York harbor, but Big Sword dove into the water to save Hero. Kim Hung's humanity had moved the Black Dragon assassin, so he felt obligated to rescue Hero. What an ironic turn of karma! The man who crippled Hero in his youth saved his life 15 years later! This is closure for a reader like myself who wondered why Big Sword never reappeared during the 53 issue run of 'The Blood Sword'. How could the person who crippled the star of the comic be forgotten? Now we know, Big Sword wasn't forgotten, and played an integral role in Hero surviving to rejoin his son later in 'Blood Sword Dynasty'. Amazing. But the story doesn't end there. Hero returns to Black Dragon Island, to find the Commander waiting for him. An array of swords have been planted in the brick courtyard, cutlasses and rapiers. But Hero does not draw any of them, as they are snapped up by new Black Dragon trainees. Hero wants to talk with the Commander, instead. Hero shakes the Commander's hand, who is now happy. He proudly has his new students display their sword forms for their former enemy. They discuss the legacy of Invincible the Blind Samurai. (This is the last of Hero that we see for quite some time.) Meanwhile, Nix Kid celebrates his new role as leader of Russell School. Some henchmen deliver a briefcase with an arm inside and money. Nix celebrates someone's demise. Is this a fake arm of Hero's supplied by the Black Dragon Society? We shift the focus of the comic to mainland China. Bowie is lazily riding a donkey along the beach, as we rejoin Sanglo the doctor after an absence of many issues. Sanglo is treating an outbreak of mysterious illness that has struck across the territory. What could be the cause? It is the Phantom Doctor of Hell Clan, come to test the aging doctor. Yes, it is the start of 'Blood Sword Dynasty', the first 41 issues of which were translated into English for Jademan America readers. Now we see it in its original colors! Sanglo demonstrates his Fathomless Sea Palm (Boundless Ocean), blasting a man through a wall. The villagers had no idea of his kung fu skill until now. Phantom Doctor shows up on his sedan, bragging about how his 'western' method of medicine is superior to Sanglo's. In a flashback, we see how Sanglo tried to explain Chinese acupoints to the Phantom Doctor, and the foolish doctor dissected people trying in vain to find these points. Shamed by Sanglo, he is here now to prove the superiority of his skills, even if it means killing everyone in the village. Sanglo takes several pages to reflect on the poisons that Phantom Doctor has brought to him. Through his tremendous knowledge of internal medicine, he is winning the Phantom Doctor's challenges. When Ghost Matchmaker attacks Sanglo with a knife, Kim Hung makes his presence known. He has brought the Black Dragon Commander's cats with him to China! Kim has saved Sanglo, but Sanglo explains that the Ghost Matchmaker has also saved him, by adding a cold ingredient to the hot poison brew. This canceled out the main poison effect, and Sanglo's internal power took care of the rest. Kim Hung disguises himself (as Phantom Doctor would recognize the King of Hell Clan), and asks to take the next challenge. The Phantom Doctor moves to attack him, bad move. See printed page 119, where Sanglo forms the Boundless Ocean (both palms) yelling "You mustn't harm Kim Hung!!". Phantom Doctor's response: "Oh my God!!!" is priceless. Whether he was shocked at the fact that he was about to attack the king of Hell Clan, or Sanglo's awesome display of inner power, we don't know. He might have messed his pants! With Kim's help, Sanglo beats off Phantom Doctor's assault. He tends to Kim's injuries, and also heals Ghost Matchmaker from her master's assault. She was seeking vengeance for her brother, Earth King, who had attacked Sanglo many years ago, killing himself and blaming the death on Sanglo. But the old man could not possibly remember the feuds of Hell Clan. She is grateful for Sanglo's kindness, all the same. A note on the ad in the back: There is an interesting ad in the back of this reprint volume for Chinese Blood Sword issue #194, the current issue of the series at this time of printing. It shows Hero attacking Kim Hung with the Infinite Hedron palm, and Kim is wearing an eyepatch and missing his left arm. Obviously very late in the series, after Wa Ming-Shing left. Thoughts on 'The Blood Sword' and 'Blood Sword Dynasty' I have waited since 1993 to read these connecting issues between the two series. In reality, they were always the same series, just a change in focus. And a radical change at that, removing Kim Hung from the Blood Sword environment of Chinese immigrants in America and going back to China to focus on Hell Clan and his godfather Sanglo. Kim is of course still under the impression that Hero is dead, and relays that information to Sanglo. Kim quickly meets his long-lost twin sister, Grace, although he doesn't know that yet. (In a moment familiar to Star Wars fans, he flirts with her the first time he sees her. Like Luke and Leia kissing!) The focus on this portion of the series, of course, is the 'true' Infinite Hedron school in the person of Infinite Seeto and his family (his son, Ask-Me-Not, and his cruel wife, Monolo.) It is at this point that masw1's helpfully supplied volumes leave off, I don't have Volumes 31-38 to scan. Of course, those are the same as English issues #2-39, which I have already scanned. Still, it would have been nice to compare if there were any changes made as the series was translated for Americans. We resume next time with Volume 39, which takes us all the way to Fire Bird Island, where Hell Clan is attacking the Fiery Hawk clan. Hero, Kim Hung, and Zeo are there to act as meddlesome referees, but get involved in the action fairly quickly. Infinite Seeto has just hit Fiery Hawk with the 8th move of Infinite Hedron, the Dark Side of Sun and Moon. Can the heroes survive the latest onslaught of Hell Clan? Read and see... For ...
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