Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Berserk, Vol. 11

The Band of the Hawk - what's left of them - are on the run, Guts and Casca having rescued the Hawks' leader, Griffith, from the horrors of the King of Midland's dungeons. Starved, tortured mercilessly and imprisoned in an iron mask, Griffith hangs to life and sanity by a thread... and he'll be no help against the King's latest charges sent to bring him back to pay for his dalliance with the King's daughter. Now the depleted Hawks will have to face the Knights of the Black Dog, led by the merciless, bestial Wyald... one bad dog who's even worse when he unleashes the beast within!

Berserk, Vol. 10

Warrior supreme Guts has returned, and just in time to save the weakened Band of the Hawk from certain destruction... and to form an intimate bond with the beautiful warrior Casca. But job one is to find a way to free Griffith, the Hawks' leader, from the dank dungeons and round-the-clock tortures of the Hawks' former benefactor, the King of Midland. But while the flayed and starved Griffith may be in isolation, he is not alone. Horrors beyond imagination await Guts and the Hawks in the catacombs, and those who die may just be the lucky ones!

Berserk, Vol. 9

Griffith, charismatic leader of the elite mercenary Band of the Hawk, has seen better days. His fearless champion, Guts, has left the Band, defeating Griffith in personal combat as his ticket out. With his judgment clouded by this unthinkable humiliation, Griffith eases his pain in the arms of the daughter of Midland's king. But the King doesn't take kindly to an employee picking the royal flowers, and the next stop for Griffith is the dungeon and the torture rack! Without Griffith and Guts, the Hawks become easy prey for Midland's army, and the AWOL Guts may be the only answer to the Hawks' - and Griffith's - lethal problems.

Berserk, Vol. 8

The century-spanning war between Midland and Chuder continues unabated. The two warring kingdoms, vying for supremacy, launch headfirst into what will become the final battle. Leading the Midland forces are the Band of the Hawk, lead by the charismatic Griffith, with the fearless Guts as his trusted champion. But should the Hawks triumph again on the battlefield, the war with Chuder may end, but the secret war within Midland may begin as those who seek to rise within the court see the ambitious Griffith as an obstacle to obtaining power. And nothing is more formidable than an enemy unseen!

Berserk, Vol. 7

Two feudal kingdoms, Midland and Chuder, battle for supremacy in what will become the final clash in a century-long struggle. Spearheading the Midland forces is the Band of the Hawk, a legendary cadre of elite mercenaries led by the charismatic Griffith and with the fearless Guts as its berserker champion. The Hawks' ferocity, courage, and fearsome skills - not to mention Guts' enormous broadsword - are just what Midland needs to turn the bloody tide, but during the fray, Guts and Griffith's most trusted lieutenant, Casca, fall together from a cliff into a raging river. Miraculously, both barely survive, and Guts tends to Casca's wounds as she tells of having her life saved by Griffith, her induction into the Band of the Hawk, and her deep feelings toward Griffith. She even seems to finally be warming up to the grim Guts. But this greeting-card moment won't last long, for Chuder warriors are on the prowl, and the only greetings they carry are on the points of their spears!

Berserk, Vol. 6

Back in the day, Guts the Black Swordsman was a top slayer for The Band of the Hawk, an elite mercenary unit led by Griffith, whose calm demeanor and callow beauty belied his fighting prowess and steel will. While in a king's employ, the attraction between the king's daughter and Griffith and the growing favor of the king towards the Hawk leader raises the hackles of the king's jealous son, who plots to have Griffith summarily assassinated. But if the plot fails, the king's son will likely have to deal with Guts and his titanic broadsword, and the results of such confrontations are rarely pretty... or easy to clean up.

Berserk, Vol. 5

He is Guts, the Black Swordsman, a warrior of legendary prowess - relentless, fearless, merciless. As cold and brutal as the iron of the massive sword he wields. Bent on revenge against the unholy forces that have branded him for sacrifice, but especially on Griffith, one of the demon lords of the Godhand. But Griffith was once a man, the leader of the Hawks, a renowned cadre of elite fighters with a young Guts as its fiercest champion. Though forged in a crucible of cruelty and violence, nothing could prepare Guts for a confrontation with Nosferatu Zodd, a superhuman beast who slaughters Guts' comrades as easily as a scythe cuts wheat. Even Guts and Griffith are no match for the abomination's power...but something Griffith wears around his neck may well be!

Berserk, Vol. 4

Now that the evil Count has been killed and dragged to Hell by the demon lords of the Godhand, Guts, the Black Swordsman, hooks up with his former benefactor, the mercenary Gambino. But it's a deadly reunion, one that nearly takes Guts' life. The following years see Guts wandering from battlefield to battlefield, where his awesome skills as a slayer catch the eye of both warring parties, including the legendary Griffith, warrior leader of the Band of the Hawk, who is eager to test his combat skills against those of the Black Swordsman. As usual, anytime that Guts is involved there will be hell to pay!

Berserk, Vol. 3

Guts, the feared Black Swordsman, finishes his desperate battle with the monstrous Count, cutting and blasting him to gory scraps when the presence of the Count's daughter makes the monster hesitate. But Guts won't even have the time to clean his gigantic sword when the Count's dying pleas activate the Behelit, summoning the five God Hands, demon lords of immeasurable power. Guts' journey so far has been a long road of pain and death, but that's a walk in the park compared to fighting his way out of Hell itself!

Berserk, Vol. 2

The evil Count uses his dark powers to transform a defeated guard captain into an inhuman horror to combat Guts, the Black Swordsman. Puck, Guts' pint-sized fairy sidekick, is captured when he attempts to stop an old doctor's execution, and he is given as a gift to the count's daughter, a sweet girl in a gilded cage, imprisoned by her father in her own room. Guts, determined to make mincemeat of the Count, assaults the castle and carves a swath of blood-soaked destruction through the Count's minions. Face-to-face with the Black Swordsman at last, the Count reveals his true form, and even Guts' super-sized sword may not be big enough to contend with this demonic monstrosity!

Berserk, Vol. 1

Created by Kenturo Miura, Berserk is manga mayhem to the extreme - violent, horrifying, and mercilessly funny - and the wellspring for the internationally popular anime series. Not for the squeamish or the easily offended, Berserk asks for no quarter - and offers none! His name is Guts, the Black Swordsman, a feared warrior spoken of only in whispers. Bearer of a gigantic sword, an iron hand, and the scars of countless battles and tortures, his flesh is also indelibly marked with The Brand, an unholy symbol that draws the forces of darkness to him and dooms him as their sacrifice. But Guts won't take his fate lying down; he'll cut a crimson swath of carnage through the ranks of the damned - and anyone else foolish enough to oppose him! Accompanied by Puck the Elf, more an annoyance than a companion, Guts relentlessly follows a dark, bloodstained path that leads only to death...or vengeance.

Berserk

By: Kentaro Miura

My current collection:









Future additions: