If you combined the resiliency of James Bond with the stoic-ness of a ninja, you’d have Golgo 13, the world’s greatest assassin for hire. And in volume 12 of Takao Saito’s Golgo 13 adventure, Golgo 13 will have to face a showdown in the Pacific and the backwaters of America, Deep South style.

In the first story, a CIA chemical warfare program has been exposed and Golgo needs to get to the Pacific to destroy all of the evidence. Once he’s there, however, he finds that there’s already someone on the case, and that person is a few steps in front of him.

When the two meet, the team up to take out all the evidence. But as they’re about to depart, the financiers of the other man offer him double to take out Golgo. As the two stand and wait for the ebbing of the tide, they contemplate the finale of the showdown. Will Golgo be able to escape in once piece?

In the second story, Golgo is hired to get revenge on the maker of a down South town who took out their anger on one of their own. But the guy’s buddy from Vietnam learns that the guy took his life because he couldn’t deal with his life, he wants revenge.

So he hires Golgo, who infiltrates the Deep South and seeks out revenge for his financier from the North. The story is rife with racism and other real-world tones, which it makes it that much more believable as the story progresses. However, I can’t help but feel as though some of the Southern characters are a bit stereotyped.

The art is fantastic and feels as though it emanates with the ’70s-era style darkness and worries that Golgo seems to embody.

Golgo 13 is dark and gritty and not afraid to get its hands dirty, particularly in arenas such as racism and other social issues. And it does a good job in this volume in framing those issues into the plotline to make it flow as a story. Likewise, the art paces the action with terse lines and a dark spirit. Golgo 13 is something more mature readers should check out.

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