Strain, Vol. 1

Life is cheap in Kuala Lumpur, where a hitman named Mayo will kill your enemies for just five dollars. But when the local crime syndicate hires Mayo to murder a teenage prostitute, he balks and soon becomes a target himself, pursued by a sadistic killer cop.

Writer Buronson found a hit with his bloody, postapocalyptic action-adventure Fist of the North Star. Artist Ryoichi Ikegami has seen success with realistic, gritty books like Crying Freeman. But together they achieved their greatest heights with the masterful Japanese comics novel Sanctuary. Now they have teamed for a second series, and by the look of the first volume, the intense depictions of crime, corruption, and mystery are back. Mayo is a cool, disinterested killer for hire, but the real reason he charges only $5 for a hit is a secret. It seems that teenage prostitute Shion has a secret too--one that even she doesn't know. Now that that Mayo has screwed over the local crime syndicate by taking pity on Shion and her mother, they are both on the run from the criminals, a murderous cop, and their own secrets. --Jim Pascoe