Usagi Yojimbo turns 25
Purchase Usagi Yojimbo: Yokai HC
Usagi Yojimbo: Yokai cover
by Roger Ash
This year we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Usagi Yojimbo and I, for one, am darned pleased about that. The fact that a black and white comic starring animals that has gone through five publishers (that I can recall) has made it this long is a testament to the quality of creator Stan Sakai’s work. Let’s think about this for a moment. For 25 years, Sakai has been writing, drawing, and lettering his own comic. That’s impressive and puts him in very rare company (Dave Sim on Cerebus is the only other person I can think of who’s done that). I haven’t been reading Usagi since the beginning, but darn close. I first discovered him in the pages of Fantagraphics’ anthropomorphic anthology, Critters. I’ve been a fan ever since.
For those of you unfamiliar with Usagi Yojimbo, let me give you a brief overview of the book. The story takes place during the Edo era in Japan. Usagi is a ronin, a masterless samurai, who roams the countryside living by the samurai code, sometimes hiring himself out as a bodyguard, and helping those in need. He is sometimes joined on his travels by Gen, a bounty hunter; Tomoe Ame, chief retainer to Geishu Lord Noriyuki and a star-crossed love interest; Kitsune, a con-woman with a heart of gold; Jotaro, his son; and many others. Oh yes, they’re also all animals. Usagi and Jotaro are rabbits, Gen is a rhino, Tomoe is a cat, and Kitsune is a fox. The stories can be action-oriented, supernatural, slice-of-life, pretty much whatever kind of story Sakai chooses to tell. He often works actual historical detail into the stories, but it’s always done naturally and he doesn’t knock the readers over the head with the information. If you want to know more about the book, the Usagi Yojimbo Dojo is an excellent web site with tons of information.
Usagi Yojimbo: Grasscutter cover
Aside from thinking this is just a great book, there are a few things I really admire about Usagi and creator Stan Sakai. One is the pleasure of watching Sakai mature as an artist and storyteller. While the early stories are enjoyable, they look and read very differently from a modern story. He continually strives to improve the book and it shows. Secondly, Sakai does a great job of balancing long and short stories. He’s done some fantastic longer stories such as The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy and Grasscutter, but as soon as they’re done, he does a handful of one or two-issue stories so new readers can come on board. This makes the book great for both longtime and new readers. I wish more comics today took this approach. Finally, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Stan on both a professional level and as a fan. In both instances, he has always been extremely nice and very modest. It’s cool when a favorite creator turns out to be just as nice as you could have hoped.
I know some people don’t like the fact that the book’s in black and white, but I do. It shows off Sakai’s beautiful line work to full effect. Usagi was in color for a couple specials as well as when it was published by Mirage and it just never looked right to me. Others complain that it stars animals. I say “so what.” It’s a well drawn and well written comic and I look forward to reading every issue. I look for a good story and I don’t care if it stars animals, superheroes, or the family down the street.
Usagi Yojimbo #123 cover
If you haven’t guessed by now, I really like Usagi Yojimbo. In fact, it’s my favorite comics being published today. If you haven’t tried Usagi Yojimbo before, this is the perfect time. Coming from Dark Horse this month is a new issue of the regular series that begins a new story. In addition to that, Sakai has created his first-ever Usagi Yojimbo graphic novel, Yokai. Give them a try. You won’t be disappointed.
Now let’s hear from you. Are you an Usagi fan? If so, what do you like about the book? If not, why do you feel that way? I’m interested in hearing what you think.