Usagi Yojimbo

• Title: Usagi Yojimbo #3
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Stan Sakai
• Artist: Stan Sakai

Usagi Yojimbo #3 ends the comic’s opening story as Miyamoto Usagi and Sasuké fight for their lives against the demonic puppets and discover that Takagi isn’t the puppet master they believe, but just another puppet being played by the true force behind the scenes.

The action is fast and furious in the final issue of the story as Usagi and the demon hunter bring an end to the madness in the town. And, thanks to Sasuké’s persuasiveness, the pair sidestep any uncomfortable stories about the impossibility of wooden puppets coming to life and draining life force for their master. And it’s a good thing, because I don’t know how exactly the pair would have explained the number of bodies littered across town being mauled by now completely inert wooden puppets.

…

Usagi Yojimbo #3Read More »

• Title: Usagi Yojimbo #1
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Stan Sakai
• Artist: Stan Sakai

After several years at Dark Horse Comics, Usagi Yojimbo finds a new home at IDW. Usagi Yojimbo #1 opens with the warrior Sasuké killing the demons of Mount Funai and being sent by the ghostly Lord Shoki to Kuroyama Mura where Miyamoto Usagi is enjoying a stage performance with similar themes. Usagi is in awe of the Bunraku puppeteers and their prowess, but as the final page foreshadows there is much more going on than meets the eye.

Fans of Usagi should enjoy the first issue as the rabbit ronin feels right at home. As fans have come to expect, the comic continues to offer tidbits of culture along with action, honor, and a bit of horror thrown in as well. Written and drawn by Stan Sakai, the issue is inked by Tom Luth offering us the first full-color Usagi story in quite some time.

…

Usagi Yojimbo #1Read More »

• Title: Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #7 (of 7)
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Stan Sakai
• Artist: Stan Sakai

Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden comes to a close with the mystery solved and Miyamoto Usagi and Inspector Ishida in possession of what so many are willing to kill for: the incredibly rare Christian Bible translated into Japanese. To survive the day, Usagi and Ishida will need to fend off the Shogunate Agents and their army of paid mercenaries.

Issue #7 is full of action featuring Usagi and Ishida, with the help of the thief Nezumi, who are able to hold their own against overwhelming numbers and wave after wave of attackers. In the end it is not a sword strike nor a body blow that ends the fighting but a sacrifice by Hama who jumps into the flames to prevent the holy book from falling into the wrong hands.

…

Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #7Read More »

• Title: Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #5 (of 7)
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Stan Sakai
• Artist: Stan Sakai

In Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #5 Inspector Ishida and Miyamoto Usagi finally discover what was in the stolen box that led to the death of a Christian. What everyone continues to search, and kill, for is a banned Christian Bible which has been painstakingly translated into Japanese. As to the bible’s origins, or its current whereabouts, our protagonists remain in the dark.

Despite knowing that his boss would not approve, Ishida continues to rely on the help of the infamous thief Nezumi who provides a crucial piece of evidence that leads to Usagi and the detective uncovering the truth about the missing bible (whose very existence is a kind of heresy that could reign down wrath on everyone involved if its existence becomes widely known).

…

Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #5Read More »