Usagi Yojimbo

Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #6

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Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #6Usagi Yojimbo: Senso comes to a close with the future version of Usagi Yojimbo leading the fight against the remaining alien tripod with Usagi Gundam. While properly framing the entire episode as a story told from the far, far future (leaving some of the specific details in doubt), Usagi creator Stan Sakai gives his creation one last epic battle before our hero falls (but not before once again saving the day).

Is this the “last” Usagi story? Is this how our hero is meant to meet his end? Perhaps, but given how far in the future the six-issue mini-series takes place I think we have plenty of adventures to look forward to concerning the rabbit ronin before this dark day ever comes to pass.

And thankfully we don’t have to wait very long as Sakai and Dark Horse return to the current adventures of everyone’s favorite rabbit ronin later this year picking up the ongoing series where it left off. Usagi may not live forever, but hopefully we’ll get more of his amazing adventures for years and years to come. Must-read.

[Dark Horse, $3.99]

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Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #5

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Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #5Setting up the mini-series finale next month, Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #5 brings Buichi Kubo to the land of the Komori Ninja Clan as old enemies will put aside their differences to work together to take on the invading aliens and their tripods of destruction.

Although there’s plenty of action, we don’t get as much of Usagi Yojimbo in this issue as the majority of the the issue focuses on the kamakaze attack of the Komori and samurai and most of the final few pages deals with Lord Noriyuki attempting to convince the Shogun’s emissary Minister Hina of an unconventional plan to destroy the last of the alien invaders.

As Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #5 comes to a close it teases us with what writer/artist Stan Sakai has in mind for the finale as everything involving the alien destruction has led to the creation of a weapon powerful enough to take on the enemy. That last panel is amazing! I can’t wait to see it unleashed! Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $3.99]

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Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #4

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Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #4Trapped in the wreckage underneath the latest alien spacecraft to crash land in the area, Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #4 offers a few stolen moments between Usagi and Tomoe filling in some of the lonely future for the rabbit ronin should his path follow the template of events this version of events suggests.

Once again the mini-series delivers its share of action pitting Usagi and Tomoe against an entire spaceship of the octopus-like alien invaders. Thankfully the pair are able to hold their own until help arrives. However, on a larger scale their may be no help coming that can save the land from the alien technology (as I continue to wonder just how far Stan Sakai may take his War of the Worlds story arc).

In the middle of what appears to be a hopeless situation the issue offers a rather bleak picture of what’s to come. However, those with faith in Miyamoto Usagi know that the rabbit ronin has a knack for always finding a way. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $3.99]

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Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #3

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Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #3The six-issue mini-series continues with the battle stalled and the surviving battlefield warriors dealing with the alien squid invaders whose high-tech weapons and giant tripod robots prove nearly impossible to stop.

With Usagi warning the closest village of the oncoming danger it falls to Jotaro and Gen to lead the remaining forces in hopes of slowing down the aliens’ destruction and stopping the creation of more giant robots whose path of destruction have already begun to claim several lives.

The third issue of Usagi Yojimbo: Senso is heavy on action and features the death of a well-known character. It’s the second alien rocket, however, which crash lands right the middle of the village Usagi is attempting to evacuate that is the more immediate problem for the rabbit ronin if he has any hopes to surviving. I can’t wait to see where the future adventures of Usagi Yojimbo go from here. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $3.99]

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Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #2

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Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #2In the second issue of the mini-series set 20 years into the future of Usagi Yojimbo, the pair of wary warring armies attempt to deal with the unexpected arrival of an alien spaceship crash landing in the middle of the battlefield. It’s obvious from their actions, attacking both sides indiscriminately, that the squid-like aliens don’t come in peace.

The invaders’ hidden motives, technical superiority, and odd tripod constructed machines pay homage to H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds and we see Usagi’s life has gotten no less complicated over the years as writer/artist Stan Sakai continues to tease us with hints of our hero’s past and regrets regarding his son.

We still don’t know what the aliens ultimately want, but Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #2 certainly sells them as a legitimate threat which only someone like our own rabbit ronin might be able to handle. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $3.99]

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