Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo...

[Texcap]

Not unlike the early 90's and my discovery of the Valiant Universe, as Marvel continues its steady spiral downward yet again -- be it the crap Jemas was pulling or the dreck that Quesada is currently championing (your mileage may vary) -- it has served a purpose in opening up an opportunity for me to pick up several independent titles that I've wanted to read over the years, but that I couldn't pick up for the lack of funds (and some screwed up reading priorities, at times, it appears).

Anyhow, for the last several months I've been enjoying the adventures of Stan Sakai's rabbit ronin, Usagi Yojimbo all over again; and along with a handful of other creators putting out quality titles it really has reinvigorated my enthusiasm for the industry. Add the (currently limited) relaunch of the Valiant Universe in there with titles like Allred's Madman, Baron & Rude's Nexus, etc. and things just keep getting better and better with each passing month. But back to Usagi. I decided to pick up the title again with issue #100, the anniversary event, as I continued to hear rave reviews about it and I was already impressed with what I had read in the series already. And while waiting for that 100th issue to arrive, I managed to find issue #99 one weekend and in so doing was treated to the beginning of what may very well have been the best new comic story I've read in '07 thus far:

UY #99, 101-102: "Bridge of Tears, Fever Dream & The Killer"

(#100 is a Usagi Roast, and well worth owning.)

Long story short, UY has permanently found a home in my collection. The [Eisner winning] comics are beautifully produced, and are astonishingly good, so I wanted to at least attempt to tell y'all about them, given that nearly all Valiant fans have very good taste! It's a labor of love as Stan Sakai writes, illustrates, inks and letters the book all himself, somehow managing to not only turn in the books on time every month, but often...early. If you ever want to reward yourself, please pick up the book, it really is good enough for me to spend 15-minutes trying to capture my enthusiasm.

Any fans here already? If so, I'd love to hear how you discovered the character, if you're following the current storyline, etc.

[400yrs]

Any fans here already? If so, I'd love to hear how you discovered the character, if you're following the current storyline, etc.

I discovered the character back in '97 during a trip up to Asheville. I was in a shop there looking for Q&W issues when I ran across a few of the old Usagi books (Mirage?) for $1 each. I picked them up, gave them a read and subscribed to the Dark Horse series right away. The new story line starting with 103 looks good as well.

I've never been let down by the book, but it's not for everyone. I like the mythology part of it, some people might not.

If you haven't ran across it, here is a website with pretty much everything you can imagine. The second link is the forum.

http://www.usagiyojimbo.com/

http://www.usagiyojimbo.com/forum/index.php

[Texcap]

I discovered the character back in '97 during a trip up to Asheville. I was in a shop there looking for Q&W issues when I ran across a few of the old Usagi books (Mirage?) for $1 each. I picked them up, gave them a read and subscribed to the Dark Horse series right away.

"You're a scholar and a gentleman and there are few of us left."

The new story line starting with 103 looks good as well.

As it was with issue #99, I was surprised at just how quickly I was swept up into the storyline of a character I knew next to nothing about going into the issue (UY #103), in this case, Priest Jizonobu. Can't wait to find out how things turn out next issue...

I've never been let down by the book, but it's not for everyone. I like the mythology part of it, some people might not.

That's true, though I've yet to stumble across anyone that couldn't at least appreciate the detailed history of Japan's past that is prevalent in the book. IMHO, one of the things that works so well about the series is that you can enjoy it on so many different levels. If you want a story about an anthropomorphic rabbit who kicks rump and takes names then there you go, if you want to read about the adventures of Samurai in Japan's Edo period then you've got it, if you want to read about budding relationships, honor, happiness & tragedy in your comics then there's that...among the many other things it just offers everything -- and the kitchen sink.

Not too many super-heroes I suppose, but then again, there's Space Usagi and his appearances with the TMNT, which isn't that far removed from the genre.

If you haven't ran across it, here is a website with pretty much everything you can imagine. The second link is the forum.

http://www.usagiyojimbo.com/

http://www.usagiyojimbo.com/forum/index.php

Love the Usagi Yojimbo Dojo & visit it often! Hopefully others will visit and see what the book is about & thanks for chiming in. It's a good day when I can yack about the book for a few minutes!

[Ryan]

I'm a bit irregular with collecting comics, but I always pick up an issue of Usagi when I see it. The stories are always solid no matter if it's in the middle of a storyline or not. Usagi is one of the rare comics out there that never disappoints.

[Schmakt]

Usagi is definitely one of my favorite books... I just got my copy of Albedo #2 in the mail this morning. *drool*

Now I'm lobbying Shelton over at Heroes to try and get Stan to HeroesCon this year.

#103 should be a good jumping on point for new readers, I think. Highly recommended.

[Texcap]

I posted this elsewhere, but thought I'd add it here as well:


While I hate to admit it, this is the first time that I've read Stan's Eisner winning epic: Grasscutter. But it finally arrived about a week ago, and I sat down to really start reading it yesterday afternoon after work. I currently find myself about 3/4th's of the way through...

And I am already completely blown away.

But it's too easy to just say that, hoping that it'll cover it. I can do better than that. Every Usagi story I've had the good fortune of reading has left a strong impression on me and this one is no different, in fact, not only has it done that once more where the story is concerned but it has also served to inspire me to dig a little deeper in the last 24-hours into the history of the backdrop in the tale. Namely, the legend of the Kusanagi, the battle of Dan-no-ura, the tale of Susa-no-Ō and Yamata-no-Orochi (which I've heard, in part, before) as well as the history of Minamoto Yoshitsune and the Genpei Wars. I was drawn into the details of these stories as Stan presented them in the opening chapters, and today, I've spent a good hour or two pouring over an awful lot of information about the famous samurai and these various other aspects of the story and I can't tell you how much fun its been. Nor how good of a job Stan did in relaying some of these spectacular stories and events.

I read about Yohitsune, then happily turn to the opening chapters in the book again to see those redeemable features in the fierce and honorable warrior he portrays there in his own unique and imaginative way. Also present are the historical nuggets like Yoshitsune wanting to show his loyalty to his mistrusting brother, a narrative about his steep rush down a cliff to route the Heike previously, and among others, the reverence paid a warrior on the opposing side, Taira Tomomori. Detail after detail is present in Stan's story and I'm just plum fascinated...

...yea, the curse of a want-to-be historian.

The other curse being that by the time I was done this morning, I had also purchased Usagi Yojimbo Vol. 17: Duel At Kitanoji and Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings because apparently I had to have them now.

Anyway, I very much look forward to reading the rest of the story later today but I wanted to make sure I dropped by here early to say just how much fun I've had with it already! It already deserves all the praise it is heaped, and more.