25 Years of Usagi Yojimbo

One of my favorite comics is Usagi Yojimbo. There are so many reasons why I enjoy Usagi. A few of those reasons are: the fantastic black and white artwork, the beautiful landscapes, the cleverly crafted anthropomorphic characters, the depth of historical research about feudal Japan, and the creative premise which has proved to be a wellspring of good stories.


Another thing that I enjoy about Usagi is the talent and graciousness of his creator, Stan Sakai. Stan is a guest at Comic-Con every year (he is 56 now) and is always gracious about doing sketches and signing autographs. He is the creator, author, and artist of Usagi Yojimbo.

In my mind, a good story needs good characters and a good plot. This is what I look for in a story whether that story is a comic, a book, a movie, or a TV show. Is the story compelling? Are the characters well-developed and interesting? Something that always seems to get in the way of this is a lack of creative control. TV shows often have a rotating cast of writers, most mainstream comics only keep artists and writers for 6-12 months before moving them to another project, and movies have the pressure of big budgets and the ever present, looming consideration of "the average moviegoer."

But Usagi Yojimbo was birthed in the mind of Stan Sakai and has been written and drawn by Stan for 25 years. Because of the quality of his work, that is something to appreciate. The story is consistent and consistently satisfying, even though it is currently on issue 124.



I thought of Usagi Yojimbo because I saw an article on "25 Years of Usagi Yojimbo." Follow the link to check it out. And if you're interested in reading Usagi, borrow one of my paperbacks. If you are interested in collecting Usagi, there will be a 2 volume slipcased hardcover collecting the first 7 paperbacks (the first 50 or so Usagi comics) in 1200 pages. This has been delayed until the Fall of 2010 and is up for pre-order on Amazon.


If you like a good story and enjoy beautiful artwork, you may appreciate Usagi (even if you don't ordinarily read comics). This may sound like an advertisement, but I promise I receive no commission from Dark Horse Comics or Stan Sakai...perhaps I should though!