Now I know there are some of you out there who are looking at the title of this review a little cock-eyed, and saying, “Wait a minute... you mean the sword wielding rabbit from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? They made a comic book about that guy?”

Well, yes and no.

For the full story, we have to step in ye olde way-back machine for a moment, and travel to 1984. At that time, you see, we were still firmly in the Silver Age; when there wasn't the wealth of alternative comics we have today. Marvel and DC were doing their superhero thing. Crisis on Infinite Earths is still a year away, and revolutionary comics like The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen won't be released until 1986. There were only a handful of publishers still creating underground comics, the last remnants of the Sixties comic revolution that brought us comics like The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and the work of R. Crumb. Dark Horse wouldn't even be founded for another 2 years.

It is in that atmosphere that the first seeds of the alternative comic universe began to peek their little stalks into the air. When TMNT was published in March of '84, funded largely by a tax refund one of the creators received, it was a run-away success, and blew open the doors for an explosion of independent black and white comics. Suddenly hundreds of small press publishers were cranking out black and white comics at an astounding pace, and the letterer for Groo was convinced to dig out a samurai rabbit character he had been noodling around with for the last couple of years and put out a comic of his own.

When Usagi Yojimbo came onto the scene, it was just one drop in a flood of anthropomorphic martial artists. While many such comics have come and gone, Usagi has continued on, thanks to the excellent work of creator Stan Sakai—who writes and draws every issue himself—and the occasional cross-over with a certain troop of masked terrapins.

Set in an early 17th century Japan populated by anthropomorphic animals, the comic follows the life of Miyamoto Usagi, a ronin (that's Japanese for masterless samurai) bunny rabbit, as he makes a warrior's pilgrimage across Japan; righting wrongs, helping the helpless, and generally sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. On his adventures Usagi has fought ninja, corrupt politician, bandits, gangsters, demons, evil wizards, and bounty-hunters. He's solved murders, rescued princesses, exercised ghosts, and fought in more than one duel. And yes, he's even run into a Ninja Turtle or two.

Over the years Usagi has assembled a large cast of supporting characters, and one of the great strengths of Usagi is the consistent world that has developed as the series has matured. Sakai has often built up multi-threaded stories that evolve over the course of many many issues, with plot-lines and characters reemerging from story-lines years previous.

The stories typically consist of arcs of 3 to 5 issues, with occasional longer arcs and periods of single issue stories, often focusing on cultural elements, including sword-making, kite-building, tea ceremony, and occasional stories focusing entirely on minor characters. Periodically the series will jump into longer, more epic stories, such as the Dragon Bellow Conspiracy, or Grasscutter parts I and II.

Whether the story is about the clashing of armies, or rescuing a single tiny village from bandits, Usagi Yojimbo never fails to deliver amazing action, with a touch of light humor. The sword play—and there is a lot of sword play—is very well drawn, with fast paced action sequences. While the series is often serious, there are many humorous episodes as well. Usagi is drawn in a cartoony style, with a minimum of blood. Whenever someone dies Sakai illustrates them with a wispy speech bubble with a skull in the shape of whatever animal they are in it.



Taking cues from some of the greatest samurai stories ever, including the legendary Lone Wolf and Cub, and many many samurai films—most notably those by the great Akira Kurosawa—in its 20 years of publication Usagi is a classic of American independent comics.





Usagi Yojimbo has been published by three different companies over the years, and is currently being released monthly by Dark Horse. All of the back issues have been collected in trade paperbacks, including the short-lived science fiction spin-off Space Usagi (also highly recommended). It's a great comic that will interest both kids and adults. For new readers I recommend beginning with Volume 3. It contains all stand alone stories, and there is a jump in production values and art quality following Volumes 1 and 2.

Questions? Hate-filled Diatribes? Suggestions for Future Reviews? Send them all to tpanshin@nerdlives.com, or post to the Nerdlives forums.

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Tobiah Panshin was born in the backwoods of Pennsylvania, taught all he knows by the animal companions that raised him. As many fine naturalists will however note, Badgers and Woodchucks are notoriously bad at algebra. His math and science skills doomed from an early age, young Tobiah followed the only path available to him: the Humanities. Today, Liberal Arts degree in hand, he pursues with the dogged determination of a short-tailed shrew the pathetic, poverty bestrewn life of a writer. Armed with the strongest weapons he possesses--the umlaut, the gerund phrase, and the mighty schwa--he battles the English Language in a never-ending struggle for domination.