Hello, and welcome to my fourth exploration into the world of Usagi Yojimbo, or, if translated to English, “Rabbit Bodyguard.” Before reading on, why not click here and read the first three parts of the series? It’s okay, this piece will be waiting for you when you’re done.
As poetic as “Mirage of a Dark Horse” may sound, if you’re familiar with Usagi Yojimbo’s publishing history, you’ll know that following Sakai’s time producing the comic for Fantagraphics, he briefly took it to Mirage Studios. It soon moved to Dark Horse Comics, the character’s home for decades, before briefly moving to IDW. But as IDW wraps up the latest crossover—as mentioned in my previous piece—Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: WhereWhen next month, Usagi will return to Dark Horse, under Sakai’s new Dogu imprint.
(For the record, I know “A Dark Horse’s Mirage” flows better, but I couldn’t bring myself to mess up the chronology)
With the split between publishers, ideally, I’d have split this into two posts—one looking at the Mirage period, and a second looking at the early Dark Horse comics. But with Dark Horse having the rights for collecting the Mirage run, Book 10 is split between the two. So there’s no clean way to do it. It’s been about six months since that last piece, something I’ll blame on a combination of working on a book and reviewing books, but in all honesty, comes down to poor time management. At least that six months means I can use this to touch upon what Usagi Yojimbo will look like in the coming months. Announced a couple of weeks ago, rather than an ongoing series, it looks like it will be released as a series of miniseries, beginning with Usagi Yojimbo: Ice and Snow, a five part story.
I note that six months hasn’t been enough time for my son and I to watch Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, season two, however. We’ll get there. One day.
So instead of whingeing about it not being my Usagi, let’s look at another anthropomorphic rabbit who isn’t my Usagi. He carries a sword. He appeared in Critters. He was even created by Stan Sakai. I’m talking about the precursor to Usagi: Nilson Groundthumper.
The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy tells the story of sword-for-hire Nilson and his guinea pig sidekick. It takes place in a European setting rather than Feudal Japan, mixing fantastical elements with Nilson’s adventures. In Sakai’s introduction, he mentions how the story was originally intended to span thousands of pages and covers off the epic journey he had planned for Nilson and Hermy.
Unlike Usagi Yojimbo, The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy is very much a funny animals comic, with humour taking precedence over the plot. Given the places Sakai planned on taking the series, my only guess is he was planning on adding depth to the world over time. It’s a story readers will never see; Sakai originally intended Usagi to be a character in this series, but soon determined he was having far more fun with him than Nilson. The rest was history.
The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy is an entertaining, if forgettable, book. It’s interesting from the perspective of being a proto-Usagi Yojimbo, but outside of trivia it’s not one I can heartily recommend, unless you’re wanting to read a funny animals book, or Sakai’s introduction—which I could argue is worth the purchase alone (only if you find it cheap; it’s only a few pages).
And in some brief news, toy company Neca is releasing a Space Usagi action figure (pictures included towards the bottom of this article; consider it a reward for making it through). Released in two editions, with only 989 and 250 copes of each, preorders were sold before I could figure out how to justify the purchase. Hopefully, there’ll be a re-release that’s widely available.
With us having looked to the near future and back at the distant past, let’s move onto the eighth to eleventh volumes.
Usagi Yojimbo, Book 8: Shades of Death sets itself apart from what came before. Aside from the updated trade dress (in all honesty, I prefer the retro feel of the Fantagraphics books), with a new publisher comes some new additions: a gallery of covers from the original run, and notes from Sakai, which I’ll refer to as I feel like it. Introductions are still included, and this volume includes one by William Stout, a fantasy artist perhaps best known for stunning dinosaur paintings. The introduction is reasonably brief, where he discusses why Usagi Yojimbo isn’t like most comics on the market.
Like all the collections featured in this piece, Shades of Death features a collection of stories, rather than telling an epic. It collects volume 2, issues #1-6, with parts of issues #7 and #8. The first three issues form the “Shades of Green” crossover with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I discussed that way back in my first piece, given it’s part of Usagi Yojimbo/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Collection. I don’t see the need to get into it again.
“Jizo” is a short story of about seven pages, about a woman erecting an altar in her late son’s honour to Jizo-sama, the patron and protector of children. It’s a touching little tale with a great punchline. This is followed by “Shi,” featuring four assassins causing trouble for Usagi. The story plays on a pun, with ‘shi’ meaning both ‘four’ and ‘death’ in Japanese. In his notes, however, Sakai mentions this is a fallacy, given the different names for numbers based on their context. Fallacy or not, it’s an entertaining story, and a provides a demonstration of Usagi’s rage, something that’s rarely seen, but crops up again later in this collection. This is followed by “The Lizards’ Tale,” which tells a story of Usagi’s misadventures while being followed by a group of tokages. It features no dialogue, only sound effects, grunts, and the immortal “Eep,” those animals routinely squawk.
The collection closes with always welcome tales about Usagi as a child, training under Katsuichi. “Usagi’s Garden” is a cute story with him learning a life lesson, albeit not the one he expected. “Autumn” features Usagi being captured by a monster (I’m not sure if it’s based on any particular creature from Japanese myth, or if Sakai was aiming for a fairy tale, Big Bad Wolf type of villain), and the spirit of autumn, Aki-Onna. And “Battlefield,” told in three short parts, tells the story of young Usagi bearing witness to the horrors of war.
Usagi Yojimbo, Book 9: Daisho collects the parts of issues #7 and #8 not included in the previous volume, and issues #9-14. It kicks off with a fantastic start with an introduction by James Robinson, a wonderful comic book author (I have both Starman Compendiums, each 1500 pages long, sitting on my bookshelf, begging to be read). Robinson discusses how as a comic featuring anthropomorphic characters that could be told with real people is something he expected to grow tired of, but hasn’t yet. I do wonder, close to thirty years after he penned that introduction, if he’s still reading it.
“The Music of Heaven” features Usagi interacting with a komuso (or, a “monk of emptiness,” per Sakai’s notes), whose origins lie in China but were seen throughout Asia. They wear a tengai basket over their heads—an image adopted in various movies and TV shows now—to symbolise their detachment from life. It’s a fun story with an entertaining twist. “The Gambler, the Widow, and the Ronin” acts as a sequel to “The Duel” from Book 6: Circles (covered in my previous piece), which brings some closure to that story.
The collection’s main event is a story arc that begins with the two-part “Slavers.” A morality tale (that Sakai is quite fond of) at heart, it introduces General Fujii, a villain enslaving the townspeople. As the story draws to a close, Usagi loses his swords to Fujii, inspiring the second bout of rage in the collection. “Daisho,” another two-part story (broken up by an intermission, “Mongrels”) sees Usagi desperately fighting to regain his swords. It’s an affecting story that shows how integral these are to a samurai’s honour, considered their very soul.
As highlighted by Sakai’s notes, “Runaways” is a wonderful example of him taking inspiration from somewhere other than Japanese and mythology. His inspiration? Audrey Hepburn and her first starring role, Roman Holiday. Flashing back to Usagi’s past, he must escort Princess Takani Kinuko to marry Lord Hirano, before they contemplate breaking free of the restraints their stations have bound them in. Finally, “The Nature of the Viper” serves one purpose: to tease the return of Jei (last seen in Circles, also covered in the previous article).
Usagi Yojimbo, Book 10: The Brink of Life and Death includes another introduction from another writer I’m a huge fan of, Kurt Busiek. I’ve read precious little of his Astro City, though, and this is something I should remedy. Busiek notes how captivating the series is, despite him having no particular interest in samurai history.
The collection includes the stories from #13, #15 and #16 of Mirage’s volume, and #1-6 of the Dark Horse run. It opens with what is likely the shortest Usagi Yojimbo story ever—it’s the shortest I can recollect, but I’ve read the series on and off over the years, so I’m no authority—and the first story published by Dark Horse: “Origin Tale.” It briefly recaps Usagi’s origin for any new readers who jumped on board when it moved to Dark Horse.
“Kaiso” tells a story about Usagi arriving in a town and soon becoming involved in a rivalry between seaweed farmers. It’ features’s a slice of life story showcasing Japanese life of the era and adds in plenty of educational information if you’re a fan of the period. The notes at the back of the book provide even more detail about this, as well as books Sakai used in his research. Naturally, that story has a villain, who returns in “A Meeting of Strangers,” seeking vengeance. More interestingly, it introduces a female samurai, Inazuzuma, who readers learn more about later. “Black Soul” is a short story, once again focused on Jei as he seeks out Usagi.
I assume “Noodles” is the first story in the Dark Horse years, if only because the transition between towns feels sudden (I’d Google it, but that would take too much effort). Upon arriving in a new town, Usagi soon draws the ire of a corrupt police administrator (or Yoriki). It features the return of Kitsune, a wonderful character who is always a joy to read about. But more importantly, “Noodles” is one of the most heart-wrenching Usagi Yojimbo stories I’ve read. It’s also full of purely entertaining moments, but when Sakai wants to hit you hard, he really lays the smack down.
“The Wrath of the Tangled Skein” is the first of two short stories that feature Usagi spending time with his friend, Priest Sanshobo. It’s an entertaining story that features mythological creatures. The second is “The Bonze’s Story,” in which Sanshobo tells the story of why he became a priest.
“Bats, the Cat, and the Rabbit” (a lovely play on Batman Returns’ tagline of ‘the bat, the cat, and the penguin’) features return of the clan of bat ninjas, the Komori, as seen in Book 5: Lone Goat and Kid, (covered in the last part) and kunoichi from the Neko clan, Chizu, last seen in the Ninja Turtles crossover in Shades of Death (covered way back at the beginning, because I’m too lazy to do so again). “The Chrysanthemum Pass” tells a story about Usagi befriending a medicine dealer, while furthering the story of the Komori. Finally, Inazuzuma returns to tell her origin in the beautiful “Lightning Strikes Twice.”
Usagi Yojimbo Book 11: Seasons collects #7-12 of the Dark Horse series. The introduction is by cartoonist Lynn Johnston, known for For Better or Worse, which I’m not familiar with. She’s also both the first Canadian and the first woman to win the National Cartoonist Society’s Reuben Award. In her introduction, she discusses how Usagi is a facet of Sakai’s personality. Somewhat disappointingly, this collection doesn’t include any notes from Sakai. I’m not sure if it’s because he didn’t feel any stories warranted them, or if Dark Horse opted to stop including them. I imagine the next entry in this series will give me the answer.
Of the four books I’m featuring in this piece, Seasons is my least favourite, opting to tease the reader about things to come, rather than offering resolutions. “The Withered Field” includes a beautiful six panel opening page of samurai Nakamura Koji preparing for a duel and is full of wonderful action scenes. At its core, though, the story stands purely to set the scene for a duel between him and Usagi’s sensei, Katsuichi. Despite my overall misgivings about the book, “A Promise in the Snow” shows the beauty that Sakai is able to craft as Usagi stumbles upon the end of a fight. Upon discovering a mortally wounded person, Usagi—under much duress—promises the wounded’s young daughter that he will save her father.
“The Conspiracy of Eight” features the return of Priest Sanshobo, as the pair encounters a wounded samurai carrying a letter signed by conspirators determined to overthrow the shogun. Soon, the monastery is under attack by more samurai, seeking the original out, before Chizu is featured again, to provide more foreshadowing. Sanshobo appears in the following story, where Usagi tells him a story about his travels with Gen, from the time of Usagi Yojimbo, Book 7: Gen’s Story. Usagi’s storytelling continues into the next story. “The Courage of the Plum” features a young Usagi learning about courage from Katsuichi. “Return to Adachi Plain” is another flashback, but unlike the previous two, is Usagi remembering the lost battle under Lord Mifune.
These are followed up by two stories that don’t feature the title character. “The Crossing” features Jei in his most significant appearance from these four collections, but again, serves to remind readers that he’s hunting for Usagi. “The Patience of the Spider” tells the story of another samurai—General Ikeda—learning he must be more patient. Usagi returns in “The Lord of Owls,” where he meets another komosu, which once again serves to foreshadow upcoming events.
The final three stories—”The First Tenet,” “The Obakeneko of the Geishu Clan” and “Green Persimmon”—form a trilogy of tales that follow the threads from “The Conspiracy of Eight.” Featuring the return of Gen, Tomoe, Prince Noriyuki and Lord Hebi, it’s a strong story arc, although, once again it foreshadows what’s coming up.
The time has come to wrap this up until we meet again for the next entry, which I’m hoping to have ready for you in a couple of months. I’m looking forward to it, ranging from the original “Grasscutter” to “Grasscutter 2.”
In the meantime, if you’re looking for more to read, there’s plenty of content on this little website.
TTFN,
wastanley.com 