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USAGI YOJIMBO LETTERS COLUMN
Send comments to: Usagi Yojimbo ~ Letters Column c/o Dark Horse Comics
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Dear Dark Horse Comics,
Hi. I’m Joe. I’m a big fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I remember seeing Usagi in one episode. Now that I have a few Usagi Yojimbo comics, I really enjoy them and can’t believe how clean they are, besides the blood. They’re safe for kids and adults.
I was wondering if Stan Sakai is going to be at the San Diego convention signing autographs? I’m thinking of making my own comic-book series based on China’s history - like the dynasty warriors and the romance of the three kingdoms. I still need a story line; I just got the idea. It’s going to be a lot like Usagi Yojimbo: all the people in the comic are animals, but they are also warriors and martial artists. Wish me luck. Well, thank you for your time.
Joseph Dillistone
gunblade007@yahoo.com
Good luck with your comic, Joe. Send me a copy when it’s published. Yes, I was at Comic-Con Internationl: San Diego. It was my 25th consecutive San Diego Con. I’ll be one of the special guests at the 2004 convention (July 22-25), celebrating Usagi’s 20th anniversary.
Since you’re a fan of both Usagi and the Turtles, be on the lookout for the rabbit ronin’s appearance in the new TMNT TV series next year as well as a new action figure from Playmate Toys.
Dear Stan,
It’s a cliché to say that one moment alone in a comic book is worth the cover price, but in the case of Usagi Yojimbo #68, there was not only one such moment, there were two.
The first involved Usagi’s drawing a grown-up version of his friend Zylla (“Are you a god, Zylla”) “Godzylla?” - I still smile at the mere thought of this exchange. Rice balls for all!), to oppose the stone majin giant of Kamakura Akugenta, and the astonishment of Sasuké the Demon Queller as it went to work. We’re so used to Sasuké knowing everything - especially what he hasn’t been told - that it was a rare treat to find him mystified for a change.
The second involved the passage of the evil of Katsushige into a thief. This touch was scarcely original: Stan’s done it with Jei and Inazuma, for instance. But we had gotten a clearer idea of the evil Katsushige and the sumi-e set (in contrast, Jei’s villainy, while greater, is much harder to pinpoint), and the thief who prided himself on his professionalism was clearly not aware of what had just happened to him. A reappearance should be interesting.
As for the rest:
Jotaro showed himself worthy of both of his fathers (while Usagi is our hero and an “uncle” any boy would want for a father, there’s no denying that Kenichi can fight like a tiger when he wants to - and that he’s been as good a head-man for the village as Usagi’s late father), and like the girl on page 8, we want him to take care. Though the story concluded with the words “The End,” the student warrior was missing, and I hope this doesn’t lead into an amnesia plot or into the acquisition of a third father figure for Jotaro. (Stan’s stories are full of couples willing to give a lost child a good home, as we saw with the inimitable Inspector Ishida.) A search plot will be most appreciated if it doesn’t take too long and if it leads to Jotaro learning what people he encounters register immediately: that there seems to be something stronger between him and his “Uncle” Usagi than simple affection.
Regardless of where Stan goes with this, he came through beautifully in issue #68, be it in the ink-created opponents, the dreadful-in-different ways of Katsushige and Neneki, the demon queller Sasuké, and the children. There was an exquisite death’s head almost lost in the darkening of a soul (a more chilling “heh, heh, heh” I don’t think I’ll encounter again too soon - and I don’t think I’d want to!). Tom Luth’s cover coloring riveted our attention on Kamakura Akugenta and “Godzylla” so well that the discovery of the tiny horrified Usagi - resplendent in blue and brown, with his mon as elegant as ever - was a bonus. Lest Usagi be a guest on his own book’s front cover, we had the back cover showing him in all his raging ronin glory, with Jason Hvam capturing the fury of samurai and storm magnificently. (The white and blue behind Usagi was gorgeous.) Guy Davis even got into the act with a portrayal of the futuristic samurai we know as Space Usagi, and the recommendation of Unstable Molecules struck me as very generous.
In a world where little is certain and even little has to be taken with a grain of salt, thank you for something as wonderfully rewarding as Usagi Yojimbo. Until issue #69, I thank you for your time and look forward to better stories in upcoming issues.
Charles J. Sperling
37-15 Parsons Blvd
Flushing, NY 11354
As for families giving a home to an abandoned child, it was custom in old Japan (though not a common one) to leave a child at a crossroads if the parents were unable to care for him. It was hoped that a family in a better situation would adopt him. I guess it’s much like leaving a child on a doorstep in western culture.
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Usagi Yojimbo, including all prominent characters featured in the stories and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Stan Sakai and Usagi Studios. Usagi Yojimbo is a registered trademark of Stan Sakai. Names, characters, places, and incidents featured in this publication either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, institutions, or locales, without satiric content, is coincidental.