Usagi Yojimbo Saga Book 3

Usagi Yojimbo Saga, Vol. 3 by Stan Sakai
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Usagi Yojimo Saga Vol. 3 collects issues 31-52 of Usagi Yojimbo.

The chronicles of Usagi Yojimo's adventures in feudal Japan continues. In this weighty tome, Usagi goes up against kami, spider goblins, warring ninja clans, warring gangsters, a killer in a demon mask, and is once again entrusted with Grasscutter, the sword of the gods. Quite a bit more than that happens, actually, but this thing is a beast at over 600 pages.

As per usual, Stan Sakai weaves lessons in Japanese history, folklore, and culture into the tale. Seeds are also planted for future tales, involving Usagi's old master, Katsuichi Sensei, Jei, and Chizu. The stories range from a handful of pages to epics spanning many issues, like Grasscutter II. Showdown seemed like an homage to Red Harvest/Yojimbo/Sanjuro with Usagi and Gen pitting the gangs against each other.

Stan Sakai's art is as masterful as ever. It would be easy to make an anthropomorphic bunny a joke character but Sakai makes him seem like a bad ass on many occasions. He's able to convey so much emotion with so few strokes of the pen. The backgrounds are surprisingly intricate at times. Sakai makes it all look easy, which means it's probably extremely difficult. In a volume full of great stuff, I think Kitsune's tale was my favorite, although Grasscutter II and Sasuke riding the giant frog and having it eat the spider mother were close contenders.

As I've said before, Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo is one of the best comics out there. Five out of five stars.

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