Usagi Yojimbo Saga Book 7

Usagi Yojimbo Saga Volume 7 by Stan Sakai
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Usagi Yojimbo Book 7 collects Usagi Yojimbo #117-#138 plus "One Dark and Stormy Night" and "Cut the Plum."

In this volume, Stan Sakai sends Miyamoto Usagi on a collision course with bandits, zombies, monsters, and the usual fare. Old favorites like Kato, Sasuke, and Kitsune make appearances. There are big battles, encounters with monsters from Japanese folklore, and touching moments.

Honestly, I'm running out of ways to say this is the best comic around. Stan Sakai's minimalist yet still complex art is as masterful as ever. He's as adept with facial expressions as he is with battles and decapitations. The writing is as smooth as fine sake, expressing humor, disdain, happiness, and sadness with equal skill.

My favorite stories in the collection were "A Town Called Hell," Sakai's take on Red Harvest, and "The Death of Lord Hikiji," an Eisner Award-nominee. Honestly, they were all good, though. Anyone already reading Usagji Yojimbo knows what to expect.

While I already have Usagi Yojimbo Legends and I've pre-ordered Usagi Yojimbo Saga Volume 8, I dread the day when I have no Usagi Yojimbo comics left to read. Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo Saga continues on it's meteoric course toward the comics hall of fame. 4 out of 5 katana.

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