Usagi Yojimbo: Tengu War!

Usagi Yojimbo: Tengu War! by Stan Sakai
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Usagi Yojimbo: Tengu War! collects #15-21 of Usagi Yojimbo.

It's getting harder and harder to come up with new ways to say how much I enjoy this series. In this volume, Usagi teams up with a clan of Tengu to fight another clan of Tengu, hauls a basket of Tokage up a mountain, and meets another rabbit, Yukichi, who is fulfilling his master's last request. There aren't any history lessons in this one, although some Tengu folklore is explained.

Stan Sakai's art is as expressive as ever. Yukichi's bigger eyes give him a sense of innocence and I hope he travels with Usagi for a while. I love the way the Tengu look. Some of the thugs in the final story look like stock characters but that's bound to happen over 300 issues.

Now that the series is in color, I don't think anyone would blame Stan Sakai if he toned down the hatching and let the colorist do some of the work but I'm glad he's still going all out. Needless to say, the hatching is masterful. I think going to color probably makes the series an easier sell to new readers but it isn't essential.

Sakai's been doing this for almost forty years at this point and hasn't lost a step yet. Usagi Yojimbo: Tengu War! is another enjoyable step on the ronin rabbit's road. 4 out of 5 stars.

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