Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition

Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition by Stan Sakai
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After reading Usagi Yojimbo Saga volume 1, I was enthralled with the adventures of the bodyguard rabbit and needed more! After prying my wallet open, I picked this one up.

Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition contains books 1-7 of Usagi Yojimbo published by Fantagraphics in the 1980s. Since it's a slipcase of two 500+ page tomes, I'm reviewing it in two chunks.

I. - The first tome details a lot of Usagi's past, from his apprenticeship with Katsuichi to his service under Lord Mifune. His early encounters with Gennosuke, Tomoe, and Blind-Ino are also relayed. It's amazing the variety of stories Stan Sakai tells, from eight page ghost stories to sprawling epics that last 80 pages or more.

Usagi Yojimbo was balls to the wall right out of the gate. While the art was a hair (or hare) less polished than it would later be, he's THERE right from the first panel. When I was a kid, I thought the minimalist style was a dodge or shortcut. Now I see it for what it is: a drawing style that takes a lot of confidence. Sakai's clean, fluid lines bring the story to life and convey great emotion and action with seemingly little effort.

The early tales are just as charming as the later ones. Usagi's code of honor makes for some interesting conflicts and both Gen and Ino provide good contrast. Reading about Usagi's past with Katsuichi and Lord Mifune made me an even bigger fan of the rabbit.

There aren't a lot of creators that can combine violence, humor, cuteness, and emotional moments in the same work but Stan Sakai does it repeatedly.

Oh and there are ninjas. And a Godzilla homage. And a turtle vampire creature. Like I said, a wide variety.

II. - The second tome sees Usagi encounter ninja bats, an aging general, Lone Goat and Kid, demons, and returning to his old village to find some surprises. There are also giant monsters and a lesson on kite making that wound up being a very interesting tale.

The hare beyond compare is in fine form in the second tome in this slipcase as well. There are touching moments, as well as the best battle I've seen in a long time. I'm constantly amazed at the sheer emotion Stan Sakai conveys with both his artwork and stories. This one had more than its share of touching moments. I almost shed a tear for a damn anthropomorphic rabbit!

The second beefy tome has a slight edge over the first. "Better" isn't the right word. We'll go with "more refined." Sakai puts a lot of work into the background, things others would probably skimp on. Hell, even the tokage are really expressive.

Most of the last fifty or so pages were extras, from thumbnails to rejected designs to an interview with Stan Sakai. I had no idea Stan Sakai was the letterer on Marvel's Spider-Man newspaper strip. Also, I felt somewhat vindicated when Sakai mentioned being a huge fan of Moebius since I compared him to Moebius in my review of Usagi Saga volume 1.

Now that I've read this mammoth slipcase edition, I'm ready to plunge into the rest of the Usagi Yojimbo Saga. Stan Sakai is one of the all time greats as far as I'm concerned and I'm fortunate to have so many Usagi volumes yet to read. Five out of five stars.

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