Usagi Yojimbo Saga Book 4

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

Usagi Yojimbo Saga Book 4 collects issues 53-75 of Usagi Yojimbo.

The saga of my favorite anthropomorphic rabbit samurai continues with this volume. Within this weighty tome are tales of violence, monsters, honor, dishonor, family, tragedy and the unspoken love between a father and his son.

Jotaro and Usagi travel together for a time, forging a bond, neither wanting to share what they're really feeling. Some of Katsuichi Sensei's tragic past is revealed. There's some tear-jerking stuff going on in these pages.

But there's also action! The Duel at Kitanoji, specifically the final issue, is one of my favorite single issues of the run so far. The ronin's path is tough but some people have it even tougher.

Some old favorites make some welcome reappearances. It was great seeing Sasuke, Kitsune, Tomoe, and Lone Goat and Kid again. While I missed Gen, it was nice how Stan Sakai changed the status quo for quite a few issues, swapping out Gen for Jotaro, making for some fresh stories.

The art continues to be honed to a fine edge. Stan Sakai is one of the modern day masters of the genre, able to convey so much emotion with such few strokes of the pen. As I said before, he can do action as well. And comedy. And big ass monsters.

The best comic going today continues to kick ass and take names. Five out of five stars.

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