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• Price: $24.99
• Rated: 12+
• Pages: 171
• On Sale: April 7th, 2021
• Writer: Stan Sakai
• Artist: Stan Sakai
• Publisher: IDW

From the Publisher – Presenting the complete saga of rabbit ronin Miyamoto Usagi from the very beginning, in new, definitive color editions! Before his journey as a wandering, masterless samurai (ronin) began, Usagi underwent intense training under a mountain hermit, Katsuichi-Sensei, taking his first steps down the path of the warrior. Eventually, that path leads him to the pivotal battle of Adachigahara, which serves as the impetus for the host of amazing tales to come. Collected in full color as never before, discover–or rediscover–the critical origin of Stan Sakai’s most beloved character as he tells his story, setting the stage for the decades-long epic that follows. Collects IDW’s Usagi Yojimbo Color Classics #1–7, which present 1987’s “Samurai” storyline in color for the first time.

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DW should be commended for bringing many of the early stories of Usagi Yojimbo in Origins Volume 1 to comic book readers. If you were somehow conscious in the 1970s, 80’s or 90’s, you would have started to see images of the bunny eared samurai somewhere in your comic book travels. It has now been over 30 years since the creation of writer/artist Stan Sakai has woven it’s way into the fabric of pop culture and won many awards along the way. Plus, the fun connections with the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles and Groo helped elevate Usagi’s coolness factor a lot.

Although the creature’s in Usagi’s samurai world are mostly portrayed as cute looking animals, they certainly don’t always act cute. They drink, pillage, go to war, die and behead each other.

Stan Sakai’s art is clearly not the manga style as it can stand side by side with other fluid western styles of comic art. However, the level of subtle anatomy he puts into the characters and details into the background places his work on another level. Heck, even his cross hatching is wonderful. For budding (classical or traditional) comic artists, his style is the one to study.

It is also beautifully obvious that Stan is a lover of the cinema because the pacing and imagery of his panels are a reflection of great film making. In the story “Samurai”, Stan amazingly creates a chaotic and claustrophobic battle scene when Usagi struggles to stay beside his doomed Lord Mifune. Then in the story “Kappa”, Stan gives us all the elements of a creepy movie set in a marsh where a water creature demands a heavy toll from trespassers.

I urge readers to pick up this volume and any future issues of Usagi released by IDW. You will melt for the white bunny samurai and gasp at the violence but stay for the amazing storytelling.

Rating –  Gem Mint+(GM)) or 10/10

Review by DJ Rat Bastard

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