Usagi Yojimbo

is a comic book series created by Stan Sakai. It is set primarily at the beginning of the Edo period of Japanese history and features anthropomorphic animals replacing humans. The main character is a rabbit ''rōnin'', Miyamoto Usagi, whom Sakai based partially on the famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. Usagi wanders the land on a ''musha shugyō'' (warrior's pilgrimage), occasionally selling his services as a bodyguard.

''Usagi Yojimbo'' is heavily influenced by Japanese cinema; it has included references to the work of Akira Kurosawa (the title of the series is derived from Kurosawa's 1961 film ''Yojimbo''), as well as to icons of popular Japanese cinema, such as Lone Wolf and Cub, Zatoichi, and Godzilla. The series is also influenced somewhat by ''Groo the Wanderer'' by Sergio Aragonés (Sakai is the letterer for that series), but the overall tone of ''Usagi Yojimbo'' is more serious and reflective. The series follows the standard traditional Japanese naming-convention for all featured characters: their family names followed by their given names.

The books are primarily episodic, with underlying larger plots which create long extended storylines—though there are some novel-length narratives. The stories include many references to Japanese history and Japanese folklore, and sometimes include mythical creatures. The architecture, clothes, weapons and other objects are drawn with a faithfulness to period style. There are often stories whose purpose is to illustrate various elements of Japanese arts and crafts, such as the fashioning of kites, swords, and pottery. Those efforts have been successful enough for the series to be awarded a Parents' Choice Award in 1990 for its educational value through Sakai's "skillful weaving of facts and legends into his work".

''Usagi Yojimbo'' first appeared in ''Albedo Anthropomorphics'' #2, published by Thoughts and Images in November 1984. Early positive reviews and an advertisement in Bud Plant's Spring Catalog in 1985 helped propel the character's popularity. Stan Sakai accepted an offer to move his warrior rabbit to Fantagraphics Books where he appeared in several issues of the new anthropomorphic anthology series ''Critters''. Usagi's popularity influenced Fantagraphics to then release the ''Usagi Yojimbo Summer Special'' in October 1986 and then to give the ''ronin'' rabbit his own ongoing series with issue #1 being published in July 1987. Usagi was named the 31st-greatest comic book character by ''Empire'' magazine and was ranked 92nd in IGN's list of the top 100 comic book heroes. ''Rolling Stone'' named Usagi Yojimbo no. 43 in their '50 Best Non-Superhero Graphic Novels'.

Publishing history

Sakai originally planned for Usagi and other characters to be human in stories explicitly modeled after the life of Miyamoto Musashi. However, once as Sakai was idly doodling, he drew rabbit ears tied in a topknot on his proposed hero and was pleased by the distinctive image. Usagi was first conceived as a supporting character in ''The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy'', a brief series that predates ''Usagi Yojimbo''. Sakai expanded on the idea of a rabbit samurai and his world took on an anthropomorphized cartoon nature, creating a fantasy setting which suited his dramatic needs with a unique look he thought could attract readers.

Usagi first appeared in the anthology ''Albedo Anthropomorphics'' in 1984, and later in the Fantagraphics Books anthropomorphic anthology '' Critters'', before appearing in his own series in 1987. The ''Usagi Yojimbo'' series has been published by four different companies. The first publisher was Fantagraphics (volume one; 38 regular issues, plus one ''Summer Special'' and three ''Color Specials''). The second was Mirage Comics (volume two; 16 issues). The third was Dark Horse Comics (volume three, 172 regular issues and two ''Color Specials''), which also published the ''Senso'' miniseries (2015), ''The Art of Usagi Yojimbo: 20th Anniversary Edition'' (2004), and ''Usagi Yojimbo: 35 Years of Covers (2018)'', as well as republishing the Fantagraphics and Mirage series. The fourth is IDW Publishing, by which ''Usagi Yojimbo'' is still being published (volume four, more than 12 issues), and which is also republishing the ''Usagi Yojimbo'' portions of the Fantagraphics series as ''Usagi Yojimbo Color Classics''. Another publisher, Radio Comix, published two issues of ''The Art of Usagi Yojimbo'' (1997–1998) which contained a selection of unpublished drawings, convention sketches, and other miscellaneous ''Usagi Yojimbo'' artwork (including an original short story in the first issue).

Because ''Usagi Yojimbo'' is a creator-owned comic and Sakai has complete and sole ownership of the character, Miyamoto Usagi has been able to appear in occasional short stories published by companies other than the one currently publishing his series. Usagi has appeared in stories published by Cartoon Books, Oni Press, Sky Dog Press, Wizard Press, and most recently in the benefit book ''Drawing the Line'', the proceeds of which went to Princess Margaret Hospital and The Hospital for Sick Children, both in Toronto, for cancer research.

Sakai has experimented with formats for ''Usagi Yojimbo'', such as when he published the color story "Green Persimmon" first as twelve separate 2-page chapters serialized in Diamond Comic Distributor's monthly catalog ''Previews''. He has also serialized two short stories in a comic strip format in the tabloid-size promotional publication ''Dark Horse Extra''. ''Usagi Yojimbo'' stories have also been created as both single-page "gag" stories and as multi-issue epic adventures.

Usagi has also appeared several times in ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (the comic, three of the animated series, and their respective toy lines), and the Turtles have appeared in ''Usagi Yojimbo'' as well. In the 1987 series, "Usagi Yojimbo" is incorrectly used as his actual name, but in the 2003 series, where he appeared far more frequently, he was referred to correctly as Miyamoto Usagi. He was even joined by Gen and other characters from his stories in his guest appearances in the 2003 series. Usagi's first appearance in the 2012 series was the fifth-season episode, "Yojimbo", which was written by Sakai. In his guest appearances, he is closest to Leonardo, both sharing the same ideals and code of ethics. The comics version also makes several pun references to Sergio Aragonés' ''Groo the Wanderer'', in whose publication Sakai was also involved.

In addition, Sakai created a limited spin off series called ''Space Usagi,'' who first appeared in Amazing Heroes 187. It featured characters similar to those in the original series, including a descendant of Miyamoto Usagi, but set in a futuristic setting that also emulated feudal Japan in political and stylistic ways. Three mini-series of three issues each and two short stories featuring the characters were produced. Sakai has tentative plans to produce a fourth ''Space Usagi'' miniseries, but nothing has been announced yet.

In the summer of 2014, Sakai, after a two-year hiatus, returned with a six-issue mini-series entitled ''Usagi Yojimbo: Senso''. ''Senso'', Japanese for "war", refers to ''The War of the Worlds'', H. G. Wells

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