Stan Sakai

In this installment of Usagi Yojimbo, our fearless hero will help save a village from flooding, do battle with a kappa, suffer a brutal arm injury that weakens his sword fighting, and helps Inspector Ishida to uncover the truth behind a string of mysterious deaths at a local temple. Is the cause the fabled mural depicting Hell which the priest claim seeks vengeance upon those who would harm the temple? What secrets does the Hell Screen hold?

This is another great collection. I loved the plot show more line that led to Usagi's injury. To see the seemingly unbeatable samurai weakened really humanized him. show less

I just finished a marathon Usagi read over the past few days. I picked up this collection and "Seasons" (#11) recently and went on a binge reading from the beginning. Collection #4, "The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy" had been my favorite. No longer!

"Grasscutter" is amazing. Sakai weaves in Japanese history in it and as a bonus, at the end of the collection he talks about what he used and tweaked from history when writing this story and then provides an extensive bibliography for anyone who is show more interested.

Sakai takes characters and story elements written earlier and blends them effortlessly. Extremely entertaining and it's easy to see why in 1999 he was awarded an Eisner for"Best Serialized Story". show less

Annoyed to discover that this is volume one of the Dark Horse run, with about a billion other volmes preceeding it. But not annoyed for long! Usagi Yojimbo was a darling of the indie scene when I was getting into comics, and has gone on to become a legend and now a masterwork. I never read it, though, possibly put off by the animal characters, possibly just not interested. Also, I kept idiotically mixing it up with Groo and was confused when I browsed it and couldn't see any jokes.

It really show more truly is an amzing piece of work. The cartooning is superb, the storytelling is masterful, the action is the best, the quasi-historical-but-with-animals setting is rich and full of details and folklore, but quite restrained in its use of monsters and magic, Usagi is a character to love and respect, and his cast of friends and enemies is ever-varied. Must have more! show less

These books just keep getting better and better! In this installment Usagi will slay a demon that has haunted a bridge for years, will be reunited with his beloved sensei whom he believed to be dead, and will attempt to go home to retire only to learn an unexpected secret.

It's subtle the way these stories of adventure, friendship, and honor have slowly accrued enough cache to build moving plot arcs and character development. I swear I almost cried when Usagi's teacher orders his student to show more make tea and Usagi just assumes he's talking to him. These characters have taken up residence in my heart. show less