Writer & Illustrator: Stan Sakai

I’ve never read Usagi Yojimbo, created by Stan Sakai and published in (1984), or even knew that the series has been going on for over thirty years. The lead character Usagi, is an anthropomorphic rabbit and ronin, who walks the “musha shugyo” (warrior’s pilgrimage). This issue has Usagi stumbling on to a murder at an isolated temple and finds Inspect Ishida leading the investigation. Which their only clue is located on an old painting. Having not read Usagi Yojimbo before, the story was easy to get into. The premise itself is solid, and introduces us to the characters, and conflicts. The murder mystery plot has been done before, but, Sakai makes the plot interesting by introducing a painting called a “Hell Screen.” The painting depicts sinners going to hell. The painting itself isn’t used a lot in this issue, but does leave a clue to the murder. The dialog is great and offers you some insight on the characters. The tone is serious at times, but lighthearted moments are thrown in to offset that.

Stan Sakai doesn’t just write the story, but does the art for the story as well, and it looks good. I’ve been reading different types of manga for years, and he has his own unique style to drawing characters. He captures the tone of the story effectively, the era itself, and gives the characters a distinct cartoony look. The panels flow right into one another and keeps the story moving. There’s a lot of line work going on, but it’s mostly in background environments and certain parts of the characters clothing. Also, the “Hell Screen” painting is cleverly drawn to fit into the story. The “Hell Screen” is a bit frightening, with the images depicted on it. You won’t find any color here, as this title is like a manga, except you don’t have to read it from right to left.

Usagi Yojimbo #155 is a solid issue with great dialog, characters, and art. It’s new reader friendly, as it’s only the first part of a three-part story. The only drawback would have to be the murder mystery plot. It’s been done so many times over the years, but I want to see if this mystery pays off in the end. I’ll definitely be reading the next two parts of the story, to see if everything falls into place.

4 Usagi’s out of 5