Usagi Yojimbo #127
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer/Art/Cover: Stan Sakai
Pages: 24
Price: US $3.50
Release Date: March 31, 2010
Stan Sakai gives us another self-contained adventure in this month’s issue, Usagi Yojimbo #127. As he always is, Usagi-san is on the move. While wandering, he happens upon what seems to be an unfair fight. Many against one. The rabbit ronin is mistaken for the solo warrior’s partner, and is brought into the fight himself and helps to dispatch the lone stranger’s enemies.
After the dust settles, Usagi finds out the man’s name is Inuyoshi. Inuyoshi is on a mission from his master to recover The Sword of Narukami, which has been a clan treasure for many years. Unlike Usagi, Inuyoshi is callous and brutal. He is able to torture the location of the sword and the man who holds it, out of one of his fallen enemies.
Usagi and Inuyoshi reach the place they were told about and immediately have to fight a bunch of guards. The leader reveals himself, sends out the rest of his men, and runs off cowardly. Now the fight is many against two. Inuyoshi chases after the evil villain, leaving Usagi to deal with all of the evil henchmen himself. Now the fight is many against one. Can Usagi handle himself alone against this onslaught of lackeys? Can Inuyoshi track down the cowardly villain and retain his clan’s treasured sword? Psssh! I ain’t gonna tell you! Go buy it and find out!
As you can tell, Sakai draws all of the action in beautiful, yet cartoony, black and white. You can also see that this issue is more violent than the last issue, but Sakai doesn’t feel the need to cross that line into blood and gore. This issue doesn’t drip with goofy humor like last month’s either. This time, it is back to sword-swingin’ samurai action at break-neck speed! HIYAHHH!
Usagi Yojimbo #127 is a fun, action packed ride! You don’t know what you’re missing, if you leave this issue on the shelf or off your pull list.
Another little Usagi Yojimbo tidbit for those who only know of him through his appearances on the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series: They had his name wrong in calling him Usagi Yojimbo in the episodes and with his action figure. His name is actually Miyamoto Usagi. One meaning of the word “Usagi” in Japanese is “bunny.” The word “Yojimbo” means “bodyguard.”
Aron White
aron@comicattack.net
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Eh, calling him Usagi Yojimbo isn’t really the wrong thing…. Unless you mean the creators of the cartoon mistakenly took that as his REAL name, instead of…his real name.
It seems they did. When they had him in the second animated series, they were calling him Miyamoto Usagi.
I thought that rabbits’ specialty was reproduction? 😉
That’s one deadly rabbit!
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