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ContentsThis comic contains the following stories: Letter Column[Say, how would you like to own a big original Stan Sakai drawing of Usagi, Spot, Nilson Groundthumper, and Hermy? [Interested? If so, rush out and pick up Critters #27, on sale right now, to read the details of the special NILSON GROUNDTHUMPER AND HERMY CONTEST therein. Don't worry, there's a 10-page Sakai story (and cover) in (and on) that issue to make it worth your while - as well as some nifty comics by Tom Stazer (whose Lionheart is slated to guest in #12 of this very book) and J.P. Morgan. [What else? Oh yes, Usagi Yojimbo Book One is just about sold out, so if you want a copy of the First Edition, move fast! (Ordering information is on the inside back cover.) Enough of the basely mercantile - let's go to the letters! [- Kim Thompson, ED.] Dear ED., Usagi Yojimbo is perfect. The covers are masterworks and the art is great, clean, and pleasant, leaving Usagi my favorite series! I loved the "Zylla" story, but why did Usagi leave it? Are there any plans for the two to meet up (or team up)? They make a great combo. Keith (Ronnin) Daggett [I think that as Zylla grew, there might have been some problems in maintaining an amiable relationship. Did you eve see Bambi Meets Godzilla? Need I remind you that a rabbit is even smaller than a deer? -ED.] Mister Sakai, I have no doubt in my mind that Usagi Yojimbo is the best comic ever printed. I am 13 years old and used to think comics were dumb until I read Usagi in Critters #6. I always thought samurai were cool, and a samurai rabbit is an excellent idea. So I started collecting Usagi and other comics. I have an idea, which is that Usagi meet a kung-fu artist and have an adventure or two with him. Keep up the great work. Dear Mr. Sakai, A friend recently hooked me on Usagi Yojimbo; I love your artwork! What classy stuff! On the very odd chance that you care to know such things about your readers, I and my friend are both software engineers at a large computer firm. I'm far from being an avid comic book collector these days, myself - hadn't bought anything since my Marvel days back in the ?60s when I was a child - but I couldn't help myself when I saw Usagi. Just in case anyone ever accuses you of writing "adolescent fantasy for 13-year-olds" or some such rot...Set ?em straight with a vengeance! Steve Rehrauer [Given the previous letter, let's be careful with what we say about 13-year-olds and their fantasies, huh, Steve? But your broader point is well taken. - ED.] Dear Stan and Kim, I'm just lucky, I guess. One of the things I'd expected to miss when I came to Japan was the two or three black-and-whites that I really enjoyed. (Despite all the raving about them Stateside, I find that few manga are worthy of my time...most get boring after the third issue.) But I've a good friend back home - in Lansing, Michigan - who sent me Usagi Book One and has been mailing me each new issue as it hits the stands. And for FREE, at that! Now, there's a friend! I've been a Usagi fan for some time...I love Stan's echoes of those samurai dramas I enjoy so much. And his humor: I admire someone who doesn't go for cheap yuks, but who won't turn his back on an awful pun like "Are you a god, Zylla?" (By the way, please don't print punchline panels on the inside front cover any more! Please!?) All in all, I consider Usagi Yojimbo the standard of excellence in American black-and-white comics. Thanks for publishing it! Chris Williams [Sorry about killing Stan's punchline on the "Zylla" story. It's all the art director's fault...but he claims it was euthanasia. So it's only appropriate that it was pointed out by a...youth in Asia. (Groan.) [Lansing, Michigan, huh? Wouldn't be Keith Daggett, now would it? Whoever it is, we concur: he's a friend indeed. - ED.] Dear Stan and Kim, I wrote to tell you that I just finished Usagi Yojimbo #6 and enjoyed it thoroughly. I fact, Usagi Yojimbo is one of the few comics I can read repeatedly and enjoy. My favorite stories are the young Usagi and Katsuichi stories. I also got your new t-shirt from Dave Thorne and it is a dandy design. How about Katsuichi in a short back-up story? George Peterson [Maybe. Ah heck, what kind of answer is that? Okay, from now on, I'll agree to ever suggestion people make in this column. Enthusiastically. - ED.] Dear Mr. Sakai, First, I guess I should tell you that I've never read a letter the likes of the one written by C.E. Dinkins in Usagi #7 and I'm afraid this letter will pale in comparison. Now that I've got that out of the way I can show my complete adulation for your book. (My subconscious mind thought that "adula-tory" was "adultery" and I couldn't figure out why you'd want people to write letters with that content. I had to re-read the paragraph of the letters page before I saw what it actually said there. You figure.) My shipment from Westfield came yesterday, I read Groo this morning and Usagi tonight. I realized that there is much in both of these books that parallels each other. It is with this in mind that I make the following suggestions: a) Get Mark Evanier to write some prose for the intro to each issue of Usagi; b) Hide some hidden messages in the storyline and art each issue; c) Have Groo and Rufferto run" into Usagi and his new companion "Spot." Be careful, though, Groo might try to eat Spot. I am well aware that all these suggestions are fairly absurd and I was sort of kidding about the first two but the third is something that I think would really work. I can't think of a better crossover story in all of the comics industry. so maybe if you and Sergio are up late one night and end up drinking too much saké you'll mention the idea to him and one day my dreams of crossovers will appear on the newsstands. Nonetheless I'd like to know your personal opinion on the matter. Stuart Johnson [OKAY! You think those ideas are too absurd? Ah, but I promised to fulfill readers' demands, didn't I? Wait ?til you see Usagi #11! In honor of Sergio Aragonés' appearance in the back-up slot, Stan plans to do a sort-of-tribute to Groo stories, complete with a hidden message. Groo will probably not appear himself (except somewhere in the background, maybe), partly because Stan is pretty strict about keeping humans out of Usagi's funny-animal environment. (I remember last year when he drew a couple of humans into an early draft of a scene; by the time I got the finished artwork, they'd been changed to monkeys.) [As for Mark Evanier, we plan to coerce him into writing the intro to Usagi Yojimbo Book Two this fall. Stan's threatened to letter all his Groo captions in Japanese if he doesn't and Mark is scared no one will notice! And stay tuned for another C.E. Dinkins letter next issue that's even more involved than the previous one. - ED.] Honorable Mr. Sakai, I have been miserably disturbed. I purchased The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy #1 and found there to be no trace of further series not have I found any trace of it in any advertisements or in your subscription page. I have been hastily waiting for #2 for quite some time now and I have become extremely disturbed. Please respond or you'll have one extremely dinked fan. Marvin Von Dan [OKAY! A dinked fan is the very last thing we need, so check out the current issue of Critters for a new dose of Nilson Groundthumper. Stan doesn't have the time to do a full issue anytime soon, so we hope this'll relieve your misery, at least temporarily. - ED.] Dear O'Great Stan Sakai, I've been collecting comics for a couple of years, and so far you're the only person in the comic-book world I've ever written to. I love your comic! I have a few questions: 1) Where did you ever get the ideas for Usagi and the rest of the people in that world? 2) When is your next autograph session in the west L.A. area going to be? 3) Will you reveal a little bit more about Gennosuké's and Katsuichi's origins? 4) Will you ever have a team-up or fight with Usagi and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Gar Culbert [(1) If Stan told people where he got his ideas everyone would go there and get to the ideas before him. [(2) Autograph sessions are generally not planned far enough in advance to be announced in issues of Usagi; keep your eyes open and ask your local shop once in a while. [(3) Wait and see. [(4) OKAY! As early as next issue, even! [See you then. - ED.]
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USAGI YOJIMBO Volume 1, Issue 9