Fantagraphics Books Usagi Yojimbo #24  Lone Goat and Kid! September 1990 (Click on the thumbnails to view full size cover art)

Dear Mr. Sakai,

First of all, I would like to commend you on the quality of the "Dragon Bellow Conspiracy." I have truly enjoyed following Usagi and his friends through their many adventures. While I, too, was disappointed with the death of Spot, I would like to applaud the way in which it was handled. I believe that Spot's sacrifice was very much in character with the nobility he displayed in life. He deserved no other death than that of a hero and defender of the innocent.

The question I do have concerns the Usagi-Torame confrontation. Why was only the first riddle mentioned (the Warrior riddle)? What about the second catechism of #15, the one on the justification of rebellion which puzzled Usagi? Wouldn't have Captain Torame have been justified to turn coat and join the succeeding rebellion against Lord Tamakuro? Torame's death seemed more unjustified and useless than Spot's, although it did add to the tragedy of the "Conspiracy."

Sincerely,
James Koizumi
Placentia, CA

Torame told Usagi that second riddle to justify his Lord Tamakuro's planned rebellion against the Shogun. Torame, as a strict devotee of Bushido, knew Usagi was right when he said there could be no reason for a true samurai to turn against his master no matter how unprincipled that master might be. – STAN SAKAI

Dear Stan and Kim,

I have always wanted to write, but never had the time. After reading your latest, I had to write. I never read your comic until I found one in my brother's room. Since then, I eagerly await every issue. I love good artwork, and have collected from many different sources; paintings, comics, drawing, and now Usagi Yojimbo. My Usagi print hangs right between a Disney serigraph and an Albrecht Durer print because I know it is fated for greatness. I just read issue #20. It was wonderful. The only problem is it was too short. I could have read at least 200 or 300 more pages. I really enjoy the stories you write.

Well, enough of this – on to the questions. I've read Miyamoto Musashi's A Book of Five Rings (go rin no sho). Are there any similar characteristics between Usagi and Musashi? Will you ever have Usagi be a teacher? Will you ever do more artwork for sale? I know you know Sergio Aragonés and sometimes I see Groo in Usagi Yojimbo and vice versa. Will there ever be a Usagi/Groo just for fun? Will Usagi be with more Ninja Turtles now that they are on TV? I always enjoy reading Usagi. I hope to see your work for a long time. If you use this letter in your comic, feel free to edit it wherever you want. If not at all, then make at least two points with a fall away jumper.

Sincerely,
Tim Welke
Newbury Park, CA

Your question about Miyamoto Musashi was answered in the letters column of issue #21.

As for being a teacher, Usagi, like Musashi when he was a wanderer, considers himself still a student.

I usually have original artwork (not pages, though) for sale at conventions and book signings. I don't like to work through the mails because I just don't have the time to do commissioned art.

Groo and Usagi will never meet. Groo hates sashimi and Usagi can't stand cheese dip.

Usagi was in two episodes of the Ninja Turtles TV series and there were three cross-over stories with Leonardo. It was great fun working with them and hope to again, but there are no plans for another meeting in the near future.

– STAN SAKAI

Dear Stan and Co.,

I just picked up my first three issues of Usagi Yojimbo – issues #4, 13 and 21 – and I was pleasantly surprised. When I first saw Usagi Yojimbo it was in an episode of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Well, anyway, I figured the comic, UY, was boring and childish like the TMNT cartoon, a mockery of the comic book series, boy, was I wrong! The artwork in Usagi is refreshing and energetic, some of the best comic art I've ever seen, and I mean that sincerely and the storylines breathe new life to the boring comic book genre that comics like Batman and the X-Men have created. (Don't get me wrong: I like TMNT, X-Men, and Batman, but I yearn for something different – Usagi Yojimbo.)

Lastly, I have a few questions and suggestions: first, how about Stan doing an art instruction comic like "How to draw comics the Stan Sakai way" or something along the same lines? Are the Usagi silkscreens still available? How did you (Stan) break into the comics industry? How about a Usagi fan club? Were any of the characters in UY styled after real people?

Well, I guess that's about all for now. Keep up the great work!

Respectfully,
Donald Unger, Jr.
Binghampton, NY

I hope to do a backup story in which I chronicle how an issue of Usagi gets created from the initial story idea, to the layout, pencils, lettering, then inking. However, don't expect it in the near-future because the backup slots are pretty well filled and, besides, I've got to figure out how I do it myself.

My first break into comics was as the letterer for Sergio Aragonés Groo the Wanderer, which I still do. My first comic book story and art was printed in Steve Gallacci's Albedo comics. Kim Thompson, publisher extraordinaire, immediately recognized me for the genius I am and offered me a contract.

There are no Usagi fan clubs.

Many of the characters in Usagi were inspired by people in history or Japanese fiction. Usagi himself was very loosely based on Miyamoto Musashi, a samurai who lived in the turn of 17th century Japan.

There was a samurai woman named Tomoe Gozen who was remarkable for her beauty and courage. She became Tomoe Ame. Tomoe Ame, by the way, is also the name of a Japanese rice candy.

Zato-Ino, the blind swordspig, was inspired by Zato-Ichi, the blind swordsman, the star of 27 movies and a TV series. Zato-Ichi was recently updated and westernized into a move starring Rutger Hauer.

– STAN SAKAI

Dear Stan and Kim, How come in some pictures Usagi has short sleeves and in other pictures he has long sleeves?

Jeffrey D. Searles
Upton, MA

The sleeves of traditional Japanese clothing tend to be rather large. Sometimes they are gathered and tied back with a cord so they don't get in the way. That is why Usagi sometimes appears to have short sleeves. – STAN SAKAI

Dear Mr. Sakai,

What's this? Usagi's been in the Turtles cartoon and Usagi figures are out – don't do it, Stan! At the very least, leave the comic the way it is! The latest issue is brilliant! The Komori ninja are a great idea! I liked the way they used tree branches like a ninja eggshell bomb on page 17. Despite what people say, I like the backup stories and Panda Khan/Dragon Hide was the best (even if it was written in a heavy and confusing manner).

Finally, will we be able to get "Dragon Bellow Conspiracy" as a graphic novel? Why are UY graphics so hard to get over here? And why does the gambling bear in issue #19 wear a mawashi?

Bye for now,
Ewart Solomon
St. Agnes, Cornwall, England

The Usagi comic book stays the way it is. No one else has any input into the stories except, of course, Sharon, who insists I use that cute little goat kid again.

A mawashi is the traditional loincloth worn by sumo wrestlers. It is stylized and very thick to give opponents something to grab. The gambler, though, was wearing a fundoshi which many men and boys use as undergarments. It was sometimes worn by itself while working or at certain festivals.

– STAN SAKAI

Dear Mr. Sakai and Kim Thompson,

I'm a new reader of Usagi Yojimbo. The only one I have is #22. I collect a lot of comics; one day my older brother saw Usagi on the TMNT cartoon show and said he's in a comic book. So I started looking for it. I finally found one. One! I looked all over, no back issues, not even the color edition. Well, the reason I wrote was to tell you how greatly I enjoyed Usagi Yojimbo. I have one question, though. Does Usagi have a tail?

Jacob Shelton
Renton, WA

Five years, and you're the first person to ask this question. I knew it would come up some day, and I've dreaded it since the beginning.

Frankly, I don't know. I don't know if any of my characters have tails. I know they should have tails, but giving them tails would make them somehow a bit too animalistic.

I've avoided answering this question by always keeping my characters clothed.

I guess this is something theologists will debate for years to come, along with creationism vs. evolution.

– STAN SAKAI

Dear Mr. Sakai,

I have just purchased and read my first Usagi Yojimbo comic ("Blood Wings") in black-and-white, and I enjoyed it very much except for the useless bloody scenes and the killing. Isn't there a way you could tell the stories (keeping the excitement and adventure) without someone dying? That is the only criticism I have. I enjoyed the artwork and characters very much.

I will keep looking at new issues, but if they aren't more humane, I probably won't buy.

Vivian Tussey
Longmont, CO

I do not put any gratuitous violence in any of my stories, but I would never compromise the story by cutting out a violent scene or scenes.

Nor will I compromise the culture and traditions that my stories are based upon. 17th century Japan was a feudal society governed by a military dictatorship that arose after a bloody civil war. It also had a strict caste system in which the lower you were on the social ladder, the less important your life was looked upon. Your life did not belong to you but to you group or your master, and everyone had a master. The greatest honor one could have was to give your life to you lord.

By today's standards it may sound like an oppressive, inhumane society, but it worked for the situations and the times and it would be a grave error to judge a foreign society by our own standards.

True, these are just comic book stories, but still, I try to keep it as faithful to my heritage as I can.

We obviously share a difference of opinion in how a story should be told. I'm sorry to lose your readership.

– STAN SAKAI

Dear Kim and Stan,

Issue #20 was great. The art was Sakai-ish as usual. I also liked how you used the Canterbury Tales type point of view of each character.

I loved Jim Lawson's story. It's just that now I'll think differently of Tokagé.

Elsetime!
Chuck Dillon
Philadelphia, PA

Chuck did the cool "Usagi as a gang member" drawing that graces this page. – ED.

Fan Art by Chuck Dillon