Dark Horse Comics Usagi Yojimbo #18 Grasscutter Chapter 4, "Noriyuki and Tomoé" February 1998 Winner of the 1999 Eisner Award for "Best Serialized Story" Winner of the 2000 (Spain) Haxtur Award for "Best Script" (Spanish Edition) (Click on the thumbnails to view full size cover art)

USAGI YOJIMBO LETTERS COLUMN
Send comments to: Usagi Yojimbo ~ Letters Column c/o Dark Horse Comics
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[UsagiYojimbo Dojo] http://heart.engr.csulb.edu/~tbustill/usagi.html

Dear Stan Sakai and Jamie,

I discovered Usagi Yojimbo about six or seven years ago, but I actually didn't get into reading and collecting the series until a year ago. My highest commendations on a series well done – not only in all of the detail put into the illustrations but also in character development. Memorable supporting characters such as Gen and Kitsuné (amongst others) is one of the story's strengths. However, this also brings me to something I have been wondering about for a while.

Call it morbid fascination or whatever you wish, but I am quite interested in Jei.

What is it that fascinates me about Jei? Perhaps it is his obvious supernatural nature which allows him to survive mortal wounds time and time again, to slay a roomful of bandits with his bare hands, and to "consecrate" a spear to his hellish gods. Or maybe it's due to his agenda to hunt down all "evil," killing both innocent peasant and bandit alike.

But, like any good supporting character, he inspires the reader to wonder just where he came from and how he came to be. I'm aware that he didn't just "pop" out of nowhere…he had been an ordinary person until the "gods" saw fit to turn him into what he is now. What I'm interested in is a more detailed incursion into Jei's past, a recounting of his tale.

However, I am also aware that it is this very air of mystery itself which made Jei a memorable character to me and will continue to fascinate me time and time again. Jei is a mysterious as Katsuichi is, though the two of them are not alike at all, and as a result it adds more to that aura of "specialness" around them…much more so than in a character such as Inazuma.

I hope to learn more about Jei in a way that would not spoil his enigmatic nature in future editions of UY, but as they say…be careful of what you wish for, ne?

Mark
kmark@odyssey.on.ca

Dear Stan S. and Jamie S.:

In his heart of hearts, Stan Sakai will never forget that he made a reputation as a letterer before anyone knew what he could do as a writer or an artist. We had an interesting proof of this in "Heike Gani," the second chapter of "Grasscutter."

By that, I mean the balloons of the witch (or majo) Ryoko were exquisite. Filled with emphasis, yet never (until [UY Vol. 3, #16] page 24) filled with exclamation points, they implied a remoteness and calculation worthy of a powerful, formidable woman whom Lord Kotetsu may have to watch more carefully than Lord Oku. Beautiful work, Stan, as were the vile, evil laughs of Jei, which contrasted wonderfully with the innocent, joyful laughter of little Jiro.

The rest of UY [Vol. 3] #16 was superb as well. "Glamour," according to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, compelled you to watch an actor even when he was doing nothing; a similar glamour compels me to enjoy this book even when its hero isn't around very much. (I'm going to have to look at that Comics Journal interview again, for the last two issues have treated the rabbit ronin much as Will Eisner used to treat The Spirit in his "Sections," making him a walk-on in other people's dramas. But then most people worth reading in comics have a touch of Eisner in them.)

Still, we did get Usagi, and we got him at his most glamorous, i.e., not really doing anything spectacular, but still captivating us. He did this through his gratitude for fish soup ("with extra fins"), his rapport with Jiro (again, I have to observe that Usagi is fabulous with children; someday he should have a few of his own, although I don't think that Jotaro should ever learn that Usagi is really his father). his observation about what an earthquake should bring out in people, and in his interest in the battle of Dan-No-Ura. Katsuichi would have been proud of how he betrayed not an iota of what he must have felt as his host spoke of selling Grasscutter "to the highest bidder, of course," rather than putting first "loyalty to the emperor and shogun."

Whether he's engaging in swordplay at center stage or underplaying like Dirk Bogarde, Miyamoto Usagi remains a joy.

And "Grasscutter" is shaping up into the sort of work a creator would most want to be remembered by, as The Woman in White was for Wilkie Collins and The Gold Rush was for Charlie Chaplin. It has horror, action, mythology, treachery, nobility, and, in this episode, no fewer than two of Stan's gorgeous death's heads.

Thank you for this chapter, and thank you for your time. See you in #17.

Charles J. Sperling
Flushing, NY

[Charles, the rest of your points were great, but I had to edit for space. Sorry. – Jamie]

Dear Stan and Jamie,

I had been taking Stan's writing and illustration for granted, after little more than a year. How foolish of me. When I read "Grasscutter" chapter 2 [UY Vol. 3, #16], I was reminded of just how good he can be. I was halfway through the issue before I realized that I hadn't seen Usagi yet, and what's more, I wasn't missing him. Not that I dislike him, of course, but the writing and illustration was so strong that it supported the book without the title character appearing until the last three or four pages.

Inazuma is a boundlessly attractive character, both visually and as a Samurai. Out of the hot spring, into her robe, grabbing her swords, and getting behind her attacker without being heard – she's good. I'd welcome a match between her and Usagi, if I wasn't worried that at least one of them wouldn't survive it (I mean, a match as in a duel, though a romantic one might cause the same worries)! Or perhaps a one-shot, back-up, or miniseries dealing with her facing her family and returning to her province. Prior to the Dark Horse issues, he only appearance is in the Mirage run, yes? I've got to buy that trade paperback as soon as I can. I expect Usagi to save Gen from her, or at least to appear as he does on the cover.

After the events of "Circles," there is a substantial poignancy to Usagi's interaction with children, so his ease with Jiro was fun to see.

By [UY Vol. 3, #16] page 24, when the plan began to take shape, I had enjoyed one of the most agreeable and liveliest Usagi Yojimbo's I've read in some considerable time. Beyond the use of the legends of Japan, I'm getting a sense now of Usagi beginning to build on its own history. This is good so long as you continue to build, but do not become lumbered beneath its weight like a snail. Happily, I see no reason to expect that will happen any time soon.

Keep up the good work, which goes without saying…

Ben Varkentine
Seattle, WA

Inazuma's first appearance will be reprinted in Usagi Yojimbo Book 10 (!) scheduled for summer '98. Also due out this summer is the new Usagi action figure from Antarctic Press. I designed this one myself so it will look a lot more like Usagi than the previous figure.