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USAGI YOJIMBO LETTERS COLUMN
Send comments to: Usagi Yojimbo ~ Letters Column c/o Dark Horse Comics
10956 S.E. Main Street, Milwaukie, OR 97222
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Dear Stan,
Congratulations on the conclusion of a magnificent story that has your talents at their undisputed peak.
However, let me get something off my chest…
Oh, my God! Inazuma! Noooooo!
Blast it, Stan! You've got to save her! She did nothing to deserve being damned like this! She needs an exorcism ASAP after Usagi, Tomoe, and Gen, working in conjunction, have subdued her.
I was looking forward to seeing her open up, smile a little, begin to trust someone again. Furthermore, it would have been fun to see her do that with Gen. Imagine the irony of those two loners, who don't have any reason to deal with each other, especially with her bounty. She could learn to establish a real relationship again and begin to forget the tragedy of her previous life, while Gen could finally fall for someone who, in herself, is more valuable than the mere fortune her bounty could provide.
Those things are still possible; Inazuma is still alive (if you are that generous about her enslavement) and wholeheartedly deserves to be rescued.
That being said, I congratulate you. Never in all my years of reading comics have I felt this exquisite frisson of pure horror as I have at Inazuma's fate, not with the classic ECs or with DC's Vertigo. It is a brilliance that is all too rare in this medium. I only hope that deliverance and salvation can still be possible for this lost soul – or at least by way of someone compassionate, brave, and determined enough to lead her to it. But who? From all we have seen, she has striven to isolate herself from everyone, so now there might be no one who would be willing to be her deliverer. So I beg you, show some compassion for this lass and don't condemn her to this undeserved fate.
We now know definitely that Jei was possessed by an evil entity, as opposed to being insane, so the question now is what the exact nature is of Inazuma's possession:
1. Is Inazuma's personality integrated with the entity, or was her spirit simply forced aside as the entity took control?
2. If Inazuma's personality was simply shunted, then is she dormant in her own body or is she aware of what the entity is doing with her body?
3. If Inazuma is "conscious" in her body, then is she fighting internally against the enemy? I cannot see Inazuma doing anything but fighting tooth and nail in any possible way to regain control of her body, even if it is only gathering her strength and watching for any moment of weakness of the enemy to exploit.
Kenneth Chisholm
kchishol@mnsi.net
I've received, surprisingly, quite a few letters suggesting Gen and Inazuma as a possible pair. It's something to think about.
I don't know how Jei's "black soul" is possessing her as I don't know how Jei, himself, was possessed.
Hello, Sir,
I want to tell you something: you're one hell of a cook! I'm reading "Grasscutter." And like Saturday morning matinees (can you guess how old I am?), you leave each comic in a cliffhanger…which makes me wait a while month for the next issue. You've got everyone in this stew and then some…and now you've put in Jei. Oh, boy! I have been following your book since Critters. When will you go back to Space Usagi, hmm?
Any more color specials? Don't leave me in suspense…please?
Roy A. Sandow
rasprod@aol.com
There are no color specials planned, but I hope you checked out the Trilogy II Tourbook, which has a painted Usagi story along with terrific tales by the Trilogists, all of whose books you should be reading: Mike Crilley (Akiko), Linda Medley (Castle Waiting), Jeff Smith (Bone), Jill Thompson (Scary Godmother), and Charles Vess (Ballads and Sagas ).
Hi,
Just thought I'd add to a hopefully full letters pile and congratulate Stan and Dark Horse on the "Grasscutter" saga. The plotting and pacing have been excellent (as usual), and the characterization makes it the comic I read first when I collect from the pile at the shop (thanks to "Travelling Man" for keeping stuff even when my collection is irregular!).
Probably the thing that has struck me most throughout the last few issues has been the impending sense of doom – though whose doom has not been clear. I've been expecting at least one character not to walk away from this story, and, after chapter 7 [UY Vol. 3, #21] , it looks as though Jei will certainly not be the same again – whether he will actually die for good is something I'm not sure I'll ever believe, but…
The quality of Stan's draftsmanship continues to impress – reading the earlier collected editions, I can see his style evolve, but he seems to have reached new heights with the expressions in the duel between Usagi and Jei.
About this duel: I'm interested in the honor of using the sword that is the prize to "win the duel." This seems at least somewhat dishonorable, and although Usagi did it on the spur of the moment and with the honest belief that Jei is a demon incarnate, I would not be surprised if this action has later implications.
The fact that Jei left an opening when concerned for the safety of an innocent also highlights moral ambiguities of the proceedings – the characters were all involved in something bigger than they are, and I can't help wondering what really is "good" or "evil" on a stage this big. The release of all the souls that Jei has been stealing might leave Jei in whatever state he was in when his madness/divinity first occurred, and the souls…will they haunt as ghosts, return to those who survived, like Inazuma, or perhaps possess some poor unfortunates? Questions like these can linger as doubts in the mind of the reader and set up future stories.
Although I enjoy epic stories, I also enjoy the way Stan paces the rest of the issues, especially the sue of the small back-up stories to highlight minor characters or background (I think my two favorites are "Usagi's Garden" and "The Way of the Viper"). Recently, rereading all the UY, I have brought into focus how much the characters have grown and how much I care about them (even Jei). I don't yet know whether Jei is at an end (he's "died" before), but if he is, at least he got to go with a bang, both literally and as part of the climax to a fine story.
Tim Kirk
tim@wobbegong.demon.co.uk
Usagi would not consider using the sacred sword honorable or dishonorable. He just did what he had to, to survive.
Jei's last actions, on the other hand, were a paradox. He was a wanton killer, and yet he chose to go to Keiko's aid and leave himself vulnerable rather than finish off what he obsessively perceived as the "evil" who was his obstacle to godhood. He chose to try and save the innocent rather than destroy the guilty.
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