Dark Horse Comics Usagi Yojimbo #32                  A Life of Mush & Deserters  October 1999 (Click on the thumbnails to view full size cover art)

USAGI YOJIMBO LETTERS COLUMN
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Dear Diana and Stan,

I won't be in San Diego for Usagi Yojimbo's birthday, but I wish the rabbit ronin happy returns and hope that Stan earns at least one of those Eisner Awards he's been nominated for. [Congratulations to Stan, who did win the Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story: "Grasscutter" in Usagi Yojimbo #13-22 and UY Book 12, currently available as a trade-paperback collection. – Diana]

"Taméshigiri" worked on many levels: on the simplest, we had Usagi hiding from embarrassing questions about Chamberlain Toyofuku and the Lotus House; on a loftier level, we had an "Inspector Ishida Mystery," in which the Inspector solved several baffling murders. Ishida was a pleasure to watch here – with his finger to his cheek, you could practically hear his brain working – but he also brought up serious issues as well: the apathy of his doshin for the poor; the fact that "justice must be for all, or it is not true justice" (although "true justice" also required diverting Inspector Nii from finding and questioning Miyamoto Usagi); the need to love and nurture children; and the sanctity of honor (note the appeal to Yoshii to surrender "to preserve your lost honor").

But on the deepest level, "Taméshigiri" was about a character we will not meet again. (By all means, let's see more of Ishida, and, when we do, expand the role of Haruko...and in a few years, when Kotaro is making full sentences, let's have him meet Jotaro!) This was the tale of Yoshii, who wanted to improve the honor of his clan and in doing so disgraced it. We learned about sword testing and what made a clan respectable, and we saw a sensei's negative assessment proved, tragically, correct. Once again, Stan took us back in time and made us see the way things unfolded in those days, and, more importantly, he made us understand how they worked.

But Stan has never been didactic in his storytelling, and this issue also found time for:

1) A delightful cover in which Miyamoto Usagi could well have borrowed a phrase from Victoria Regina and said of the straw dummy: "We are not amused."

2) Yoshii and his sensei, giving us a glimpse into a new world and reminding us of the swordmaster we met in the Mirage run and of Usagi's own sensei, Katsuichi.

3) Two amiable drunkards, who set the scene admirably.

4) Usagi and Ishida on the case, with fine give-and-take from both in assessing the facts of the matter.

5) A yeeking, eeking tokagé.

6) Details, such as the ryo kuruma.

7) A superb action sequence at the Tetsumon Clan compound, with Ishida holding his own with a sword and Usagi pulling out all the stops with Yoshii.

8) And one of the best death's-heads to date, as Yoshii gave up the ghost.

All in all, this was another great issue, and with gaijin on the horizon (Question: The Chinese speak of "gwailo," which literally means "foreign devils." Is "gaijin" also pejorative?) and an origin for Jei in the works, about all I can regret is that this isn't an ongoing monthly. But if an irregular publication schedule can produce such tales as "Taméshigiri" and expanded epics such as "Grasscutter," don't change a thing, people.

Just accept my thanks and admiration for a job well done.

Charles J. Sperling
37-15 Parsons Blvd. #4-C
Flushing, NY 11354-5814

The cover was drawn well before "Taméshigiri" was written, hence such a lighthearted cover for a grim story. Usagi was to have left the town at the end of "The Courtesan," [UY Vol 3, #28-29] but, at the last minute, I decided to work in one more Inspector Ishida mystery before saying good-bye to him for a while. Like many readers, I've grown quite fond of the good inspector in the short time he has appeared.

"Gaijin" is descriptive rather than pejorative. "Gai" literally means "outside," and "jin" means "person."

Dear Stan,

As a long-time fan of your work, I felt the need to write in and tell you about my seven-year-old stepson. Joey has recently taken an interest in comic books, which started with the books I used to write and publish, and has now grown into a fascination with Usagi Yojimbo and Groo, both of which you work on. I find the violence acceptable for a young child (since it isn't graphic), and he understands much of the story.

Thank you for making something so enjoyable, for both adults and children.

Joseph Naftali
karkarodon@aol.com

Dear Stan,

It's long been my observation that "intelligent" (and therefore, to my eyes, truly "civilized") people are usually outnumbered by the stupid ones (whose tendencies include prejudice, crime, and – gasp! – illiteracy). So, I look at Inspector Ishida as one such "minority," struggling to do better than he's expected at his job, in a place and time where "justice" is not expected to be "for all." And so, here we see Ishida clearly bending the rules in order to see that justice is done. In Usagi Yojimbo [Vol. 3] #30, we have references to two previous stories, in both of which Usagi helped Ishida bring criminals to justice. I am surprised, though, that Ishida has apparently neglected to properly close the cases – leaving Usagi as an unidentified suspect in both of them! I guess circumstances didn't permit any other path of action, hmmm?

With this in mind, I feel compelled to ask: Was there a statue of limitations on such things, or were local authorities merely inclined to give up after a certain amount of time.

Henry Kujawa
1202 Everett St.
Camden, NJ 08104

Inspector Ishida prefers to administer justice rather than uphold the law.

Magistrates followed a law that was never published and could be changed without notice. The government believed that the people should not be instructed as to what the law might be, but should be content to do as they were told. I don't believe there were any statues of limitations. As you suspected, the time and effort involved in bringing a criminal to justice had to do more with the tenacity of the investigating officer.