Dark Horse Comics Usagi Yojimbo #54 The Return of the Lone Goat and Kid January 2002 (Click on the thumbnails to view full size cover art)

USAGI YOJIMBO LETTERS COLUMN
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Hello, Diana and Stan!

My name is Trey. I'm 13 - maybe one of your youngest and newest Usagi Yojimbo fans. Bravo for the Grasscutter II issues! Is Chizu very sad about her comrades, or does she just accept (their deaths)? I have several questions:

1) Why does Kagemaru (a chunin of the Neko Ninja) hate Usagi?

2) Do you think Katsuichi-sensei will win over Koji? (Please don't let him die!)

3) Will we ever see Sasuke, who appeared in "Kumo," again?

4) Will Sasuke, on his way to fight the demon swordswoman, also know Inazuma?

5) Finally, why is Usagi scared about having killed Chamberlain Toyofuku?

1) Usagi has thwarted many of the Neko Ninja's plans since that ninja clan was first introduced in the second Usagi story, "Lone Rabbit and Child," back in 1985.

2) We'll see in about issue #59.

3) Sasuke will return, but not for some time. I have to clear out a bunch of other stories first.

4) See previous answer.

5) Wouldn't you be scared if you had just killed a high-ranking political figure and the entire province was looking for you?

Dear Mr. Sakai,

My name is Adam. I am a big fan of your comic books. I was wondering what kind of books you would recommend for me to read. I am interested in Japanese action mysteries. I have already read The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler and its sequel (The Demon in the Teahouse). Please send me a suggestion.

I have read both of the Hoobler books dealing with the legendary Judge Ooka. I would also recommend Valley of the Broken Cherry Trees and Village of the Vampire Cat by Lensey Namioka, which recount the adventures of two ronin amateur detectives. Of Nightingales That Weep, The Sign of the Chrysanthemum, and The Master Puppeteer are very well-researched books by Katherine Paterson. For the more mature reader I suggest Laura Joh Rowland's books featuring the samurai detective Sano Ichiro as well as Dale Furutani’s Matsuyama Kaze trilogy about a ronin in search of his dead lord's daughter. Master Assassin and Bridge of Darkness by Shotaro Ikenami are stories about Baian, a killer for hire. Of course, there are also the classics, such as The Ronin by William Dale Jennings and Taiko and Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa.

A good source for many of these books is Heritage Source. You can log onto that site from the Usagi Yojimbo web site.

(We just received these photos of Stan and the Usagi Yojimbo Dojo living it up at Comic-Con International: San Diego last summer. All photos courtesy of Todd Bustillo. Thanks, Todd!)

A very lucky fan stands by patiently as Stan signs his statue.

Stan and the elated members of the official Usagi Yojimbo Dojo.

Stan graciously working his magic at the Dark Horse Comics booth.

Usagi Yojimbo, including all prominent characters featured in the stories and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Stan Sakai and Usagi Studios. Usagi Yojimbo is a registered trademark of Stan Sakai. Names, characters, places, and incidents featured in this publication either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, institutions, or locales, without satiric content, is coincidental.