Usagi Characters have changed...

[Logan Myrddin]

I've been reading Usagi from its begining, and I've only gotten to the VERY beging (haven't yet started) of book FOUR the Dragon Bellow Conspiracy. However, I recently bought a copy of the poster with all the characters flying kites and... I noticed something. The characters look different. Specifically, they look almost like they're based on ACTUAL Japanese people (Specifically, Katsuichi no longer just looks like a lion, he now looks like a japanese man made up to look like a lion. It's not exactly easy to explain.) Anyway, what I want to know is: Have the characters been changed so that they look more realistic? Are they now actually based on real people? I just can't quite place my finger on it, but I know they look more like PEOPLE than animals in relation to what they used to look like (Usagi in the first trade was VERY rabbit-like with only a hint of human in him. Now it's the other way around) My head hurts. Aspirin? Prescription? Explanation would be better.

[Stan Sakai]

The characters have changed as my art has changed and I've grown more accustomed to them. It's a natural progressiona of almost any characters drawn by the same artist over a period of time. Take a look at Groo. Sergio's drawn him for about two hundred issues now, but if you compare his early appearances with his present incarnation, there is a huge difference. Not only physically, but he's also gotten dumber as well. (Incidentally, a new Groo trade, Death & Taxes, is now out from Dark Horse.)