Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

I hope this hasn't been done too recently.. I looked back a couple of years and didn't see a similar thread... so here goes!

I thought it might be fun to compare favorite Usagi pages. I am an artist and a bit of a collector so my mind automatically goes into acquisitional mode when I see things I really love. I realize that Sensei doesn't sell them so this is pure speculation:

Which page(s) would you buy if you could and why?

Me, I have just fallen in love with page 13 of Showdown - or page 19 in the Shrouded Moon trade. The first image is a perfect Usagi with his best pissed off expression. The second image is a beauty of Gen gritting his teeth. Those first two panels alone are worth the price of admission but the whole page is one of those delightful interchanges between Usagi and Gen with Gen getting teased mercilessly by Usagi. It's the story in the page as much as the art that I'm smitten with... 'though the art is gorgeous on its own. I smile every time i see that page.

The recent tea ceremony issue of USAGI YOJIMBO is packed to the brim with classic images, with the last panels of Tomoe being among my favourites. The picture of Inazuma turning towards the bounty hunters and revealing her "Jei-ified" features for the first time at the end of GRASSCUTTER was also a classic.

As for least favourite panels (hey, we all have them), I've gotta say some of the earliest images featuring Usagi waaaaaay back in Book One. He was a much stricter, harsher, grouchier ronin in his debut. It's really amazing how much he's lightened up since those days.

heh heh reminds me of me. I used to be a lot more dignified and prickly than I am today - I think it goes that way for a lot of people. Maybe even Stan himself. I actually love Usagi's pissed off look and his extra fierce look. I haven't come across any tea ceremony stuff yet but I will keep an eye out for those you mention Ben. I'm still catching up on all the trades. Soon though, I guess I'll have to start buying single issues.

I found another really sweet page - it's in the Brink of Life and Death trade page 144 ( or 18 in Bats, the Cat and the Rabbit story) the bats are cutting up all the trees anound Chizu and Usagi and it's a snowstorm of little slices of branches. Super detailed, probably took ages to draw and it reminds me a lot of Laputa where Miazaki has the castle exploding and millions of bits are all drawn and animated (by hand as it was just before computer animation - and was the holy grail for my animation student friends when it came out) Gorgeous gorgeous page.

actually there's a favorite panel in the same book. Usagi standing at the shore, an onshore breeze blowing in his face and you can almost smell the sea air just looking at the expression on his face - awesome!

My favourite page has to be the cover of Volume 1, Issue 14.
The one where Usagi is in the rain and Shingen is standing behind him looking all pissed off.

Sweet pic.

MikeM

I am loving the cover of 101.. I think its one of the coolest covers I have ever seen

oooo I agree I LOVE that cover - since we're on to covers. It's got so much greatness I don't even know where to begin. The composition, the contrast between the subject and the background - how it almost becomes pattern, ALL THOSE SKULLS! Love the skulls. Great fiendish Usagi...crazy good.


I'm completely smitten

I know this does'nt count as a page, but I love the cover of Duel At Kitanoji. (Book 17) I like the way Usagi stands in the background all tense, and Katsuichi-sensei ready and poised for a battle.

That also has to be one of my favorites.

Ben wrote:The recent tea ceremony issue of USAGI YOJIMBO is packed to the brim with classic images, with the last panels of Tomoe being among my favourites.

I bought that page from Mr. Sakai last year. Don't ask how much it cost. But it was worth every penny.

I really like the cover of issue 99.