Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

I read part 1 of the first Inspector Ishida mystery in quite some time... not like I had to wait long, being a new fan who's first exposure to he character was less than a year ago when I read his first appearance in one of the trade paperbacks, but I was still excited and frankly grinning from ear to ear for the entirety of the issue.


This issue also features a guest artist drawn back cover that is excellent.

And the story that went with that back cover nearly broke my heart! Turns out the artist was given Stan's cover art for the "Toad Oil" issue, that wonderful image of Usagi in the rain, with toad. It was definitely the top candidate for "Wow, I would buy that cover art!"

Shadowfax

The back cover was drawn and colored by Ryan Hill, who had colored so many of the UY back covers. Editor Diana had told me that Ryan thought that Toad Oil issue had the best cover I had ever done, so I gave it to him. He did that drawing for me as a thank you and a farewell, because not long after Ryan left Dark Horse to pursue his own art career.

Dear Readers,
Usagi Yojimbo issue 139 names and meanings?
Ishida =rocky rice field
Hasegawa = long valley river
Kaba = hippopotamus
Haya = early, quick, fast
Saburo = third son
Benki = bedpan, chamberpot, urinal
Ayano = my color
Hoku = north, crawl
Kami = seasoning, flavoring, god, hair, delicious taste, paper, top, upper part, upper stream
Are these correct and are there any patterns?
Excellent issue.
Best wishes to all.
go

Konichiwa!! I have a question for Sakai-sensei. In all of his other appearances th good inspector wore "getas",but,in this story he wears the ordinary sandals. Why the change?
I liked the fact that he wore the getas...it set him apart and added to his character.

And the artwork on the back cover was neat! Different.

Abayo!!

go wrote:Dear Readers,
Usagi Yojimbo issue 139 names and meanings?
Ishida =rocky rice field
Hasegawa = long valley river
Kaba = hippopotamus
Haya = early, quick, fast
Saburo = third son
Benki = bedpan, chamberpot, urinal
Ayano = my color
Hoku = north, crawl
Kami = seasoning, flavoring, god, hair, delicious taste, paper, top, upper part, upper stream
Are these correct and are there any patterns?
Excellent issue.
Best wishes to all.
go

Thanks for sharing.

Very nice story, I always love a good mystery. And that back cover is amazing!

Buffy wrote: And that back cover is amazing!

Yes, it is, and I did not know Ryan could draw until he gave me that black and white art just before he left Dark Horse, to thank me for giving him the original cover art for the Toad Oil story.

It was originally supposed to run black and white in lieu of the letters column, but he colored it on his own time so we could use it as the back cover.

Konichiwa!! I still haven't gotten an answer about why Inspector Ishida isn't wearing his signature "getas"! Why the change in footwear?
Inqiring minds want to know!

Abayo!!

Geta are not the most comfortable footwear, especially for long distances and uneven country roads. Also, notice on the first page that they had horses. Waraji sandals are much more practical when riding horses.

Konichiwa!! Thank you Sakai-sensei for answering my question. I shall pay more attention next time.

Abayo!!

The second part came out yesterday, and when taken together Murder at the Inn is an excellent Usagi story. I mean, the quality of Usagi is always quite high, but this story is above and beyond. It definitely ranks or even outranks the original Ishida stories. It's a marvelously constructed thing where all the plot points pay off and the group of new characters introduced are somehow all well developed in a short amount of time.

Great work, Stan!

Totally agree. For some time I had the feeling, the story's weren't THAT good anymore, but issues 136-138 and 139-140 are excellent again. The Ishida story ist the best since "The Outlaw" which is one of my all time favs.

"That's awful" - Usagi's inner comment on Saburo's rain poem.

It's little lines like that, plus the look on Usagi's face whilst thinking that, that brings the extra smile to my face.

Great story, a simple yet effective murder mystery.

The best story that i have ever read!