New Usagi reader - what would you do?

[Maka]

Dear UYDers,

I friend’s son started college in person this semester at the local city college. We have them over for home cooked dinner on Sunday nights. He used to collect comic books but stopped in high school. We were talking about comics and I lent him a few comics and the Usagi Yojimbo Origins trade paperback. He brought them back last Sunday and asked if Usagi had a longer story arch. I mentioned Grasscutter. But I have my trade paperbacks in the office and I didn’t think about the saga hardcover or the limited edition hardcover on my bookshelf. So I pulled out the artist edition with the slipcase and let him borrow it. I will be interested to see what his reaction to reading the story for the first time in this large format. Will the book be too heavy to enjoy? I probably should have just let him take the limited hardcover but I didn’t think of it. I think Saga hardcover is too big to enjoy but the artist edition is even bigger.

What do you think will be the out come? Will we have a new fan or did I err?

Peace, maka

[Gaffey]

The Grasscutter AE might have been overkill! I would have gone with the limited edition/tpb books. I prefer those to the Saga volumes anyway. I can say that I've never read any of my Saga volumes other than volume 1 (None are sealed though). I always pull out the limited edition hardcovers when I want to reread something.

Speaking of rereading, when you did your read through last year did you feel the older material had a lot more going on than the newer stuff? I kind of miss all the "extras" that took place in the Fantagraphics books. Maybe I'm just misremembering?

We still get little gags here and there like the little boy peeing, but nothing like we used to.

[maichan]

Who can't like a good Usagi Yojimbo story? Hopefully this youngling will become a lifelong fan. If not, then you need to continue the conversion process.

Speaking of rereading, when you did your read through last year did you feel the older material had a lot more going on than the newer stuff? I kind of miss all the "extras" that took place in the Fantagraphics books. Maybe I'm just misremembering?

We still get little gags here and there like the little boy peeing, but nothing like we used to.

Hmmmmmmmm....... Well, the artist has matured, so I'd think the art and stories have matured also. Other than that, I'm not sure what you mean by all the "Extras". I think there's still a fair amount of extra stuff, but just different... like.... pineapples!

[nbson]

I think the sagas are a great jumping on point since they contain several volumes (paperbacks), aren't too large or too heavy (weight wise). They are a good size and contain plenty of stories (be it longer arcs or just single stories). The larger artist editions are heavier and can be more difficult to handle while reading.

[Gaffey]

Hmmmmmmmm....... Well, the artist has matured, so I'd think the art and stories have matured also. Other than that, I'm not sure what you mean by all the "Extras". I think there's still a fair amount of extra stuff, but just different... like.... pineapples!

I feel like the older stories had more stuff on the pages. Like I said I could be misremembering.

There is so much going on in this page from Fantagraphics (Gen's Story - I think)

The tokage going after the top. The top going after the spider. The boy on stilts. The upset pig(?) storming off, The kids in awe hanging out on the wall. This is just one example of older Fantagraphics pages that can be looked at over and over again. I don't recall seeing anything like this in Bunraku or Homecoming. Maybe it's the fact that I prefer black and white Usagi and I'm trying to find reasons to justify my preference!


**This image also saddens me because it reminds me of Roel's Kitsune statue. The fan, the table, the "tip jar." It's all there. Now that NECA has the license, which is great for Stan, we'll probably never see anything close to the statues he created.

[Maka]

I did think that the multiple details that were included in panels and splash pages seemed to reduce over time. But I do think there are stories that have panels in the recent years that have details. I think it depends on the story. Regardless, I think the storytelling currently is just as good as anything that came before and I haven’t been disappointed in the art or wishing for black and white.

I think Maichan has a point, artists develop their storytelling chops over time. Perhaps Stan has found his sweet spot on storytelling, production, and balancing all the other things (think Netflix consultation) and has decided the right amount of details to include. That might be less than the early days. Only Stan knows.

I thought that maybe when Stan moved to color that he would reduce the line work and allow the colorist do some of then heavy lifting. But Stan said he doesn’t change his art style from B&W to color. I think Stan must be pretty busy with Usagi, Netflix, covers, writing other marvel character stories, and who knows what else is on his plate. As long as Usagi keeps on being published, I’m a happy camper.

Side note: I thought the same kind of reduced detail has happened with Groo throughout his run. But then there are these so detail ships and army scenes that appear and blow me away. Maybe if you read the whole series over a year, you do notice more subtle changes in the art. But maybe my eyes and memory are failing me too. Regardless, their comic is delightful too.

Peace, maka

[Maka]

So here’s an example of Stan’s storytelling (Village of Fear) work in the early fantagraphic days. It does seem like there is more detail here: grains of rice in and ornate bowl, sitting on a mat instead of the floor, wood and fire. It is nice to see detail but it doesn’t add to the story in significance. I find Stan current cartooning to be filled with less details (Looking at Mouse Trap from Mysteries tpb). But the camera angles and story still works beautifully. I think these detailed panels would feel out of place with the current cartooning style. We should look at the gallery editions and compare there next.

Peace, maka