CRITTERS Volume 1, Number 27

"Avenue of Mercenaries"

EDITORIAL

Say what you will about getting back on schedule, it sure doesn't leave you a lot of time to write editorials. But this time we need space to announce something anyway, namely:

Here's the gist of it. Poor Stan Sakai is confused. Why, you ask? Well, it's not because Mark Evanier sent him another script for Groo the Wanderer scribbled in catsup on a Wendy's napkin. Nor is it because he's finally so far ahead on Usagi Yojimbo that his editor asked him to please take a few weeks off so we could clear away the mountain of upcoming Usagi stories from our "outgoing" bin. Nor is Stan baffled because Eclipse sent him 53 pages of Kamui to re-letter with all the dialogue mysteriously translated into Finnish. It's not even that he's dazed by the excruciatingly ingenious way in which Kim Thompson managed to plug all his other projects at the same time in this paragraph.

No, Stan's confusion is the one that a funny-animal cartoonist always dreads: HE'S NOT SURE WHAT KIND OF ANIMAL HERMY IS!

Now, if you read Usagi Yojimbo, you know that Stan is generally crystal clear - limpid, even - on matters of zoological classification such as this. Rabbits, monkeys, turtles, pigs, rhinoceroseroseroseroses (sorry, got carried away) - they all strut proudly through the pages of Usagi, instantly identifiable as specific members of the animal kingdom.

Not so poor Hermy. His monumental lack of self-awareness extends all the way to his very being.

Well, Stan figures that he may be smart, but 7,000 Critters readers, even if each were individually dumb as a post (which of course you fine paying customers aren't), collectively are smarter even than he.

So the gauntlet is thrown down: Figure out what kind of animal Hermy is and win a prize!

First prize if an original drawing from Stan, suitable for framing. Additional prizes, consisting mostly of subscriptions to Usagi Yojimbo and/or Critters, will be awarded according to the whims and biases of Stan, with input from Ye Editor in case Stan isn't whimsical or biased enough.

All entries should be send to "NAME THAT CRITTER," 1800 Bridgegate Street #101, Westlake Village, CA 91361. The deadline is June 1st according to postmark, but if you're a couple of days late you can just set back your company's postage meter like I do in cases like this.

This is an essay question, so don't shirk your duties by just jotting down "dog" or "giraffe" or "jabberwock" - argue your position strenuously, so we can print your letters and make fun of the more bizarre ones.

The letters page will return next issue if you're all good. Make that darn good. I'm in a demanding mood this month.

- Kim Thompson

Critters #27 Back Cover
by Stan Sakai

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"Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy", and all characters therein are copyright Stan Sakai and Usagi Studios. No similarity between any of the names, characters, persons, and institutions in Usagi Yojimbo and those of any living or dead persons is intended, and any such similarity that may exist is purely coincidental.

Last change: 19. May 2003

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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.