USAGI YOJIMBO Volume 1, Number 19

Dear Mr. Sakai,

I think Usagi Yojimbo is the best comic I've ever read. It is one of the few I can read over again and still enjoy it. All my friends thought I was crazy when I started collecting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and now they have TMNT action figures and their own cartoon. I'm trying to convince my friend to start collecting Usagi Yojimbo because he is a big fan of comics, especially X-Men. He has every single issue.

Anyway, I come from a Japanese background and I know that "usagi" means "rabbit"; however, I was wondering what "yojimbo" means. I'm not sure if you made it up or what.

Sincerely,
Chris Saito Hosmer
Bridgewater, NJ

[Ah yes, it's tough to be a trendsetter, Chris. For the answer to your question about what "yojimbo" means, check out the following letter. - ED.]

Dear Stan,

I very much enjoy your Rabbit Bodyguard. [Got that, Chris? - ED.] I just started reading your comics and so far enjoy it very much. I'd like to say keep up the good work and I am going to continue to read every issue of Usagi Yojimbo. I have a question.

Was it hard to think up Usagi Yojimbo? I mean, I also wish to someday have my own comic book, but haven't thought of any ideas. I sit for hours thinking in front of blank paper, but nothing comes up. Can you help or give me any ideas?

Sincerely,
Cynthia Blanchard
Panama City Beach, FL

[Oh, thinking up Usagi was the easiest thing in the world. Most cartoonists think up two or three great things before breakfast, and then just have to spend the rest of the day trying to decide which one they like best...

[Okay, okay, I'm kidding. Although a few characters and concepts spring full-blown into cartoonists' heads, most will tell you that it can take years and years before a really great idea comes along - and then comes the working out of the idea, which is even harder.

[Don't sit in front of a piece of paper and THINK, though. Go out and watch movies, read books, look at sunsets, and keep you mind open - eventually a great idea will come to you. And THEN the REALLY hard work begins.

[- ED.]

Dear Stan,

Boy, did you catch me off-guard. Here I thought that there would be a death scene between Zato and Gen, and what happens? You just have Gen's horn cut off. Not that I was disappointed or anything, but it wasn't as suspenseful as I had hoped. (Well, actually, it was suspenseful in the sense that you couldn't tell who was wounded at first). Anyway, the story was very exciting (look at the ending; all of the characters are together to cause some awful bodily damage) and full of action (the fight scene, for example), along with a good dose of humanity. I really can't wait to see what is going to happen next issue, because this issue is about as exciting as the book can get. The beginning of this issue, by the way, was really quite interesting. I wasn't sure at first what to make of it, but then we saw that it was really a fever dream and it all became clear to me. Very well done.

As always, the artwork is just quite beautiful to see. The detail that is in every frame is greatly appreciated. The dragon on page three was a nasty-looking mama, wasn't he?

Yours,
Galen S. West
Fresno, CA

[Why do I get the impression that "suspenseful" here is used to replace "bloody"? Thank you for the kind words, though. - ED.]

Dear Mr. Sakai,

Hello! My name is Heather Doncaster and I am 19 years old. I am writing to you for two reasons: First, to tell you how wonderful Usagi Yojimbo is! I have been reading Usagi since #15 (yes, I'm a latecomer!). The issue impressed me so much I've since purchased all the back issues. The very last one I bought today is Usagi #6; in the letter page of this it indicates that you sell original Usagi artwork...

Which brings me to the second reason I wrote to you - I would love to own some Usagi artwork! I know Usagi #6 was published several years ago and you may not even do this any more, but I was always taught that it never hurts to ask! If this is indeed possible I am sincerely interested. I would like to get a picture of Usagi and Tomoe together, or maybe of Usagi and Spot together...Oh heck, I'd just be glad to get anything!

Thank you for taking the time to read this; please keep up the wonderful work!

Heather R. Doncaster
Knoxville, TN

[Sorry, Heather, but in the time since Usagi #6 Stan has been so swamped by requests for artwork that he has had to put a more or less permanent halt to original-art requests. (Stan does not sell his original pages, so any original art would have to be especially done for the occasion.) If you catch him at a convention, however, he generally does lots of sketches there. I realize that this doesn't help someone from Knoxville, but maybe someday you can hop out for the San Diego comic con; Stan's practically guaranteed to be there. - ED.]

To Mister Kim Thompson, Editor Supreme,

How's that for praise? I admit that some of the readers have been neglecting you, but I didn't realize it until Mike Ahn's letter in Usagi #17. I agree that without you, there wouldn't be a Usagi Yojimbo comic. But it's not all the reader's fault. You really haven't been making yourself known in the pages of the Lacerating Lagomorph. I mean, you always reply with "- ED." which is OK, but many of the readers don't know who you are. (I have always known who you are. I usually started my letters to Usagi off with "Dear Kim and Stan.") Maybe you should reply with "- KT."

"In the Heart of the Storm" was excessive. Every sequence was superbly conducted. Everything went together extravagantly. The conversation between Usagi and Torame before their duel was a dynamic display of spiritual honor and was also quite touching. I was saddened by the deaths of Ino and Shingen, but they made even more of the story. In a way, both got their retributions. Shingen got revenge and Ino finally found peace. The introduction of Shingen's sister got me to think that she'll play a role in the next issue. Maybe, eh? I enjoyed the last page, where the Dragon is now a sign of victory.

Well, I'm down to only one question: What's with Noriyuki's eyebrows? That's all for now and thanks again for a great comic.

Todd Shogun
Cypress, CA

[That's a David Letterman-type question, now isn't it, Todd? "Say, Noriyuki, what's the deal with those eyebrows anyway?" Why don't you ask him yourself, big guy? - ED.]

Dear Stan,

After re-reading your Usagi comics, the only place I can figure out where Usagi got his scar above his eye is on page 15 of Usagi #4. In the fourth panel, Usagi is struck across his helmet by Gunichi and afterwards on page 18, you can see the scar for the first time as Usagi kneels down. Therefore the scar will always remind Usagi of Gunichi's cowardice and of Lord Mifune's defeat on the Adachigahara Plain.

David Wong
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

[Give the man a scar - er, um, a cigar! Nicely done, David.]

Dear Mr. Sakai,

I am a very devoted Usagi collector. I am also a bujutsu pupil, with my black belt in tanto jutsu, naginata jutsu, kenjutsu, jojutsu, kyujutsu, and jujutsu as well as a beginner in karate. I am also a Japanese history student and aspiring artist. Needless to say, I am very impressed with your historical accuracy in armor, weapons, and clothing. Could we please see Usagi using hand-to-hand against an opponent?

P.S. I would die if you could offer a Usagi Yojimbo universe (just like Marvel Universe). It's about time to see a samurai instead of the overused ninja.

Reg Hardman
Brantford, Ontario, Canada

[There's just room enough here to mention that the swell drawing at the bottom of the page is by Mexican cartoonist (and friend of Stan's) CARLOS TRON; adapted from a cover by Frank Miller, of course.

[See you in about six weeks, when Usagi becomes involved in a kite-flying contest.

[- YE OLDE ED.!]

Fan Art by Carlos Tron

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.