I was living in Northern California, and the comic book store which had my faithful custom since the 80s carried Usagi for me. Yet, for reasons I won't go in right now, my family and I moved to Casper, WY. I was dismayed to discover that the comic book store I googled before moving had closed and gone before we arrived in town.
That's right I moved to a city with no comic book shops at all. Alas!
My wife always complains about my comics taking up too much space, so if its something I am not looking at, they should be stored -- and my 6 or 7 short boxes were put in the garage. Not too long ago, I got an itch to read some Usagi, so I pulled the box out, and brought it in.
A few nights ago, my 5 year old son wanted a "new bedtime story" so I pulled out the Kite Story, and read it to him for a bedtime story. HE LOVED IT. I also read him the last part of "Daisho" because he wanted to see a "Dog Samurai".
A few days later, I found him digging in my box of comics. "What are you doing?" I asked.
"I looking for Usagi. I looking for the Kite one!"
He found it, and I took it out of the bag (most of my fantagraphics are bagged, but they are getting lost over time), and taught him to read it carefully. He tore another comic recently, and I told him not to worry about it, but I told him that these comics were old, and if it tore, I could not get a new one. He has done very good. He loves that story because of the character who gets taken by the crooked gambler. "RATS!" he yells, as enthusiastically as I did when I read it to him the first time. His other favorite issue is Mirage #3 because it has the turtles in it, but he thinks its silly that they all wear red, instead of "their own colors".
So that book he tore, was a trade of Star Wars tales I got from a bookstore going out of business. In it is the Stan Sakai story "Urchins". I was thrilled when I came upon that. My son was looking at it recently, then he exclaimed, "Daddy! Look! Its a Usagi story!" He had spotted the Tokage Lizard, and perhaps thought Usagi would be just off panel if the lizard was there! I was so proud of him, recognizing an artist by the work, without having to read the credits. I will make him a discerning comics reader yet!
So Usagi has found a home in another heart, that of my son. It makes me smile just thinking about it. I think I need to pull out my Ultra Klutz and Beanworld books.
