Usagi 106 - now with spoilers!

[morna-san]

Well who's read it? I thought it was great - I was a bit shocked to see Jei standing there. Stan gave me a little frisson! I slapped the book closed as soon as I caught sight of him to savour the possibilities - decided it must be a flashback ... but it wasn't! That was a nice bit about the Orphan Maker guy. Usagi's karma looks to have dodged a bullet there.

more later

[Todd Shogun]

I thought it was awesome. But Stan -- that ninja-like character who appears on the cover...he's not in the story! What gives? Who is this dude?

[morna-san]

I kinda suspect that the Sparrows story line diverged from its original path - judging by the covers so far.

[MikeM]

Does anyone really love the way Stan draws Jei in his original body now?
The whole tilted head thing gives Jei that feeling of evil and creepiness.

Fantastic issue and I feel bad for the monk with the nightmares. (I forgot his name all of a sudden)

MikeM

[Thomas Froehling]

But Stan -- that ninja-like character who appears on the cover...he's not in the story! What gives? Who is this dude?

Well, the people attacking Usagi on the roof of cover 105 weren't in the story either....

I kind of like the idea that this guy symbolizes a hidden danger, ready to jump on our heroes .

@Mourna: The Orphan Maker bit was intriguing; as far as I know, it's been the third time that Usagi's actions have made people abbandon their choosen path of being (or becoming) criminals. Oh yes, Usagi may have killed brigands by the hundreds, but I think making others stop what evil they are doing and take another path of life is far more valuable.

It was very important to have Diana and Todd speak out against those scalpers; if only we'd seen the last of those scum....

The back cover (the reddend Jei with the tilted head) does remind me of Hellboy; I haven't read the comic yet, only seen some pictures...The color suits him very well, as does his claw-like fingers <shudder>

[madman31]

I was curious about the last two covers as well. One of the (many) things I like about Usagi month after month is that the covers are attached to what is actually happening in the book. It bugs be that books at the 'big two' have covers with no tie to the story itself--usually they are just grandiose pinups anymore.

So my first inkling was similar to one mentioned above--perhaps the story has wandered a little away from Stan's original idea, making the covers less applicable to the current storyline.

Just my 10 Yen's worth.

[Stan Sakai]

I thought it was awesome. But Stan -- that ninja-like character who appears on the cover...he's not in the story! What gives? Who is this dude?

This was one of those many instances where the cover was drawn months before the story was written. I had an inkling of where I wanted Sparrows to go, but the story changed by the time I got to this paticular issue.

In some cases, like UY 110, I wrote a story to fit a particular cover. However, I could not do that with a multi-issue story like Sparrows.

[estee]

I just figured that Stan was doing what all cover artists do nowadays...the art on the cover never has anything thing do with the action inside....or worse they're just a glorified splash page with some hero just standing there.

[Andy]

Stan's covers are awesome.

I agree with you about mainstream comic covers. I sometimes can't tell by looking at the cover whether I've already bought it or not. They're just too much the same! Just standing around posing.

[Maka]

I bought my copy today.

That was a nice bit about the Orphan Maker guy.

SPOILERS






The transformation of the Orphan Maker (OM) was my favorite sub story in this issue. Blindness as a metaphor for clarity has been used many times before (i.e. the transformation of Saul to Paul in the bible) but it didn't seem cliché here.

Another interesting part of this sub story is how Usagi relationship with the OM mirrors the moral. The OM talks of karma. Usagi comes full circle with the OM too. In The MOM (Mother of Mountains) Usagi is responsible for blinding OM twice. But in this story Usagi is responsible for his redemption twice - first through OM transformation (spiritually), and second in physically saving him from the bullies.

Why didn't Usagi tell the OM who he was? The OM has some idea but he is still "blind" to the reality of the situation. It is interesting to think about what would have happened if Usagi told the Orphan Maker who he was.

In any case, I hope we see the Orphan Maker in another story some day. He is not fully redeemed yet. He would be an interesting character study (just like General Ikeda was).

The rest of the issue is well done. Lots of insights (Inazuma is fighting Jai for the past month, Senzo looks like the next guy to be possessed) and loose ends to be wrapped up. I think the last two issues, in particular, were very well done.

Peace, maka

[morna-san]

well, I guess you've more than covered most of the "more" I was referring to earlier. Really nice observations Maka. I too, wondered how things might've gone down if Usagi'd revealed his identity to the OM. My brain has him doing an immediate flip flop and going after Usagi - at least initially and having to confront his demons again to really, truly redeem himself. So many possibilities too, in the Senzo situation. I'm avoiding too much wild speculation but I'm hoping it's something a bit more mysterious than simply that Senzo's the next Jei-vessel. I think there needs to be something quirky and more ambiguous about who gets Jei-ified. .. as is Jei's motivations and choices... and then there's Keiko! wonderful stuff!

[Stan Sakai]

I remember a discussion quite recently on the Dojo Boards that Usagi has gotten a bit too blood thirsty, so I laughed when I read estee's review: "Sheesh, Usagi hasn't killed anybody in two or three issues now."

[Thomas Froehling]

Yeah, my wife, who isn't into comics and is kind of vary about Mara reading Usagi as well, asked me: "So, how many got killed by Usagi in that issue?" She was genuinely surprised when I said none.

I think the best way to scare off a crowd of bullies was Usagi's remark along the line: I can't kill you all (although I think he could have), but I can kill you !
Being in a mob gives the individual a kind of courage that he would otherwise never have, but when it comes to being the first to get killed, almost everybody would back off...

[estee]

I remember a discussion quite recently on the Dojo Boards that Usagi has gotten a bit too blood thirsty, so I laughed when I read estee's review: "Sheesh, Usagi hasn't killed anybody in two or three issues now."

Well...let's be fair...Usagi never goes looking for a fight.

[Ben]

I remember a discussion quite recently on the Dojo Boards that Usagi has gotten a bit too blood thirsty, so I laughed when I read estee's review: "Sheesh, Usagi hasn't killed anybody in two or three issues now."

Well...let's be fair...Usagi never goes looking for a fight.

I think it was the events within #101 that stuck in everybody's mind, even though Jeisagi's rampage didn't really happen. But it definitely shook things up among the readership a little.