Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

The cover for UY 108 is up at the Coming Up in UY section....

http://usagiyojimbo.com/comingup.html#uy108

Okay - we already know that Inazuma/Jei is badly wounded somehow in a previous issue. Never mind who exactly Usagi and Inazuma/Jei are facing on the cover; that isn't the real question. The real question is why Usagi would want to protect Jei (as the cover suggests) in the first place?

Is it just me or does Usagi really look older and/or drained on that cover?

And does he really protect Jeizuma ?
To me it looks like they were duelling and Jeizuma passed him, receiving the wound; Usagi is known to remain in the last stance after a duel....

It's not just you - he definitely looks different to me - older. He has been through the wringer of late though.
I had the same thought about them having just duelled - but isn't the sword facing the wrong way for that to be the case?

Looks to me like he's protecting Inazuma. Not unlike Usagi, as he does consider her a friend. Maybe Jei's taking advantage of this and is posing as Inazuma?

I don't want to give away too much, but here is part of the UY 108 synopsis that I sent to Editor Diana:


UY 108 synopsis
Sparrows, chapter 4

With each passing hour, bounty hunters, including Gen and Stray Dog, are ever closer to Inazuma. She had saved Usagi once so he owes her a debt of honor, but is that debt still owed now that Inazuma is possessed by the spirit of the homicidal demon Jei?

morna-san wrote: but isn't the sword facing the wrong way for that to be the case?

I'd say Usagi struck from top right to lower left with full force (both hands on the grip, right one on top). The sharp edge is slightly facing backwards, so he would have to turn it for an effctive follow-up strike.

But on second thought, I don't think Usagi and Inazuma duelled; she has safed his life once, and although calling them friends would be a bit too much, Usagi still owes her...
( Hah; Sensei was faster than me to respond; I was bringing my two girls to bed before reading his post, really.)

Thomas Froehling wrote:To me it looks like they were duelling and Jeizuma passed him, receiving the wound; Usagi is known to remain in the last stance after a duel....

Y'know, I really hope we haven't started a trend where various Jei-possessed characters are titled by name-combos ( i.e. "Jeisagi, Jeizuma, Jeisabo, Jeigen, Jeisuke, Jeitaro," etc. etc. ).

This is what I think is going to happen.

The bounty hunters are catching up. One lands a lucky hit and wounds Jeizuma (I like the combinations of names Ben) when Usagi jumps in to save her/him. Usagi owes Inazuma so he won't let the bounty hunters kill her, even though that means defending Jei as well.

Usagi is a fantastic comic isnt it?

MikeM

Ben wrote:

Thomas Froehling wrote:To me it looks like they were duelling and Jeizuma passed him, receiving the wound; Usagi is known to remain in the last stance after a duel....

Y'know, I really hope we haven't started a trend where various Jei-possessed characters are titled by name-combos ( i.e. "Jeisagi, Jeizuma, Jeisabo, Jeigen, Jeisuke, Jeitaro," etc. etc. ).

You forgott Jei Dog

ha! good one!


heh heh

You could also say Jeinukai.

I posted an unused version of 108's cover there also. Check it out. According to Stan, "I decided it would be more dramatic to have a close-up for the cover, so redid it. I like the placement of the swords on the unused one better, though."

http://usagiyojimbo.com/comingup.html#uy108

This should clarify, along with the synopsis Stan provided, what's really going on here...Usagi protecting Jei! What's this world coming to??

Todd Shogun wrote:This should clarify, along with the synopsis Stan provided, what's really going on here...Usagi protecting Jei! What's this world coming to??

That's what makes Stan's writing so diabolical. He always manages to raise the stakes in surprising ways.

As for the alternate cover, I prefer the published version better. Usagi's expression is more subdued and a little creepier as a result. The other one is just a routine "battle-snarl", although I do like Jeizuma's face on cover #2. Instead of just looking tired, she looks downright desperate - something we hardly ever see from Jei or Inazuma.

Maybe a combo of the two covers would have been cool. Usagi's subtle glare contrasted against Jeizuma's more intense grimace.

actually I prefer the unused one quite a bit. Usagi's mouth looks strange to me on both 107 and 108 covers. I like the composition more on the unused one. They're smaller and more vulnerable seeming... and yeah the swords.


just MHO