Who else discovered Usagi Yojimbo through the TMNT?

[SakuradaKaoru]

I hope the TMNT aspect doesn't put this in the wrong forum...

I first found out about Usagi Yojimbo looking at Wikipedia's crossover article. It said Usagi and TMNT have crossed over in every form of media. I had never heard of Usagi Yojimbo so I looked it up.

I'd like to say I picked up a copy of UY at the local comic shop while it was still open, but if I HAD discovered it that way I would probably have been skeptical due to the use of animal characters.

I wish I didn't have to buy Usagi online. And I couldn't find where to subscribe to UY on the Dark Horse website. D:

But that's a bit off-topic.

[Steve Hubbell]

I am probably an extreme case here, but I had never read a Mutant Turtles story, even though I had heard of them, until I bought the first Usagi Yojimbo issue from Mirage which featured the Turtles.

Currently, I have in my collection Donatello #1, Turtle Soup #1, the Shell Shock tpb, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #46 & 47, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Giant Size Special #9 (Archie), and Tales of the TMNT #25 & 53,

As far as the Turtles cartoons, I've only seen the couple episodes of the newer series in which Usagi made appearences.

[chickrockguitar]

Yes. I First saw Usagi though TMNT.

[MikeM]

I heard of the TMNT before they were a cartoon and just a gritty indie comic.

When looking for some TMNT comics I found a Usagi Yojimbo comic as well. Unfortunately I didn't pick it up at the time. I just went 'cool' and bought some more of the turtles. I do regret that decision.

MikeM

[Mayhem]

I first saw Usagi in the computer game, although I was already a Turtles fan by that point. Then he turned up in the animated series and I went "oh, interesting there," although I didn't get into Usagi until a few years further down the line...

[Lubidius]

I owned a good handful of the first series of TMNT comics by Mirage. Then a friend pointed out Usagi to me perhaps a year or so after I started reading TMNT.

[Ronin-K]

HAH! When I was a younger kid I first saw Usagi on the TMNT cartoon (the new one, mind you), and he was my favorite character for a long time, until I got older and stopped watching cartoons. When I was on the Dark Horse site looking for Star Wars comics a few years later, I saw Usagi in the Zone Index, so I checked it out. The comics looked so incredible I ordered the first 3 books the following day. And that's how it began.

[Gallennon]

I hate to say it, but I disliked Usagi due to the TMNT cartoon. How they portrayed him in the 1980's version made one miss how awesome Usagi really was. As a lot of folk here can figure, I was not a fan till a few month back when I first started to post here. I was a fool, but I saw the light and I do love the character.

But with that I am curious why now, with the new TMNT form a few years back and the ever growing popularity of anime in the Us, have we not seen a Usagi animated series, either for kid or for adults? Being a artist and always wanting to do work in animation, I had a bunch of ideas a month ago for a Usagi animation, most opening sequences which came to mind while listening to some music.

[Ransom]

I think a lot of people only knew Usagi through the turtles. Sadly, as a kid I only knew him as a supporting character and action figure in the TMNT line. It wasn't until the 2003 series came out (I only casually caught occasional episodes) and I saw them enter Usagi's world that I did some research and realized he was a totally unique character. I've since read almost all of Mr Saki's series and absolutely love it! It's just about everything I like about comics!

I hope the turtles continue to give Usagi some need publicity. Those episodes in the 2003 series really show that an animated Usagi series could work IMHO. I'd have loved to see a spin off, but I guess that boat has probably passed.

[SakuradaKaoru]

An Usagi cartoon couldn't be made for kids, that's for certain. Too much killing.

But it could possibly air late at night on Adult Swim or something.

Perhaps start it off with a 3-4 episode-length movie to get people's attention?

[Leonardo-san]

...yes, I also found the UY comics by way of the old Mirage TMNT comics.
I'm happy for those crossovers because it might otherwise have taken me a lot longer to find UY.

[johnnyjagwani]

I found him to be so annoying in the original turtles cartoons, no offense Stan, but rediscovered him, while asking my local comic store guy - for a comicbook similar to an Akira Kurosawa movie... My best long running series buys ever.

[Gallennon]

That was my same issue. The 80's TMNT made Usagi really dumb and annoying, more so then the rest of the shows cast. So even after I discovered he was his own independent comic book, I was still leery of wanting to read it. Like I have said, it took growing up and defining my taste in comics and manga, before I realized how good the Usagi comic was.

But now that I know, hell or high water, i shall make Baltimore Comic con so I can meet you Stan and hopefully get some art or a autograph. I missed out on meeting Tezuka, Eisner, (cause I was too young) and Miyazaki, (cause he rarely does cons in the US, let alone visit the US or east coast for that matter) I will not miss out on meeting you.

[Lady Keiko_ronin Usagi]

yep, I did too, in my final year of middle school. I saw him in the Battle Nexus arc episode where he fought alongside Leonardo.

[Todd Shogun]

I was a TMNT fan before reading Usagi. Back in 1986 the TMNT blazed a trail for many other black-and-white comics during what is known as the B&W Boom. I think when I saw the Usagi/TMNT pin-up in Donatello #1 I had to find out what was going on with this rabbit. And the rest is history.