Welcome New Members to the Usagi Yojimbo Dojoboard Forums

[lucasf]

Nice thread. I'll try to introduce myself, although I read the forum since years (I had some contact with Steve) and I'm not so used (nor feel comfortable) to write in English.

I'm from Argentina. I got hooked in Usagi when I was a kid in the 90's and saw the TMNT Cartoons. TMNT pased away, but Usagi still atracted me. Around 2000 I contacted the people of old forum, looking for information about Usagi (I'd never found anything related in the local comic stores), and after a few weeks I received a pack direct from Dark Horse, signed by Stan, with the first two spanish books of Usagi, recently published. Those books, and the letter by Stan, is one of my most valuable treasures.
After that I continued reading Usagi in spanish (because one of my brothers liked it two, and he doesn't read english), but ater a few years I continued buying the original TPBs. I don't know any other Usagi fan in my country.

About 5 years ago Stan was in my country, but sadly I had no chance to meet him (I live in Buenos Aires, he was in Mendoza... aproximately 1.000 km).

I read comics since I can read. I think I learned to read through comics, probably with Asterix, which remains one of my beloved comics.

As a teenager I liked some Superhero comics, but after that I found it a bit borring, and continued reading European and Argentinean comics. I still read some US comics, published by Vertigo, but no more SH (except Irredeemable, what is not exactly a SH-comic, and some almost SH-comics that I keep, like Morrison's Animal Man or Bachalo's Generation X).

My favourite comics are probably Corto Maltés and Asterix. And the US comics I've read are probably very popular between Usagi readers (Bone, Cerebus, etc.), but I never read Groo.

I like some mangas, but not so much. In my collection I have only Evangelion and Bakuman (the Argentinean edition is still going on).

I try to read everything what is published in my country (probably not so famous in USA, but more knwon in Europe).

Besides that, I'm a linguist (not specialized exactly in English ) and I work as a librarian (in a Library, whose comics' section has exponentially grown since I work here).

Best wishes,
/Lucas

[BuckRogers]

Welcome! Great to "meet" you!

First off, your English is perfect, no worries there.

Secondly I just LOVE your story about getting your Usagi books direct from Dark Horse and Stan! Somehow it does not surprise me as I learn more and more about Stan but still it is so refreshing and wonderful to hear it.

Lastly, keep your fingers and toes crossed for MESSI tomorrow against PSG!!! I am a HUGE MESSI/futbol/Barca/La Liga fan and just watched Argentina-Ecuador live in New Jersey two weeks ago. Sadly Messi did not play but Di Maria did and he was awesome, as was the whole team. Go Messi!!!

[Chopalong Slashity]

Hoi hoi hoi! I already introduced myself in the bug report forum but figured I'd give a more formal aloha here.

I first discovered the series courtesy of a friend of mine who works at Dark Horse---I had been out of contact with her for months, emailed her to ask how she was doing, and she said she had gotten a job at DH! She asked me if I had read Usagi: Senso yet, I said "No" and resolved to do so to sate my curiousity (I had MAYBE heard of UY once or twice before but never read it), and lo and behold, several months (and a lot of library holds) later the rest is history. I know, I know, Senso's kinda the deep end for a newcomer to jump into, but I think it's a testament to Stan's skill that even though I had no previous idea who the characters were I immediately wanted more of them anyway (after I got the tears outta my eyes, anyway). So far the only complaint I have about the series is that I'm in my late 20s and I had scarcely heard of the series before now, but that's scarcely Stan's fault!

Favorite 'cycle' so far is a tie between Grasscutter and The Red Scorpion. Favorite individual story is Taiko. Favorite character is Jei---few other of Usagi's rogues gallery have managed as consistent an amount of near-victories against Usagi as him! (And a long, long list of other characters in the close-second-place spot. And speaking of Jei, if Stan's reading this, thanks for signing the shirt I ordered, good sir!)

Also, I've had a decently big interest in old-world Japan since I found a battered-but-functional Legend of the Mystical Ninja SNES cartridge in a bag in the rain as a 5-year-old (and that was my first video game, to boot!). And come to think of it, it's a bit funny that that game was made by Konami along with the SNES TMNT games. And after finding out many, many, m-a-n-y years later who was half-responsible for the TMNT franchise, I feel like I've completed a circle within a circle after discovering UY.

As for other stuff, I read a moderate amount of manga (usually in certain genres like sci-fi---I've given up trying to follow what's "hip" just for the sake of keeping current as it usually winds up not sticking with me, like what happened with Madoka Magica), a much smaller amount of Western comics (aside from rare gems like Usagi it's largely superhero stuff and the non-superhero stuff usually tends not to jump out at me), play video games, and do volunteer work in my city (got a free new computer out of that!).

Pleased to meetcha all!

[Lobster Johnson]

She asked me if I had read Usagi: Senso yet, I said "No" and resolved to do so to sate my curiousity (I had MAYBE heard of UY once or twice before but never read it), and lo and behold, several months (and a lot of library holds) later the rest is history. I know, I know, Senso's kinda the deep end for a newcomer to jump into, but I think it's a testament to Stan's skill that even though I had no previous idea who the characters were I immediately wanted more of them anyway (after I got the tears outta my eyes, anyway). So far the only complaint I have about the series is that I'm in my late 20s and I had scarcely heard of the series before now, but that's scarcely Stan's fault!

The first Usagi issue I ever read was actually a friend's copy of Senso #1, and I flipped through the rest of the issues too. My friend also had the "1 for $1" issue, which I read and enjoyed. I started my own collection with the UY Saga books, and I now have all but 4 of the Usagi trades, I think. Needless to say, UY is one of my favorite comics.
Oh, and I agree - Senso is a very sad comic. What a tragic ending!

[mrspock128]

Hello everyone!

I actually joined this forum a couple months ago but didn't introduce myself until now.

I've been a comic book fan since my cousin introduced me to Spider-Man when I was ~10 years old. My first exposure to UY came from an episode of the TMNT cartoon series, which I was obsessed with when I was a kid.

Comics and I grew apart over time but found each other again ~1 year ago. I was drawn back in due to all the comic-related movies coming out. A few months ago I was talking to the owner of a local comic shop and he was telling me about the newest volume of the UY saga coming out. Up until this point, I wasn't even aware a comic series existed. He let me read the first few issues of a softcover of Saga Vol. 1. How had I missed this all these years?! The art and stories are nothing short of amazing. I read a lot of comics from various publishers and I have to say that issue-for-issue, this is one of the best series I've ever read.

I love how succinct the art and the writing are; I feel like this makes the stories stronger since there are less useless distractions to get in the way.

I'm really excited about all the issues I get to catch up on. I guess this means I'm hooked, lol.

P.S.
My collection is exclusively collected editions (hardcover, some softcover). I have the Saga HC Volumes 2-5 and have been desperately searching for a copy of Volume 1 as well as the HC version of the Special Edition Box Set (From Fantagraphics). If anyone has copies of these two they would be willing to part with, it would be greatly appreciated.

I have cash through Paypal or a few rare Marvel Omnibus books (Ennis Punisher, Death of Captain America, Silver Surfer, etc.) I would be willing to possibly trade for them.

Thanks!

[Lobster Johnson]

Welcome, Mr. Spock! I think you'll like the Dojoboard. It's really a great fan community.
Live long and prosper.

[Steve Hubbell]

Hey Mr. Spock,
Welcome to the Dojo forums. Glad to hear you discovered the world of Usagi Yojimbo comics, you have a lot of great reading to look forward to as you catch up on what has come before. I always envy those who get the chance to read Usagi for the first time, it is just so hard to compare it to anything else being published today.

Unfortunately, the Fantagraphics hardcover version of the Usagi Yojimbo Special Edition and the Dark Horse hardcover version of Usagi Yojimbo Saga #1 are both really difficult to find due to the relatively small print runs both releases had. Best of luck in your quest to find nice (affordable) copies.

Again, welcome to the UY Dojo!

"Live Long and Read Usagi"

Abayo,
Steve

[Mayhem]

Welcome Mr Spock, your love of Usagi is... most logical

Fantagraphics has published a softcover version of the Special Edition, if you think that will suffice instead of the hardcover edition. Can't help with Saga #1 sadly, it's still commanding $300+ prices on eBay due to the lower print run compared to the other volumes.

[Eltanin]

Welcome Mr Spock.
I feel your pain with Saga HC #1.
I have just given up and switched to softcovers because of it.

[Maka]

Welcome to the dojo Mr. Spock and Hopalong Slashity. Isn't is great to discover a whole new world through Stan's storytelling? Enjoy every moment as you find out how deep the connections are between characters that have been developed over 31 years. Great to have you both here! Peace, maka

[maichan]

Dear Chopalong & MrSpock, welcome to the Dojo! Please enjoy your time here. The Dojo is a great place and has meant a lot to me since I joined. Kanpai!

[Lobster Johnson]

Dear Chopalong & MrSpock, welcome to the Dojo! Please enjoy your time here. The Dojo is a great place and has meant a lot to me since I joined. Kanpai!

That was your one-thousandth post!

[maichan]

Dear Chopalong & MrSpock, welcome to the Dojo! Please enjoy your time here. The Dojo is a great place and has meant a lot to me since I joined. Kanpai!

That was your one-thousandth post!

Great! What did I win?

[Usagi-chan]

Welcome, Mr. Spock!

[Chopalong Slashity]

@Maka/maichan: Thanks for the warm welcome! I just found out that my library has paperbacks of all of the collections (including Yokai) save for some of the Fantagraphics-era books (and it apparently has e-reader versions of the missing volumes) so I'm gonna have a lot of fun playing catch-up this month!