General discussion about Usagi Yojimbo, the comics, the stories, the characters, collectibles, TV appearances, Stan Sakai, Space Usagi, Nilson & Hermy, and all other related topics.
Steve Hubbell wrote:I think the whole Scrooge McDuck line of messages started as a recommendation for another anthropomorphic adventure series, as opposed to another samurai series.
Exactly. The genealogy of the funny animal adventure book (of which Usagi is one of the greatest, and certainly the best being published today) has a kind of direct lineage to Carl Barks and others.
... and that points to the hard part with recommending something off of Usagi, because there's nothing else that's quite like Usagi! Stan weaves a host of different influences that have likely been combined nowhere else: the American comic books he read as a kid, samurai cinema (and Japanese movies in general), actual historical research, and of course the influence of his friend Sergio Aragones. There's quite a few manga and few American and European series with wandering samurai, but none of them are really like Usagi because only Usagi is like Usagi!
Unrelated to samurai or funny animal comics:
If you liked Doom that Came to Gotham, you will probably like Batman: Gotham by Gaslight. You may have already read it, but it is a great Batman in the 1800s story with Mike Mignola art. I wish DC would do more in that universe (although there was the fantastic Convergence: Shazam which involved the Gotham by Gaslight universe).
Thanks LJ. Maybe one day I will be able to impress Don Rosa with my extensive Scrooge McDuck knowledge. It must be hard for creators to hear the same mistakes and questions over and over. I’m sure Sensei is tired of being asked when Usagi will be on the next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cartoon.
Tom Wilson, the guy who played Biff in Back to the Future created a card that he hands out to fans to answer their questions:
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If I achieve my life’s ambition of becoming a D list celebrity and frequent guest judge on Top Chef, I promise you I will not forget the Smallfolk!
I just remembered I heard the new IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comic is really good. OnitsukaTiger you should check it out.
I quite enjoyed the series. The last book has just been published in french (didn't get to read it yet). The english publication is still ongoing, I believe.
I also have Okko in my collection, although I haven't read any of it yet. The art is what caught my eye. I have the first four hardcovers, and I am waiting for the fifth to be published before I begin reading... I want to be able to sit down and read the entire series beginning to end.
As far as manga goes you've got a lot of options. You can go old school with Lone Wolf and Cub. That whole series in now collected in 10 reasonably priced omnibus editions that are a larger size than the individual books.
for manga you've got Vagabond. Which is a lengthy story based on the novel Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa, which is turn based on the life of Miyamoto Musashi.
OnitsukaTiger wrote:Is Scrooge a samurai? Am I missing something here?
Not at all, but he goes on adventures across the world, and his stories have a similar emotional range to Usagi -- some are straight up adventure whereas others are laugh out loud funny or tear-jerking. Most people who enjoy one enjoy the other.
Angilasman wrote:Don Rosa has mentioned he frequently feels belittled and even harassed at American cons by folks who have no idea what his work is and just assume he's doing Disney or DuckTales fan art or some such (as opposed to being overseas, where Donald/Scrooge are some of the most beloved and widely know comics and he's well known). He may have been having a pretty bad day.
I've met Rosa three times, and (sadly) he usually seems to be having a bad day.
I do understand. The man is a rock star in Europe. It's quite a transition coming home to the states and having folks assume he's just some guy who draws the characters from Ducktales. But yeah, it is tough when you're a serious fan and feel that he is being dismissive or abrupt. He deserves so much more attention -- at least he and his fans coming to his table can agree upon that.
