Usagi Yojimbo? Anyone? [Archive]

Louis Lane

10-09-2005, 07:18 PM

USAGI YOJIMBO is great. Thanks for the reminder - I've got the latest two trades to read yet.

Usagi is probably the last of the great 1980s titles still being published, and the back issues are reasonably priced and/or available in collected editions.

LL

estee

10-09-2005, 10:40 PM

Love it...one of the best and most consistant book out there.

So drop that Astonishing varient and buy this book. ;)

Michael C Lorah

10-10-2005, 12:40 AM

For my money, USAGI is, bar none, the best adventure comic of the past 20 years. Absolutely superb, wonderful work. Stan Sakai is one of the grand masters of the comic book medium.

Fathers and Son is right near the top of my reading stack, and I cannot wait to get into it!!

comichick

10-10-2005, 06:22 AM

Yep! It sure is!
I'm buying the latest UY Trades as fast as I can read them and my wages allow, lol.

punk_love

10-10-2005, 10:39 AM

I have several issues from the 80s, back when they were published by Fantagraphics maybe? Mirage? I can't remember off hand.

I still really like them although I never got in to keeping up with it. I am amazed that it is still going strong, even today. I consistently read good reviews of it. I'll have to find some newer ones and check them out sometime.

grphxkindaguy

10-10-2005, 10:31 PM

Originally posted by Michael C Lorah
Fathers and Son is right near the top of my reading stack, and I cannot wait to get into it!!

Ditto! got it a couple of weeks ago, have yet to find the time to read it.

A couple of years ago, I dropped the monthly UJ from my pull list. My attitude was no WAY was I pay paying $3 for a black and white comic. Wow, did I come to regret that!

I had some UJ tpb's lying around, and I was looking for some stuff to unload on eBay. Before listing it, I thought I'd give them one last read, "for old times sake". Holy COW, I forgot how GOOD they were!!! No way was I selling these beauties now...

I immediately started hunting the rest of the series in tpb (I sold the monthlies, used them to buy more in tpb form), hungrily reading them as they came in.

I was hooked back on UJ and haven't looked back. I find the comic flows better in tpb form then the monthlies IMO...

I'm STILL waiting for a Groo/Usagi Yojimbo team-up/showdown!!!

Supreme Convoy

10-12-2005, 02:02 AM

Never read the comics (and I probably should) but I love Usagi Yojimbo in Ninja Turtles... and now that I'm older I wonder how they ever got him on the show.

Neuromancer

10-12-2005, 09:49 AM

Excellent title, one of the all-time classics (and yes, I mean all-time!)...Stan deserves every cartoonist's award he gets. :)

grphxkindaguy

10-12-2005, 04:45 PM

Originally posted by Neuromancer
Excellent title, one of the all-time classics (and yes, I mean all-time!)...Stan deserves every cartoonist's award he gets. :)

I just saw the in the latest Dark Horse solicitations, that the ART OF USAGI YOJIMBO is coming out in paperback!!!

Woo-hoo!!!

I'm getting that puppy...

Michael C Lorah

10-12-2005, 06:22 PM

Usagi was on the TMNT show because Mirage Studio was the publisher of Usagi's series at the time. Mirage was run by the creators of the TMNT (using their cartoon money!), so it was pretty easy for them to get call Stan up and get approval to use Usagi.

I have Dark Horse's Art of Usagi in hardcover, and it's a gorgeous book. It's definitely worth picking up!

Fathers and Sons, so far, is yet another Usagi classic. I'm extremely impressed that Sakai keeps the series so fresh and exciting after all these years.

Neuromancer

10-12-2005, 07:06 PM

Originally posted by grphxkindaguy
I just saw the in the latest Dark Horse solicitations, that the ART OF USAGI YOJIMBO is coming out in paperback!!!

Woo-hoo!!!

I'm getting that puppy...

Oh, I couldn't wait that long, LOL, so the HC went right next to the HCs for Art of Hellboy and Art of Sin City. ;) Which sits next to all my Fantagraphics and DH Usagi trades...including my S&N (with sketch!) HC of "The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy!"

grphxkindaguy

10-13-2005, 12:11 AM

Originally posted by Neuromancer
Oh, I couldn't wait that long, LOL, so the HC went right next to the HCs for Art of Hellboy and Art of Sin City. ;) Which sits next to all my Fantagraphics and DH Usagi trades...including my S&N (with sketch!) HC of "The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy!"

I hear ya. My comic budget is SO tight these days, paperbacks are all I could afford, if even that.

Where/how do you store your UJ trades? I keep them in a comic bag, inside a magazine-sized comic box...

Michael C Lorah

10-13-2005, 11:43 AM

I keep my Usagi trades, except DH Art of..., with all of my other trades. They're in long boxes sorted alphabetically by author. The over-size books, including Art of..., are on books shelves.

I'd like to have more of my trades on bookshelves, but I only have so much shelf space in my apartment.

Neuromancer

10-13-2005, 11:59 AM

Trades I keep either in boxes or, as with ones I really enjoy and know I will read over and over again, on shelves. I generally never store them in bags. As for budgeting...yeah, I hear YOU there, grphx! To me, though, Usagi is one of those "splurge" kinda books. :)

grphxkindaguy

10-13-2005, 12:21 PM

Originally posted by Neuromancer
As for budgeting...yeah, I hear YOU there, grphx! To me, though, Usagi is one of those "splurge" kinda books. :)

Luckily, there are a LOT of different sites that give a 30% or more discount on trades. I regularly buy my stuff from Dreamland.com

I also used to do Amazon.com, but it looks like they did away w/discounting some of their trades...

Mapasito

10-13-2005, 01:29 PM

I really like Usagi.
Since I was a kid, I had the Usagi´s game for Spectrum. I didn´t know who was that rabbit, but I really liked the game and the character.
Now, I have like 12 or more TPB. :)

comichick

10-13-2005, 02:58 PM

As a big Usagi fan I wanted to get "The Art oF", I was so dissapointed when it came out in HC only. As I hate HCs, lol. But now I'm happy that its going to be out in PB. Woo! I'm nabbing a copy asap!

grphxkindaguy

10-13-2005, 03:53 PM

Originally posted by comichick
As a big Usagi fan I wanted to get "The Art oF", I was so dissapointed when it came out in HC only. As I hate HCs, lol. But now I'm happy that its going to be out in PB. Woo! I'm nabbing a copy asap!

That's fine, you'll just have to wait on line behind me...

:p ;)

Caramuru

10-13-2005, 05:17 PM

I've been meaning to check this out for a while. There's so much stuff out there to read that I haven't got around to it yet.

usagigoya

10-18-2005, 04:55 AM

A great thread about a great comic!

I just have to say that RockGuitarChick over there in the UK sure has some great taste in comics. :cool:

I also want to mention that there is a Usagi Yojimbo s/n limited edition print called "The Duel" on the current Diamond Comic Distributor's shipping list for items being sent to comic shops this Wednesday.

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/7648/usagiyojimbo70qt.gif http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/903/usagiyojimbo82an.gif http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/4200/usagiyojimbo94qr.gif
http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/9462/usagiyojimbo102gc.gif http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/3107/usagiyojimbo114wl.gif http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/2766/usagiyojimbo129cm.gif

Abayo

comichick

10-19-2005, 09:10 AM

Haha, Hi usagigoya-san!

Cya at the Dojo!
-ChickRockGuitar

Neuromancer

10-19-2005, 06:37 PM

Wow, that takes me back, I actually haven't been to the Dojo in a very long time! Is it still up and running well?

Superelectro

10-20-2005, 02:17 AM

Quite simply the best. That and Walking Dead.

twoarmman

10-21-2005, 11:25 AM

I wish they would put out all the trades again. this is a book I've always wanted to get, but passed on because I can't get so many of the trades.

grphxkindaguy

10-21-2005, 11:59 AM

Originally posted by twoarmman
I wish they would put out all the trades again. this is a book I've always wanted to get, but passed on because I can't get so many of the trades.

Hunt the trades down on either the Dark Horse Comics website, or off of eBay.

That's what I did, to fill in my collection...

Michael C Lorah

10-21-2005, 03:14 PM

Originally posted by twoarmman
I wish they would put out all the trades again. this is a book I've always wanted to get, but passed on because I can't get so many of the trades.

The books seem to go in and out of print. I had the damndest time finding book 7, but then Fantagraphics did a new printing and all was good in my world.:)

I think that you can buy the ones that are available, and the out of print ones will come back into print eventually. That's what I did. They seem to rarely ALL be in print at the same time.

usagigoya

10-23-2005, 04:29 AM

I think it is great that the Usagi Yojimbo books keep going out of print!

It means that there are more and more people discovering and buying the books, which indicates a growing popularity which in turn convinces the publishers to publish additional printings to keep up with the demand.

Usagi Yojimbo might not be considered one of the top ten (or twenty) selling comics, but it is one of the few series of trade paperback collections which has several volumes in the process of being reissued each and every year, with none of the volumes out of print for any extended length of time.

With a release date scheduled for the twentieth volume in the series, Usagi Yojimbo is still going strong, constantly displaying the high levels of professional and creative work which Stan Sakai's name has become synonymous with.

http://img418.imageshack.us/img418/7140/amazingheroes1871qt.jpg

Abayo...

comichick

10-23-2005, 09:06 AM

If you start collecting the Usagi TPBs, I'm sure you'll find that when you come to a certain Volume you want, you won't have that much trouble getting it.

I mean, you have certain website-comic-shops that still have them in stock, as well as, ebay (both .com and .co.uk) and Amazon is very good (again, both .com and .co.uk).

The only problem I had was #4. - And that's in print again now.

usagigoya-san. where did you get that "The Stan Sakai Interview" issue? I didn't even know it existed. Is it still for sale anywhere?

usagigoya

10-23-2005, 03:02 PM

Originally posted by comichick
usagigoya-san. where did you get that "The Stan Sakai Interview" issue? I didn't even know it existed. Is it still for sale anywhere?
The scan is from (Shogun) Todd's copy, I believe, from off the Dojo's Cover Gallery.
http://www.usagiyojimbo.com/other/cover/
(edit - You will like some of the other cool covers Stan has done)

I am not sure where I bought my copy anymore, I've had it for quite a while. it does occassionally show up on ebay.com - but it can also be hard to find.

It has a really cool interview and the first published version of the biographical comic story of how Stan creates an issue of Usagi Yojimbo (reprinted in one of the LTD Ed. books, Art of UY#1 from Radio Comix, and most recently in the Hardcover Art of UY book). It also has some cool early Usagi sketches and misc. art.

ANIME PLAY Fall Edition Vol. 6 Magazine from 2004 is also a cool magazine for Usagi fans. It has a DVD with a video interview / drawing tutorial featuring Stan Sakai explaining what he's doing, as he draws. Unfortunately, I don't know if the DVD comes in a specific region or if it is available in PAL.

Abayo...

comichick

10-24-2005, 04:47 PM

Okay thanks very much for the info.

Any idea where you can get the "Art of UY" comics? I think there where three of them. Is it just ebay now?

Thanks again!

usagigoya

10-24-2005, 07:22 PM

Radio Comix published two issues of "The Art of Usagi Yojimbo" and Dark Horse Comics released The hardcover book of the same name.

Ebay is one place to keep an eye out for them.

Radio Comix has #2 listed for sale:
https://radiocomixstore.com/advanced_search_result.php?search_in_des cription=1&keywords=usagi&osCsid=dd3aa2b5f558996e43809c0ae3b73ee2

So does United Publications in the UK:
http://www.up1.co.uk/Details/A0192

Abayo...

Michael C Lorah

10-24-2005, 11:21 PM

forgive my blatant self-promotion, but I did a review of the most recent Usagi trade in this week's Best Shots column. Some of you may be interested in reading it.:)

usagigoya

10-25-2005, 01:42 AM

Originally posted by Michael C Lorah
forgive my blatant self-promotion, but I did a review of the most recent Usagi trade in this week's Best Shots column. Some of you may be interested in reading it.:)

Done found and read it! :D
Excellent review! :cool:

Someone else also re-posted it to the Usagi Yojimbo Dojo Forum as well. It received the following comment over there...
Originally posted by Stan Sakai
Thanks for posting the review. I had not seen this before. It's a very positive review.
http://www.usagiyojimbo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1722

You start off with a great introductory statement....
Nineteen books into the series and Usagi Yojimbo remains as fresh as it's ever been. This serial is, hands down, the best adventure-based comic book series of the past two decades.

And finish with a very nice concluding assertion....
Sakai's cartooning is beyond reproach. He is an excellent storyteller, moving the camera around in consistently engaging fashion, and his pacing and lettering set the mood for every page. Stan Sakai's been setting a very high standard for a very long time now. And somehow, someway, he seems to actually raise the bar with each new book.

You obviously have great taste in comics! ;)

Abayo...