MISC. MANGA, *Usagi Yojimbo

For forty years, Usagi Yojimno has been one of the most successful anthropomorphic comic book titles that didn't have mutant turtles in it, which in fact has had several crossovers with the teenage ninjas from another universe. Stan Sakai started out with a mideval comic fantasy titled The Adventures Of Nilson Groundthumper And Hermy, then decided to take the guest appearance of a Japanese swordsman and give him his own ongoing series. First being featured in anthology titles like Albedo and Critters, Usagi was eventually given his own title through Fantagraphics, then Dark Horse Comics, and now IDW Publishing. While manga was just scratching at the door in America in the mid-1980's, Usagi Yojimbo was not inspired by Japanese comics but Kurosawa films and ancient samurai folklore.

Set in an alternate version of Japan during the 17th Century, Miyamoto Usagi(based on history's Miyamoto Musashi)was a loyal rabbit guard for a lord who was slain in a feud with a rival clan. Usagi now sets on his new life as a ronin wandering the lands occasionally hiring himself out as a bodyguard. His adventures lead him to befriend a young panda lord Noriyuki with his lovely retainer Tomoe Ame, begin a rivalry with the bounty hunting rhino Gen, plus reoccurring encounters with the vengeful blind pig swordsman Zato-Ino and the demonic killer wolf Jei. Most of Usagi's chronicles are separate one-shot stories making it easy for any average reader to check in at nearly any time, while as more epic story arcs like the Grasscutter and Dragon Bellow Conspiracy sagas do require having knowledge of prior chapters. The ongoing narrative does not regularly give into prolonged story plots similar to most shonen manga.

Usagi Yojimbo has one of the strongest followings in the history of independent American comic books. With a new alternative takes to the original like Space Usagi and the recent Samurai Rabbit animated series on Netflix, but the core comic has been a mainstay with fans of all genres. You don't need to be a favor funny animals, manga, or high fantasy to be able to enjoy this sprawling samurai epic.