Comic Review: Usagi Yojimbo Color Classics #2

Usagi Yojimbo Color Classics #2

IDW Publishing

Writer/Artist: Stan Sakai

The Usagi Yojimbo Color Classics continue as we see the third and fourth parts of Usagi’s origin story, “Samurai”.

In these newly coloured chapters, we see Usagi in-training under his master Katsuichi. The third chapter focuses on Katsuichi trying to teach young Usagi that violence is a last resort. Usagi is only a child though so naturally, he doesn’t understand this. The rabbit believes that all he needs to do in order to become a samurai is master the appropriate techniques. As the chapter goes on the duo encounter a gang of hoodlums. Katsuichi of course takes advantage of the situation to try and demonstrate the samurai ideals to young Usagi.

It’s a good story. The lesson of not jumping straight to violence as a solution to your problems is a good one. It’s the kind of message that could benefit young readers and adults alike. There’s some nice slapstick comedy in here but the story still plays out in a serious manner. It’s a fun contrast to the adorable anthropomorphic animals starring in it.

The fourth chapter tells us of Usagi being entered into his first sword-fighting tournament. It’s a proud moment for the blade-wielding bunny. Unfortunately, his opponents plan to cripple him due to a dislike of Katsuichi. This is the more action-packed of the two tales in this book. Despite the chapter focusing on swordfights, there are no anime-style shenanigans here. Every battle plays out realistically, quick, and to the point. These feel like the kind of sword battles one might see in real life.

We also get a glimpse into how Usagi and Katsuichi’s relationship has developed since the last chapter. Katsuichi was very stern with Usagi throughout chapter three but here they have a more humorous back and forth. They’ve clearly grown more respectful and comfortable with one another. This chapter is mostly just about the action. There’s no particular message here but it sets up some nice plot points for future issues.

The artwork by Sakai continues to be of high quality. His cartoonish characters and landscapes endear themselves to you very quickly. Despite being animals the characters are all extremely expressive in terms of body language and facial expressions. There are many times throughout these chapters where you can tell what a character is thinking just by looking at them. The conversion to colour has been handled well here too. Sometimes when an older work like this is recoloured or indeed just coloured then it loses something. Some comics are meant for a certain style and some may worry these tales only work in black and white. Thankfully these comics seem to have lost nothing with the addition of colour. Sakai’s work still looks amazing and the added colour is bound to appeal to young readers.

There’s also a good use of lettering throughout the issue. Many sound effects are used throughout both chapters. In the battle scenes, they add so much weight to every strike. It really helps suck you into the duels. There’s also a number of changes in font sizes and the use of bold letters to portray emotion during dialogue. It really helps add depth to the characters portrayed throughout this issue. These may seem like little things but as the Tesco advert says: “Every little helps”.

Overall this is like the first issue, a great re-release of the early Usagi Yojimbo chapters. Both chapters featured here would be entertaining on their own but having them together just makes it even better. The action and the artwork look spectacular and despite the age of these comics they still hold up extremely well. If you’re a long-term Usagi fan or just someone who enjoyed the first issue then definitely pick this up. Usagi Yojimbo Color Classics is turning out to be one of the best series’ going right now.