Historical – Page 46 – Now Read This!

March 20, 2015

Usagi Yojimbo book 11: Seasons

By Stan Sakai (Dark Horse Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-56971-375-8

Usagi Yojimbo first appeared in Stan Sakai’s The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy, in 1984’s furry ‘n’ fuzzy folk-fest Albedo Anthropomorphics #1. He soon graduated to a stirring solo act in Critters, Amazing Heroes, Furrlough and Munden’s Bar back-up strips in Grimjack.

In 1955, when Sakai was two years old, the family moved from Kyoto, Japan to Hawaii. Growing up in a cross-cultural paradise he graduated from the University of Hawaii with a BA in Fine Arts, before leaving the state to pursue further studies at Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design in California.

His early forays into comics were as a letterer – most famously for the inimitable Groo the Wanderer – before his nimble pens and brushes found a way to express his passion for Japanese history, legend and the filmic works of Akira Kurosawa and his peers, inspirationally transforming a proposed story about a human historical hero into one of the most enticing and impressive fantasy sagas of all time.

And it’s still more educational, informative and authentic than any dozen Samurai sagas you can nameâ€¦

Although the deliriously expansive period epic stars sentient animals and details the life of a peripatetic Lord-less samurai eking out as honourable a living as possible by selling his sword as a Yojimbo (a bodyguard-for-hire â€“ and, while we’re at it, â€œUsagiâ€ literally translates as â€œrabbitâ€), the milieu and scenarios all scrupulously mirror the Edo Period of Japan – roughly 16^th and 17^th century AD by our reckoning – whilst simultaneously referencing other cultural icons from sources as varied as Zatoichi to Godzilla.

Miyamoto Usagi is brave, noble, industrious, honest, sentimental, gentle, considerate, artistic, empathetic, long-suffering and conscientious: a rabbit devoted to the tenets of Bushido, he is simply unable to turn down any request for help or ignore the slightest evidence of injustice. As such, his destiny is to be perpetually drawn into an unending panorama of incredible situations.

This evocative and enticing eleventh monochrome medieval masterpiece gathers Dark Horse Comics’ Usagi Yojimbo comicbook (volume 3) #7-12, and the hue-less, line art contents of Usagi Yojimbo Color Special #4 (Green Persimmon).

Following a fondly effusive Introduction from cartoonist Lynn (For Better or For Worse) Johnston, the ever-unfolding adventure resumes with ‘The Withered Field’ as our wandering hero watches swordmaster Nakamura Koji. The former fencing instructor to Lord Hikiji wants to test himself against Ueno, head of the Surodoi School, but the master is absent and his arrogant, haughty students refuse to summon him despite the old man’s succession of victories against them allâ€¦

Usagi had also desired to test his skills but instead listens to the incredibly dexterous Koji’s tragic story. Once an important warrior of impeccable status, he was bested in a duel by an unconventional itinerant samurai who rejected the traditional forms of fencing.

Shamed by the defeat Koji took up the Warrior’s Pilgrimage, travelling the land testing and perfecting his skill whilst preparing for a rematch.

As they chat sixteen Surodoi students ambush them, resolved to excise their failure by killing the wanderers. United against the dishonourable attackers, Usagi and Koji efficiently despatch them all and the swordmaster comments on his new friend’s unique combat styleâ€¦

Once, Miyamoto was simply the son of a small-town magistrate before spending years learning the Way of Bushido from a stern, leonine master who was as much hermit as teacher. The lad learned not just superior technique and tactics, but also Katsuichi‘s creed of justice and restraint which would serve him well throughout his turbulent lifeâ€¦

When Ueno returns he is outraged by his disciples’ presumption and further incensed after finding the bodies of his prodigal pupils. He seeks out Koji and finds him calmly walking with a rabbit ronin. Determined to restore his good name, he grants Koji the long-deferred honour of a duelâ€¦

The battle is a wonder of form, grace and precision but upon its grisly conclusion the victorious Koji turns upon Usagi. Having seen his companion fight, the swordmaster has recognised the style which defeated him so long ago and must test himself against it once more.

Unable to dissuade him, the rabbit gives his utmost but is resoundingly defeated. Koji has no intention of killing him and instead tasks Usagi with carrying a message and challenge to his reclusive sensei: the triumphant swordmaster will meet Katsuichi a year hence at a specified place to decide finally and forever whose skill is the greatestâ€¦

‘A Promise in the Snow’ then sees the rabbit rover stumble upon a robbery and prevent the death of a merchant. The trader is grievously wounded however and his little daughter Fumiye begs the ronin to carry the rapidly expiring Araki to his home a half-day’s journey away.

The task is an arduous one over avalanche-prone mountains with starving wild beasts and numbing cold sapping his energies and good intentions with every step. Despite nigh-overwhelming odds little Fumiye insistently urges Usagi on, but when he finally brings Araki to safety the rescuer receives a stunning shockâ€¦

Political intrigue blossoms once again when a wounded messenger carrying an astounding document staggers into a temple in ‘The Conspiracy of Eight’. Inside Usagi is visiting his new friend Sanshobo and is present when the priest finds a pledge signed by eight High Lords agreeing to rise up against the Shogun. The messenger wears the livery of â€œShadow Lordâ€ Hikiji and has been struck down by assassin’s arrowsâ€¦

Ambitious Hikiji’s name is not amongst the signatories and his role in the scheme cannot be guessed, but Sanshobo knows that the letter will result in great bloodshed whether the conspirators, Shadow Lord or Shogun possesses it. Proof of his contention comes when a band of samurai lay siege to the temple compound, demanding the surrender of the messengerâ€¦

As snows fall and temperatures plummet, priest, postulants and ronin enact a furious defence of the sanctuary but ultimately a lone ninja steals the document and brings it to an unsuspected fourth party with her own reasons for keeping it quiet.

Neko ninja clan-chief Chizu secretly prays that this time her erstwhile ally Usagi will keep his nose out of her business â€¦

‘Snakes and Blossoms’ offers a brace of flashback tales wherein the Yojimbo, calmly recuperating as Sanshobo’s guest, finds a moment to share some old stories with his new friend.

‘Hebi’ harks back to a time when the ronin and his crusty companion GennosukÃ© (an irascibly bombastic, money-mad, bounty-hunting, conniving thief-taking rhino with a heart of gold) were caught in a storm and took shelter in an almost abandoned temple. Gen had to kill a huge, vicious snake to get there but once inside things became even more dangerous as the beast’s demon wife impersonated a nun to get close enough to exact vengeanceâ€¦

A far more educational parable follows as ‘The Courage of the Plum’ reveals how impulsive student Usagi learned a life-lesson from Katsuichi-sensei one cold spring just as the winter snows began to meltâ€¦

After a rousing pin-up the drama recommences with ‘Return to Adachi Plain’ (inked by Sergio AragonÃ©s) as the perpetual nomad’s path brings him back to the battlefield where his karma was decided foreverâ€¦

Mere months after completing his tutelage with Katsuichi, Usagi was recruited to the personal retinue of Great Lord MifunÄ—. He advanced quickly and was soon a trusted bodyguard too, serving beside the indomitable and legendary Gunichi. It was a time of great unrest and war was brewingâ€¦

In his third year of service, the castle was attacked by Neko ninja assassins and, although the doughty heroes managed to save their master, the Lord’s wife Kazumi and heir Tsuruichi were murdered. Realising ambitious rival Lord Hikiji was responsible, MifunÄ— declared warâ€¦

The epic conflict ended on the great Adachigahara Plain when MifunÄ—’s general Todo switched sides and the betrayed Great Lord fell. At the crucial moment Gunichi also broke, fleeing to save his own skin and leaving Usagi to preserve the fallen Lord’s head – and honour – from shameful desecrationâ€¦

With no master to serve, Usagi became a ronin and began his endless Warrior Pilgrimageâ€¦

Far away another portentous interlude occurs as a simple peasant is saved by a dark stranger from a cruel and murderous samurai as they all shared passage between islands in ‘The Crossing’.

Jei is a veritable devil in mortal form, believing himself a â€œBlade of the Godsâ€, chosen by the Lords of Heaven to kill the wicked. The maniac makes a convincing case: when he first met Usagi the diabolical spearman was struck by lightning and still survived.

Still pursuing his crusade against evil, Jei has adopted an orphan girl Keiko to aid him, but after saving a life he then perceives it to be an evil one too – as apparently is every other passenger on the unlucky vesselâ€¦

A fascinating exploration of warrior spirit is depicted as a defeated general goes deep undercover as farmer in ‘The Patience of the Spider’. Ikeda and his most trusted lieutenants survived the fall of their Lord, adopted a peasant lifestyle and are biding their time until they can rise again to expunge their shameful defeat.

But months turn to decades and the General fully grows into his new role – perhaps too much soâ€¦

Usagi resurfaces again when a band of cutthroats at an inn initially select him as a prospective victim before switching sights to another, more affluent-seeming traveller. The rogues soon learn the error of their ways as the enigmatic Oyama Tadanori wipes them out with ease.

Later the stranger encounters Usagi and the ronin recognises ‘The Lord of the Owls’ as an infamous cursed warrior reputed to be able to see death in a person’s eyes. He is not happy to hear the taciturn figure warn him that they will meet againâ€¦

More secrets of the Conspiracy of Eight are revealed in ‘The First Tenet’ when Chizu’s deputy Kagemaru exposes her part in the incriminating letter’s theft to Hikiji’s untrustworthy facilitator Lord Hebi. Infuriatingly some wily ninja has doctored the document and the conspirators remain practically anonymousâ€¦

Later, as Hebi’s entourage is attacked by assassins, Kagemaru just happens to be nearby with a band of faithful ninjas who rapidly despatch the assailants. It’s not so much the surprise of the counterattack that routs the rogues as shock that the man who hired them is now leading the defence of Hebiâ€¦

Attention returns to the Yojimbo as he passes the devastated mansion of Lady Takagi and recalls how, in the aftermath of the Dragon Bellow Conspiracy, he, Gen and female warrior Tomoe were rushing back to inform benevolent young Lord Noriyuki that the crisis had been averted.

After battling their way past hostile forces they were offered a night’s respite by the noble lady but ‘The ObakÃ©neko of the Geishu Clan’ was a were-beast intent on murder and worse and it took all the ronin’s might and plenty of luck to survive until daylightâ€¦

The spellbinding storytelling concludes with espionage mystery ‘Green Persimmon’ as a dying samurai of Noriyuki’s Geishu clan entrusts Usagi with a strangely glazed ceramic fruit which simply must reach the young Lord at all costs.

The fragile porcelain artefact attracts the attention of numerous thugs, cutthroats and hired killers but as the Yojimbo carves his way across the country he is unable to fathom its purpose. Only when he meets Tomoe does the Green Persimmon surrender its incredible secretâ€¦

This medieval monochrome masterwork concludes with a ‘Gallery’ of seven superb covers to wrap things up with artistic aplomb.

Despite changing publishers a few times the Roaming Rabbit has been in continuous publication since 1987, with over 30 books and collections so far. He has guest-starred in many other series (most notably Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its TV incarnation) and even almost made it into his own small-screen show.

There are high-end collectibles, art prints, computer games and RPGs, a spin-off sci-fi comics serial and lots of toys. Sakai and his creation have won numerous awards both within the Comics community and amongst the greater reading public.

Fast-paced yet lyrical, informative and funny, Usagi Yojimbo also bristles with tension and thrills and frequently breaks your heart with astounding tales of pride and tragedy.

Simply bursting with veracity and verve, it is the perfect comics epic: a monolithic magical saga of irresistible appeal to delight devotees and make converts of the most hardened haters of â€œfunny animalâ€ stories.
Â© 1996, 1997, 1999, 2004 Stan Sakai. Usagi Yojimbo is a registered trademark of Stan Sakai. All rights reserved.

March 17, 2015March 16, 2015

Long John Silver volume II: Neptune

By Xavier Dorison & Mathieu Lauffray, translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-84918-072-6

British and European comics have always been far more comfortable with period-piece strips than our American cousins and much more imaginative when reinterpreting classical fiction for jaded comicbook audiences. The happy combination of familiar exoticism, past lives and world-changing events blended with drama, action and, most frequently, broad comedy has resulted in a uniquely narrative art form suited to beguiling readers of all ages and tastes.

Our Franco-Belgian brethren in particular have made an astonishing success out of repackaging days-gone-by but this particularly enchanting older-readers yarn forgoes the broad bellylaughs whilst extending the adventures of literature’s greatest rogue into a particularly engaging realm of globe-girdling thriller.

Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island was originally serialised from 1881-1882 in Young Folks magazine as Treasure Island or, the mutiny of the Hispaniola, pseudonymous penned by one â€œCaptain George Northâ€.

It was collected and published as a novel in May 1883 and has never been out of print since. A landmark of world storytelling, Treasure Island has been dramatised too many times to count and adapted into all forms of art. Most significantly, the book created a metafictional megastar – albeit at best an anti-hero – as immortal as King Arthur, Robin Hood, Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan or Superman. Almost everything the public â€œknowsâ€ about pirates devolves from the book and its unforgettable, show-stealing one-legged starâ€¦

Writer Xavier Dorison was born in Paris in 1970 and graduated business school before moving into storytelling. He works as an author, film writer, lecturer and movie script doctor. He began the award-winning Long John Silver in conjunction with preferred collaborator Mathieu (Prophet) Lauffay in 2006, with the last volume released in 2013.

Lauffay is also a Parisian born in 1970. He spends his days illustrating, drawing comics, crafting RPGs and working as a concept designer for movies. His art has graced such international items as Dark Horse Comics’ Star Wars franchise, games like Alone in the Dark, the album Lyrics Verdun, February 21, 1916 – December 18, 1916, Tarzan and many moreâ€¦

Their continuation of the piratical prince is a foray into far more mature arenas set some years after the affair of the Hispaniola and ranges far and wide: from foggy, oppressive England to the vast, brooding inner recesses of the Amazon.

What has Gone Before: 1785 and treasure-hunting Lord Byron Hastings has finally found the lost city of Guiana-Capac but now needs further funds to exploit this promising City of Gold.

In England, his profligate and wanton wife Lady Vivian has been enjoying herself too much and is with child by lecherous neighbour Lord Prisham. With a baby in her belly and a husband gone three years, she is considering having Byron declared dead and undertaking a hasty remarriageâ€¦

Suddenly shattering those plans is her despised brother-in-law who turns up with an old native named Moxtechica bearing a message and map from her long-lost husband. Prudish and cruel Royal Naval officer Edward Hastings delights in telling the scheming strumpet he abhors that his brother has succeeded and now orders her to sell everythingâ€¦ including all the treasured family possessions, manor house and lands she brought to the marriageâ€¦

Byron has named Edward sole Proxy and the martinet delights in giving the high-born trollop Vivian her marching orders. He strongly urges her to confine herself to a convent and save them all further shame and disgraceâ€¦

Raging in front of her conniving maid Elsie, the Lady considers a number of retaliatory tactics before settling upon the most bold, dangerous and potentially rewarding. After announcing to the stunned Edward that she will accompany him to South America and reunite with her beloved husband, the fallen noblewoman seeks out a doctor to take care of the â€œproblemâ€ she is – for the moment at least – still secretly carryingâ€¦

Dr. Livesay is a decent, god-fearing soul who has led a quiet, prosperous life since his adventures on Flint’s Island. However, it is not her current condition which has brought Vivian to the physician’s door, but rather persistent tales of a scurrilous former acquaintance; a formidable, peg-legged rogue with a reputation for making life’s difficulties disappearâ€¦

Against his better judgement, Livesay capitulates to Lady Vivian’s urgings, introducing her to retired sea-cook John Silver. Amidst the (alleged) ex-pirate’s inner circle of scary-looking confederates she relates the story of the Spaniard Pizarro‘s discovery of a City of Gold and how, centuries later, her husband has reclaimed it.

The rest of her sorry tale tumbles out. She plans to travel there with a few capable men – and the far-from-willing Elsie – to make those riches her own. She needs Silver and his colleagues to infiltrate Edward’s crew, seize the ship he has chartered and complete the voyage under her commandâ€¦

Unable to convince Vivian to desist or Silver to reject her offer, Livesay reluctantly joins them in vain hopes that he can keep the debased woman from mortal harm. Silver is hiding a debilitating and soon-to-be-fatal case of malaria, but still orchestrates his own hiring before packing the Neptune with suitable scoundrels and compelling Lady Vivian to sign a sacrosanct Pirates Contract. With all the various schemers believing their own plans are proceeding satisfactorily, the Neptune sets off for the Americas, but at the last moment Silver suffers a major setback when rival rogue Paris inveigles his way into the crewâ€¦

Volume two commences with the voyage well under way and the crew – Silver’s men, Paris’ contingent and even Captain Edward Hastings’ innocent hires – all slowly succumbing to the Sea Cook’s glib tongue and fascinating tales of the Red Brotherhood. Only Hastings’ lieutenants Dantzig and Van Horn have any inkling of the battle of wills occurring below decks, but the shaky dÃ©tente is shattered after duplicitous Elsie tries to expose Lady Vivian’s plans only to suffer a tragic â€œaccidentâ€ when a huge load of storage barrels falls upon her.

Hastings knows all too well that his ship is filled with men just waiting for him to pilot them to the mouth of incomprehensible wealth. Thus he rules with a rod of iron and full naval discipline just to stay alive.

Boy seaman Jack O’Kief is a protÃ©gÃ© of Paris, but Silver has developed a fondness for the lad. That relationship is tested to the limit when Hastings declares Jack responsible for the maid’s death and has him brutally flogged to force the Sea Cook’s hand.

A vicious and prolonged battle of wills follows, pushing the crew to the edge of mutiny as Hastings stalls in making final landfall and Jack’s life slowly ebbs awayâ€¦

Tensions come to a tragic head as a colossal storm pushes the Neptune inexorably towards its foregone destination and another death sparks the inevitable mutiny, appalling bloodshed and a red-handed settling of many scoresâ€¦

Literally above it all, the shaman Moxtechica rides out the tempest above and the savage battle of the white men below, patiently waiting to see what the calm of dawn will bringâ€¦

To Be Continuedâ€¦

Tense, evocative, suspenseful and shockingly powerful, these further exploits of Long John Silver are a modern masterpiece of adventure fiction worthy of Stevenson’s immortal adventure which should even convince a few more folks to actually read the original novel. Â© Darguad, Paris, 2008 by Dorison & Lauffray. All rights reserved. English translation Â© 2011 Cinebook Ltd.

February 18, 2015February 17, 2015

Zorro – the Complete Classic Adventures volumes One & Two

By Alex Toth & anonymous (Eclipse Books)
ISBNs: 0-913035-41-6 and 0-913035-51-3

Alex Toth was a master of graphic communication who shaped two different art-forms and is largely unknown in both of them.

Born in New York in 1928, the son of Hungarian immigrants with a dynamic interest in the arts, Toth was something of a prodigy and after enrolling in the High School of Industrial Arts doggedly went about improving his skills as a cartoonist. His earliest dreams were of a quality newspaper strip like Milton Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates, but his uncompromising devotion to the highest standards soon soured him on newspaper strip work when he discovered how hidebound and innovation-resistant the family values-based industry had become whilst he was growing up.

Aged 15, he sold his first comicbook works to Heroic Comics and after graduating in 1947 worked for All American/National Periodical Publications (who would amalgamate and evolve into DC Comics) on Dr. Mid-Nite, All Star Comics, the Atom, Green Lantern, Johnny Thunder, Sierra Smith, Johnny Peril, Danger Trail and a host of other features. On the way he dabbled with newspaper strips (see Casey Ruggles: the Hard Times of Pancho and Pecos) but was disappointed o find nothing had changedâ€¦

Continually striving to improve his own work he never had time for fools or formula-hungry editors who wouldn’t take artistic risks. In 1952 Toth quit DC to work for â€œThrillingâ€ Pulps publisher Ned Pines who was retooling his prolific Better/Nedor/Pines comics companies (Thrilling Comics, Fighting Yank, Doc Strange, Black Terror and many more) into Standard Comics: a publishing house targeting older readers with sophisticated, genre-based titles.

Beside fellow graphic masters Nick Cardy, Mike Sekowsky, Art Saaf, John Celardo, George Tuska, Ross Andru & Mike Esposito and particularly favourite inker Mike Peppe, Toth set the bar high for a new kind of story-telling: wry, restrained and thoroughly mature; in short-lived titles dedicated to War, Crime, Horror, Science Fiction and especially Romance.

After Simon and Kirby invented love comics, Standard, through artists like Cardy and Toth and writers like the amazing and unsung Kim Aamodt, polished and honed the genre, turning out clever, witty, evocative and yet tasteful melodramas and heart-tuggers both men and women could enjoy.

Before going into the military, where he still found time to create a strip (Jon Fury for the US army’s Tokyo Quartermaster newspaper The Depot’s Diary) he illustrated 60 glorious tales for Standard; as well as a few pieces for EC and others.

On his return to a different industry – and one he didn’t much like – Toth resettled in California, splitting his time between Western/Dell/Gold Key, such as these Zorro tales and many other movie/TV adaptations, and National (assorted short pieces such as Hot Wheels and Eclipso): doing work he increasingly found uninspired, moribund and creatively cowardly. Eventually he moved primarily into TV animation, designing for shows such as Space Ghost, Herculoids, Birdman, Shazzan!, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? and Super Friends among many others.

He returned sporadically to comics, setting the style and tone for DC’s late 1960’s horror line in House of Mystery, House of Secrets and especially The Witching Hour, and illustrating more adult fare for Warren’s Creepy, Eerie and The Rook. He redesigned The Fox for Red Circle/Archie, produced stunning one-offs for Archie Goodwin’s Batman or war comics (whenever they offered him a â€œgood scriptâ€) and contributed to landmark or anniversary projects such as Batman: Black and White.

His later, personal works included Torpedo for the European market and the magnificently audacious swashbuckler Bravo for Adventure!

Alex Toth died of a heart attack at his drawing board on May 27^th 2006 but before that the kids he’d inspired (mostly comics professionals themselves) sought to redress his shameful anonymity with a number of retrospectives and comics compilations. One of the first and best was this Eclipse Books twin set, gathering his many tales for Dell featuring Disney’s TV iteration of the prototypical masked avenger.

In 2013, Hermes Press released a lavish complete volume in full colour but, to my mind, these black and white books (grey-toned, stripped down and redrawn by the master himself) are the definitive vision and the closest to what Toth originally intended, stripped of all the obfuscating quibbles and unnecessary pictorial fripperies imposed upon his dynamic vision by legions of writing committees, timid editors and Disney franchising flacks.

One the earliest masked heroes and still phenomenally popular throughout the world, â€œEl Zorro, The Foxâ€ was originally devised by jobbing writer Johnston McCulley in 1919 in a five part serial entitled ‘The Curse of Capistrano’. He debuted in the All-Story Weekly for August 6^th and ran until 6^th September. The part-work was subsequently published by Grossett & Dunlap in 1924 as The Mark of Zorro and further reissued in 1959 and 1998 by MacDonald & Co. and Tor respectively.

Famously, Hollywood royalty Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford read the ‘The Curse of Capistrano’ in All-Story Weekly on their honeymoon and immediately optioned the adventure to be the first film release from their new production company/studio United Artists.

The Mark of Zorro was a global movie sensation in 1920 and for years after, and New York-based McCulley subsequently re-tailored his creation to match the so-different filmic incarnation. This Caped Crusader aptly fitted the burgeoning genre that would soon be peopled by the likes of The Shadow, Doc Savage and the Spider.

Rouben Mamoulian‘s 1940 filmic remake of The Mark of Zorro further ingrained the Fox into the world’s psyche and, as the prose exploits continued in a variety of publications, Dell began a comicbook version in 1949.

When Walt Disney Studios began a hugely popular Zorro TV show in 1957 (resulting in 78 half-hour episodes and four 60 minute specials before cancellation in 1961) the ongoing comics series was swiftly redesigned to capitalise on it and the entertainment corporation began a decades-long strip incarnation of â€œtheirâ€ version of the character in various quarters of the world.

This superb set reproduces the tales produced by Toth for Dell Comics; firstly as part of the monumental try-out series Four-Color (issues #882, 920, 933, 960, 976 & 1003), and thereafter as a proven commodity with his own title – of which the restless Toth only drew #12. Other artists on the series included Warren Tufts, Mel Keefer and John Ushler and the Dell series was subsequently relaunched in January 1966 under the Gold Key imprint, reprinting (primarily) the Toth drawn material in a 9-issue run than lasted until March 1968.

Zorro – the Complete Classic Adventures Volume One opens with an effusive and extremely moving ‘Introduction by Howard Chaykin’ before steaming straight into the timeless wonder, but I thought that perhaps a brief note on the scripts might be sensible here.

As part of Disney’s license the company compelled Dell to concentrate on adapting already-aired TV episodes complete with florid, overblown dialogue and stagy, talking head shots which Toth struggled mightily – and against increasingly heated resistance from writers and editors – to pare down and liven up. Under such circumstances it’s a miracle that the strips are even palatable, but they are in fact some of the best adventure comics of the practically superhero-free 1950s.

Sadly, all the covers were photo-shots of actor Guy Williams in character so even that graphic outlet was denied Toth – and usâ€¦

One bonus however is that the short, filler stories used to supplement the screen adaptations were clearly generated in-house with fewer restrictions, so here Toth’s brilliance shines throughâ€¦

The origin and set-up for the series came with Four-Color #882 (February 1958) in ‘Presenting SeÃ±or Zorro’. Retelling the first episode of the TV show, it introduces dashing swordsman Don Diego De La Vega, returning from Spain in 1820 to his home in Pueblo De Los Angeles in answer to a letter telling of injustice, corruption and tyrannyâ€¦

With mute servant Bernardo – who pretends to be also deaf and acts as his perfect spy amongst the oppressors – Diego determines to assume the role of a spoiled and cowardly fop whilst creating the masked identity of El Zorro â€œthe Foxâ€ to overthrow wicked military commander and de facto dictator Capitan Monastario.

Shrugging off the clear disappointment of his father Don Alejandro, Diego does nothing when their neighbour Ignacio â€œNachoâ€ Torres is arrested on charges of treason but that night a masked figure in black spectacularly liberates the political prisoner and conveys him to relative safety and legal sanctuary at the Mission of San Gabrielâ€¦

The second TV instalment became the closing chapter of that first comicbook as ‘Zorro’s Secret Passage’ finds Monastario suspicious that Zorro is a member of the De La Vega household and stakes the place out. When the Commandante then accuses another man of being the Fox, Diego uses the underground passages beneath his home to save the innocent victim and confound the dictatorâ€¦

Four-Color #920 (June 1958) adapted the third and fourth TV episodes, beginning with â€œZorro Rides to the Missionâ€ which became ‘The Ghost of the Mission Part One’ as Monastario discovers where Nacho Torres is hiding and surrounds the Mission. Unable to convince his lancers to break the sacred bounds of Sanctuary, the tyrant settles in for a siege and ‘The Ghost of the Mission Part Two’ sees him fabricate an Indian uprising to force his way in. Sadly for the military martinet Diego has convinced his bumbling deputy Sergeant Demetrio Garcia that the Mission is haunted by a mad monkâ€¦

Despite appearing only quarterly, Zorro stories maintained the strict continuity dictated by the weekly TV show. â€œGarcia’s Secret Missionâ€ became ‘Garcia’s Secret’ in Four-Color #933 (September 1958) and saw Monastario apparently throw his flunky out of the army in a cunning plot to capture the Fox. Once again the ruse was turned against the connivers and El Capitan was again humiliated.

The last half of the issue saw a major plot development, however, as TV instalment â€œThe Fall of Monastarioâ€ became ‘The King’s Emissary’ wherein the Commandante tries to palm off ineffectual Diego as Zorro to impress the Viceroy of California only to find himself inexplicably exposed, deposed and arrestedâ€¦

The rest of this initial outing comprises a quartet of short vignettes commencing with ‘A Bad Day for Bernardo’ (Four-Color #920) wherein the unlucky factotum endures a succession of mishaps as he and Zorro search for a missing seÃ±orita and almost scotch her plans to elope, whilst Four-Color #933 provided the tale of youngster Manuelo, who ran away to become ‘The Little Zorro’. Happily Diego is able to convince the lad that school trumps heroismâ€¦ in this caseâ€¦

In ‘The Visitor’ (Four-Color #960, December 1958) Diego and Bernardo find a baby on their doorstep and help the mother to free her husband from jail before the volume concludes with ‘A Double for Diego’ (Four-Color #976, March 1959) wherein Sgt. Garcia – now in temporary charge of Los Angeles – seeks Diego’s help to capture Zorro, necessitating the wily hero trying to be in two places at onceâ€¦

Zorro Volume Two leads off with ‘A Foreword’s Look Back and Askance’ by Alex Toth, who self-deprecatingly recaps his life and explains his artistic philosophy, struggles with Dell’s editors and constant battle to turn the anodyne goggle-box crusader back into the dark and flamboyant swashbuckler of the Mamoulian movieâ€¦

Four-Color #960 (December 1958) has TV tales â€œThe Eagle’s Broodâ€ and â€œZorro by Proxyâ€ transformed into visual poetry when a would-be conqueror targets Los Angeles as part of a greater scheme to seize control of California. With new Capitan Toledano despatched to seek out a vast amount of stolen gunpowder, ‘The Eagle’s Brood’ infiltrate the town, sheltered by a traitor at the very heart of the town’s ruling eliteâ€¦

Made aware of the seditious plot, Zorro moves carefully against the villains, foiling their first attempt to take over and learning the identity of an untouchable traitorâ€¦

The saga resumed and concluded in ‘Gypsy Warning’ (Four-Color #976, adapting â€œQuintana Makes a Choiceâ€ and â€œZorro Lights a Fuseâ€) as Zorro foils a plot to murder pro tem leader Garcia and stumbles into the final stages of the invasion of Santa Barbara, San Diego, Capistrano and Los Angelesâ€¦

With The Eagle temporarily defeated, short back-up ‘The Enchanted Bell’ (Four-Color #1003, June 1959) sees Zorro prevent the local tax collector confiscating a prized bell beloved by the region’s Indians to prevent a possible uprising, after which the lead story from the same issue details how ‘The Marauders of Monterey’ (adapting â€œWelcome to Montereyâ€ and â€œZorro Rides Aloneâ€) lure officials from many settlements with the promise of vitally needed supplies and commodities before robbing them.

Sadly for them, Los Angeles sent the astute but effete Don Diego to bid for the goods and he had his own solutions for fraud and banditryâ€¦

After more than a year away Toth returned for one last hurrah as ‘The Runaway Witness’ (Zorro #12, December 1960/February 1961) found the Fox chasing a frightened flower-girl all over the countryside. Justice rather than romance was on his mind as he sought to convince her to testify against a powerful man who had murdered his business partnerâ€¦ This stunning masterclass in comics excellence concludes with ‘Friend Indeed’ from the same issue wherein Zorro plays one of his most imaginative tricks on Garcia, allowing the hero to free a jail full of political prisonersâ€¦

Full-bodied, captivating and beautifully realised, these immortal adventures of a global icon are something no fan of adventure comics and thrilling stories should be without.
Zorro Â® and Â© Zorro Productions. Stories and artwork Â© 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961Walt Disney Productions This edition Â© 1986 Zorro Productions, Inc.

February 5, 2015February 4, 2015

Usagi Yojimbo book 10: The Brink of Life and Death

By Stan Sakai (Dark Horse Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-56971-259-7

Usagi Yojimbo (â€œrabbit bodyguardâ€) first appeared as a background character in Stan Sakai’s The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy, which premiered in 1984 amongst assorted furry ‘n’ fuzzy folk Albedo Anthropomorphics #1. He subsequently graduated to a solo act in Critters, Amazing Heroes, Furrlough and the Munden’s Bar back-up series in Grimjack.

And it’s still more educational, informative and authentic than any dozen Samurai sagas you can nameâ€¦

Although the deliriously peripatetic and expansive period epic stars sentient animals and details the life of a peripatetic Lord-less Samurai eking out as honourable a living as possible by selling his sword as a Yojimbo (bodyguard-for-hire), the milieu and scenarios all scrupulously mirror the Feudal Edo Period of Japan (roughly 16^th – 17^th century AD by our reckoning) whilst simultaneously referencing other cultural icons from sources as varied as Zatoichi to Godzilla.

Miyamoto Usagi is brave, noble, industrious, honest, sentimental, gentle, artistic, empathetic, long-suffering and conscientious: a rabbit devoted to the tenets of Bushido, he is simply unable to turn down any request for help or ignore the slightest evidence of injustice. As such, his destiny is to be perpetually drawn into an unending panorama of incredible situations.

This evocative and enticing tenth black-&-white blockbuster collects yarns from Dark Horse Comics’ Usagi Yojimbo series (volume 3), #1-6 plus additional tales from issues #13, 15 and 16 from the previous Mirage iteration, aligning epic sagas of intrigue with brief vignettes attending to more plebeian dramas and even the occasional supernatural thriller, all tantalisingly tinged with astounding martial arts action and drenched in wit, irony, pathos and even true tragedyâ€¦

Following a heartfelt and enthusiastic Introduction from comics author Kurt Busiek, the ever-unfolding yarn resumes with a handy recap in ‘Origin Tale’ summarising the valiant wanderer’s fraught life to date before ‘KaisÅ’ finds Miyamoto Usagi befriending a seaweed farmer who’s experiencing a spot of bother with his neighboursâ€¦

At peace with himself amongst hard-toiling peasants, Usagi becomes embroiled in their escalating battle with a village of rival seaweed sellers – previously considered helpful and friendly – and soon realises scurrilous merchant Yamanaka is fomenting unrest between his suppliers to make extra profitâ€¦

‘A Meeting of Strangers’ in a roadside hostelry introduces a formidable female warrior to the constantly expanding cast as the Lepine Legend graciously offers a fellow weary mendicant the price of a drink. A professional informer then sells Usagi out to the still-smarting Yamanaka and the lethally capable Inazuma has ample opportunity to repay her slight debt to the Rabbit Ronin when he’s ambushed by an army of hired brigandsâ€¦

Far away a portentous interlude occurs as a simple peasant and his granddaughter are attacked by a band of bandits. The belligerent scum are about to compound extortion and murder with even more heinous crimes when a stranger with a ‘Black Soul’ stops themâ€¦

Jei is a veritable devil in mortal form, believing himself a â€œBlade of the Godsâ€, chosen by the Lords of Heaven to kill the wicked. The maniac makes a convincing case: when he stalked Usagi the manic monster was struck by a fortuitous – or possibly divinely sent – lightning bolt and still survived.

Still keen to continue his crusade, the monster deals most emphatically with the criminals before allowing orphaned granddaughter Keiko to join himâ€¦

Despite – or perhaps because – it is usually one of the funniest comics on the market, occasionally Usagi Yojimbo can brilliantly twist readers’ expectations with tales that rip your heart apart.

Such is the case with ‘Noodles’ as the nomadic Ronin meets again street performer, shady entertainer and charismatic pickpocket Kitsune who has begun plying all her antisocial trades in a new town just as eternally-wandering Usagi turns up.

The little metropolis is in uproar at a plague of daring robberies and when the inept men employed by Yoriki (Assistant Commander) Masuda try – and painfully fail – to arrest the long-eared stranger as a probable accomplice, the ferociously resistant ronin earns the instant enmity of the pompous official.

Following the confrontation, a hulking, mute soba (buckwheat noodle) vendor begins to pester the still-annoyed rabbit and eventually reveals he’s carrying the elegant Kitsune in his basketsâ€¦

Astounded the Yojimbo renews his acquaintance with her before the affable thieves go on their way, but trouble and tragedy are just around the cornerâ€¦

The town magistrate is leaning heavily on his Yoriki to end the crime wave but has no conception that Masuda is actually in the pay of a vicious gang carrying out most of the thefts. What they all need a convincing scapegoat to pin the blame on and poor dumb peasant Noodles is ideal – after all, he can’t even deny his guiltâ€¦

With a little sacrificed loot planted, he becomes the perfect patsy and before Usagi and Kitsune even know he’s been taken, the simple fool has been tried and horrifically executedâ€¦

‘Noodles Part 2’ opens as they frantically dash for the public trial and almost immediate crucifixion but pickpocket and ronin can do nothing to save the innocent victim. All they can do is swear to secure appropriate vengeance and justiceâ€¦

In sober mien the rabbit roves on, stumbling into a house of horror and case of possession as ‘The Wrath of the Tangled Skein’ finds Usagi returning to a region plagued by demon-infested forests. Offered hospitality at a merchant’s house he subsequently saves the daughter from doom at the claws of a demonic Nue (tiger/fox/pig/snake devil).

He is almost too late however and only alerted to a double dose of danger when a Bonze (Buddhist Priest) arrives to exorcise the poor childâ€¦ just like the one already praying over the afflicted waif upstairsâ€¦

This duel with the forces of hell leads into ‘The Bonze’s Story’ as Usagi strikes up a friendship with the true priest and learns how misfortune and devotion to honour compelled elite samurai Sanshobo to put aside weapons and war in search of greater truths and inner peaceâ€¦

Political intrigue and explosive espionage resurface in ‘Bats, the Cat, & the Rabbit’ as Neko ninja chief Chizu re-enters Usagi’s life, fleeing a flight of rival Komori (bat) ninjas. The winged horrors are determined to take a scroll containing the secrets of making gunpowder and after a tremendous, extended struggle the exhausted she-cat cannot believe her rabbit companion is willing to hand it over. She soon shrugs it off. After all the Komori have fallen into her trap and quickly regret testing the purloined formula â€¦

The peripatetic Yojimbo then walks into a plot to murder Great Lord Miyagi involving infallible unseen assassin Kuroshi at ‘The Chrysanthemum Pass’. He is simply aiding karma to a just outcome despite overwhelming odds and a most subtle opponentâ€¦ This chronicle then sees a return engagement with the lethally adept Inazuma when ‘Lightning Strikes Twice’â€¦

The hunted woman is always at the heart of a storm of hired blades trying to kill her, but during one peaceful moment she finds a little time to share with a fellow swordsmaster the instructive tale of a dutiful daughter who married the wrong samurai and, by exacting rightful vengeance upon his killer, won the undying hatred of a powerful lordâ€¦

Despite changing publishers a number of times, the Roaming Rabbit has been in continuous publication since 1987, with more than 30 collections and books to date. He has guest-starred in many other series (most notably Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its TV incarnation) and nearly made it into his own small-screen show.

Fast-paced yet lyrical, informative and funny, the saga alternately bristles with tension and thrills and frequently crushes your heart with astounding tales of pride and tragedy, evil and duty.

Bursting with veracity and verve, Usagi Yojimbo is the perfect comics epic: a monolithic magical saga irresistibly appealing that will delight devotees and make converts of the most hardened haters of â€œfunny animalâ€ stories.
Â© 1998 Stan Sakai. Usagi Yojimbo is a registered trademark of Stan Sakai. All rights reserved.

December 15, 2014December 15, 2014

Thorgal volume 1: Child of the Stars/Aaricia

By RosiÅ„ski & Van Hamme, translated by Luke Spear (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-905460-23-6

One of the best and most celebrated adventure series of all time, Thorgal manages the ultimate magic trick of being able to both please critics and sell bucketloads. The series debuted in iconic French weekly Tintin in 1977 with the inevitable album compilations beginning three years later. The expansive generational saga has a truly international following in fourteen languages, has generated many spin-off series and naturally offers a strong presence in the global gaming arena.

Narratively, Thorgal offers the best of all amazing worlds with an ostensibly starkly historical milieu of bold Viking adventure glibly yet seamlessly encompassing chilling science fiction elements, monstrous horror, social satire, political intrigue, soap opera, Atlantean mystique and mythically mystical fantasy standards such as gods, monsters, dwarves and demons.

Created by Belgian writer Jean Van Hamme (Domino, XIII, Largo Winch, Blake and Mortimer) and Polish illustrator Grzegorz RosiÅ„ski (Kapitan Å»bik, Pilot ÅšmigÅ‚owca, Hans, The Revenge of Count Skarbek) the feature grew into a generational saga over the decades with the creative duo completing 29 albums between 1980 and 2006 when Van Hamme moved on. Thereafter the scripting duties fell to Yves Sente who has collaborated on a further five collections to date.

By the time Van Hamme departed the feature had expanded to cover not only the life of the titular hero and his son Jolan but also other valiant family members in a number of spin-off series (Kriss de Valnor, Louve, La Jeunesse de Thorgal) under the umbrella title Les Mondes de Thorgal – all eventually winning their own section of albums.

In 1985 American publisher Donning released a superb series of oversized hardcover book translations but Thorgal never really found an English-speaking audience until Cinebook began its own iteration in 2007.

Although the original French series wanders back and forth through the hero’s life, this first British volume opts for a strictly chronological beginning and even doubles the pleasure by reprinting both the seventh (L’enfant des Ã©toiles, 1984) and fourteenth (Aaricia, 1989) Le Lombard volumes, revealing the star’s origins and a few early adventures as well as the story of his divinely-destined bride-to-beâ€¦

Child of the Stars opens with ‘The Lost Drakkar’ as an expedition led by seemingly accursed Viking leader Leif Haraldson founders in stormy seas. Only fifteen men remain of the 120 who set out and wily, ambitious Gandalf the Mad convinces the survivors that the crew’s priest is right. Leif must be sacrificed to angry sea-god Aegir.

With everyone against him Leif prepares to sell his life dearly when the fates intervene. Thor‘s constant storms suddenly subside and their drakkar (ship) pulls through eerie mists into a warm sunlit bay.

The relieved mariners are further stunned to find a strange metal chest unlike anything they have ever beheld, lying on the beach. It contains a baby boy and jubilant chief Haraldson instantly adopts the foundling, naming the child Thorgal Aegirsson after the two forgiving gods who spared themâ€¦

The story resumes with ‘The Metal that Didn’t Exist’ by voyaging a thousand years into the past when demon-snake Nidhogg tricked Ivaldi, King of the Dwarves into wagering his name on a game of draughts (they called it â€œcheckersâ€).

When the gloating serpent won, it allowed the humiliated artificer one last chance: Ivaldi could buy back his name – and power – if he produced a jewel made from a metal that did not exist. He even offered a grace period of one millennium to work inâ€¦

The mortified and terrified dwarf nation immediately set their youngest, boldest son to search the world for the impossible and 999 years later the weary, footsore mite wandered into a Haraldson’s Northern Viking village and saw a small dark-haired boy wearing an amulet made of something that had never originated on our worldâ€¦

Excited Tjahzi explained his plight to the solitary lad and offered him all the wealth of the dwarvish realm but Thorgal refused, instead generously offering to give him the necklace. The astounded seeker instantly set off for home but his travels had exhausted him and he collapsed.

Thorgal picked up Tjahzi and began to carry him towards the distant mountains, telling the aged mite of how the amulet came from the strange â€œraftâ€ he was found in as a babyâ€¦

As they slipped between worlds into the gods’ realm the boy grew – or shrank – to the same size as his diminutive companion but their epic journey was soon interrupted by the giant Hjalmgunnar, The hungry horror would have eaten them if not for the Winged Cats of Frigg but the goddess’ envoys were far less effective against a swarm of flying Vampire-Snakesâ€¦

The tiny travellers soon realised their mission was of great import to the major powers of the universe when, as they travelled a subterranean frozen river to the Dwarf Lands, a monstrous many-limbed monster serpent attacked.

Nidhogg was too arrogant, however, permitting the impetuous human boy to grow into his destined mature warrior form to duel more fairly. The intentionally cruel gesture and Thorgal’s dauntless courage allowed Tjahzi to slip by and deliver the unknown amulet to Ivaldi in time – at the cost of the boy-hero’s life.

Frigg, however, would not let such an injustice standâ€¦

Little Thorgal awoke back in his village with the other children shouting. The wife of Gandalf had just been delivered of a baby girl. The little miracle was to be named Aaricia and when she was born she had a teardrop pearl gripped in each tiny fistâ€¦

Years later when Thorgal was just approaching adolescence his incredible history was finally revealed in ‘The Talisman’. Following a strange persistent call inside his head the boy voyaged across the country to a distant mountain where a bizarre hermit waited.

Thorgal had grown increasingly apart from the other children. Vile Gandalf had led a campaign to ostracise the foundling and the kids all called the child â€œbastardâ€ and claimed he was not a true Viking.

The sage vaguely promised all the answers the wanderer wanted, but was astounded when the boy offered his most prized possession in return: a peculiar disc of unknown material given him by foster-father Leif Haraldson. The artefact had been inside the odd â€œraftâ€ the baby was in and kept by the chief until Thorgal came of ageâ€¦

The hermit did something to it and then had the boy meditate. Soon Thorgal’s thoughts are in the past and in the stars as an incredible story unfoldsâ€¦

Years past a ship from the stars came to Earth. The awesomely powerful beings aboard had originated on Earth in eons past before migrating to the heavens, but even though they had returned in glory, many had not escaped the personal tyrannies of greed, jealousy, ambition and lust for powerâ€¦

There was dissent and rebellion. The starmen battled and died. Soon only a baby in a lifeboat remainedâ€¦

Former leader Xargos regretfully closed the psycho-transmitter and then removed all the restored memories he had shared with his grandson. The sage felt that with everything gone and the boy clearly not manifesting his race’s sometimes-latent psychic abilities Thorgal’s future would be kinder if he lived and died as an ordinary mortalâ€¦

Fourteenth collection Aaricia also contained a selection of short pieces and opens here with a fantastic trip as a sad little girl goes looking for her Mummy only to encounter some friendly â€œundergrowth Elvesâ€ who offer to take her where she wants to beâ€¦

As the entire village searches for Aaricia, ever-solitary Thorgal breaks off from the rest and follows a trail only he can discern. The little girl is almost in the arms of her recently dead mother when he arrives to drive off the vile demonic Nixes who have lured her to ‘Odin’s Mountain’â€¦

‘First Snow’ details how, when Haraldson dies, Gandalf makes a cautious power-grab. With the Northern Vikings about to enter the overarching Nordic alliance The Althing as a recognised kingdom, the usurper is terrified that the outsider bastard will become ruler and summarily seizes all Leif’s lands and possessions.

Only Aaricia’s intervention and the arrival of the Althing’s astute adjudicator prevents monstrous murder, but Thorgal is nevertheless left an outcast in his own countryâ€¦

Years later the outraged boy is denied the universal training all growing warriors are heir to: condemned to become a mere Skald (travelling musician). Although the princess Aaricia still loves him her intended chafes at such injustice and eventually invokes the right of ‘Holmganga’: challenging Gandalf’s son Bjorn to a death-duel for the right to be raised as a true manâ€¦

The usurper king sees an opportunity to get rid of the only threat to his rule, and secretly hires assassins to ensure Thorgal’s doom, but the scheme founders when adoring Aaricia – determined to marry Thorgal when they are of age – takes matters into her own inspired handsâ€¦

The sagas conclude here with the astounding tale of ‘Tjahzi’s Tears’ as lost and blinded minor poet-god Vigrid washes up in his ramshackle flying Drakkar long enough for the curious princess to climb aboard. Thus begins a fantastic voyage as the girl is wafted away by the tragic nomad and resolves to guide the lost god back to Asgard, despite the attacks of monsters and devils.

Encountering incredible creatures and perilous places, child and despondent deity persevere over uncanny distances, overcoming a host of perils until she sacrifices her greatest treasure – the teardrop pearls she was born holding – in a moment of sheer imaginative ingenuityâ€¦

Sublimely rendered, astonishingly inventive and ferociously intoxicating, the enchantingly wondrous world of Thorgal is every fan’s perfect dream of fantasy unbound.
Original edition Â© RosiÅ„ski & Van Hamme 1984-1989 Les Editions du Lombard (Dargaud- Lombard). English translation Â© 2007 Cinebook Ltd.

December 2, 2014

Robbie Burns: Witch Hunter

By Gordon Rennie, Emma Beeby, Tiernen Trevallion, Jim Campbell & Jerry Brannigan (Renegade Arts Entertainment)
ISBN: 978-0-99215-085-3

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: a graphic joy beyond compareâ€¦ 10/10

Robert Burns was born in 1759 in Alloway. His father was a farmer who went to great lengths to ensure that his children were properly educated. Robert was schooled in the classics, French and Latin and began his creative writing when he was fifteen.

He led a successful, tempestuous life – particularly favouring boozy carousing and roistering escapades with the ladies – and died in 1796 aged 37.

As well as his dialectical and vernacular poetry, Burns selflessly preserved a wealth of traditional Scottish songs and folklore – particularly the bizarre arcane bestiary of supernatural entities God-fearing folk of the 18^th century believed in – and is more popular today than he has ever been.

He is the only poet in history to have his own globally celebrated holiday, with his birth anniversary on January 25^th an affair universally honoured by food, drink, recitations and well-loved scary storiesâ€¦

This stunning re-imagining of the venerable wordsmith by scripters Gordon Rennie (Necronauts, Cabalistics Inc., Judge Dredd) and Emma Beeby (Doctor Who, Judge Dredd), breathtakingly illustrated by relative newcomer Tiernen Trevallion (2000AD, Judge Dredd) and lettered by Jim Campbell, owes as much to the modern fashion for stylish tongue-in-cheek horror comedies like Shaun of the Dead, Lesbian Vampire Killers and I Sell the Dead as the beguiling and frequently fantastical works of the poet, but the skilful interweaving of Burns’ immortal lines with a diabolically clever but simple idea make this tale an unforgettable treat whether pages or screens float your particular boatâ€¦

Think of it this way: in all those sterling supernatural sonnets and sagas, Burns wasn’t reinterpreting his elders’ supernatural folk tales or exercising a unique imagination, he was simply quoting from his diaryâ€¦

The wee drama unfolds one night in Ayrshire in 1779 when rascally young gadabout Robbie finds himself on the wrong end of an angry man’s fist after playing fast and loose with the irate hulk’s intended bride. However, even though all the lassies fall for the blithe blather of the self-proclaimed poet, the battered man himself knows he has not yet found his true museâ€¦

Half-drunk and well-thumped, the farmer’s son heads his horse for home but is drawn to uncanny lights emanating from haunted, drear abandoned old Alloway Kirk. Dangerously enthralled he then espies a scene out of Hell itself as witches and demons cavort in a naked ecstasy of dark worship to the satanic master â€œOld Clootieâ€â€¦

The lad’s enrapt attention is only broken by a heavy pistol shoved in his ear by a stealthy pair also watching the shocking ritual. Old Mackay is a daunting figure kitted out like a wrinkled human arsenal but Robbie’s attention cannot stray from the dangerous codger’s comely companion Meg, the most astounding woman he has ever seen.

Unfortunately the confrontation between the mortal voyeurs has resulted in Burns’ â€œinnocentâ€ blood being spilled and the satanic celebrants have caught wind of itâ€¦

Soon all the denizens of Hell are howling after the ‘mazed mortals but things are not as they seem. The outlandish pair are actually Witch Hunters, ferociously skilled in sending all Satan’s minions back to the Inferno and always armed to the teeth with a fantastic array of ingeniously inventive ordnanceâ€¦

Having fought free of the black Sabbat, the mortals take flight with the screaming witches in pursuit and when one grabs Robbie as he rides pillion on Meg’s horse, the dazed, half-soused lad blasts the beast with one of his companions’ blessed flintlock pistols.

Tragically in the selfsame altercation the pursuing she-devil had opportunity to mark him with her talons and the would-be poet promptly sobers up when he is informed that he has only three days left to liveâ€¦

With mounting terror he learns that most mortals so infected become willing thralls of the hellions, but when a seductive minion of The Pit comes for him the next night, the scribbler somehow fends it off long enough for the suspiciously near-at-hand Meg to spectacularly despatch it back to the brimstone realmsâ€¦

Concluding that’s there might be something of worth to the Burns boy, Mackay and Meg resolve to teach him how to be a true Witch Hunter so that he can defend himself when the horrors come in full strength to collect the Devil’s due. Of course that’s only three days henceâ€¦

Renegade are a publisher who value fact as well as fiction and this superb full-colour hardback comes with a fine selection of factual features beginning with a lavish history and appreciation of Scotland’s greatest poet in Robbie Burns: a Biography’ by author and historian Jerry Brannigan as well as ‘Selected Poems’ which provides a tantalising entrÃ©e into the uniquely impassioned and eerie world of the grand imagineer with a sampling of some of his most famous works embellished and beguilingly illustrated with a wealth of Trevallion’s pencils sketches of Bogles and Brownies, Spunkies and Sirens and even senior Witch Hunter Mackay.

The rhythmic reveille includes Scots Wha Hae, the totally crucial, groundbreaking spooky saga Tam o’ Shanter (A Tale), the evocative A Red, Red Rose, A Man’s A Man For A’ That, the delirious AddressÂ To The Deil and most moving lament Ae Fond Kiss, And Then We Severâ€¦

Smart, action packed, skilfully suspenseful, uproariously funny, divinely irreverent and genuinely scary or sad by turn, Robbie Burns Witch Hunter is a gloriously compelling and truly mesmerising romp: a doom-laden, wisecracking rollicking love story no sensitive soul or jaded comics fan could possibly resist. It’s even educational tooâ€¦
Robbie Burns: Witch Hunter Â© 2014 Renegade Arts Entertainment, Gordon Rennie, Emma Beeby and Tiernen Trevallion.

To learn more and obtain copies check out Turnaround or Amazon.

November 27, 2014November 28, 2014

Redcoats-ish: Jeff Martin’s War of 1812

By Jeff Martin (Renegade Arts Entertainment)
ISBN: 978-0-9921-5086-0

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Perfect for Making History Funâ€¦ 8/10

In recent years there seems to have been a glorious renaissance of Canadian mass culture. Being Erica, Rookie Blue, Orphan Black, Republic of Doyle, Murdoch Mysteries and a host of other intriguing TV shows all offer a slightly skewed look at entertainment standbys and standards – and that’s not even counting the hordes of individual Canucks who’ve made their mark in what we provincial Brits lazily consider the American monopoly of populist literature, movies, music, and assorted dramatic artsâ€¦

Comics and strips too have become reinvigorated, with scribes and pen-pushers producing some of the most interesting stuff since the mid-1980s when Cerebus the Aardvark was the undisputed acme of Indie publishing, Puma Blues invented a strikingly different aesthetic sensibility and a different Renegade Press put out such spellbindingly novel fare as Normalman, Neil the Horse, The Spiral Cage and a host of other off-kilter gems to liven up the world of cartoons and funnybooks.

Following on yesterdays review here’s an intriguing sidebar to one of the most badly-handled wars in history, which officially ended in December 1814, courtesy of well-fed diplomats in Ghent, but carried on killing folk and cocking up lives in the New World until somebody finally got around to telling the actual combatants in 1815â€¦

During its bi-centennial those times of trans-border trouble were wittily reassessed by cartoon and illustrator Jeff Martin via a weekly webcomic and are now cunningly compiled here through the auspices of Renegade Arts Entertainment.

In ‘A Note from the Frontline’ author Martin describes his long interest in the source material of this clash of incompetents, after which comics maven – and self-confessed liquor-lover – Jay Bardyla offers some insightful perspective into the creator’s career and process in ‘Forward March!’

Then the raucous rounds of slapstick shot and snark-filled sarcasm bombs are unleashed when a couple of ill-prepared, reluctant and self-preservation-obsessed citizens find themselves somehow marching off to war with the Canadian militiaâ€¦

At least stout and surly baker George is initially keen to serve, rushing off with no thought of danger (reallyâ€¦ none at allâ€¦) but he insists on dragging wisely reluctant trapper and frustrated bread buyer John Pink with him into the woods in search of the front lines.

In truth nobody made them go, nobody really wants them there and, after tramping through the brush for a good long time, they realise that they have no idea what the invading Americans even look like.

When they finally encounter some strangers by a river George and John spend so much time arguing what to do that their targets walk up and attack them firstâ€¦

And so it goes as folk on both sides – none of whom have ever been trained to fight – shamble through the dense countryside, missing each other and only inflicting harm accidentally, whilst simultaneously wishing they’d never started the affairâ€¦

As our hapless halfwits stumble into more and more trouble, not particularly participating in the all-but forgotten Battle of Maguaga and being on hand but no help at all during the daft-but-true exploit of the fall of unconquerable American stronghold Fort Detroit, other incongruous characters are introduced such as the dryly laconic native Joseph and a barking mad-alcoholic serving British Sergeant, all contributing greatly to the aura to the fiasco.

However the real delights and most incisive jabs are reserved for actual personalities of the conflict: Indian messiah Tecumseh, charismatic Canadian Major-General Isaac Brock, staggeringly inept American commander General William Hull and venal Washington war hawk Henry Clayâ€¦

Fast, funny and surprisingly informative, Redcoats-ish provides smart laughs, sharp observation and stylishly splendid cartoon comedy capers that no lover of history or hilarity will want to miss.
Redcoats-ish: Jeff Martin’s War of 1812 Â© 2014 Renegade Arts Entertainment.

November 26, 2014November 28, 2014

The Loxleys and the War of 1812 (second edition)

By Alan Grant, Claude St. Aubin, Lovern Kindzierski, Todd Klein & Mark Zuehlke (Renegade Arts Entertainment)
ISBN: 978-0-9921508-0-8

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Beautiful, Educational and Fun, the perfect giftâ€¦ 10/10

America’s been in lots of wars since it won Independence and has, in fact, started a goodly proportion of those for less than noble reasons. To be fair, Britain’s much longer record is no better, but most people here have never even heard of the brutal and frankly stupid conflict now known as The War of 1812.

Two centuries after the fact a small independent creative outfit known as Renegade Arts Entertainment (generally Alexander Finbow, Alan Grant, Doug Bradley, John Finbow, Nick Wilson and Jennifer Taylor: originators of comics and audio books, movies, animation, prose and graphic novels, merchandise and games) put their heads together and commemorated the story of the forgotten clash of political intransigents and empire-building politicians as a pictorial tome for youngsters featuring a multi-generational family caught up in the conflict.

The book won a number of prestigious awards and the narrative was later adapted into an animated motion comic (with the assistance of Arcana Studios and the Department of Canadian Heritage), iPad and digital PDF iterations and numerous other online formats as well as a wealth of educational materials for use in conjunction with the piece.

Author Alan Grant rewrote his comics saga as a prose novel and Oscar-nominated screen writer Tab Murphy remade the original story into both a screenplay and school play performed by students across Canada. There is even an 1812timeline.com you can follow whilst reading the version of your choiceâ€¦

Hopefully that will be this brand new, fully updated and upgraded second edition, a stunning 175 page full-colour hardback tome which marries the powerful and enthralling graphic narrative with an abundance of fascinating extras.

Packed with additional illustrations, Alexander Finbow’s background-packed Foreword and the moving Acknowledgements page whets the appetite for the rollercoaster tale of ‘The Loxleys and the War of 1812’ by writer Grant, illustrator Claude St. Aubin, colourist Lovern Kindzierski and letterer Todd Klein.

Matriarch Aurora Loxley is justifiably proud of her extended family, three generations living and working together to build a farm and a life in a welcoming land. Originally from Pennsylvania she and her departed husband Abraham migrated to Canada after the War of Independence to the far side of the Niagara River where their burgeoning clan prospered near the Canadian town of York.

Extracts from her journal begin with the harvest of 1811 where well-earned celebrations are only slightly marred by talk amongst the men of war with America. Britain is currently battling Napoleon all over the world and the Royal Navy has been raiding American ships and ports, impressing men they claim are British deserters to serve in their embattled vessels. The practise outrages their southern neighbours the other side of the river, but many leaders in Washington DC act just as badly as the former regal masters they despise. The â€œWar Hawksâ€ in Congress are rapacious expansionists: wanting to wipe out the Indian peoples and believing it is their destiny to rule the entire continent.

As the idle party talk continues frail William takes a moment to capture the entire family (a dozen happy souls and their dog Duke) in a pencil portrait that depicts their last time as a happy, united familyâ€¦

Everything changes on the night of November 11^th when the Loxleys invite a frantic messenger into their home. He brings news that the main settlement of visionary Chief Tecumseh‘s â€œnation within a nationâ€ has been destroyed by a force of Americans in a night of massacre.

Tecumseh and his brother The Prophet have worked long to create a federation of disparate tribes as a bulwark against American westward expansion. Now the Yankees have taken the opportunity to move north as well and intend to drive the British out of Canadaâ€¦

And so begins a deeply moving, informative, even-handed and intensely exciting tale of ordinary people moved to defend themselves against greed and aggression set against the backdrop of possibly the most ineptly handled, poorly executed war in history.

Despite being born of common greed and ruthless ambition by a few and ignorance and intolerance by a multitude, the haphazard, cravenly executed conflict nonetheless bought misery and death to thousands of serving soldiers, sailors and militia volunteers on both sides and domestic atrocity to an uncounted number of innocent civilians over the following two years and eight months.

Even America’s greatest victory, one of pitifully few in an overcautious, criminally mismanaged string of campaigns, was a ludicrous farce. Despite being considered a stunning triumph and affirmation at the time, the Battle of New Orleans occurred weeks after the war officially ended and nobody except the dead, maimed and missing really caredâ€¦

As the Locksley family splinters, the story powerfully covers the role of militias on both sides – as well as the valiant French-speaking citizens we know as QuebeÃ§ois today – and examines the crucial part played by and eventual betrayal of the native peoples.

Also seen through innocent eyes are the machinations of the politicians on both sides and the aftermath of the warâ€¦

For old fuddy-duddies like me who like their facts and analysis printed on paper there’s historian Mark Zuehlke’s epic, fascinating and lavishly illustrated essay ‘The War of 1812: Historical Summary’ – preceded by a stunning painting of ‘The White House in Flames’ by John M. Burns – to enjoy before a range of follow-up features offer further information through ‘Creator Biographies’ and alluring details on the other strands of the project such as ‘The Loxleys and the War of 1812 School Play’ and ‘The Loxleys and the War of 1812 Novel by Alan Grant’ both of which include excerpted passages and a piece on the ‘The Interactive iPad and Android Tablet app’ before everything concludes with a wealth of delightful ‘Initial Character Designs by Claude St. Aubin’

Despite the panoply of interactive iterations listed above, this sterling and compulsively readable chronicle ably proves one of my most fervently held beliefs: the comics medium is the perfect means to marry learning with fun and a well made graphic treatise is an unbeatable mode with which to Elucidate, Educate and Enjoy.

September 29, 2014

The Bluecoats volume 3: The Skyriders

By Willy Lambil & Raoul Cauvin, translated by Erica Jeffrey (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-84918-014-6

The glamour of the American Experience has fascinated Europeans virtually since the actual days of owlhoots and gunfighters.HergÃ© was a devotee, and the spectrum of memorable comics ranges from Italy’s Tex Willer to such French and Belgian classics as Blueberry and Lucky Luke,and even colonial dramas such as Pioneers of the New World or Milo Manara and Hugo Pratt’s Indian Summer.

‘Les Tuniques Bleues’ orThe Bluecoats began at the end of the 1960s, created by Louis â€œSalvÃ©â€ SalvÃ©rius & Raoul Colvin – who has written every best-selling volume since. The strip was created to replace Lucky Luke when the laconic gunslinger defected from weekly anthology Spirou to rival comic Pilote, and his replacement swiftly became one of the most popular bande dessinÃ©e series on the Continent.

SalvÃ© was a cartoonist of the Gallic big-foot/big-nose humour style, and when he died suddenly in 1972 his replacement, Willy â€œLambilâ€ Lambillotte slowly introduced a more realistic – although still comedic – illustrative manner. Lambil is Belgian, born in 1936 who, after studying Fine Art in college, joined publishing giant Dupuis as a letterer in 1952.

Born in 1938, scripter Raoul Cauvin is also Belgian and before joining Dupuis’ animation department in 1960 studied Lithography. He soon discovered his true calling – comedy writing – beginning his glittering and prolific career at Spirou.

In addition to Bluecoats he has written dozens of other long-running, award winning series including CÃ©dric, Les Femmes en Blanc and Agent 212: more than 240 separate albums. Bluecoats alone has sold more than 15 million copies.

The sorry protagonists of the series are Sergeant Cornelius Chesterfield and Corporal Blutch: a pair of worthy fools in the manner of Laurel and Hardy, two hapless, ill-starred US cavalrymen posted to the wild frontier and various key points of mythic America.

The original format was single-page gags about an Indian-plagued Wild West fort, but with the second volume ‘Du Nord au Sud’ (‘North and South‘) the sad-sack soldiers went back East to fight in the American Civil War (this tale was rewritten in the 18^th album ‘Blue rÃ©tro’ to describe how the chumps were drafted into the military during the war). All subsequent adventures, although ranging far beyond America and taking in a lot of genuine and thoroughly researched history, are set within the timeframe of the Secession conflict.

Blutch is your average whinging little-man-in-the street: work-shy, mouthy, devious and especially critical of the army and its inept commanders. Ducking, diving, even deserting whenever he can, he’s you or me – except sometimes he’s quite smart and heroic if no other easier option is available.

Chesterfield is a big burly man; a career soldier who has passionately bought into all the patriotism and esprit-de-corps of the Military. He is brave, never shirks his duty and wants to be a hero. He also loves his cynical little pal. They quarrel like a married couple, fight like brothers but simply cannot agree on the point and purpose of the horrendous war they are trapped inâ€¦

The Skyriders is the third album of the translated Cinebook series (chronologically the eighth French volume ‘Les cavaliers du ciel’) and opens with Chesterfield dashing to see his severely wounded pal. However, when he finds out Blutch has bribed a surgeon to declare him unfit for duty, the doughty sergeant goes through the roofâ€¦

Dragging Blutch back to the Front lines, the sergeant is just in time to be ordered by frankly quite mad Captain Stark to join him in another heroic cavalry charge against the massed Rebel infantry. The division has suffered a few losses recently so the unstoppable wave of valiant Union horsemen will number exactly threeâ€¦

The assault naturally fails and the deranged officer is captured, with Blutch and the deeply shaken Chesterfield making it back to their own lines more by luck than skill.

The Union generals are in a bit of a tizzy. They have plenty of artillery and ground troops but are being worn down by the swift-moving Confederate cavalry’s harrying tactics. What they need is some method of observing the enemy’s position. Also, with the news of Stark’s capture comes the apprehension of his revealing key positions so the strategists are forced into trying something new.

All they need are a big balloon and a couple of expendable idiotsâ€¦

The first observation flight is a huge success, so much so that the generals go up themselves after the principle is proved. Sadly, the Brass are far better fed than Blutch and Chesterfield and the wicker basket they crowd into proves painfully insufficient to their needsâ€¦

Broken and battered the big bosses choose to keep their bandaged feet on the ground from then on and our Bluecoats remain the army’s only airborne soldiery, enduring shot and shell as they spy on the enemy from aboveâ€¦

Stark meanwhile has not talked and the Confederates are beginning to lose traction in the battle. Correctly blaming the balloon for their reversals of fortune, the Gray commanders determine to destroy their aerostatic nemesis at all costs and a daring sortie on the observation post enables them to cut the balloon free from its mooringsâ€¦

Adrift in the sky the hapless duo try everything to get down safely – consequently causing great consternation to the Rebel forces – before finally crashing to earth on top of their own already balloon-damaged commanding officers.

Ordered to rescue Captain Stark or face a firing squad, Chesterfield then devises an audacious, suicidal plan: using the balloon at night, he and Blutch will infiltrate the Confederate camp and bust their mad boss out.

What could possibly go wrong?

As always their manic midnight misadventures result in pain, humiliation and not a few explosions and, incredibly, victory and success – of a sortâ€¦

This is another hugely amusing anti-war saga targeting young and less cynical audiences. Historically authentic, always in good taste despite its uncompromising portrayal of violence, the attitudes expressed by the down-to-earth pair never make battle anything but arrant folly and, like the hilarious yet insanely tragic war-memoirs of Spike Milligan, these are comedic tales whose very humour makes the occasional moments of shocking verity doubly powerful and hard-hitting.

Fun, informative, beautifully realised and eminently readable, Bluecoats is the sort of war-story that appeals to the best, not worst, of the human spirit.
Â© Dupuis 1976 by Lambil & Cauvin. English translation Â© 2009 Cinebook Ltd. All rights reserved.

September 24, 2014September 22, 2014

Usagi Yojimbo book 9: Daisho

By Stan Sakai (Dark Horse Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-56971-259-7

Despite changing publishers a few times the Roaming Rabbit has been in continuous publication since 1987, with more than 30 collections and books to date. He has guest-starred in many other series (most notably Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its TV incarnation) and even almost made it into his own small-screen show.

There are high-end collectibles, art prints, computer games and RPGs, a spin-off sci-fi comics serial and lots of toys. Author Sakai and his creation have won numerous awards both within the Comics community and amongst the greater reading public.

Usagi Yojimbo (which translates as â€œrabbit bodyguardâ€) first appeared as an extra in anthropomorphic comedy The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy which premiered in 1984 amongst assorted furry ‘n’ fuzzy folk in Albedo Anthropomorphics #1.

He subsequently graduated to a solo-starring act in Critters, Amazing Heroes, Furrlough and the Munden’s Bar back-up series in Grimjack.

In 1955, when Stan Sakai was two years old, his family moved to Hawaii from Kyoto, Japan. He left the University of Hawaii with a BA in Fine Arts, and pursued further studies at Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design in California.

His early forays into comics were as a letterer – most famously for the inimitable Groo the Wanderer – before his nimble pens and brushes found a way to express his passion for Japanese history, legend and the works of Akira Kurosawa and his peers, after which Sakai transformed a work-in-progress about a human historical hero into one of the most enticing and impressive fantasy sagas of all time.

Its engaging protagonist is a Bushido bunny and it’s still more educational, informative and authentic than any dozen Samurai sagas you can nameâ€¦

Although the deliriously peripatetic and expansive period epic stars sentient animals and details the life of a wandering Samurai eking out as honourable a living as possible by selling his sword as a Yojimbo (bodyguard-for-hire), the milieu and scenarios all scrupulously mirror the Feudal Edo Period of Japan (roughly the 17^th century AD by our Christian reckoning) whilst simultaneously referencing other cultural icons from sources from Zatoichi to Godzilla.

Miyamoto Usagi is brave, noble, industrious, honest, sentimental, gentle, artistic, empathetic, long-suffering and conscientious: a born soldier whose master has been murdered, now devoted to the spiritual tenets of Bushido. He simply cannot turn down any request for help or ignore the slightest evidence of injustice. As such, his destiny is to be perpetually drawn into an unending panorama of incredible situations.

The title was as much a nomad as its star. This guest-star-stuffed eighth monochrome masterpiece marshals yarns released by Mirage Publishing as Usagi Yojimbo volume 2, #7-14, and comes with an Introduction from writer James Robinson, after which the medieval mystery play resumes with ‘The Music of Heaven’ wherein Miyamoto and a wandering flock of tokagÃ© lizards (ubiquitous, omnivorous reptiles that populate the anthropomorphic world, replacing scavenger species like rats, cats and dogs in the fictitious ecosystem) encounter a gentle, pious priest whose life is dedicated to peace, music and enlightenmentâ€¦

When their paths cross again later, the ronin is almost murdered by a ruthless assassin who has killed and impersonated the holy man Komuso in an attempt to catch Usagi off guardâ€¦

Evocative and movingly spiritual, this classic of casual tragedy perfectly displays the vast range of storytelling Sakai can pack into the most innocuous of tales.

More menaces from the wanderer’s past reconnect in ‘The Gambler, The Widow and the Ronin’ as a professional gambler who fleeces villagers with rigged samurai duels plies his shabby trade in just another little hamlet.

Unfortunately this one is home to his last stooge’s wife, and whilst his latest hired killer Kedamono is attempting to take over the business, to make matters worse the long-eared nomad who so deftly dispatched his predecessor Shubo has just strolled into town looking for refreshmentsâ€¦

Again forced into a fight he doesn’t want, Miyamoto makes short work of blustering Kedamono, leaving the smug gambler to safely flee with the entire take. Slurping back celebratory servings of SakÃ©, the villain has no idea that the inn where he relaxes employs a vengeful widow and mother who knows just who really caused her man’s deathâ€¦

‘Slavers’ then begins a particularly dark journey for the ronin as Usagi stumbles across a boy in chains escaping from a bandit horde. Little Hiro explains how the ragtag rogues of wily â€œGeneralâ€ Fujii have captured an entire town and are making the inhabitants harvest all their crops for the scum to stealâ€¦

Resolved to save them the rabbit infiltrates the captive town as a mercenary seeking work, but is soon exposed and taken prisoner.

‘Slavers Part 2’ finds Miyamoto stoically enduring the General’s tortures until the boy he saved bravely returns the favour, after which the Yojimbo’s vengeance is awesome and terrible.

However even as the villagers rebel and take back their homes and property, chief bandit Fujii escapes, taking Usagi’s daishÅ (matched long and short swords) with him.

As previously seen, to take a samurai’s swords is to steal his soul, and the monster not only has them but continually dishonours them by slaughtering innocents as he flees the ronin’s relentless pursuit.

‘Daisho – Part One’ opens with a hallowed sword-maker undertaking the holy methodical process of crafting blades and the harder task of selecting the right person to buy them. Three hundred years later, Usagi is on the brink of madness as he follows the bloody trail of Fujii, remorselessly picking off the General’s remaining killers whilst attempting to redeem those sacred dispensers of deathâ€¦

The chase leads him to another town pillaged by Fujii where he almost refuses to aid a wounded man until one of the women accuses him of being no better than the beast he huntsâ€¦

Shocked back to his senses Miyamoto saves the elder’s life and in gratitude the girl Hanako offers to lead him to where Fuji was headingâ€¦

‘Mongrels’ then changes tack as erstwhile ally and hard-to-love friend GennosukÃ© enters the picture. The irascibly bombastic, money-mad bounty-hunter and conniving thief-taker is on the prowl for suitably profitable prospects when he meets the Stray Dog: his greatest rival in the unpopular profession of cop-for-hire.

After some posturing and double-dealing wherein each tries to edge out the other in the hunt for Fujii they inevitably come to blows and are only stopped by the fortuitous intervention of the rabbit roninâ€¦

‘Daisho – Part Two’ sees the rugged individualists come to a shaky truce in their overweening hunger to tackle the General. Mistrustful of each other they nevertheless cut a swathe of destruction through Fujii’s regrouped band, but even after the furious ronin regains his honour swords there is one last betrayal in storeâ€¦

Older, wiser and generally unharmed, Gen and Usagi then part company again as ‘Runaways’ once more takes a peek into Usagi’s past. Stopping in a town he hasn’t visited in years, the rabbit hears a name called out and his mind goes back to a time when he was a fresh young warrior in the service of Great Lord MifunÄ—.

Young princess Takani Kinuko had been promised as bride to trustworthy ally Lord Hirano and the rabbit had been a last-minute replacement as leader of the â€œbabysittingâ€ escort column to her impending nuptials.

When an overwhelming ambush destroyed the party, Usagi was forced to flee with the stuck-up brat, both masquerading as carefree, unencumbered peasants as he strove to bring her safely to her husband-to-be through a seeming army of ninjas killers.

The poignant reverie concludes in ‘Runaways – Part 2’ as valiant hero and spotless maid fell in love whilst fleeing from the pitiless, unrelenting marauders on their heels. Successful at last, their positions naturally forced them apart once she was safely delivered.

Shaken from his memories the ronin moves on, tragically unaware that he was not the only one recalling those moments and pondering what might have beenâ€¦

This emotional rollercoaster ends on a note of portentous foreboding with ‘The Nature of the Viper’, opening a year previously when a boisterous, good-hearted fisherman pulled a body out of the river and nursed his amazingly not dead catch slowly back to health. If he expected gratitude or mercy the peasant was sadly mistaken, as the victim explained whilst killing as soon as he was able.

Jei is a veritable devil in mortal form, believing himself a â€œBlade of the Godsâ€; singled out by the Lords of Heaven to kill the wicked. The maniac makes a convincing case: when he stalked Usagi the monster was struck by a fortuitous – or possibly divinely sent – lightning bolt and is still keen to continue his quest…

This medieval monochrome masterwork also includes a gallery of covers to charm and delight one and all.

Fast-paced yet lyrical, informative and funny, and always astoundingly action-packed, Usagi Yojimbo alternately bristles with tension and thrills and frequently breaks your heart with irresistible tales of pride, triumph and tragedy.

Simply bursting with veracity and verve, this is a perfect comics experience: monolithic, magical tales of irresistible appeal that will delight devotees and make converts of the most hardened hater of â€œfunny animalâ€ stories.
Text and illustrations Â© 1994, 1995, 1998 Stan Sakai. All other material and registered characters are Â© andâ„¢ their respective owners. Usagi Yojimbo and all other prominently featured characters are registered trademarks of Stan Sakai. All rights reserved.

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