2024 marks the 40th anniversary of Stan Sakai's legendary character Usagi Yojimbo. To celebrate, Dark Horse Comics and Dogu Publishing are releasing a special trade paperback collection of some of the rabbit rōnin's greatest adventures.
The new Usagi Yojimbo 40th Anniversary Reader contains eight stories personally selected by Stan Sakai himself, one of which - 'Chanoyu' - is appearing in color for the first time.
The other stories in the collection include: 'A Mother's Love,' 'Blade of the Gods,' 'The Way of the Samurai,' 'Cut the Plum,' 'The Artist,' 'Buntori,' and 'Adachi'.
"Stan Sakai is not just a master storyteller, but a member of the Dark Horse family," Dark Horse president Mike Richardson said in a statement about the new book. "We are so glad to celebrate Stan and 40 years of his beloved creation, Usagi Yojimbo, here at Dark Horse. I'm thrilled to offer longtime fans and new readers a fresh look at some of our favorite stories over the years, now in one new collection."
Usagi Yojimbo first appeared in Albedo Anthropomorphics #2 in November 1984 before moving over to Fantagraphics Books a couple of years later, with a dedicated ongoing series launching in July 1987. Originally intended to be a human character, directly inspired by the life of swordsman and philosopher Miyamoto Musashi, he became a rabbit when Sakai casually doodled rabbit ears on one of his drawings.
The character has crossed over with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles many times and also spawned the sci-fi spin-off Space Usagi, which returned for a one-shot comic in October last year.
The Usagi Yojimbo 40th Anniversary Reader trade paperback is published by Dark Horse Comics in bookstores on June 18 and arrives in comic shops the following day.
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