Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo: Yokai is an original 56-page watercolor graphic novel done to mark Usagi's twenty-fifth anniversary.
There, that ought to be sufficient recommendation.
Well, OK, just a bit more. It is Oborozuki-yo, the night when yokai, haunts and monsters, walk the land.
The rabbit ronin Miyamoto Usagi encounters a ghost story, and with his acquaintance Sasuke, a wizard, must turn back the monsters' attempt to subjugate the mortal world. Their skills and powers will be tested and their endurance strained to the limit.
One of the virtues is Sakai's imaginative monster creations, most traditional and some original.
As for the story, well, I have read a lot of stories, and this one is familiar to me, from Usagi's own history and from folklore in general, with nothing particularly startling or unusual. Still, I am a jaded curmudgeon, and you should not worry too much about whether I have read too many stories to appreciate another one, and in any case, the road through the story is certainly enjoyable enough. Sakai is a master cartoonist, too talented to disappoint. It's also a fun, spooky, scary story I'd think you could easily share with your tween. If I could read through those eyes again, I know that I would consider this just amazing.
I do not feel that the watercolor added very much. Usagi in color is always nice, but standard coloring technology has long since equalled or surpassed what's shown here. Don't get me wrong; I like color comics when the color is done well, and it is done well here. It's just that watercolor in particular doesn't add very much beyond what I expect from well-done standard coloring. (Much standard coloring is, of course, muddy crud, but that is another rant.)
Anyway, what it boils down to is an original 56-page watercolor graphic novel; if you're an Usagi-fan, you want this.
Posted by Greg at November 17, 2009 11:04 PM