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Book Cover for: Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition: 2 Volume Hardcover Box Set, Stan Sakai

Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition: 2 Volume Hardcover Box Set

Stan Sakai

Created in 1984 as a supporting character for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo has vaulted to the very forefront of iconic modern comics characters and is a perennial favorite amongst both children and adult fans. Stuffed with engaging supporting characters, villains, and even a romantic interest or two, Usagi Yojimbo chronicles the action-packed wanderings of a masterless samurai (a "ronin") in feudal Japan -- as told with funny-animals. (If Pixar and the late Akira Kurosawa were to collaborate on a movie, it might very well look like this.)

For the first ten years of his career, the battling bunny was published by Fantagraphics Books. In honor of his 25th anniversary, Fantagraphics is releasing a deluxe slipcase set collecting the first seven Usagi books, including the earliest stories; the origin story, "Samurai"; "The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy," a full graphic novel; and literally dozens more. With over 1000 pages of story, this is the complete, definitive, early Usagi. But that's not all! This Special Edition will also be brimming with extra material, some from the long-out-of-print hardcover editions of those first seven volumes, some brand new. Just a few of the goodies are a complete full-color gallery of the more than 50 Usagi covers from that period (never-before-collected); many preparatory sketches, including Sakai's original first draft of the "Samurai" story; two "non-canon" Usagi stories by Sakai co-starring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (with whom Usagi also shared screen time in the TMNTs' TV series); and an updated and expanded, long out-of-print and feature-length, career-spanning interview with Sakai from the pages of The Comics Journal.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
  • Publish Date: Dec 17th, 2010
  • Pages: 1200
  • Language: English
  • Edition: Special - undefined
  • Dimensions: 10.90in - 7.60in - 3.10in - 8.10lb
  • EAN: 9781606991541
  • Categories: East Asian Style - Manga - GeneralHistorical Fiction - GeneralFantasy - General

About the Author

Sakai, Stan: -

Stan Sakai is a Japanese-born American artist and comic book creator. His creation, Usagi Yojimbo, first appeared in 1984. Usagi has been on television as a guest of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as toys, on clothing, in comics, and in a series of trade paperback collections. He is a multiple Eisner-Award-winning cartoonist and the recipient of numerous national awards including an American Library Association Award and a Cultural Ambassador Award from the Japanese American National Museum. In 2020, Sakai was inducted into the Eisner Award Hall of Fame. He currently is an executive producer on the Netflix original CGI animated series Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, which is based on "Usagi Yojimbo". He lives in Pasadena, CA.

More books by Stan Sakai

Book Cover for: Usagi Yojimbo Volume 40: The Crow, Stan Sakai
Book Cover for: Usagi Yojimbo Saga Volume 1 (Second Edition), Stan Sakai
Book Cover for: Usagi Yojimbo Volume 39: Ice and Snow, Stan Sakai
Book Cover for: Usagi Yojimbo Saga Volume 2 (Second Edition), Stan Sakai
Book Cover for: Usagi Yojimbo Saga Volume 3 (Second Edition), Stan Sakai
Book Cover for: Usagi Yojimbo Saga Volume 8 (Second Edition), Stan Sakai
Book Cover for: Usagi Yojimbo: 40th Anniversary Reader, Stan Sakai
Book Cover for: Usagi Yojimbo Saga Volume 5 (Second Edition), Stan Sakai
Book Cover for: Usagi Yojimbo Saga Legends (Second Edition), Stan Sakai
Book Cover for: Usagi Yojimbo Saga Volume 6 (Second Edition), Stan Sakai
Book Cover for: Usagi Yojimbo Saga Volume 4 (Second Edition), Stan Sakai
Book Cover for: Space Usagi: Death and Honor, Stan Sakai
Book Cover for: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: Wherewhen, Stan Sakai
Book Cover for: Space Usagi: White Star Rising, Stan Sakai
Book Cover for: Usagi Yojimbo: The Ronin, Stan Sakai
Book Cover for: Usagi Yojimbo: Samurai, Stan Sakai

Praise for this book

Usaji Yojimbo is one of the most original, innovative and well-executed comic books anywhere to be found.--Stan Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the X-Men
Usagi represents a unique fusion of East and West, combining traditional samurai virtues with the flamboyance of Kurosawa's heroes and the understated authority of a Hollywood frontier marshal.-- "The Los Angeles Times"
Teenagers will easily succumb to Sakai's clever brand of visual humor.-- "Booklist"