The Pull List – Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #1
In the next installment for in Miyamoto Usagi’s adventure, Usagi and Inspector Ishida are put on a case to identity two corpses. These corpses were found abandon and show signs of travel on their body. However, Usagi and Inspector Ishida discover a talisman left behind that will begin their investigation.
Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden is a seven part series that shows that it will deliver some mature themes that deals with the real world cultural and militant changes that occurred in Japan. This is a new arc for the series brings this current volume to issue #166, but you don’t have to read all 165 prior issues to understand this story. The setting of Usagi Yojimbo parallels real life events from feudal Japan where samurai’s, warlords and honor ruled the country. Miyamoto Usagi is a wandering ronin that occasionally leads his service to the police. New readers can easily understand Usagi’s role and follow in this new adventure. Long term readers can easily pick up this new arc as the events of the previous story Mouse Trap concluded with Usagi and company tying most loose ends.
Creator Stan Sakai is a one person comic team as he is the writer, artist and cover artist for the whole series. We are not surprise if we found out he also helps print the comic too. Stan’s art style and fantasy setting makes the series great comic readers young and old. The upcoming issues looks to have more twist and turns as Usagi and Inspector Ishida uncover more clues about the corpses and will undoubtedly bring more sword fights. Stan Sakai is exploring the cultural shift that happen in Sixteen Century Japan and sends Miyamoto Usagi head first in a mysterious conspiracy.