Usagi, like Groo, is one of those books I know of largely from reputation and experience with the creator's work on other properties, but have never read much of. I recently got the chance to read a couple of the single issues and found them very well done, but I didn't really get what Usagi was all about until I read a concentrated number of these stories in The Shrouded Moon trade. This is fantastic stuff, full of atmosphere and information about feudal era Japan along with entertaining characters, strong plots and beautiful artwork. Mixing single-issue tales with longer arcs, The Shrouded Moon is an excellent sampler for those who want to dip their toe in the Usagi Yojimbo waters, and even though it's volume 16 in a series, it's remarkably accessible.
In the course of this trade, in addition to Usagi, we meet his slightly-more-selfish ronin friend Gen and his quite-a-bit-more-selfish ninja friend Chizu. These are not just supporting players, but characters who are fleshed out well enough to carry the series on their own. It's no mystery to me, after reading this trade, how Usagi has been going for so long. Sakai not only has tales to tell about Usagi's travels, he can explore the roles of other ronin, ninja or other members of feudal Japanese society with this series.
Which isn't to say that Usagi Yojimbo is a supporting player in his own comic. One of the best stories in this collection features a handful of people whom Usagi has helped telling their impressions of the samurai, which leads to some inspired Jackie Chan-esque fights in a fish market, a tale of how he used his reputation to defeat one bandit and a tale of how he used his cleverness to defeat another. While Sakai is no slouch with fight scenes, and Usagi no slouch with martial prowess, the book is just as much about Usagi's cleverness, whether it's the scheme that Gen and Usagi cook up to rid a town of two warring gangs or Usagi being smart enough to realize when a merchant is throwing the samurai's life away foolishly.
It seems almost comical to critique Sakai's art style at this point, as he's been at this so long, marrying fundamentals with plenty of polish, that his work is always good and usually quite a bit better. I specifically like the unique cue that uses a speech balloon to indicate that someone is dead. His ability to make the characters so expressive often makes me forget I'm reading about anthropomorphic animals, and his action scenes are always exciting and well-choreographed. The highlight of this book is a scene in which Chizu must fight her way free of an entire ninja clan, which is chaotic and large scale without being unclear.
Sakai covers a wide variety of emotional resonance in this book, from the bittersweet story of Chizu's origin to the almost comical ineptness of the gangsters that Usagi and Gen fool early on. There's plenty of humor, as well as plenty of drama, and while I've been impressed with what little Usagi I've read in the past, as of this trade I'm officially a fan.
