"Runaways"
Usagi Yojimbo #13-14 (April-June, 1995)
Reprinted in Usagi Yojimbo Book 9: Daisho



Summary: Gen and Usagi again part ways.

In a town, while ordering broiled cuttlefish, Usagi sees a procession escorting Lady Hirano and flashes back to a story from his youth:

While painting a picture of his lost love, Mariko, Usagi learns the news that Mariko has married his childhood rival Kenichi. To help him clear his head, Gunichi invites Usagi totake his place on a mission to escort Princess Takani Kinuko to her wedding to Lord Hirano, a union their Lord Mifune supports.

At first Usagi finds the princess quite rude. When they are attacked by Neko Ninja, Usagi manages to escape with her, but she is quite unappreciative. He orders her around in order to see her safely to Lord Hirano and fulfill his duties. The Princess speculates the ninja may have been sent by Lord Hikiji or Lord Hirata. He steals her some clothes and food from two peasants, who resemble woodcutters we have seen before.

After another ninja attack, she grows softer. She confesses she had taken her anger out wrongly on Usagi because he was escorting her to a loveless marriage. She shares her frustrations at how controlled her life is, and how everything she does is for the clan.

They make their way to a town where the Tanabata Matsuri is going on. The "Festival of the Weaver Star". It celebrates when two star loves, Shokuju and Kengyu, separated by the Heavenly River, meet for one night a year, as magpies form a bridge across the river. The festival is also a celebration of arts and weaving. Usagi and Kinuko eat Takoyaki, play games for prizes, dance, and are given a tanzaku streamer. They are repeatedly mistaken for a couple.

Kinuko picks Usagi a kiku blossom and tells him to always think of her when he sees it. Usagi realizes that this is going too far. They each have their place, and their duties. Kinuko asks Usagi to run away with her, when Shingen interrupts and attacks with his Neko Ninja. Usagi is holding his own but outnumbered, when the ninja flee because Gunichi rides to the rescue leading a cadre of samurai.

Lord Hirano personally thanks Usagi for his service, and Usagi asks for the boon of a private audience with the princess. In the garden, Usagi is ready to run away, but now it is Kinuko who is ready to do her duty.

Back in the present, as the procession passes Usagi, a single kiku blossom is dropped to the floor.

Thoughts: The Mirage series has maintained a tight continuity. Even though Usagi's adventures are inherently episodic, the series seems to frequently make clear that the adventures follow one after the other with references to previous stories. I wonder if this is for the best. Usagi is just wandering. Sakai could make each episode stand alone, an indefinite amount of time and distance having been traversed since the last adventure.

We see this in this story with an opening 2-page sequence where Gen and Usagi again say goodbye. It's a good scene, and scenes like this collectively inform the great dynamic that these two friends have. But it has nothing to do with the story at hand, indicating this is soon after the events of Daisho. I wonder if Runaways would be better left to stand alone? Without the Gen opening.

The overarching continuity is of more interest to me than the immediate continuity, how the relationships can build on older stories.. I was pleased to see the return of Gunichi. The friendship on display is made poignant by knowing how it will all end, with Usagi killing Gunichi.

This is also an interesting era of Usagi to see. We get many tales of young Usagi, where he has lessons to learn. But here we see him a full samurai, but not yet one who has it all figured out. We see him ready to abandon his lord and honor in the name of love, to attempt to win Mariko back. The Usagi we know holds to strongly to samurai values to even consider such actions. This is a time where he is skilled, but still has growing to do.

I think this is a great story, characterized by strong character work with a young Usagi and Kinuko, and the relationship between Usagi and Gunichi. Fills in a few important details about Usagi's past, from Mariko's marriage to his battle with Shingen. Features some excellent battles between ninja, and a beaten, bloody, and battle-crazed Usagi.

And is topped off with a touching ending. Usagi thinks it unlikely the princess even remembers their story. But she does, as shown by leaving a blossom for him. The sad part of the moment is that Usagi walks away without seeing it, and realizing that she felt the same. It is reminiscent of the great ending of "Circles", where Usagi and Mariko both secretly saved relics from their final picnic, without the other knowing.

This apparently tells the tale of the first meeting between Usagi and Shingen, but they didn't seem to know each other when we first saw them meet in issue 12 of the first series.

Notes

• Introduces Lady Hirano
• Tells how Usagi learned of Mariko's wedding
• Tells of the first meeting between Usagi and Shingen

A brief interlude to reflect upon The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy.

The backup to Usagi Yojimbo #9 featured a story of Nilson and Hermy set in the future. This would be the final Nilson backup to appear in the pages of Usagi. The duo had been backup features in Usagi and shared space in the Critters and Albedo comics. In fact, I'm almost saying this backwards. In the early days, it was Usagi who accompanied Nilson and Hermy, as Usagi was created to be a character in Nilson's epic saga, and they would eventually team up to battle the Dark Lord Hikiji.

Stan changed his mind, deciding Usagi was the better character (it's the ears). Probably for the best. His Nilson arc included discovering the secret of why the world was filled with anthropomorphic animals. I think the wink and a nod Usagi comics occasionally give the conceit serve the story better.

Anyways, Dark Horse put out a complete collection of what Nilson comics there are and I highly recommend it. Nilson is a rabbit in search of adventure, and Hermy is his slow-witted but loyal guinea pig (?) companion. The stories are not played straight, featuring more humor and silliness than we see in Usagi. And it's a fun read.

If you are somehow a purist, below is a complete list of comics featuring Nilson and Hermy:

Albedo #1,5
Critters Special #1
Critters #5, 16, 27
Usagi Yojimbo (Fantagraphics) #19
Usagi Yojimbo Color Special #1-3
Usagi Yojimbo (Mirage) #9
Dark Horse Presents (vol. 2) #30

And this is a sketch I got in the front page of my Nilson book from the Sensei himself, Stan Sakai.

"Kaiso"
Usagi Yojimbo #15 (August, 1995)
Reprinted in Usagi Yojimbo Book 10: The Brink of Life and Death



Summary: Along the seaside, Miyamoto Usagi meets Kichiro, a kaiso (seaweed) farmer, and has dinner with his family, including his wife, and his son Hayato. Usagi learns of Kichiro's troubles. Someone has been sabotaging and poaching his fields, likely Bunji, his neighbor to the north. The next day, Usagi accompanies Kichiro at work, and learns about kaiso farming, which Kichiro learned from his father, who learned it from his father...

Usagi suspects the kaiso merchant Yamanaka of being behind the troubles and sets a trap to catch his bandits in the act. His treachery gives Bunji and Kichiro the idea of partnering to become their own distributors.

Thoughts: This issue is in the tradition of "A Kite Story", where the story is built around a custom of the period, in this case kaiso farming. This is somewhat weaker in that the lesson for the reader is built into somewhat clunky exposition, and the story built around it is weaker. Not quite the masterpiece of storytelling I have come to expect. But it is illustrated with Sakai's usual mastery and gives fun insight into a unique profession. Definitely in the tradition of the best Usagi stories, just not one of the best itself.

That said, the opening page of Usagi standing by the seaside may alone be worth the price of admission

"A meeting of strangers"
Usagi Yojimbo #16 (October, 1995)
Reprinted in Usagi Yojimbo Book 10: The Brink of Life and Death



Summary: Usagi is eating at an inn when Inazuma walks in. She demonstrates her skill to a would-be harasser, then takes her leave. Usagi pays for her meal. Outside, a familiar-looking informer leads the goons of Boss Bakuchi to her. She makes short work of them. Sighting Usagi, the same informant brings the information to Yamanaka--a kaiso distributor whose schemes Usagi had foiled[/B].

The informer sends a gang of killers against Usagi, but he defeats them all. Tired from the fight, Usagi almost lets an arrow strike him, but Inazuma saves him.

Thoughts: Masterful opening (as we at this point expect from Stan). When Inazuma walks in, Usagi readies his hand by his sword in case she means trouble. But his face shows no reaction as he continues to eat noodles with his other hand. He eases off when she passes and sits. Not an easy thing to convey in a comic.

After the opening, this comic doesn't have a lot to offer. It is the final issue of the Mirage series, but a disappointing finale. Its only purpose is to introduce the character of Inazuma. As she doesn't do much in this issue, the payoff will have to come in the next series. Even the action is subpart. Inazuma easily takes out a gang and Usagi easily takes out a gang. No effort seemed to be put into either. No challenge. No real story. And really, nothing yet to sell us on Inazuma as a character. Quite the contrast from the introductions of characters like Gen, Ino, or Tomoe.

As I said in previous posts, the Mirage series kept a superfluously tight continuity, having each issue take place right after the previous, indicated by references. This continues that trend, as people are seeking to kill Usagi for his actions in the previous issue. But this is absurd. Yamanaka was a fine one-off villain, with no reason to return.

The art is excellent, the story is fine, but by the standards we have come to expect, this is a particularly weak issue.


Notes:

• Introudes Inazuma
  

The issue features a backup Lionheart story.

Final thoughts on Usagi Yojimbo, the Mirage series.

The Mirage series in some sense the forgotten era of Usagi Yojimbo. It was birthed in Fantagraphics and has found its longterm home at Dark Horse, and it is the Dark Horse series that is the most fully realized. After more than a decade, Stan had figured out his character and where to take him, so the best stories remain ahead of us.

The Mirage series lasted only 16 issues, and devoted parts of its final issues to mere setup. It began with a crossover with a popular franchise and ended with the introduction of a character which would set up the next series. Neither really defining stories. In between, there was some good, some bad, some great, and a lot of fine. Shi was an excellent action arc, Kaiso returned to one of the series best formulas for success.

Two things to me that make this series more than a footnote in Usagi's saga. The opening of Daisho captures in a microcosm all that is great about Usagi in my mind. Turning a lesson about traditional Japanese culture into something so dramatic and engaging, and tying it perfectly into Usagi's saga is an impressive feat. The sudden shift in tone from the dispatched narration to the enraged Usagi shouting for his swords left me perfectly understanding Usagi's mood. It's a masterpiece of a scene, in my mind. Among the best scenes of the series thus far.

The other standout is The Music of Heaven, just a beautiful tale with a poignant ending, again illustrating aspects of Japanese culture and letting these cultural lessons complement and enhance the drama. Oftentimes when sit on the shore listening to the waves, I think about the music of nature, and about the music of heaven.

The Mirage series is right around when I left comics, and another example of how the 90's were a low point even outside mainstream superheroes.

Not that I don't like the comics. Just the publisher change, the switch to color, the fact that the series was short lived, it does end up being a bit forgettable. I'm glad it's black and white again though for sure.