Stan Sakai (Author, Artist, Cover Artist)
Usagi Yojimbo #19 is the kind story that is stock-full with classic Stan Sakai′s imagery: there is a hermit, there is a debt, and there is also the best scene featuring snakes I′ve seen and enjoyed in a long time.
First, we see Usagi wandering about in his now traditional roaming of a country that no longer has space for Ronin like him. He encounters a couple of peasants that are busily collecting tokage, the weird lizard like creatures of Usagi′s world.
Usagi will then deliver this basket full of lizards to an eccentric monk. This man lives on a remote island infested with snakes, Hebishima (Snake Island, in Japanese). So, the plot is set: a dark, mysterious hermit, an island and a hut full of snakes and, of course, Usagi has crossed paths with this man before.
Usagi became a Ronin in the Adachi plain, and all he could do for his former master Lord Mifune was to hide his master′s head before the other side would get at it. He did encounter samurais from the other side, but he dealt with them swiftly and effectively, or so he thought…
This is part a horror story and part mockery, a delicate balance that will send chills down your spine…
′Usagi Yojimbo Issue # 19: The Master of Hebishima′ is on sale since April, 2021
AVAILABLE: April 2021
IMPRINT: IDW
PAGE COUNT: 32
COLOR: FC
DIAMOND CODE: FEB210432
Featured image by Stan Sakai, all images belong to IDW Comics
.
