Stan Sakai’s beloved rabbit samurai has won countless fans over his 35-year history, thanks to a clever blend of thrilling action, heartwarming characters and realistic portrayal of Japanese culture. Chibi Usagi brings these fun and thoughtful stories to middle grade readers as an original graphic novel packed with adorable art and captivating energy by Julie…
The time-travelling turtle Lita may have returned to her time, having set the Splinter Clan on a better path, but she’s not the only one with a vested interest in their future. Oroku Saki, the Shredder, continues to watch over them from afar, looking out for them with simple acts of kindness, all from the…
When you are on issue number 258 of a nearly perfect series, how do you keep readers surprised? Stan Sakai has tried numerous approaches since relaunching Usagi Yojimbo at IDW. For some tales, like “Homecoming” he tried to tap into emotional beats that had long been left dormant, reminding readers of some of the earliest…
Jennika’s brought her band together, and it’s time to battle it out, heavy metal style, to see Bebop and Rocksteady leave Mutant Town for good in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #117. However, that’s not the only thing on the Splinter Clan’s plate, as they’ve still got a time-traveling turtle they need to return to the…
After a time-travelling turtle from the future brings dire warnings of a dark timeline should Jennika not pursue her passions, Jennika challenges Bebop and Rocksteady to a Battle of the Bands. With the weight of a dark future pressing in on her, Jennika’s got a lot riding on this battle — but first, she needs…
What do you say after nearly 40 years? What more can I say about Stan Sakai’s life’s work that hasn’t been said better by others over and over again? I want to be a cynic. If you have read how I cover other books, I tend to be aggressive, nearly bloodthirsty, going after flaws that…
The Tengu War comes to its conclusion as Usagi, Sojobo, Lady Nozomi and the whole Tengu clan fight to retain their honor in Stan Sakai and Hi-Fi Design’s Usagi Yojimbo #18. After binge-reading the previous 255 issues of Usagi Yojimbo over the past few months, I think what strikes me the most about Sakai’s work…
The year is 1927, and two houses across the Atlantic are about to collide. At Keyhouse in Lovecraft, Massachusetts, Locke family patriarch Chamberlain is dying and regrets the loss of his son to Hell. On Fawney Rig in Sussex, England, Roderick Burgess holds court over his debauched followers and keeps the King of Dreams in…
Transformers ’84: Secrets & Lies Writer: Simon Furman, Artist: Guido Guidi, Colorist: John-Paul Bove, Letterers: Jake M. Wood and Tom B. Long, Publisher: IDW The Quote Unquote “Marvel Continuity” of Transformers vaguely resembles an Inception-like flow chart. There is the 80-issue run of the Transformers series, minis like G.I.Joe vs. Transformers and Headmasters, filler stories…
If I were a comics creator, I would hate Stan Sakai. The man has been drawing a funny animal comic for nearly 40 years now and hasn’t lost a step. He’s been coursing a path for the rabbit ronin Miyamoto Usagi for decades, and continues to execute some of the most exciting cartoons in the…
Even when I was a kid, something about Transformers: Beast Wars felt different. Maybe it was the early and ugly CGI, but I like to think that even back then, I noticed the writing. Now, I’m not going to get up here and make some claim about it being an underappreciated masterpiece, but as a…
Space. The final frontier. These are the comics of the Federation from IDW Publishing. We’re looking at the complete miniseries Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Too Long a Sacrifice, where a series of murders on Deep Space Nine at the height of the Federation and its allies’ war with the Dominion sets Constable Odo on…