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Get Started In USAGI YOJIMBO

1st Appearance  |  Origin Story  |  Main Publication History  |  Secondary Publication History  |  Key Storylines  |  Media Source Material  |  Key Issues  |  Compilations

by snowbi-wan, updated Oct 2024

Usagi Yojimbo from writer/artist/letterer Stan Sakai, first appearing in late 1984, is arguably one of the consistently greatest comic books still being published today. The deceptively simple concept of an anthropomorphic, ronin (masterless samurai) rabbit in the feudal era of Japan, wandering the countryside in adventure, will draw you in completely because Sakai is a master storyteller. The rabbit, Miyamoto Usagi, is based in part on the real life samurai, Miyamoto Musashi, and exists among a cast of other compelling animal-based characters. It would be easy to discount Usagi Yojimbo as just another funny animal book born in the 1980s funny animal fad, but this critically-acclaimed series has outlasted nearly every other peer from its day for good reason. While the storyline is mostly episodic, there are longer plotlines being woven into the overall saga with occasional multi-part arcs that can easily stand alone.

The other 'Stan' sums up Usagi Yojimbo concisely. 'I think Usagi Yojimbo is one of the most original, innovative, well-executed comic books anywhere to be found. Stan's style of artwork, his crisp incisive writing, and his thoroughly professional pacing, all done in a relaxed and absorbed manner, have provided comics with something so rarely seen in this field--a new literary and artistic approach to illustrated storytelling.' -- Stan Lee

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1st Appearance

The first appearance of a character in comic book form is often the most valuable issue featuring that character. It's a nice place to get started in Usagi Yojimbo, if it's within your budget. Usagi Yojimbo was introduced in the anthology series ALBEDO [1983] in issue #2. After a few appearances in this series, he moved to another anthology series, CRITTERS [1984]. From there he launched into his own self-titled series and has been in publication ever since.

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Origin Story

The original presentation of an origin story or a retelling/recounting of it can be a good place to get started with a character or subject. Usagi Yojimbo's origin story is not essential to getting started with him or to enjoying his ongoing adventures, but it can be found in the first four issues of Volume I from Fantagraphics, USAGI YOJIMBO [1987] #1-4 as an eight-part story called THE SAMURAI. Dark Horse did not apparently have the rights to reprint Volume I, so you'll have to find a compilation published by Fantagraphics or the colorized reprint volume from IDW if you don't want to splurge for the individual issues. They may be available digitally from Dark Horse. The 1996 series from Dark Horse started with a 4-page synopsis of Usagi's backstory.

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  • USAGI YOJIMBO [1987] #1-4   (THE SAMURAI, origin of Usagi Yojimbo)  Find issues on MCS
  • USAGI YOJIMBO [1996] #1   (ORIGIN TALE, 4-page synopsis of Usagi Yojimbo's backstory)  Find issues on MCS

Main Publication History

Series beginnings are always great places to get started in comic books. Here is the Main Publication History for Usagi Yojimbo comic books. Having been born in the great black and white era of the 1980's, Usagi Yojimbo proved his popularity in anthology titles before getting his own ongoing series. He first appeared in a handful of early issues of ALBEDO [1983] from Thoughts and Images but moved into the early issues of Fantagraphics' CRITTERS [1986] where he had regular appearances before getting his own one-shot. His continued popularity lead to his first ongoing series, USAGI YOJIMBO [1986], but he had a few more appearances in CRITTERS [1986] afterwards as well. Usagi stayed with Fantagraphics until 1992, when he jumped over to Mirage Publishing for a few years, published alongside their premiere creator-owned property, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In 1996, Usagi switched publishers to Dark Horse and had been in nearly continuous publication with them until... In 2019, Usagi Yojimbo switched publishers from Dark Horse to IDW with a relaunch that coincided roughly with the release of Netflix's animated TV show Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles. The following list contains Usagi Yojimbo's anthology appearances before he earned his own self-titles series, then the list concentrates on appearances where he was a headline character. See the Secondary Publication History for other minor appearances.

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Secondary Publication History

If you've already enjoyed some of the series listed in the Main Publication History above, series from this secondary publication list are very good places to further your exploration. In this section we list smaller appearances of Usagi Yojimbo (UY) in publications where he is not the headline character. Excepting, of course, for ALBEDO and CRITTERS--you can find his earliest appearances in these anthology titles in the Main Publication History. Many of the brief appearance in the list below are reprinted throughout Usagi's compilations.

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  • DOOMSDAY SQUAD [1986] #3  (contains 8-page UY story)  Find issues on MCS
  • GRIMJACK [1984] #30  (appearance of UY in backup story)  Find issues on MCS
  • PENGUIN AND PENCILGUIN [1987] #1  (appearance of UY in one story)  Find issues on MCS
  • BORIS THE BEAR INSTANT COLOR CLASSICS [1987] #1  (titular character slays parody versions of nearly all 80's funny animals, including UY)  Find issues on MCS
  • TURTLE SOUP [1987] #1  (contains 6-page UY story; 1st Usagi Yojimbo/TMNT crossover (in comics))  Find issues on MCS
  • EQUINE THE UNCIVILIZED [1985] #6  (cameo appearance of UY)  Find issues on MCS
  • SHELL SHOCK [1989-TPB]   (contains original 10-page story with another UY/TMNT crossover)  Find issues on MCS
  • TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES [1984] #47  (contains 8-page UY story; UY meets Space Usagi; 1st appearance of Space Usagi)  Find issues on MCS   Jump to Compilations
  • MIGHTY MAGNOR [1993] #3  (cameo appearances of UY, Stan Sakai)  Find issues on MCS
  • SHANDA THE PANDA [1993] #4  (cameo appearance of UY in one story)  Find issues on MCS
  • NINJA HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOK [1989] #6  (appearance of UY on cover)  Find issues on MCS
  • PREVIEWS [1988] V6/#9-12, V7/#1-8  (contains serialized 24-page UY story (2 pages per catalog), reprinted in USAGI YOJIMBO COLOR SPECIAL [1992] #4)  Find issues on MCS
  • ART OF USAGI YOJIMBO [1997] #1-2  Find issues on MCS
  • TRILOGY TOUR II [1998] #1  (contains 8-page UY story)  Find issues on MCS
  • DARK HORSE PRESENTS [1986] #140  (contains 8-page UY story)  Find issues on MCS
  • ONI DOUBLE FEATURE [1998] #11  (contains 1-page UY story)  Find issues on MCS
  • DARK HORSE PRESENTS ANNUAL [1998] #1999  (contains 8-page UY story)  Find issues on MCS
  • WIZARD: THE COMICS MAGAZINE [1997M] #97  (contains 3-page UY story)  Find issues on MCS
  • DARK HORSE EXTRA [1998-NP] #20-23  (contains serialized UY story)  Find issues on MCS
  • NOCTURNALS: TROLL BRIDGE [2000]   (appearance of UY)  Find issues on MCS
  • DARK HORSE MAVERICK 2001 [2001]   (contains 6-page UY story)  Find issues on MCS
  • DARK HORSE EXTRA [1998-NP] #45-48  (contains serialized UY story)  Find issues on MCS
  • MORE FUND COMICS [2003-TPB]   (anthology benefit collection contains UY story)  Find issues on MCS
  • USAGI YOJIMBO SKETCHBOOK [2004-MINI] #1-13  (ashcan-sized, self-published sketchbook that Stan distributes exclusively at conventions and from his website)  Find issues on MCS
  • DRAWING THE LINE [2004-TPB]   (anthology benefit collection contains UY story)  Find issues on MCS
  • MYSPACE DARK HORSE PRESENTS [2008-TPB] VOL 2, VOL 4  (2 of the 4 compilations of the digital anthology series contain an UY story; these brief stories were previously reprinted in USAGI YOJIMBO COLOR SPECIAL [2014] #5)  Find issues on MCS
  • FREE COMIC BOOK DAY AND STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS--GUANTLET OF DEATH [2009]   (contains 6-page UY story)  Find issues on MCS
  • DARK HORSE PRESENTS [2011] #7  (contains 8-page UY story, reprinted in USAGI YOJIMBO COLOR SPECIAL [2014] #5)  Find issues on MCS
  • DARK HORSE PRESENTS [2011] #35-36  (contains 8-page UY story, reprinted in USAGI YOJIMBO COLOR SPECIAL [2014] #5)  Find issues on MCS
  • CBLDF PRESENTS LIBERTY ANNUAL [2010] #2014  (contains 4-page UY story)  Find issues on MCS   Jump to Compilations
  • USAGI YOJIMBO HALLOWEENFEST 2019 [2019-MINI]   Find issues on MCS
  • USAGI YOJIMBO FCBD 2020 [2020]   Find issues on MCS
  • TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES/USAGI YOJIMBO SATURDAY MORNING ADVENTURES [2024]   Find issues on MCS

Selected Key Storylines

This section contains a curated list of some of the best storylines for Usagi Yojimbo, any one of which can be a good place to get started. In fact, any of Usagi Yojimbo's strong story arcs can be enjoyed by itself...as well as within the grand saga chronologically. While it may seem counter-intuitive, there really is no wrong place to get started with Usagi Yojimbo.

Key Storyline cover 1 for USAGI YOJIMBOKey Storyline cover 2 for USAGI YOJIMBOKey Storyline cover 3 for USAGI YOJIMBOKey Storyline cover 4 for USAGI YOJIMBO

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1987USAGI YOJIMBO [1987] #1-4   (THE SAMURAI, origin of Usagi Yojimbo)
1988USAGI YOJIMBO [1987] #13-18   (THE DRAGON BELLOW CONSPIRACY, big fan-favorite, partially inspired by Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai)
1991USAGI YOJIMBO [1987] #28-31   (CIRCLES, this one has it all: sword battles, humor, suspense, mythology and folklore, slapstick, and emotional impact)
1993USAGI YOJIMBO [1993] #1-3   (SHADES OF GREEN, excellent crossover with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles kicked off ongoing Volume II)
1997USAGI YOJIMBO [1996] #13-22   (GRASSCUTTER, if you only read one...this is the most popular Usagi Yojimbo story)
2000USAGI YOJIMBO [1996] #39-45   (GRASSCUTTER II, strong follow-up arc to critically-acclaimed original arc)
2002USAGI YOJIMBO [1996] #60   (DUEL AT KITANOJI, fan-favorite stand-alone issue)

Key Issues

A key issue can be an acceptable place to get started with Usagi Yojimbo, but they are more of a collector's checklist, as they can carry high price tags. The following list includes all of Usagi's early appearances in the anthology series ALBEDO and CRITTERS, as they are all of interest to collectors.

Key Issue cover 1 for USAGI YOJIMBOKey Issue cover 2 for USAGI YOJIMBOKey Issue cover 3 for USAGI YOJIMBOKey Issue cover 4 for USAGI YOJIMBO

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Compilations

In modern comic publishing, it's common (and expected) for individual comic book issues to be collected into compilations of trade paperbacks and/or hardcovers, as well as other special compilations. Unlike the individual source issues, the collected editions typically stay in print for long periods and are less 'collectible.' If individual issues are out of reach or are not of interest to you or if you just need reading copies, the following collected editions of Usagi Yojimbo comic books are the most recent in-print editions and are the perfect alternative to get started right away with Usagi Yojimbo. The following compilations are presented in a chronologically-based suggested reading order with softcover editions before any hardcover editions (unless the only in-print editions are hardcover--these are integrated into the softcover list).

Since there are so many Usagi Yojimbo volumes still in print, the list below concentrates on the softcover versions only. Hardcover versions of nearly every item in the list do exist.

Dark Horse publishes many of the Usagi Yojimbo compilations except for the original Fantagraphics material from 1987-1993 (a run of 38 individual issues compiled in seven volumes) and the newer IDW series from 2019-2023 (a run of 31 individual issues compiled in five volumes). Fantagraphics still publishes the compilations of the original Fantagraphics comic book series, and IDW's volumes are still new enough to be in print from IDW.

The original Fantagraphics issues along with some other miscellaneous material make up the first seven volumes of the Usagi Yojimbo trade paperback series from Fantagraphics, Books 1-7. Dark Horse began their skinny compilations with Book 8, avoiding some confusion in the chronology, and picked up first with a compilation of the short-run Mirage material before their own Dark Horse material. However, Dark Horse stopped reprinting the earliest volumes of their skinny trade paperback series and began a new series of thicker trade paperbacks, USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA [2014-TPB], which collected three of the old skinny volumes into one hefty tome each of the newer Saga series. It's all the same material, just repackaged in larger chunks. They started the SAGA series with Book 1, injecting a bit of confusion back into the process of getting started, as there are now two Book 1's.

So, if you are interested in reading all of Usagi's main series adventures chronologically, you should begin with the first seven volumes of the regular trade paperback series (these are published by Fantagraphics) (or alernatively IDW has some colorized versions of volumnes 1-5). Then you will need to transition into Dark Horse's USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA series--beginning with Book 1--through its existing volumes, but transition back to the skinny volumes without SAGA for VOL 31-33. Then you would transition to the IDW volumes for their relaunch (VOLs 1-5). Finally, with the license reverting back to Dark Horse, they resumed their skinny volume series with VOL 39, counting IDW's 1-5 effectively as VOL 33-38. It's confusing, I know, but UY has had a loooong publication history.

Additionally, Dark Horse had a few other companion volumes specifically collecting the Space Usagi and TMNT related material outside of the main Usagi Yojimbo comic book series. Oh, and to make it more confusing, IDW published a series of four trade paperbacks reprinting some of the earliest Fantagraphics material in color for the first time. This series is called ORIGINS and should not be confused with the five volumes of their original material from the 2019-2023 timeframe.

The following list is arranged as best as it can be in some semblance of chronological publishing order. As mentioned elsewhere in this guide, however, Usagi Yojimbo is a very reader friendly series--one can begin anywhere without feeling lost. Happy reading!

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CoverRelease MonthSeries / Number / Storyline
USAGI YOJIMBO BOOK 01: THE RONINQuick ViewOct 2013USAGI YOJIMBO [1987-TPB] BOOK 01: THE RONIN
LATEST EDITION, CURRENT PRINTING ($16.99 COVER PRICE)  (Compilations of the first ongoing UY series from Fantagraphics begin with this volume)		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO BOOK 02: SAMURAIQuick ViewOct 2013USAGI YOJIMBO [1987-TPB] BOOK 02: SAMURAI
LATEST EDITION, CURRENT PRINTING ($16.99 COVER PRICE)  		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO BOOK 03: THE WANDERER'S ROADQuick ViewOct 2013USAGI YOJIMBO [1987-TPB] BOOK 03: THE WANDERER'S ROAD
LATEST EDITION, CURRENT PRINTING ($16.99 COVER PRICE)  		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO BOOK 04: THE DRAGON BELLOW CONSPIRACYQuick ViewApr 2013USAGI YOJIMBO [1987-TPB] BOOK 04: THE DRAGON BELLOW CONSPIRACY
LATEST EDITION, CURRENT PRINTING ($16.95 COVER PRICE)  		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO BOOK 05: LONE GOAT AND KIDQuick ViewApr 2013USAGI YOJIMBO [1987-TPB] BOOK 05: LONE GOAT AND KID
LATEST EDITION, CURRENT PRINTING ($14.95 COVER PRICE)  		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO BOOK 06: CIRCLESQuick ViewJun 2014USAGI YOJIMBO [1987-TPB] BOOK 06: CIRCLES
LATEST EDITION, CURRENT PRINTING ($16.99 COVER PRICE)  		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO BOOK 07: GEN'S STORYQuick ViewOct 2014USAGI YOJIMBO [1987-TPB] BOOK 07: GEN'S STORY
LATEST EDITION, CURRENT PRINTING ($18.99 COVER PRICE)  		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
      
USAGI YOJIMBO: ORIGINS VOL 01: SAMURAIQuick ViewDec 2024USAGI YOJIMBO: ORIGINS [2021-TPB] VOL 01: SAMURAI
CURRENT PRINTING  (The ORIGINS series is IDW's colorized reprinting of the first 5 volumes of the original Fantagraphics issues)		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO: ORIGINS VOL 02: WANDERER'S ROADQuick ViewDec 2024USAGI YOJIMBO: ORIGINS [2021-TPB] VOL 02: WANDERER'S ROAD
CURRENT PRINTING  (The ORIGINS series is IDW's colorized reprinting of the first 5 volumes of the original Fantagraphics issues)		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO: ORIGINS VOL 03: THE DRAGON BELLOW CONSPIRACYQuick ViewDec 2024USAGI YOJIMBO: ORIGINS [2021-TPB] VOL 03: THE DRAGON BELLOW CONSPIRACY
CURRENT PRINTING  (The ORIGINS series is IDW's colorized reprinting of the first 5 volumes of the original Fantagraphics issues)		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO: ORIGINS VOL 04: LONE GOAT AND KIDQuick ViewDec 2024USAGI YOJIMBO: ORIGINS [2021-TPB] VOL 04: LONE GOAT AND KID
CURRENT PRINTING  (The ORIGINS series is IDW's colorized reprinting of the first 5 volumes of the original Fantagraphics issues, but the volumes end here and only got through issue #24 of the original Fantagraphics series)		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
      
USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA BOOK 01Quick ViewAug 2014USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA [2014-TPB] BOOK 01
SECOND EDITION, CURRENT PRINTING  (The SAGA series picks up where the Fantagraphics series left off and combines three volumes of a previous series of skinnier trade paperbacks into one SAGA volume)		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA BOOK 02Quick ViewDec 2024USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA [2014-TPB] BOOK 02
SECOND EDITION, CURRENT PRINTING  		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA BOOK 03Quick ViewDec 2024USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA [2014-TPB] BOOK 03
SECOND EDITION, CURRENT PRINTING  		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA BOOK 04Quick ViewDec 2024USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA [2014-TPB] BOOK 04
SECOND EDITION, CURRENT PRINTING  		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA BOOK 05Quick ViewDec 2024USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA [2014-TPB] BOOK 05
SECOND EDITION, CURRENT PRINTING  		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA BOOK 06Quick ViewDec 2024USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA [2014-TPB] BOOK 06
SECOND EDITION, CURRENT PRINTING  		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA BOOK 07Quick ViewSep 2016USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA [2014-TPB] BOOK 07
CURRENT PRINTING  		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA BOOK 08Quick ViewMay 2019USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA [2014-TPB] BOOK 08
CURRENT PRINTING  (contains the non-'SAGA' TPB VOLS 29-30)		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
      
USAGI YOJIMBO VOL 31: THE HELL SCREENQuick ViewJun 2017USAGI YOJIMBO [1997-TPB] VOL 31: THE HELL SCREEN
CURRENT PRINTING  		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO VOL 32: MYSTERIESQuick ViewJun 2018USAGI YOJIMBO [1997-TPB] VOL 32: MYSTERIES
CURRENT PRINTING  		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO VOL 33: THE HIDDENQuick ViewJun 2019USAGI YOJIMBO [1997-TPB] VOL 33: THE HIDDEN
CURRENT PRINTING  		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
      
USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA: LEGENDS Quick ViewJul 2017USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA: LEGENDS [2017-TPB]
CURRENT PRINTING  (collection of UY stories that were not in the main ongoing titles)		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
      
USAGI YOJIMBO/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION Quick ViewSep 2018USAGI YOJIMBO/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION [2018-TPB]
CURRENT PRINTING  (collection of TMNT/UY crossovers, many were not in the main ongoing titles)		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
      
USAGI YOJIMBO VOL 01: BUNRAKU AND OTHER STORIESQuick ViewDec 2024USAGI YOJIMBO [2019-TPB] VOL 01: BUNRAKU AND OTHER STORIES
CURRENT PRINTING  (IDW publishing stint, effectively: 'VOL 34')		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO VOL 02: HOMECOMINGQuick ViewDec 2024USAGI YOJIMBO [2019-TPB] VOL 02: HOMECOMING
CURRENT PRINTING  (IDW publishing stint, effectively: 'VOL 35')		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO VOL 03: TENGU WAR!Quick ViewDec 2024USAGI YOJIMBO [2019-TPB] VOL 03: TENGU WAR!
CURRENT PRINTING  (IDW publishing stint, effectively: 'VOL 36')		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO VOL 04: CROSSROADSQuick ViewDec 2024USAGI YOJIMBO [2019-TPB] VOL 04: CROSSROADS
CURRENT PRINTING  (IDW publishing stint, effectively: 'VOL 37')		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
USAGI YOJIMBO VOL 05: THE GREEN DRAGONQuick ViewDec 2024USAGI YOJIMBO [2019-TPB] VOL 05: THE GREEN DRAGON
CURRENT PRINTING  (IDW publishing stint, effectively: 'VOL 38')		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon
      
USAGI YOJIMBO VOL 39: ICE AND SNOWQuick ViewSep 2024USAGI YOJIMBO [1997-TPB] VOL 39: ICE AND SNOW
CURRENT PRINTING  (Publishing returns to Dark Horse, and they resume legacy volume numbering with VOL 39)		Available on Amazon Go to Amazon

Media Source Material

Media source material cover for USAGI YOJIMBO

If you've enjoyed non-comic media for Usagi Yojimbo, this section describes the comic book source material for some of the most popular non-comic media.

Although he has yet to get his own show, Usagi has appeared in several episodes of several different Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' animated television series. These appearances--sometimes in the turtles universe and sometimes in Usagi's universe--are all original material, however, and not based off of any comic book source material. Over time, Usagi and the turtles have become close inter-dimensional allies on television as well as in comics.

Usagi Yojimbo was optioned for an animated television series, but Netflix's Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles takes place in a possible alternate continuity from Usagi Yojimbo and actually chronicles one of UY's distant descendants. The show is original material, so it has no comic book source material.