Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Usagi Yojimbo with Stan Sakai and Dark Horse
MILWAUKIE, Ore., (January 9, 2024)— The year 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of Usagi Yojimbo, Stan Sakai's award-winning artistic and storytelling epic featuring everyone's favorite rabbit ronin! Dark Horse Comics and Dogu Publishing invite readers on a journey through the series in the Usagi Yojimbo 40th Anniversary Reader. This new collection of stories presents a selection of hand-picked Usagi tales in color for the first time from Emi Fujii, Tom Luth, and Ronda Pattison. The new cover art is painted by Stan Sakai himself, adding to the appeal for collectors.
This new paperback collection presents eight fan-favorite and Stan-Sakai-selected short stories, including the fan-favorite short story “Chanoyu,” which is appearing for the first time in color! Other stories include “A Mother's Love,” “Blade of the Gods,” “The Way of the Samurai,” “Cut the Plum,” “The Artist,” “Buntori,” and “Adachi”. Readers are invited to follow Miyamoto Usagi through four decades of comic creativity and adventure. Relive the essential moments of Usagi Yojimbo or invite a new love of Sakai's worldbuilding into your life or the life of someone you love.
"Stan Sakai is not just a master storyteller, but a member of the Dark Horse family," said Dark Horse President Mike Richardson. "We are so glad to celebrate Stan and 40 years of his beloved creation, Usagi Yojimbo, here at Dark Horse. I'm thrilled to offer longtime fans and new readers a fresh look at some of our favorite stories over the years, now in one new collection."
Wish Sakai and Usagi Yojimbo a wonderful anniversary when Usagi Yojimbo 40th Anniversary Reader arrives in trade paperback on bookstore shelves on June 18, 2024, and comic shops on June 19, 2024. Pre-order at your local comic shop, bookstore, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble for $14.99.
Praise for Usagi Yojimbo:
“Sixteenth-century Japan is never so entertaining as in Stan Sakai's tales of Miyamoto Usagi.”—NPR's Best Books of 2014
“Stan Sakai has successfully brought to American comics a collection of Japanese fables well told in the American style. Usagi Yojimbo is an enduring work. Bravo.”—Will Eisner
“Sakai is a total pro and a consummate craftsman.”—Rolling Stone
“Stan Sakai is able to spin a web of emotions with few words . . . nothing is lost as each sentence has a meaning and purpose towards the larger narrative. The art is equally gorgeously simple . . . a must read for any comic book fan.”—Graphic Policy
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About Dark Horse Comics
Founded in 1986 as an offshoot of his comics retail chain, Mike Richardson, launched Dark Horse Comics with the goal of creating a welcoming environment for comics professionals. The company strives to be an example of how integrity and innovation can broaden a unique storytelling medium and transform a company with humble beginnings into an industry giant. Dark Horse has published modern masters such as Yoshitaka Amano, Margaret Atwood, Brian Michael Bendis, Paul Chadwick, Geof Darrow, Colleen Doran, Janet Evanovich, Neil Gaiman, Dave Gibbons, Faith Erin Hicks, Kazuo Koike, Matt Kindt, Jeff Lemire, Kentarō Miura, Moebius, Chuck Palahniuk, Eric Powell, Stan Sakai, and Gerard Way, as well as Hall of Fame legends Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Richard Corben. The company also set the industry standard for quality licensed comics, graphic novels, collectibles, and art books, based on properties such as Star Wars, Stranger Things, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, Minecraft, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, Dragon Age, James Cameron's Avatar, Game of Thrones, Mass Effect, The Witcher, and Halo. Dark Horse established an entertainment division in 1989, finding immediate success with company-owned projects The Mask and TimeCop. Current hits from Dark Horse Entertainment include The Umbrella Academy on Netflix and Resident Alien on Syfy. Additionally, Dark Horse has a long tradition of establishing new creative talent throughout all of its divisions.
In 2022, Dark Horse Media, LLC was established as the parent company of all three divisions, and became part of Embracer Group AB, forming the tenth operative group, strengthening the company's transmedia capabilities.
