THE SAKAI PROJECT: ARTISTS CELEBRATE THIRTY YEARS OF “USAGI YOJIMBO” HC |
Published by Dark Horse with a host of creators
For more details click here |
Review by Paul Fiander
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This book is tinged with sadness due to the recent passing of Sharon Sakai but it's creation is a testament to the comics community.
You may not be familiar with Usagi Yojimbo the creation of Stan Sakai, in some ways this book will not really tell you a lot about the character or story. Instead this book highlights the impact the character has made in its thirty years of existence, the pages are filled with drawings by some amazing artists as they put their own stamp on the title character. The roll call of creators is mouth watering to say the least with names like Darwyn Cook, Walter Simonson, Joyce Chin, Sergio Aragones, Matt Wagner and Skottie Young to name but a few the mix of images is truly impressive. If you are a fan of artistic expression then this book will be a wonderful addition to your collection. It also acts as a great introduction to the participating creators styles, from the hyper realism of Matthew Petz (he depicts Usagi as almost a real rabbit) to the unmistakable cartoon style of Matt Groening (yes Mr Simpsons himself created an image) the breadth of styles is wide. To match the various styles the layout of the images is also varied, from splash pages to four panel presentation each page is filled to the brim. At the start of the book we do get some background to why the book was created, this helps the novice reader learn a little more about the Sakai's. It will also reaffirm to those more familiar with Usagi's creator why he is such a respected and liked member of the comic book community. All in all this is a celebration of a creators life’s work, Usagi Yojimbo is a great character and the newest series from Dark Horse is a great read. If you are on the looking for a Ronin type story then this may be the series for you. |
