Publisher: IDW (Paperback – 18 April 2023)

Series: Usagi Yojimbo – Volume 38

Length: 128 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I once again return to one of my absolute favourite comic book series as Stan Sakai brings out the 38^th volume of his iconic Usagi Yojimbo series, The Green Dragon.

Fans of this blog will know that I am a massive fan of the classic Usagi Yojimbo comic series, having had a ton of fun reviewing multiple volumes of it over the years.  Written and drawn by the legendary Stan Sakai, the Usagi Yojimbo comics are set in a version of Feudal Japan inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, and follow a rabbit Ronin, Miyamoto Usagi, as he journeys the countryside fighting monsters, bandits, and other dangerous foes.  These comics are something truly special thanks to their clever stories, great characters, beautiful artwork, and impressive utilisation of Japanese mythology and iconography, and I have so much love for them.

For the last couple of years, Usagi Yojimbo has been published by IDW comics, who have done a pretty good job continuing this epic comic, especially as they started the trend of releasing the volumes in colour right off the bat, which has been highly effective and striking.  All the previous IDW volumes, including Bunraku and Other Stories, Homecoming, Tengu War! and Crossroads, have been pretty awesome five-star reads, so I knew that I was going to have a ton of fun with the latest volume, The Green Dragon.  Containing issues #27-31 of the current series, The Green Dragon featured three intriguing new stories, each of which was better than the last.  This was another very strong entry in the series and Sakai did a wonderful job of continuing some storylines from the previous volumes while also making The Green Dragon stand out in some distinctive ways.

The first story in The Green Dragon is one of the shorter entries, titled A Ghost Story.  This story sees Usagi and his current travelling companion, his cousin Yukichi, travelling through a dark, apparently haunted forest before coming to a shrine at its heart.  The shrine is dedicated to a deceased pregnant maid who was murdered on the orders of her lover and master, and now stands as a place of prayer for women in similar circumstances.  Upon reaching the shrine, Usagi and Yukichi see history start to repeat itself, as another maid praying at the shrine is attacked by a group of bandits intent on murdering her.  Intervening to save her, Usagi and Yukichi attempt to discover who ordered the hit, only to discover a murderous plot with unexpected twists.  Worst, the ghosts of the forest are out in force, and they won’t go until revenge is satisfied.

A Ghost Story was a fun story that utilises a few compelling elements that are very familiar to Usagi Yojimbo readers.  The murder plot at its heart is a bit simple, especially when it comes to working out who is orchestrating events, but Sakai tells it in a very compelling manner, especially with the fun action and quick-paced plot.  The parallels between this current murder plot and the story told to them at the beginning was an intriguing story device, especially as it gets twisted around a little, and I loved how Sakai works in supernatural elements to the narrative.  Sakai has made great use of vengeful and tricky ghosts in his stories before, and I felt this one was particularly good, especially as it gave the plot some fitting narrative justice.  It was also quite amusing to see Usagi acting as the wise mentor to Yukichi when it came to matters he is very familiar with, such as ghosts and murder plots, so I had fun with that.  This was an overall strong and entertaining first entry in this volume and it sets up the story extremely well.

The second story in this volume is another single-issue story, The Long Road, which follows a different highly familiar Usagi Yojimbo trend of Usagi intervening in a sudden bandit attack in the woods.  This time, Usagi and Yukichi encounter a merchant and his servant being ambushed by bandits determined to steal a valuable jade figurine.  Managing to scare off the bandits just after they kill the merchant, Usagi and Yukichi agree to escort the servant to the next town and deliver the figurine to its buyer.  However, as they continue their journey, it soon becomes apparent that their new travelling companion is in league with the bandits, and he is leading them into a trap.

This was another great Usagi Yojimbo story that has a similar feel to previous entries, although Sakai uses that to his advantage.  Usagi Yojimbo fans have seen a whole lot of Usagi-led escort missions over the years, but The Long Road was a pretty good overall story.  Part of this was because Usagi is very much wising up to treachery that always seems to occur on these missions, and he takes active steps to not only identify the threat but also counter it in a satisfying way.  There is also a lot of entertaining betrayal, especially as the disloyal servant learns a harsh lesson about backstabbing from some experts.  It was also quite entertaining to see the green and unworldly character of Yukichi get a hands-on lesson about being a Yojimbo, especially as Usagi has some fun explaining at the moral issues surrounding it.  Combine that with Sakai’s great art, the well-drawn battle scenes, and the way it leads into the main story of the volume, and The Long Road is an impressive story that has a lot going for it underneath its veneer of a typical Usagi Yojimbo entry.

The final story in this volume is the main entry, The Secret of the Green Dragon.  A three-issue long story that continues in the immediate aftermath of The Long Road, The Secret of the Green Dragon has much of the volume’s meat and sees Usagi and Yukichi get involved in a deadly battle between rival ninja clans.  The story starts with the samurai continuing their journey to deliver the jade figurine from The Long Road, only to witness a courier going to the same destination being brutally murdered by the flying Komori Ninja.  Usagi and Yukichi soon discover that the Komori Ninja are after something very special being delivered to the town, and naturally that secret package is in their care.  As they attempt to work out why their package is so important, Usagi runs into his old friend Chizu, former head of the Neko Ninja, who reveals that the figurine’s box contains an important missive that will cause issues for the scheming Lord Hikiji.  Hiring Usagi and Yukichi as bodyguards, Chizu leads them on a desperate mission across the countryside to escape the hovering Komori Ninja.  But the Komori Ninja aren’t an easy foe to avoid, and the trio soon find themselves under attack in the snowy landscape.

The Secret of the Green Dragon is easily the best story in the entire volume as it takes the protagonists on one heck of an adventure.  Storylines with the various ninja clans of Usagi Yojimbo’s Japan are always extremely fun, and The Secret of the Green Dragon is no exception to this as it features the sinister Komori Ninja.  Flying bat ninja with blades attached to their wings, the Komori Ninja are always a fantastic addition to any plot as Sakai sets them up as one of the most unique and deadly foes in the series.  Sakai makes especially great use of them in The Secret of the Green Dragon, and their constant pursuit of the protagonists over the harsh wintery terrain makes for some impressive visuals.  The author loads this story with a ton of action, and there are some amazing set pieces that are extremely well showcased by Sakai’s art style, including desperate chases, powerful air-to-surface combat, and forays across impossible terrain.

There are a lot of fun story elements involved with The Secret of the Green Dragon, especially as it continues a lot of the ongoing plotlines involving the feuding ninja clans and Chizu’s attempts to regain control of the Neko Ninja.  The volumes ongoing storyline about Yukichi getting introduced to the various complicated elements of Usagi’s life as a wander was well set up, and he and Usagi learnt some harsh lessons about trust.  Watching Usagi lose his faith in Chizu after she engages in one deceit too many is pretty striking, and Chizu’s obvious regret later really makes this hit harder, especially as it is just one more tragedy this lonely ninja is forced to experience.  Finishing up with a threatening cameo from the series’ best villain, Jei, this ended up being a very strong story that is likely to have some intriguing repercussions later.

I once again really need to highlight the outstanding artwork that is such an important cornerstone of this comic.  Sakai does some amazing drawings in The Green Dragon, and I loved the elaborate sequences that come together as a result.  All three stories are filled with eye-catching shots of beautiful Japanese scenery and towns, which really adds to the ambience of the story.  I particularly enjoyed the snowy landscapes that were such a big part of the third story, The Secret of the Green Dragon, serving as a powerful backdrop to the pursuit and battle-laden plot.  The villains of The Secret of the Green Dragon, the Komori Ninja, are also well showcased in the art style, and I think the full-colour spread helped to give them an added edge.  Their various attack scenes are very distinctive, especially compared to the typical combat sequences between Usagi and other samurai, and Sakai always goes out of his way to make the Komori Ninja a powerful villain with his drawings.  I honestly loved every beautifully drawn panel featured in The Green Dragon, and Sakai is still doing some amazing work after all these years.

Overall, The Green Dragon by Stan Sakai is an epic and fantastic volume in the always impressive Usagi Yojimbo series.  Filled with great art, clever stories, and some amazing, well-established characters, The Green Dragon was another strong outing from Sakai and one that I absorbed the second I got my hands on it.  There is a reason this is my absolute favourite comic series, and I will be reading this until the day it ends.  Highly recommended, especially for long-time fans of the comic, and one that pretty much gets an automatic five-star rating from me.