Tag: Comics/Manga

Throwback Thursday: Usagi Yojimbo: Volume 2: Samurai

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Five-Star Books, Throwback Thursday17 Comments

Usagi Yojimbo Samurai Cover

Publisher: Fantagraphics Books (Paperback – 1989)

Series: Usagi Yojimbo – Book Two

Length: 141 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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After the fun that I had reviewing the first volume of the Usagi Yojimbo series, The Ronin, last week, I decided to follow it up with a review of the second volume in the series, Samurai. Samurai is an impressive second outing from author and artist Stan Sakai, which does an amazing job continuing his epic series after the introductory stories contained within the first volume.

After his adventures in the first volume, the rabbit ronin Miyamoto Usagi has continued on his wandering ways. However, his latest journey quickly turns to violence when he encounters another ronin on the road. Without a word being spoken, both samurai engage in a swift and brutal duel to the death, in which Usagi is the winner. The only witness to the duel is the bounty hunter Gennosuke, who inquires into the origin of the apparent feud between Usagi and his recently deceased opponent. Usagi reveals that the dead samurai was named Gunichi and Usagi had much cause to kill him.

Usagi 1

Regaling Gen with his tale as they travel together, Usagi reveals that the origins of this feud goes all the way back to his childhood and his tutorage under the unusual and skilled sword master Katsuichi. This tale follows Usagi as he becomes a young samurai in the services of his Lord Mifune, where he was comrade to Gunichi, and leads all the way to the fateful battle of Adachigahara Plain and the day that Usagi became a masterless samurai.

Back in the present, Usagi continues his adventures across the land, encountering many different people and unusual creatures. Watch him fight against a kappa, help defend a village of silk merchants against a roving group of bandits and witness his weird meeting with a mysterious and powerful little monster who is going to be a big somebody one day.

Usagi 2

Usagi Yojimbo: Volume 2: Samurai, is an amazing and fantastic volume of the Usagi Yojimbo series, which does an outstanding job continuing the story after the events portrayed in The Ronin. This second volume contains the first six issues of the actual Usagi Yojimbo series, and I really enjoyed the excellent adventures that are contained within these issues. The volume is broken down into four separate stories, the expanded story Samurai, as well as three stories which are significantly shorter. Each of these stories are really entertaining, and they all come together to create an impressive and incredible total volume of comics which I had a fantastic time reading.

The first story in this volume is also titled Samurai, and it is the major story contained within the Samurai volume. Running for 92 pages, this was one of Sakai’s first expanded Usagi Yojimbo stories, and I think it is one of his better ones. Samurai contains a captivating and exciting narrative that not only continues Usagi’s story in the present but which also goes back and explores much of the character’s past. This is shown through a lengthy flashback about Usagi’s childhood, his tutorage under the skilled samurai Katsuichi, his first meeting with Gunichi, their service under Lord Mifune, the events that led to Mifune’s war with the evil Lord Hikiji and the terrible final battle which cost Usagi his lord.

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Sakai comes up with an excellent background for Usagi in this story, and it was great to see how he expanded on some of the ideas and plot points that were featured within the first volume’s early stories. Even after all these years, the flashback contained with Samurai is still the definitive history of the character’s early days, although it has been expanded on several times in future volumes. This background is really intriguing, and I think that Sakai tells an amazing story, showing of Usagi’s unique training, his early triumphs including obtaining his swords, his service with Lord Mifune and then an expanded version of the battle of Adachigahara Plain, which has been briefly shown in the previous book. Woven into this is the tale of Usagi’s friendship with his fellow Mifune retainer, Gunichi, and the fateful day in their relationship that will cause Usagi to kill him the next time they meet. Sakai paces this entire extended story out well, and it turns into quite a complete and intriguing narrative. I like that it also added a lot more depth to the love triangle between Usagi, Mariko and Kenichi, and the scenes where Usagi and Kenichi put aside their differences for the first time for the sake of Mariko is great, and helps show that Kenichi is not a bad guy, he’s just occasionally blinded by his jealousy of Usagi.

I personally really enjoyed the scenes that featured Usagi and his sensei Katsuichi, the reclusive swords master. Their entire arc is really fun, and I love a good training sequence. Katsuichi is your typical wise and eccentric old hermit master who takes the young and eager student with potential under his wing to make him a superior student. Despite coming off as an aloof and hard man, Katsuichi is actually a kindly master who is impressed by Usagi’s determination and spirit (he gives a sly smile at the start of the training period). Katsuichi has some really interesting training techniques, and it is interesting to see how Usagi developed the skills that have kept him alive in the dangerous world he lives in. I loved the menial tasks montage, which is very reminiscent of The Karate Kid. It was also fun to see Usagi get randomly hit with a bamboo stick until he learns to anticipate surprise attacks, and I liked how it helped explain Usagi’s seemingly supernatural ability to sense when he is being watched or in danger. Overall, this proved to be an excellent inclusion to the story, and Katsuichi was easily the best new character introduced in this volume.

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Another major highlight of this first story is the part set in the present, which sees Usagi once again reunited with Gen. Gen was one of the better characters featured in the first volume, so it was really good to see him reintroduced in Samurai, especially as it helps set him up as a major recurring character in the Usagi Yojimbo series. Throughout the story, Usagi and Gen form quite an amusing partnership, with Usagi acting the honourable Zen warrior, while Gen is the unapologetic and uncultured mercenary. The two play off each other extremely well, with their great repartee and jabs at each other, and it is fun to see Usagi come out his shell a lot more around his companion. Gen also proves to be an entertaining audience for Usagi’s story, and it was fun to see his reactions to Usagi’s life tale. This was especially true when Gen started to get really into the story, despite his feigned indifference, and overreacted to several key moments. This entire story ends on a rather heartfelt moment between the two, with Gen indicating he completely understands how Usagi felt when he lost his lord “the saddest day of a samurai’s life is the day he becomes a ronin. Some day I’ll tell you how I became masterless…” and Usagi hinting that he really does see Gen as a friend. I really enjoyed seeing these two characters back together again, and this story definitely serves as a much better basis for their friendship than their backstabbing adventures in the previous volume. I also have to say, the silent dual at the front of the book between Usagi and Gunichi is the tops, and you could not ask for a better start to a story than an unexplained and sudden fight to the death.

The next story featured in this volume is the short, horror-based story, Kappa. Wandering a desolate, swampy area, Usagi comes across a kappa, a Japanese water demon, who demands a toll to cross the marshes. While Usagi is able to pass, he must go back and try to save another traveller from the kappa, resulting in a desperate conflict. This is quite a good story, especially with the ghostly twist contained at the end. I really love that Sakai chooses to explore pieces of Japanese mythology like the kappa, and it was really interesting to see Usagi face off against one. There is also an extremely brutal and impressive fight sequence against the kappa featured within this comic, which was all manner of impressive.

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The third story in Samurai was called Zylla, and featured Usagi finding and befriending a mysterious creature hidden in the bushes, that he names Zylla, when he visits the hot springs. Zylla repays Usagi by saving him from some bandits using his fiery (one could even say atomic) breath and reveals itself as a large newborn bipedal lizard who Usagi speculates may be a god, “Are you a god, Zylla?”. This is a really fun short story in this volume, and it adds a fascinating new element to the world that Usagi Yojimbo is set in. It was also great to see Sakai continue to show off his love for Japanese culture by featuring baby Zylla, and he makes several humorous references to Zylla’s future work, such as how he should visit the big city at some point. All of this makes for an amusing entry in this volume and it had me smiling as I read it.

The final story was Silk Fair, which sees Usagi come to the aid of a silk worker, defending him from bandits. The worker takes him to his village, where Usagi eventually helps defend the village from a large bandit raid, after he deals with the silk works greedy administrator. This was a nice, short entry that showed a typical Usagi Yojimbo storyline of Usagi helping to defend the helpless again bandits. This was one of the first stories where Sakai explored a Japanese craft or industry, and while it does not go into as much detail as some of the later industry based stories (later volumes feature length depictions of things like sword crafting, seaweed farming, kite making and soy sauce production), it was still interesting to see. Silk Fair contained a good mixture of action and humour, and I especially enjoyed seeing the way Usagi managed to mess with the corrupt administrator and his cowardly bodyguard. There was also a rather unique battle sequence where Usagi and the silk workers are able to defeat the bandits with sewing needles and silk streamers. In the end, Silk Fair proved to be a strong and amazing story, and I felt that it was an extremely entertaining way to conclude this volume.

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Like with every volume of the Usagi Yojimbo series, Stan Sakai’s artwork is once again a major and incredible highlight of Samurai. This second volume contains some fantastic examples of Sakai’s artistic talent, and it is clear that by the time he was working on the stories contained within Sakai had settled on his preferred designs for the various characters and landscapes featured, although further refinements did occur later down the track. This new character work is really impressive, and I liked how various new characters appeared, such as the warthog Gunichi and the lion based Katsuichi. I am also continually impressed with the way that Sakai can convey emotion and expression with his drawings, and you are constantly aware of what the various characters are thinking, just from seeing their faces. The various stories contained within Samurai featured some truly amazing and visually stunning landscape backgrounds, as Sakai continued his practice of showing off the beautiful scenery of Japan. Sakai also drew a number of impressive action sequences throughout the book, and he really got the hang of sketching out and showcasing the fast-paced and skilful fights that occurred between samurai. There are some impressive duel sequences throughout this volume, including the quick and sudden fight between Usagi and Gunichi at the start of the first story or the practice duel between Usagi and Kenichi which showed the ferocious fight between the two, which quickly ended with one strong strike from the obviously more skilled Usagi. Sakai also included several larger-scale battle sequences throughout the volume which really are something to behold. I particularly liked the major war sequence that showed the expanded battle of Adachigahara Plain. Sakai did an amazing job presenting the frenetic chaos of war and the explosive action that occurred with his art, and it was certainly a visual highlight of this volume.

Usagi Yojimbo: Volume 2: Samurai was an outstanding addition to the Usagi Yojimbo series, and it is one of my favourite volumes in this entire franchise. Stan Sakai presents a fantastic blend of character backstory, action, adventure, eye-catching art and clever humour in this volume, and the end result is a five-star comic which is really worth checking out. Thanks to the excellent background based main story, Samurai is a key volume in this series, making this book a must read. Samurai gets another five stars from me, and once again I have to strongly recommend this volume, and indeed the whole Usagi Yojimbo series, to anyone looking for an epic and enjoyable new series.

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Throwback Thursday – Usagi Yojimbo – Vol 1: The Ronin by Stan Sakai

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Five-Star Books, Throwback Thursday16 Comments

Usagi Yojimbo The Ronin Cover

Publisher: Fantagraphics Books (Paperback – 1987)

Series: Usagi Yojimbo – Book One

Length: 144 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon     Book Depository

Reviewed as part of my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.

We are now less than two months until the next amazing volume of Stan Sakai’s long running Usagi Yojimbo comic series, Bunraku and Other Stories, is released, and I am getting excited. This new volume is set to feature several brand new Usagi Yojimbo stories (including an extended story about a haunted puppet drama), but it is apparently also going to feature a look back at the very first Usagi story as part of an 35th anniversary special. For that reason, I thought that this would be an excellent time to go back and review volume one of the Usagi Yojmbo series, The Ronin, to serve as a good base for the upcoming review.

Usagi Yojimbo is a unique comic book series that Stan Sakai started back in 1984. It focuses on the adventures of Miyamoto Usagi, an anthropomorphic rabbit samurai who lives in a version of feudal Japan (early Edo period) completely populated with other anthropomorphic animals. Usagi is a ronin, a masterless samurai, who wanders the land on a warrior’s pilgrimage, helping those he encounters and occasionally working as a yojimbo (bodyguard) for hire. Throughout his journey he encounters all manner of friends and foes, including a number of creatures from Japanese folklore, and finds himself constantly drawn into the political plots of the land. This series is written and drawn in a more western comic/cartoon style rather than the Japanese magna style. However, the Usagi Yojimbo series is strongly inspired by Japanese history and culture, featuring a huge range of accurate depictions of historical events and cultural icons. This series is currently collected in 33 volumes from several different publishers, with each volume containing a number of different issues from the series. These issues are usually standalone adventures, although a number of longer storylines are continued through several issues or volumes.

I have been meaning to go back and review the first volume Usagi Yojimbo for a while now. The Usagi Yojimbo series is easily one of my favourite comic book series of all time, as Stan Sakai has created a truly epic and compelling series. While on paper a series following a rabbit samurai in a version of feudal Japan populated by other anthropomorphic animals does sound a bit ridiculous, these comics are anything but. Through a combination of outstanding storylines, complex characters, intense action, great uses of humour and an intriguing and compelling look at Japanese history and culture, Sakai has created a comic series that is extremely endearing and captivating. I have been a massive fan of this series for years, having started reading it when I was in high school (thank goodness for my surprisingly well-stocked public library) after I first saw the character in the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series. I have previously reviewed the last two volumes of Usagi Yojimbo on my blog already (Volume 32: Mysteries and Volume 33: The Hidden), with Mysteries actually being the very first comic I ever reviewed. Both of these previous volumes received a five-star rating from me, which I have also awarded to this first volume.

Unlike the rest of the collected volumes, The Ronin doesn’t actually contain any issues from the Usagi Yojimbo series. Instead, it contains several earlier Usagi stories which were part of other publications, such as Albedo Anthropomorphics, Critters, Doomsday Squad and Usagi Yojimbo: Summer Special. All of these were collected together for the first time in 1987 into this volume (I have the 2007 reprint), and appear in chronological order. The Ronin contains 10 separate chapters of various lengths, each with their own story. These include:

  • The Goblin of Adachigahara: the very first story to feature Usagi, and the one that the upcoming Bunraku and Other Stories is going to revisit. This initial story features Usagi returning to the area near the battlefield of Adachigahara, where he lost his lord, Mifune, in a battle, forcing him to become a ronin. Seeking shelter in the hut of an old lady, he recounts his story of the battle to his host, including the betrayal of one his lord’s generals which cost them the battle. Later, Usagi battles a flesh-eating goblin, revealed to be not only the treacherous general but also the husband of his elderly host, and manages to defeat him, sparing the old lady who was going to allow him to be eaten. This was an excellent introduction to Usagi, as you got some vital information about his history, his status and his skill as a warrior. You also got a great look at his moral character, as he chooses to spare a woman who would have let him be eaten, and instead instructs her to perform funeral rights on the man who cost him everything.
  • Lone Rabbit and Child: this second story involves Usagi getting involved in the politics of the nation, as he comes to the aid of a young lord, Noriyuki, and his retainer the swordswoman Tomoe Ame. Noriyuki and Tomoe are being hunted by the agents of the evil lord Hikiji, who was also responsible for the death of Usagi’s previous lord years ago (it is later revealed he also killed Usagi’s father). Usagi agrees to escort them to safety, and they must contend with mercenaries, assassins and ninja on their quest. This is an amazing second outing, which expands on the world the series is set in, continues to show off Usagi’s skill, and sets up Hikiji as the main antagonist of the series (even if you see very little of him later on).
  • The Confession: This story follows on directly from the events of Lone Rabbit and Child, and features Usagi in the possession of a vital letter implicating Lord Hikiji in the attempt to kill Noriyuki. Usagi is ambushed by the Neko Ninja, who seek to reclaim the letter, leading to a prolonged and desperate fight in the woods. This proved to be an awesome follow-up to the previous story, which continued to highlight Usagi’s skills in combat and Sakai’s ability to drawn excellent, high-stakes fight scenes. It also showed just how nefarious an opponent Hikiji and his advisor Counsellor Hebi (a big terrifying snake) can be.
  • Bounty Hunter: Usagi is hired as a Yojimbo by the bounty hunter Gennosuke as he attempts to claim his latest bounty, the leaders of a local gang. Engaging the gang in a fight at a temple, Usagi and Gen are an effective team, eventually getting their targets, although their partnership ends on an interesting note. This was an entertaining story that served as a perfect introduction to a great character. Usagi and Gen have amazing chemistry together and Gen is an awesome side character. This is also one of the first stories to feature some more humour in the story, especially in the end, which turns out to fit in well with the overall feel of the series.
  • Horse Thief: Sakai features a lot more humour when Usagi, after interfering in a robbery by a gang of bandits, takes one of the bandit’s horses. He attempts to sell the horse in town, only to discover that it was stolen from the local magistrate, who chases him into the woods. Usagi’s problems only escalate from there, when he and his pursuers run into the bandits, prompting a massive battle in which Usagi is everyone’s enemy. The story has a great ending, steeped in irony which leaves Usagi and the reader laughing hysterically. I loved the author’s use of coincidence and bad fortune in this story, and it was fantastic to watch Usagi go from one bad situation to the next.
  • Village of Fear: This is a bit more of a horror story, as Usagi comes across a village held captive by a fearsome monster. This horror is compounded when it is revealed that the monster is a shapeshifter who has taken the form of one of the villagers. This was a relatively brief story, but it is set up and executed very well, with several great character moments, and there is even time for a quick Gone with the Wind joke.
  • A Quiet Meal: This is another of the more humorous stories in the volume, which features Usagi trying to have a quiet meal in an inn. Unfortunately, a gang of rough gamblers are causing trouble, throwing the other patrons out and trying their luck with Usagi. Usagi quickly shows them the error of the ways with some extremely fancy sword work, which causes them to flee in terror. The most noticeable feature of this entry is the fact that Usagi doesn’t speak once during the entire issue (he’s trying to have a quiet meal), and it’s up to his body language and the other characters to tell the story. This works extremely well and really helps to uplift the overall humour of the story. The way in which he sees off the ruffians is absolutely fantastic, and their absolute fear and disbelief at his skill, “this one’s been filleted”, is just great.
  • Blind Swords-Pig: This is a somewhat sadder and more dramatic story which features Usagi encountering and quickly befriending the blind pig, Zato Ino, who is seeking a peaceful place to settle down. Ino, however, is an extremely skilled warrior and wanted outlaw. Constantly hunted for his bounty, he relies on his sword skills and his ability to ‘see’ with his sense of smell. When Usagi finds out his true identity, the two engage is a fierce duel in which Ino loses his nose, truly becoming blind. This is one of the best stories in the whole of The Ronin, mainly because of the complex character that is Ino. He has a true desire for a peaceful life, but his past ensures that this can never happen, as even friendly characters like Usagi turn against him. This has turned him into a somewhat bitter creature, quick to hate those he meets “and what I hate, I kill!”, and the events of this first story help turn him into something even more angry, especially when it comes to Usagi.
  • Homecoming: This story sees Usagi return to the village of his childhood, but his return is not a peaceful one, as his village is under attack by the Mogura Ninja. Usagi must work with his childhood rival, Kenichi, to save the village; however, there is much enmity between Usagi and Kenichi, mainly because Kenichi married Mariko, the love of Usagi’s life. The two rivals must move past their differences, especially when Kenichi and Mariko’s son, Jotaro, is kidnapped by the Mogura Ninja. This was another exceptional entry in the volume, as it blends together tight action sequences with a deeper dive into Usagi’s past, including his complex and dramatic history with Kenichi and Mariko. The final pages of this issue are just heartbreaking, as it is revealed that Usagi and Mariko both kept the mementos they gave each other as young lovers, and they are both clearly in love with each other, even though they can never be together. I also really liked the Mogura Ninja in this book, especially as moles apparently make effective and deadly ninja.
  • Bounty Hunter II: This final story sees the return of Gen, who once again convinces Usagi to work with him to collect another bounty. Gen of course manages to complicate the job, and his actions backfire on Usagi, resulting in him getting into a major scrape. Despite Usagi’s understandable rage towards Gen, the two are able to part amicably, although Usage gets a small measure of appropriate revenge at the end of the story. I think that Sakai really hit his stride with the Usagi/Gen friendship in this second story, and the two of them play off each other extremely well. I really loved the end of this story, and it definitely got a big laugh out of me.

Overall, I felt that this volume contained a perfect blend of stories, and I really liked how Sakai jumped between action-based stories, to comedies and then to more dramatic tales, which helped produce a range of different emotional reactions. I did appreciate that the different issues also featured a range of different opponents and story basis, allowing the reader to understand that this series is going to focus on everything including banditry, ninja attacks, political intrigue and even the supernatural. I also think that the stories in The Ronin contained the right amount of character background for Usagi, providing enough for the reader to understand his motivations, while not being too overwhelming. This great blend of storylines and character arcs works extremely well together, and it makes for one heck of a complete volume.

The Ronin serves as an excellent introduction to this series, and I would strongly recommend that anyone interested in Usagi Yojimbo start with this volume. The stories within do a wonderful job of setting up the alternate version of historical Japan that this entire series takes place in. I absolutely love the combination of vibrant animal characters with feudal Japanese settings, and it works really well as the backdrop for an action series, especially with the political uncertainty and mass of unemployed samurai that accompanied the early years of shogunate rule. That being said, it is never quite explained why certain animals (horses and small dogs) are non-sentient, or why there are packs of dinosaur-like lizards (tokage) roaming the wilderness, although I kind of like the mystery. This volume also contains fantastic introductions for so many characters who are vital to the series, such as Gen, Tomoe, Mariko and more, and you get great insights into their characters, which are built up with each appearance they make. A lot of key character arcs or storylines start in the stories featured within this volume, and as each volume of Usagi Yojimbo is sequential, readers of the series are best served starting with this first volume. Luckily, The Ronin is a really good first entry in the series, and it is definitely worth checking out.

One of the most charming things about the Usagi Yojimbo series is the way in which Sakai sneaks so many different historical and cultural references into his stories. Most of the characters are either inspired by a real-life historical figure or a fictional character from Japanese or western culture. For example, Usagi himself is based on one of the most famed samurai of all time, Miyamoto Musashi, who is often credited with creating the two-sword fighting technique that Usagi utilises in the series, while Tomoe Ame is based on famed female samurai Tomoe Gozen. Other characters however are based on Japanese movie characters, such as Zato Ino who is a clearly a pig version of Zatoichi, the blind swordsman protagonist of a series of popular Japanese movies and televisions shows. Gen is based on the character that Toshiro Mifune portrayed in samurai films such as Yojimbo (which was later adapted into A Fistful of Dollars), and Usagi’s former lord Mifune gets his name from the actor. Other references include the title of the second story in this volume, Lone Rabbit and Kid which is a references to the manga series Lone Wolf and Cub (Sakai later creates the characters of Lone Goat and Kid as another homage to this series) and the fact that this series is partially named after the Yojimbo film. Two separate stories in this volume also reference Sakai’s previous work on the Groo the Wanderer comic, with Groo even briefly appearing in Lone Rabbit and Kid, sharing a fun stare down with Usagi. I had a great time with all these references (although I admit I had to look up a couple), and some of them are really clever. They add a lot of fun to this series and they are a real treat for readers, especially those already familiar with Japanese history, film or culture.

I am a big fan of Sakai’s art style, and each issue of Usagi Yojimbo is an absolute joy to view. Not only does he produce some outstanding action sequences with his drawings, many of which do an awesome job of depicting the samurai battle style, but he also creates some fantastic characters and breathtaking landscape scenes. Nearly every issue shows some inspiring and beautiful depiction of the Japanese countryside or a historical town, and the sheer amount of detail that he throws into his various scenes is just incredible. It’s also fun to see the various animals that can be turned into samurai, as everything from bulls, rabbits, crocodiles, rhinos, monkeys, pandas, cats and dogs appear in this first volume alone. For this first volume, however, the artwork is understandably a little inconsistent, mainly because Sakai had only just started drawing these characters. The various character designs are a little rough in places, especially if you are familiar with his later work, as Sakai is clearly experimenting with how he wants to depict these characters. A few of the action sequences are also a tad different from the later entries in this series, which can be a little jarring in places, but still really cool. Overall, though, most of the art in this book is pretty incredible, and it is fun seeking Sakai get into his groove with each new story. Sakai does an amazing job conveying emotion, action and intent through his drawings in this volume, and it turns out wonderfully. If I had to pick my favourite bit of art in this entire volume, it would be a scene in A Quiet Meal, where Usagi swings his sword around the head of a ruffian who is bothering him. While it first it appears that Usagi had done nothing, you slowly realise that the flies that Sakai had been subtly drawing around this character’s head before that point, are gone. The facial reactions of the various thugs when they realise what happened to the flies are just hilarious, and I absolutely loved it.

This first volume of the Usagi Yojimbo series, The Ronin, is an amazing and spectacular read, which I have a lot of love for. Not only does it serve as an excellent introduction to the Usagi Yojimbo series, but it contains some captivating storylines, impressive artwork and a heck of a lot of fun. Needless to say, The Ronin gets a full five stars from me, and I cannot recommend this volume and the Usagi Yojimbo series enough. Reading this first volume actually got me re-reading the entire series again, and I have already made it up to volume 17. In my book, all of them are five star reads, and you can probably expect some more reviews of them in some future instalments of Throwback Thursday. Stay tuned to see my review of the next volume of this epic series, which I already know I am going to love.

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Throwback Thursday – Star Wars: Darth Vader (2015): Volume 2 – Shadows and Secrets

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Extended Universe, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Throwback Thursday10 Comments

Darth Vader - Shadows and Secrets

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Writer: Kieron Gillen

Artist: Salvador Larroca

Colourist: Edgar Delgado

Publication Date: 5 January 2016

Length: 136 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Reviewed as part of my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.

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For my latest Throwback Thursday, I take a look at the second volume of the 2015 Darth Vader series, Shadows and Secrets. This is a superb and fantastic addition to a series which I honestly consider to be one the best overall pieces of Star Wars fiction out there, as it continues to explore the complex character that is Darth Vader.

Following the events of the first volume of this series, Vader, Darth Vader now knows that the mysterious Rebel pilot who destroyed the Death Star is actually his son, Luke Skywalker, and that the Emperor has been lying to him for years. This revelation, combined with the fact that the Emperor is forcing him to compete for his favour with the scientific creations of the cybernetic genius Cylo, has crystallised Vader’s rage, and he is now determined to overthrow the Emperor and rule the Empire with his son. To that end, he has commanded his new agents, the rogue archaeologist Doctor Aphra and her two murderous droids, Triple Zero and BT-1, to gather the resources needed to pursue his agendas.

Darth Vader (2015) 9

Whilst Aphra and her criminal contacts do their work for him, Vader must appear to obey the commands of his new superior officer, Grand General Tagge. His latest mission from Tagge requires him to find out who stole a massive consignment of credits that the Empire recently seized from crime lords in the Outer Rim. There is just one problem: Aphra and a small group of bounty hunters stole the credits on his behalf. Vader attempts to cover up his involvement in the crime and lead the investigation away from Aphra. However, the arrival of his new aide, the brilliant Inspector Thanoth, may prove troublesome, as Thanoth’s investigation leads him in all the right directions.

However, despite the importance of Vader’s plans within the Empire, his main concern is the search for his son. Needing to locate and corrupt Luke before the Emperor finds out who he is, he tasks Aphra with not only finding his son’s location but to also find and silence the one person who knew that Luke was actually born. As Vader does all he can to keep Thanoth from finding Aphra and incriminating himself, he finds himself walking a fine line between victory and destruction. With new rivals and both the Empire and the Rebellions seemingly against him, can even Darth Vader get what he wants?

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Well this was another fantastic bit of Star Wars fiction! The first thing that I do have to admit is that Shadows and Secrets is probably my least favourite volume in the entire 2015 Darth Vader series. However, this is only because every other volume in this series is just so incredible that this one suffers a little in comparison. That being said, I absolutely loved this second volume as it contains an excellent story, some great moments, fantastic characters and some impressive artwork. Containing issues #7-12 of the Darth Vader series, Gillen and Larroca have done an incredible job with this second volume, and I still consider it to be a five-star read.

One of the best things about Shadows and Secrets is Gillen’s outstanding story, which continues some of the tantalising threads from the first volume while also introducing some great new elements. Gillen sets out a clever, well-paced story that is filled with all manner of action, adventure and intrigue, as Vader begins his duplicitous actions within the Empire, attempting to amass the resources he needs for his projects without drawing the suspicion of either his rivals in the Imperial hierarchy or his new superior. Most of the story contained within this volume is fairly self-contained, featuring a fantastic heist sequence and the subsequent fallout from this event. This fallout mostly revolves around Vader’s investigation into his own heist, which he attempts to cover up from his new aide, Inspector Thanoth. Thanoth is a genius detective of Sherlockian talents who was quickly able to get to the truth of the matter and find the culprit of the heist, despite Vader’s vest efforts. I really enjoyed this whole investigation element to the book, especially as it was fun watching Vader routinely sabotage his own investigation, often by killing any and all potential witnesses, only to have Thanoth easily breeze through these obstacles. Thanoth turned out to be an excellent new addition to this series, and I really enjoyed the intriguing partnership he formed with Vader, especially as he plays a dangerous game by continuously hinting that he knows Vader is behind the theft. This turned out to be quite an amazing and enjoyable storyline, and I really appreciated Gillen’s perfect blend of humour and serious storylines throughout the volume.

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I also loved the continued focus on Vader’s obsessive hunt for Luke Skywalker, which has taken on a new edge now that he knows he is his son. While he was already searching for him in the first volume, now that he realises who he really is, Vader decides to protect his identity and the find out the whole truth behind his birth. This is shown in the first part of Issue #7, in which Vader and Aphra visit both the Lars Homestead and Ben Kenobi’s hovel on Tatooine, where he tries to gleam some knowledge from both houses about his son, before setting off a molecular bomb to erase all useful forensic evidence. Shortly after this, Vader than sets Aphra a task of finding and interrogating a former mortician from Naboo who prepared Padme Amidala’s body for her funeral, including setting up a hologram to make it appear that she was still pregnant. This tuned out to be an outstanding sequence, as the mortician, who has a huge amount of personal loyalty towards Amidala, at first refuses to provide any information about his work, before being tortured and confirming the existence of a child. While this admission is a betrayal of his beloved Queen that clearly costs the former mortician a lot, he is able to do one last act of service for her by not revealing any details about the second child, Leia. I thought that this scene was amazing, and I liked how it helped explain how Vader was aware of Luke’s existence and status as his child, but not that he also had a daughter. I also appreciated Gillen’s focus on the loyalty the inhabitants of Naboo had to Amidala, even in death, which was even able to move the cynical Aphra. Her subsequent mention to Vader of how Amidala must have really been something was a nice touch, as Vader’s subdued and hidden reaction hints at his continuing deep feelings towards his long-dead wife. I really liked this focus on the search for Luke, as not only does it makes sense in the context of the movies, but it also showcases the lengths Vader was willing to go to find and protect his son, and it leads to the best sequence in the entire volume.

I personally really enjoyed how the creative team continued to show off Vader as a dangerous and vicious powerhouse in this volume. While it does not contain the same level of carnage that he unleashed in the first volume of the 2015 Star Wars comic book series, Shadows and Secrets contains several amazing scenes depicting his destructive abilities and personality. Whether he is stuffing a crime lord into the mouth of his own exotic beast and then easily killing the distracted monster, or whether he is taking down and entire squadron of Rebel space fighters one at a time by throwing his lightsaber at them, he is shown to be pretty impressive.

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Just like in the first volume, Doctor Aphra continues to shine as the series’s main supporting character, and her entire character arc within Shadows and Secrets is very intriguing. Throughout this volume, Aphra ends up undertaking several missions for Vader, such as trying to find the location of Luke Skywalker, and has become one of his main confidants. This puts her in a terrible position, as Vader is likely to kill her to protect his secrets, especially when Thanoth gets close to capturing her. Watching the various ways that this ultimate opportunist attempts to survive against the odds, including by brazenly withholding information from Vader in order to stop him killing her, is pretty impressive, and it makes for some great reading. Shadows and Secrets also contains one of the first deeper looks at Aphra’s internal character. During the sequence I mentioned above with the mortician, she gives a lengthy monologue about the death of her mother and how it has affected her. This was a heavy scene, and while she tries to play it off as not being very important, you can see that it has impacted her, turning her into a much more cynical and self-reliant person who has no room for idealism or blind belief. The significance of this scene is also quite crucial when you consider that much of what she said is later shown in the Doctor Aphra spinoff series and ends up becoming a defining part of her character. I also like how the noticeable changes that the creative team have inserted into Aphra’s personality when she deals with Vader. For most of the volume, Aphra comes across as an ultraconfident being who is able to manipulate and control bounty hunters, murderers and crime lords with ease. However, whenever Vader appears, there is a noticeable change in her bearing and personality, which isn’t too surprising as Aphra knows Vader is going to kill her one day.

I also have to point out how much fun the two murder droids Triple Zero and BT-1 continued to be in this novel. Essentially perverted versions of C-3PO and R2-D2, Triple Zero and BT-1 are remorseless killers who delight in murdering or torturing all organic life. These two add an insane element of humour to the entire series, and they have a number of great moments in Shadows and Secrets. Watching the two of them delight in all sorts of murder and mayhem is all sorts of fun, and you’ve got to love the weird and friendly relationship the two of them have formed with each other.

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One of the best highlights of this second volume is the amazing artwork. The artistic team, helmed by Salvador Larroca, did another fantastic job bringing the amazing story contained within Shadows and Secrets to life on the page. There are so many vibrant and imaginative panels in this volume, and the volume’s artistic team produce some amazing pieces of art that showcase the wider Star Wars universe. One of the things that continues to impressive me about this series is the way that the artistic team are able to convey so much emotion from the faceless main protagonist. Despite only ever seeing Vader’s expressionless and iconic mask, I found that I was constantly able to glean the true emotions that Vader was surely feeling at the time when I looked at him, ranging from cold menace, surprise, frustration to deeper emotions, such as sadness when Amidala is mentioned. There are some truly amazingly drawn scenes throughout this entire volume, although there are two that I would bring particular attention to. The first is the very first scene in Issue #7, which shows Vader standing out the front of the Lars Homestead, staring at Tatooine’s twin suns as they set. I absolutely loved how this drawing matched the iconic scene from A New Hope where Luke stared off in the same position, and I really appreciated the symmetry. The other piece of art that really stood out to me was a quick sequence that appeared a little later in the volume within Issue #8. In this scene, Aphra has just confidently dealt with one of the bounty hunters in her employ and is looking off in the distance speaking to someone. As she talks, Vader slowly materialises out the shadows behind her, responding to her comments. Despite the fact that Aphra’s expression does not change at all there is a notable shift in the tone of the panel when Vader appears, and you cannot help but feel the threat and menace that he exudes. This was some impressive artwork, which helped to really increase how much I loved this comic.

The second volume of the 2015 Darth Vader series, Shadows and Secrets, is a first-rate comic book that once again shows off how impressive Star Wars comics can really be. Gillen and Larroca did an incredible job following up the first volume of this epic series and I really enjoyed the complex and fun story that this second volume contained, especially when it was backed up by great characters and exceptional artwork. This is a superb addition to the series that is really worth checking out.

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Hit-Girl, Volume 3: In Rome by Rafael Albuquerque and Rafael Scavone

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Extended Universe1 Comment

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Publisher: Image Comics

Publication Date: 19 February 2019

Length: 104 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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The world’s most dangerous 12-year-old, Hit-Girl, continues her world tour of crime fighting, this time heading to Rome to bring her unique brand of justice to a new group of criminals in another fantastically fun and brutal adventure.

Mindy McCready, the pre-teen vigilante killer better known as Hit-Girl, has successfully embarked on a one-girl international crusade against crime. Not only has she decimated the criminal underworld of Colombia, but she successfully eliminated a group of Canadian drug dealers while surviving all the hazards of the Great White North. Her latest adventure sees her travel to romantic and historical Rome, where a completely different breed of gangsters awaits her.

After failing to stop a masked cat-burglar stealing a bejewelled skull at the Toronto International Airport, Mindy finds herself accidently transported to Rome. Managing to recover the skull from the thief, a talented young woman known as La Gatta (the Cat), Mindy attempts to uncover who hired her to steal it and why. However, her investigation puts her firmly in the crosshairs of a dangerous and deranged mob boss, Gilistina Malvolia, who is determined the have the skull no matter what.

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Teaming up with La Gatta, Mindy faces off against Gilisina’s legion of followers in Rome in a bloody game of cat and mouse. But between killer nuns, crazed bikers and medieval monks, Mindy might have bitten off a little more than she can chew. Is Hit-Girl capable of going up against Rome’s boss of all bosses, or will she meet a gruesome end at the hands of Gilistina and the bloody saint she serves?

In Rome is the third volume of the deeply entertaining new Hit-Girl series, which has spun off from the popular Kick-Ass comics by Mark Millar. The character of Hit-Girl appeared in all of the previous Kick-Ass comics and was also the main character of the Hit-Girl limited series (now referred to as Book Two of The Dave Lizewski Years of Kick-Ass). After the end of the final series of The Dave Lizewski Kick-Ass comics, Hit-Girl decided to leave New York and go on a worldwide tour of vigilante justice. This international killing spree is covered in the ongoing Hit-Girl comic series, which started in early 2018. The Hit-Girl comics now feature a series of four issue storylines (which are later released within their own collected volume), with each storyline featuring a change of writers and artists. I really enjoyed the first volume of the Hit-Girl series, In Colombia, last year and I previously reviewed it on this blog where I gave it a full five stars. The second volume, In Canada, was an interesting follow-up, and I quite enjoyed the fun change in location.

The focus of this review is In Rome, which is the third volume of the Hit-Girl series. Containing issues #9-12 of the Hit-Girl series, this comic was written by Rafael Albuquerque and was drawn by his frequent collaborator Rafael Scavone. In Rome was an excellent addition to this amazing series, and I really enjoyed where the creative team took this fun and exciting story. Not only does it feature an enjoyable and fascinating plot, but there is some excellent character work contained within and some superb artwork, making for a deeply entertaining read.

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This third volume of Hit-Girl is a pretty crazy and over-the-top read, containing a very weird story. Not only does it continue to showcase the rampage of a 12-year-old vigilante as she takes out every bad person she comes across in the most gruesome or hyper-violent way she can, but it also features a very unique new set of opponents for her. The villain of In Rome is a murderous old lady, Gilistina Malvolia, who has managed to take control of the entire criminal underbelly of Rome. Gilistina is a former nun who, after being kicked out of her order for murder, now follows the teachings of a former Vatican assassin who was canonised as a saint. To that end, she now controls the city through fear and violence, murdering anyone who disappoints her, including a poor wannabe pasta chef in a rather fun introductory scene for her. Gilistina is after the bejewelled skull that Hit-Girl liberates, the skull of her beloved saint, and she is tearing up Rome to find her. As a result, Hit-Girl must go up against Gilistina’s minions, including nuns armed with machine guns, angel inspired bikers and monks armed with medieval weapons. This is all deeply insane and I loved every minute of it as this crazy story is a deeply fun and thrilling treat.

In addition to the fantastically kooky story, there are also some great character moments throughout the comic which add some dramatic elements to the plot. One of my favourite parts of it is Mindy’s team-up with the thief La Gatta. La Gatta, whose real name is Paola, is a master thief who gets caught up in Gilistina’s plans to obtain the saint’s skull and is forced to work with Mindy to survive. Despite being way older than Mindy, La Gatta comes across as the more scared and incapable of the two and is constantly shocked by all the extreme violence going on around her. The two girls bond throughout the book, especially over apparent similarities in their familiar situations and their relationship reminded me a bit of her dynamic with Kick-Ass (sarcastic younger girl mentoring someone older but way more out of their depth). It was nice to see her team up with a friend for once in this series, rather than with a killer she is blackmailing or the ghost of her father, and there are some generally funny moments between the two of them. It also ends in a rather good plot twist that I will be interested to see if the series comes back to at some point.

In Rome also does a great job of looking at the unique dynamics of Hit-Girl’s character. Despite the fact that she was raised as the ultimate killing machine, Mindy is still a little girl, and this shows through in a number of different ways, from her cute civilian outfit and toys to her rather black-and-white view of criminality. There is also a tangible sense of innocence lost around her, as well as a longing for family and her dead father, as she makes sure to interfere in an attempted theft from a tourist family she witnesses. The look of despair and unhappiness on her face after she sees the happy family walk off after she helps them is pretty heartbreaking and it makes you appreciate that she’s not as emotionally put together as her confident exterior would imply. This longing for family and connection also explains her willingness to work with La Gatta, as she sees a lot of herself in her, and it also opens her up to some subtle manipulation. All of this proves to be a really intriguing addition to the story, and I am curious to see what other examinations of Hit-Girl’s character are done in future volumes of this series.

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This volume of Hit-Girl contains some pretty amazing artwork which I really enjoyed. The artistic team behind In Rome have done a great job drawing this epic adventure, and there are some awesome scenes throughout. Based on what the story is about, there is an obvious focus on all elaborate violence and death that Hit-Girl brings wherever she goes. There are some gruesome and bloody sequences throughout the book and all the different forms of fights and violence are done pretty spectacularly. I also liked the cool designs they came up with for the various characters; I was especially impressed by the realistic faces which did a fantastic job conveying all the character’s emotions. For example, you get a real sense of the anger and hatred of Gilistina (whose stooped old-lady look is a lot of fun), the despair of the various victims of either Gilistina or Hit-Girl or the complex range of emotions of Mindy, which range from joy while she kills everyone, to something more subtle and tragic when she settles down long enough to feel. This great artwork combines extremely well with the volume’s excellent story, and it produces a really enjoyable Hit-Girl comic.

Overall, I really quite enjoyed the third volume of Hit-Girl, In Rome, and I thought it was an absolutely fantastic addition to the series. This is a perfect read for anyone interested in a fun and thoroughly entertaining comic chock full of ridiculous plot points, intense action and some character work that is surprisingly deep at times. This has proven to be an outstanding series, and I really like how they change creative teams with each volume. I must make an effort to get the next few volumes of this series, and I am especially intrigued by the fourth volume in the series, In Hollywood, which was written by Kevin Smith. In the meantime, In Rome is really worth checking out, and I would definitely recommend it.

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Throwback Thursday – Star Wars (2015) Volume 1: Skywalker Strikes by Jason Aaron and John Cassaday

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Extended Universe, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Throwback Thursday10 Comments

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Publisher: Marvel Comics

Publication Date: 6 October 2015

Length: 160 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Reviewed as part of my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.

I think it is fair to say that I have been in a real Star Wars mood lately. Maybe it is because of the imminent release of the final movie in the Skywalker Saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, or perhaps it is because The Mandalorian is such an awesome TV show. Whatever the reason, I have been reading and reviewing quite a few Star Wars books and comics lately. For example, I am currently listening to Star Wars: Force Collector, I reviewed Tarkin last week and I recently read and reviewed Resistance Reborn and Vader: Dark Vision. As a result, I thought that this week would be a good time to do a Throwback Thursday on the first volume of the 2015 Star Wars comic book series, Skywalker Strikes, which did an outstanding job of introducing an extremely exciting ongoing comic series.

The Star Wars comic book series was started in 2015 and follows the adventures of the protagonists of the original Star Wars trilogy. Set shortly after the events of A New Hope, this series attempts to fill in the three years between the first film and The Empire Strikes Back. The Star Wars comics originally ran concurrently with the Darth Vader (2015) comic series until that series ended, and then proceeded to run alongside the Doctor Aphra comics. The Star Wars series ran for 75 issues and has only recently concluded. A sequel series with the same name is set to begin in early 2020, which will follow the events between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

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Volume One of Star Wars begins shortly after the destruction of the Death Star. With the Empire in turmoil following the destruction of such a major weapon, Rebel Alliance members Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 use the chaos to infiltrate a key Imperial weapons factory. While they are able to destabilise the factory’s reactor core and free its slave labour force, the Rebels are unprepared for the unexpected arrival of Darth Vader.

Attempting to complete their mission while also trying to kill Vader, the Rebels find themselves hopelessly outmatched by the Dark Lord of the Sith, who is determined to capture the Rebel who blew up the Death Star. Not even Luke, with his newly discovered Jedi abilities, is able to stand up to Vader, and the Rebels barely manage to escape with their lives.

Frustrated by his failures against Vader, Luke decides to take a leave of absence from the Rebel Alliance and returns to Tatooine to contemplate his future. Travelling to the house where Obi-Wan Kenobi lived in exile for years, Luke hopes to find something that will guide him. Instead he finds himself walking into a trap, as the bounty hunter Boba Fett is lying in wait. At the same time, Leia talks Han into a scouting mission for the Rebels, but their simple mission soon attracts the wrong sort of attention. Who is the mysterious woman hunting Han, and why is claiming to be his wife?

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Skywalker Strikes, which is made up of Issues #1-6 of the Star Wars series, contains an outstanding story, fantastic artwork and some of the most insane Star Wars action sequences that you will ever see. The team of Jason Aaron and John Cassaday, have done an amazing job on this comic, and this first volume does a wonderful job starting off this long-running series. While all the issues in this volume are connected together pretty well, I would say that there is a distinctive break between Issues #1-3 and Issues #4-6. Issues #1-3 focuses solely on the protagonist’s attack on the weapon facility, while the last three issues feature some more independent adventures from some of the series’ various characters, as each of them is searching for something.

The sequence contained within Issues #1-3 is just incredible, and it is easily my favourite part of the entire series. What starts as a fun infiltration of an Imperial facility quickly devolves into utter chaos as Darth Vader enters the mix. What then follows is nearly three whole issues of action, explosions, fantastic first meetings and all manner of destruction as the Rebels desperately attempt to escape the factory. While all the characters involved in this part of the comic are really good, I have to say that Vader steals the show as the indestructible villain. This was actually one of the first pieces of fiction in the new Disney Star Wars canon that shows off how amazing Vader could truly be, and it is pretty darn awesome. Pretty much from the first instance he appears, he shows off the full extent of his powers by throwing stormtroopers in front of a sneak attack from Chewbacca, and then by starting to crush an AT-AT with the force. He then subsequently survives a full-on blast from the AT-AT’s cannons and hacks it to pieces with his lightsaber. He also cuts through a bunch of escaping slaves and shows his intense displeasure to his subordinates in a number of destructive ways, including twisting a stormtrooper’s head 180 degrees with the force (to be fair, he did catch sight of Vader without his helmet) and choking a Star Destroyer captain from an insane distance. I can also not be the only person who cracked up at Vader very quickly destroying an Imperial Officer moments after he said “Lord Vader will have my….” (spoilers, he was going to say head, and Vader really did). All of this destruction and action was essentially pure awesome, and I loved every second of it.

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In addition to all the action in this part of the book, there are also some major moments in Star Wars history that fans of the franchise are really going to enjoy. For the one thing, it actually has the first face-to-face confrontation between Luke and Darth Vader. This scene is handled extremely well. Luke, still believing that Vader is the one responsible for the death of his father, jumps at the chance to get revenge. However, as Luke runs towards Vader’s location full of confidence, he hears the disembodied voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi telling him to run. This is advice that Luke really should have taken; Vader, after berating Luke for his obvious lack of skill with the lightsaber, rather easily disarms him. While getting ready to kill Luke, Vader notices that the lightsaber he has taken off him is the very one he used to wield as Anakin Skywalker, which obviously raises some issues within him. As events at the factory spiral out of control, Luke is able to evade Vader, who starts to grow slightly more impressed by his skills. As Luke makes his escape, Vader realises that he is not only the pilot that destroyed the Death Star but also Kenobi’s last great hope. Still not fully realising the identity of the boy he just encountered, Vader rather vindictively promises to corrupt him to his purposes. All of these events are pretty incredible moments in Star Wars history, and I think that the creative team did an outstanding job introducing them in this new canon. The initial face-to-face showdown between the main protagonist and villain of the original Star Wars trilogy is a pretty significant moment, and I really loved how it was shown. The hints at the hidden history between the two are great, and the initial realisations from Vader that there is more to Luke than he realises are fantastic. I also liked how the creative team showed Luke as having no real skill with the lightsaber or the force. Considering that he only had about an hour of training with Kenobi, it really isn’t that surprising that he has no lightsaber abilities, so this is a pretty clever and realistic inclusion, especially as a good part of the following Star Wars comic series deals with some of the earliest days of his training. While these events are probably not the most significant to occur in this volume (more on that later), they are incredibly intriguing and any fan of the Star Wars franchise is going to love it.

The last three issues of Skywalker Strikes are also very entertaining, though less action-packed, since the creative team has opted instead for storytelling and showing off the state of the Empire and Rebel Alliance. While a despairing Luke sets off to find answers, Han and Leia set off to find potential locations for a new Rebel base, while Vader has a meeting with Jabba the Hut. There are some really interesting aspects to this part of the story, from the growing hopelessness in Luke as he begins to realise how far he is from becoming a Jedi, to Vader’s sudden obsession with capturing Luke, to the growing hints of romance between Han and Leia, disguised at this point as antagonism. However, I would say that it’s the newcomers to the comic series, Boba Fett and Sana Solo, that are some of the best parts of the last three issues of the volume. Fett, who has long been a fan favourite despite his complete underutilisation in the movies, shines as the badass bounty hunter as he scours Tatooine for Luke, eventually finding out all about him through some very violent means. This leads to a pretty fun showdown between Boba and Luke, as Boba ambushes him at Kenobi’s house and easily incapacitates him and R2-D2 with his cool array of weapons and tactics. It is only thanks to Luke’s first close-combat use of the force that he is able to escape, as he successfully blocks a blaster bolt while blinded (a nice homage to the training sequence from A New Hope) and moves an item with his mind. All of this was a pretty entertaining showdown, and I loved seeing Fett in action for once. We also have the mysterious Sana Solo, who has a pretty fantastic takedown of some Rodian thugs with a great piece of technology and a ruthless demeanour. She is later able to track down Han and Leia, absolutely terrifying Han before dropping one of the biggest bombshells of the book: that she is Han’s wife. While this is not explored in any great detail in this volume, it is an excellent introduction for this great character, who goes on to become a fairly major figure in the current Star Wars canon. As a result of all of this, the second half of the volume holds up pretty well to the action-packed first half, and there are plenty of major scenes, including the very big ending.

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While I did really like the second part of this volume, the best way to appreciate it fully is if you understand its connection to the Darth Vader (2015) series of comics. The Darth Vader series was launched right on the heels of the Star Wars comics and it is actually set in the aftermath of the first three issues of this volume. In the first issue of this concurrent comic, it is shown that Vader has actually started going rogue on the Emperor and is making his own deals with Jabba the Hutt, before the formal discussion he has with Jabba in Issue #4 of the Star Wars series. This actually clears up the somewhat cryptic discussion he has with Jabba later in the issue, where they talk about the bounty hunters he has hired, and also shows the point where he actually tasked Boba Fett with finding Luke. While none of this is absolutely vital when it comes to fully understanding the plot of Skywalker Strikes, it is interesting to see that some of the referenced events occurred in another series. However, the main reason why readers should try to understand the connection between this comic and the Darth Vader series is in the epic conclusion both of them share, where Vader learns the last name of the boy he has been hunting. Both Issue #6 of Star Wars and Darth Vader were actually released on the same day, so readers of both series were able to see this scene at the same time. The two scenes are shown in a slightly different light in each series. It is expanded a bit more in the Darth Vader series, as it plays into the feelings of resentment towards the Emperor that have been building in Vader through the series. However, I quite liked the simpler version in Issue #6 of Star Wars, as the slow-boiling rage and anger within Vader is pretty obvious, as he takes a whole page to fully react, cracking the glass on a Star Destroyer and simply whispering, “Skywalker”. As a result of this connection, the Star Wars and Darth Vader series complement each other extremely well, and I would strongly recommend reading both pretty close together. However, no matter which series you read, the sequence showing the moment where Vader realises that his son is still alive and a Jedi is pretty darn epic and really memorable.

It could be argued that splitting this volume into two separate storylines was an interesting choice from the book’s creative team. I imagine that six issues focused on the attack on the Imperial weapons factory would have been pretty epic (just imagine how much more destruction Vader could have wrought). However, I personally think they did the right thing by splitting the story and showcasing the aftermath of this action. This way you not only get the intense action of the first few stories but you also get to see the consequences of the mission, and all the implications this has for the wider Star Wars universe. In addition, there is also quite an intriguing set up for several key moments in the upcoming series as a whole, a whole new fight between Luke and another iconic Star Wars character in Boba Fett, and some amazing connections with a sister series. I really liked how the story of the entire volume came together, and I think it was an outstanding way to start this excellent series.

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I have to say that I was also really impressed with the awesome artwork that was featured in this first volume. The artwork was drawn by John Cassaday, and featured Laura Martin as the colourist. It is pretty amazing the way that Cassaday was able to capture the faces of the core original trilogy cast members with his artwork. Luke, Leia and Han all look really good to my eye in this volume, and the artist has also done some great renditions of other existing characters, such as Vader, Boba Fett and Jabba the Hutt. In addition, I really enjoyed all of the marvellous and exhilarating action sequences that they artistic team portrayed throughout the volume. These action scenes, especially the ones featuring Vader at the start of the book are just incredible, and I really loved seeing all the fantastic and creative violence. In addition to all the action, there are a number of scenes where the artwork helps to enhance the emotions and hidden meaning of a scene, and I will always love the way that they portrayed the closing moments of this volume. This was some first-rate Star Wars comic book art that is really worth checking out.

As you can see from the above review, I really loved this first volume of the Star Wars (2015) comic book series. The amazing creative team behind this first volume did a fantastic job with the first six issues that make up Skywalker Strikes, producing an extraordinary story which is complimented by a connection to another series and some exceptional artwork. This volume is a fantastic introduction to the flagship comic book series of the Star Wars franchise, and it comes highly recommended. No great knowledge of the expanded Star Wars canon is required to enjoy it, and indeed this may prove to be an effective gateway to the greater Star Wars universe. This gets a full five stars from me, and I am so very glad I decided to check out the Star Wars comic book series this year.

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Star Wars: Vader: Dark Visions by Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum and Various

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Tie-in Novel9 Comments

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Publisher: Marvel Comics

Publication Date: 27 August 2019

Length: 128 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Prepare to see one of the most iconic and beloved villains in all of fiction, Darth Vader, in a whole new light as Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum and several talented artists present five new and clever stories of the Dark Lord of the Sith from across the galaxy.

To most of the universe, Darth Vader is the Empire’s ultimate symbol of power, authority and fear, delivering death and destruction upon all who incur his wrath. But to some he can be something even more potent and remarkable. On one planet he is a Black Knight, a beacon of hope that saved them from a terrible monster. To a certain Imperial Commander, Vader is a reminder that failure is unacceptable. To one Imperial nurse, Vader is her one true love. But no matter how people see him, the one universal truth is that those who encounter this Sith Lord are likely to end up dead.

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Vader: Dark Visions is a fun and uniquely intriguing Star Wars comic that I bought a few weeks ago while on holiday. Vader is easily one of my favourite Star Wars characters, especially as most recent pieces of Star Wars expanded universe fiction have gone out of their way to show him as the ultimate badass. For example, I have absolutely loved some of the recent Darth Vader comics that have been published, including the 2015 Darth Vader series, the Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith series (check out my reviews for Volumes 2 and 3 here), and he has also been exceedingly impressive as a villain in recent volumes of the 2015 Star Wars comic series and the always entertaining Doctor Aphra comics. I also loved his appearance in the second season of Star Wars Rebels and in novels such as Thrawn: Alliances (which features a very cool scene of Vader flying a Tie Defender). As a result, I have been looking forward to Dark Visions for a while, as I found the cool concept of five new and different stories about Darth Vader very appealing.

This collected edition of Dark Visions contains five separate, standalone comic issues that have been written by Hopeless, each of which features the talents of a different artist. Each of these separate stories is really cool, featuring some very interesting story elements, eye-catching artwork and interactions that give the reader a real sense of how terrifying and complex the character of Darth Vader truly is. I also liked how different each of the stories was as Hopeless goes in some very interesting directions to showcase Vader.

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The first issue of Dark Visions is Savior and it features the artistic talents of Paolo Villanelli and colour artist Arif Prianto. Savior is the set piece of the entire book and is probably the one that shows off how powerful Vader truly is as he faces off against a gigantic civilisation-destroying monster by himself. Not only is this a pretty epic fight, but everything is shown from the perspective of a young boy whose people have been living in fear of the monster for generations. To him, Vader appears as a great hero, a Black knight, who has come to save their planet, and who even rides a black horse-like steed into battle. However, even after he saves his entire world, the young narrator gets a sense of what Vader really is and is quite rightly terrified. This was an awesome, action-packed first issue and it serves as a great introduction to the entire volume. You also have to give props to the cool cover art that this story produced. The main cover for Issue #1 was used as the cover for the Dark Visions collected edition, and the shot of Vader as an actual knight is one of the main reasons why I wanted to grab this comic. I have also included the two alternate covers that this issue inspired as well, as they are a lot of fun, and show the behemoth that Vader faces off against

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The second issue of this comic is easily the funniest of the whole Dark Visions volume. Issue #2, Unacceptable, features an absolutely hilarious Moby Dick inspired story drawn by Brian Level and coloured by Jordan Boyd. The story follows an Imperial Commander who, after seeing Vader brutally kill an entire room full of officers when he was younger, is absolutely terrified of any form of failure. As a result, when a single Rebel spy escapes his attack and he learns that Vader is on route, he abandons the fleet to take his Star Destroyer after this spy in order to capture him, as “failure is unacceptable”. What follows is a destructive rollercoaster ride through space, as the Rebel spy pilots his ship through a range of obstacles and the Imperial Commander obsessively follows him no matter the risk. This results in a fantastically amusing story filled with laughs, disbelief, some very impressive artistic set pieces and an ending that brings the entire story full circle. Thanks to excellent artwork, the commander’s fall to insanity is pretty clear throughout the issue, and I absolutely loved the crazy obstacles he went through. If you’ve ever wanted to see a Star Destroyer fly into an exogorth (the giant space slug in Empire Strikes Back) then this is the comic for you.

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Next we come to the third issue of Dark Visions, Tall, Dark and Handsome, which has David Lopez and Javier Pina as the artists and Muntsa Vicente as the colour artist. Like Unacceptable, the story within Issue #3 is a tale of obsession; however, it goes in a very different direction. Tall, Dark and Handsome follows an Imperial nurse on the Death Star who, after treating Vader and feeling his power, starts to fall in love with him and begins to imagine an epic romance with him. This story pretty much ends the way you would imagine, but it is a very dark and emotional journey to the conclusion. While this story is pretty messed up, it is written and drawn extremely well, and you can’t help but feel sorry for the nurse who is slowly losing her mind. The artists did a fantastic job showcasing the various stages of the nurses obsession, from the initial stages of her infatuation, to the look she gives him after he knocks her down with the force (a look that can only be described as “thirsty”), to the scenes at the end where she finally cracks and goes into full-blown crazy stalker mode. I also loved the various sequences generated by the nurse’s imagination, which show her idealised versions of the romance, and they are a great portal into her shattered mind.

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The fourth issue of Dark Visions is titled Hotshot and featured Stephen Mooney as the artist and Lee Loughridge as the colour artist. This is a rather interesting story that examines the impact Vader has on the psyche of the Rebel pilots he flies against. In this issue, Vader goes up against a group of skilled Rebel pilots, including a young hotshot flyer with boundless confidence. However, Vader’s superior skills and reputation as a pilot soon have a noted influence on his opponent’s minds, and Vader is able to defeat one solely through fear. I really liked seeing a story that focused on Vader’s ability as a pilot, as it is one of his more impressive abilities, and is pretty cool when focused on (his appearance in the season 2, episode 1 of Star Wars Rebels springs to mind). The various space battles that occur within this issue look fantastic, and you get a real sense of how skilled Vader is in the cockpit.

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The fifth and final issue contained within this volume is called You Can Run…, and it was drawn by Geraldo Borges and coloured by Marcio Menyz. This final inclusion focuses on the general aura of fear that Vader exudes as he hunts down a person carrying valuable information on a hostile jungle world. Vader is already pretty terrifying on his own, but when his target gets dosed by a hallucinogenic compound and begins to see all sorts of horrors around him (like the Scarecrow’s fear toxin in Batman), Vader’s scariness gets amped up to 11. The artists come up with some pretty impressive fear-induced sequences throughout this issue, and the various exaggerated ways that Vader is shown are quite inventive (there is a hint of the Predator in one of them).

Overall, I think that this was a really varied and enjoyable combination of different stories that all examine a different aspect of this great character. All five of these issues are done extremely well and feature a fantastic combination of intriguing stories and amazing artwork. I absolutely loved each of the first three issues, and also quite enjoyed Hotshot and You Can Run… However, I actually found it really hard to pick out my favourite story, mainly because they were all enjoyable in such different ways. I do think that these various stories came together into a very satisfying overall volume that is extremely entertaining. As a result, I would strongly recommend Vader: Dark Visions, and it is an excellent read for all fans of the Star Wars franchise.

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Throwback Thursday – Star Trek: Boldly Go, Volume 1 by Mike Johnson and Tony Shasteen

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Throwback Thursday4 Comments

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Publisher: IDW Publishing

Publication Date: 25 July 2017

Length: 136 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Reviewed as part of my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.

In this Throwback Thursday, get ready to explore the first volume of an intriguing Star Trek comic book series, Boldly Go, which presents the reader with clever new story directions spinning off from the alternate timeline Star Trek movies.

I think it is time to admit to myself that I am starting to get rather hooked on Star Trek extended universe fiction. Like my obsession with everything from the Star Wars extended universe, all it took for me to dive into this new fandom was reading a few compelling Star Trek books. Amazing titles such as Available Light and The Captain’s Oath made me realise that there are some pretty interesting Star Trek books out there. I just started listening to another Star Trek audiobook today (The Antares Maelstrom by Greg Cox, which is pretty good so far). As a result, when I recently saw some other reviewers talking about a cool-sounding Star Trek comic book series that came out a couple of years ago, I immediately went and grabbed a copy of the first volume (I am very impressionable like that). What I found was an extremely compelling Star Trek adventure that had some truly intriguing and clever elements to it.

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Star Trek: Boldly Go was an ongoing canon comic book series which started in 2016 and was set in the same continuity as the 2009 Star Trek film and its sequels. This continuity is an alternate timeline to the main Star Trek universe, which is known as the Kelvin Timeline due to the deviation that started with the time traveller Nero’s destruction of the U.S.S. Kelvin (Kirk’s father’s ship). This series was written by Mike Johnson, who has a lot of experience writing Star Trek comic book series, and featured contributions from several different artists. Boldly Go was the second ongoing series set in this timeline, following the 2011 Star Trek series which ran for 60 issues and was also written by Mike Johnson (which apparently had some really interesting-sounding storylines and which I might have to check out as well).

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Following the destruction of the U.S.S. Enterprise in Star Trek Beyond, the entire crew have been temporarily reassigned to new posts while they wait for their ship to be rebuilt. While Spock and Uhura are living on New Vulcan and Scotty is a lecturer at Starfleet Academy on Earth, Sulu, McCoy and Kirk are still serving out amongst the stars. Kirk has taken command of the U.S.S. Endeavour with McCoy begrudgingly at his side, and Sulu is serving a one-year exploration mission aboard the U.S.S. Concord.

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Events outside of their control will soon bring the former crew of the Enterprise back together, when the Concord encounters a ship of unknown design on the edge of Federation space. The ship is extremely powerful and technologically advanced and it attacks without warning, easily carving off pieces of the Concord with its destructive weapons. As alien boarders abduct members of the crew and devastate the ship, only one thing is certain: resistance is futile!

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The Borg Collective, one of the most dangerous races in the entire galaxy, have arrived in this version of Federation space nearly 100 years earlier than they were supposed to. Their motives are unclear, but as they attack several Federation vessels and settlements it is clear that they are en route to the capital of the Romulan Empire, Romulus. Answering the Concord’s distress call, Kirk and the Endeavour follow the Borg sphere after picking up Spock and Uhura. Forced to enter Romulan space, can Kirk and his crew save the abducted humans and defeat the Borg, or will actions provoke war with the Romulans? And what connection do the Borg have to the events that made this alternate timeline and formed this version of the Enterprise’s crew?

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This first volume of Boldly Go is a massive ball of fun that I had a great time reading. Not only does it feature a captivating and enjoyable story with some real cool twists; it also takes this Star Trek universe in some interesting directions. Featuring issues #1-6, this first volume starts a few months after the events of Star Trek Beyond and continues several of the fun storylines explored in the movies and the 2011 ongoing comic book series.

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This first volume features a bunch of interesting storylines. Issues #1-4 contain the volume’s major storyline, the invasion of the Borg into Federation and Romulan space. This is an extremely action-packed storyline, and I really enjoyed seeing the Borg, who are probably the best Star Trek antagonists ever created, go up against the classic crew of the Enterprise. The entire Borg storyline is cleverly written, with high stakes and explosive action sequences, and it has some really cool moments. If you have ever wanted to see what would happen if the Borg tried to assimilate Spock (and let’s face it, who wouldn’t find that awesome) then this is the comic for you.

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Issues #5 and #6 contain two different, intriguing storylines. Issue #5 contains a rather emotional story that examines the history of the fan-favourite character from Star Trek Beyond, Jaylah. Told chronologically backwards, this issue shows Jaylah’s tragic life trapped on the planet Altamid, and then goes further back to explore how she and her family were marooned there and the events of her past that would eventually lead her to Starfleet. The sixth and final issue in the volume continues some of the storylines from the first four issues of the series, reunites the always funny Scotty with the rest of the main characters and shows a rather curious story about an extremely advanced species of aliens interfering with the Endeavour in violation of their own version of the Prime Directive.

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While all of the storylines featured within this first volume are compelling and filled with emotional plot developments, it was also cool to see this version of the Enterprise crew once again. I really liked seeing how their adventures continued post-Star Trek Beyond, especially because, at the moment, it looks like Beyond is going to be the last film in this particular series of Star Trek films (which is a real shame, as some of the plans for the next instalment sounded particularly awesome). I did feel that the creative team of this comic did a fantastic job capturing the tone of the new movies and the personalities of these versions of the characters, and overall I found the story within this volume to be quite impressive.

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In addition to the great story, dedicated Star Trek fans will find some of plot inclusions to be extremely interesting, as they draw on some unique pieces of Star Trek lore. This volume features alternate timeline versions of characters from the original series, such as Captain Terrell, an older version of whom previously appeared in The Wrath of Khan, and there are intriguing hints at features of the Romulan Empire, such as the feared Tal Shiar. I also cannot get past how awesome it was to see the Borg in this timeline. Jackson has previously experimented with having this version of the original Enterprise crew interact with classic villains from other Star Trek shows. For example, they encountered Q in Jackson’s previous comic book series set in the Kelvin Timeline. However, it was particularly cool having the crew fight the Borg, and it resulted in a number of amazing scenes.

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I found the explanation for why the Borg were in Federation space during this time period to be extremely clever. In the main Star Trek universe, the Borg did not attack the Federation until the events of Star Trek: The Next Generation, set around 100 years after the start of The Original Series. However, in this comic, the Borg were attracted to the Federation much sooner than expected. The reason for this is eventually shown to be because Nero, the antagonist of the 2009 Star Trek film, constructed his massive ship, the Narada, out of Borg technology. This naturally drew the attention of the Borg, who travelled to Federation space at a much quicker rate than they did in their original appearance. While this explanation is pretty fascinating by itself, it actually results in some interesting connections with the main Star Trek universe. Technically, this alternate timeline is still considered to be within the canon of the main universe, as it was created when characters from this timeline, Nero and Spock from The Original Series, travelled back to the day Kirk was born. As a result, if the Narada contained Borg technology, then it is reasonable to assume that the Romulans are experimenting with captured Borg material in the main universe after The Next Generation ended. This has subsequently been somewhat confirmed, as the recent Comic Con trailer for the upcoming television series Picard showed images of Romulans dissecting Borg prisoners. As Picard is going to be set after the destruction of Romulus in the main Star Trek universe, it appears that this comic actually predicted events from the show before it was even in production (or else the creators of the show read this comic). This deep dive into Star Trek lore is really cool, and it is interesting to see ideas spawned in this comic have impacts in an upcoming show.

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This volume of Star Trek Beyond features some fantastic artwork from a variety of skilled artists. The main artist for the first five issues is Tony Shasteen, with Davide Mastrolonardo serving as colourist. Their combined artwork is pretty spectacular, and I really enjoyed it. Not only did they do a fantastic job of recreating the alternate timeline versions of the Enterprise crew, but the drawings of space, battles and the destruction of the Borg are amazing. I particularly liked the character designs of the Borg drones, especially when some of the Starfleet characters are converted into drones. I was also really impressed by an extended sequence that took place in Spock’s mind, where the Borg infiltrated his memories of several events of the 2009 film, and they made for a great scene. Issue #6 was drawn by Chris Mooneyham, with J. D. Mettler doing the colours. This naturally results in a noticeably different art style for this final issue, but this team does a great job of portraying some interesting scientific anomalies in space. Overall, the artwork featured within this volume is exciting and very well-done, and I had a great time seeing how the artists rolled out this adventure.

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Volume 1 of Star Trek Beyond is a fantastic comic book that is really worth checking out. The creative team have done a wonderful job portraying a new story that takes place in the aftermath of the last Star Trek movie. There are some really compelling story ideas taking place in this volume, and Johnson made sure to go big by bringing in a fantastic bunch of antagonists from The Next Generation. Best read by existing fans of the Star Trek franchise who will enjoy the creative team’s unique take on the characters and their adventures, this comic will also be appreciated by casual Star Trek fans who have only seen the more recent movies. I am extremely glad I decided to explore this Star Trek comic book series, and I will definitely be grabbing the next two volumes of this series when I next visit the comic book shop. This first volume gets four and a half stars from me and is an outstanding piece of Star Trek fiction.

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Uncanny X-Men – Vol. 2: Wolverine and Cyclops

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Extended Universe, Superhero2 Comments

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Publisher: Marvel Comics (Trade Paperback – 2 July 2019)

Series: Uncanny X-Men (2018) – Volume 2

Writer: Matthew Rosenberg

Artists: Salvador Larroca

               John McCrea

               Juanan Ramirez

Colour Artist: Rachelle Rosenberg

Length: 136 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Prepare to enter a whole new era of X-Men comics as writer Matthew Rosenberg and artist Salvador Larroca bring forth a second volume in the new series of Uncanny X-Men and focus on the aftermath of the latest disaster to befall mutantkind.

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For years, the X-Men have tried to fulfil Charles Xavier’s dream of unity between mutants and humans by being the shining examples of their species as superheroes, protecting even those people who hate and fear them. However, in one devastating moment, that dream has been smashed. The godlike mutant X-Man, in an attempt to remove all opposition to his messianic desires, combined his powers with that of the reality-bending mutant Legion in order to end all the X-Men who stood against him. In a single instant, nearly every mutant who had served as a member of the X-Men was gone, and the world reacted accordingly.

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In the aftermath of this loss, Mutantkind is on the brink of extinction. Already suffering from years of losses caused by the Genosha genocide, the M-Day Decimation, the Terrigen Mists and Disney’s wrath for being owned by Fox, the remaining Mutants are now left without their protectors. With public opinion firmly against them, government agencies hunting down and imprisoning any surviving mutants and the new mutant vaccine being made mandatory for the entire population, this looks like the end for the species. However, one mutant is desperate to change this: the original leader of the X-Men, Cyclops.

Having been recently returned from the dead, Cyclops attempts to find his way in the new world, where all his X-Men comrades have disappeared. After an encounter with the mysterious mutant Blindfold, whose cryptic visions now contain nothing but despair, Cyclops will try to do what he always does, attempt to save his species. However, with no allies willing to help and even the Avengers turning against them, Cyclops is finding it hard not to give in to despair. In a desperate move, he makes a televised plea for any remaining X-Men to join him at the remains of the X-Mansion. While at first it appears that only the X-Men’s enemies have turned up in order to kill him, one X-Man answers the call, the last person Cyclops expected to come to his aid, his long-time rival Wolverine.

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Having also just come back from the dead, Wolverine is reluctantly drawn back into Cyclops’s orbit. In their recent past these two legendary X-Men have fought, gone to war and nearly killed each other over their ideals, the future of mutantkind and the heart of Jean Grey, but now they can agree on one thing: the X-Men need to come back. Pulling together a rag tag team, including Magik, Wolfsbane, Havok, Dani Moonstar, Karma, Chamber and Jamie Madrox, Cyclops and plan to go after the biggest mutant threats they can find on order to stop additional escalations against mutants and to leave the world in a better place if this is truly the end of mutantkind. But what happens when they are forced to go up against old friends such as Banshee or Hope Summers, as they attempt to obtain their own form of justice leading a new version of the Mutant Liberation Front?

The second volume of this new series of Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine and Cyclops, is a fantastic and enjoyable comic that does a wonderful job introducing a cool new version of the X-Men following the major changes that occurred in the first volume of the series, X-Men Disassembled. Featuring issues #11-16 of the 2018 series of Uncanny X-Men, this volume does an excellent job of showcasing the new, darker version of the Marvel Universe following the disappearance of the X-Men.

Cyclops and Wolverine is written by Matthew Rosenberg, who has been working on a number of cool series for Marvel lately, including the extremely entertaining new Punisher series. In a nice sense of continuity, Rosenberg returns to write this second volume of Uncanny X-Men after completely changing everything with X-Men Disassembled. After setting up the cool story in that book, Rosenberg now puts his thoughts to exploring the aftermath of this tale, not only in this volume but in a number of future entries. For this second volume, Rosenberg is joined by artist Salvador Larroca, who provides the art for most of this book, while veteran artist Rachelle Rosenberg serves as the colourist for all the issues in this volume.

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After the previous entry in the series, the creative team was left with the interesting problem of how to run an X-Men series after you sent away all the X-Men (probably to the universe featured in the various Age of X-Man miniseries). What they came up with was a fantastic story that featured a new end of days for mutantkind and a new version of the iconic team. Since the events of the last volume, the whole world has dramatically changed for mutants. While they were never popular, now they are being actively hunted down, captured, experimented on or exterminated by government-sanctioned groups and there is no one able to stop them until this new team of X-Men come along. I really liked one of the ideas broached in the story that the X-Men, despite their attempts to be peacemakers, really only stopped this sort of government attack because they intimated the government, and now that the X-Men gone, there is nothing stopping them from ensuring there are no more mutants. As a result, this is a really interesting setting for a new X-Men series, and Rosenberg has come up with a really cool story. This is a much grimmer version of the classic X-Men story, as the team no longer has a high-tech base, matching uniforms or an advanced jet. Instead, they are a small team of rebels, hiding out in a bar and getting involved in fights for survival. This first volume contains a number of big plot moments, including the additional deaths of several mutant characters (which probably won’t last that long), noteworthy character developments (one character’s code-name gains a whole new level of significance) and the formation of an intriguing new team of X-Men.

I really enjoyed the way that the creative team set out this story in the first volume and I particularly enjoyed the first issue of the volume (Issue # 11). This issue does a wonderful job introducing the new Marvel Universe, and showing Cyclop’s difficulties coming back to such an altered world, bereft of hope for mutants. As the first issue continues, Cyclops meets several former friends and allies, such as Blindfold, Chamber, Ben Urich, Jamie Madox and Captain America, each of whom try to convince Cyclops that the X-Men are dead and that his mission is over. All of these encounters, including a second tragic meeting with Blindfold, drive Cyclops to his former home at the X-Mansion, where it appears he is truly the last X-Man, and only his enemies, such as the Reavers, the Purifiers and the Sapien League remain. However, at the last second, it is revealed that Wolverine was also on the scene and joins the fight, teaming up with Cyclops to defeat the mass of foes in the front of them in a particularly satisfying fight sequence to end the first issue. The volume then goes on to show two mini-stories, which show the reader that Wolverine had been following Cyclops for a while and had actually been helping him without the reader or Cyclops knowing it. Another story also shows why Blindfold had gotten involved and adds a whole new layer of tragedy to the story. The rest of the volume unfolds in a pretty logical way; without going into too much detail, Cyclops and Wolverine manage to form a team of X-Men, and in the following volumes they face a variety of different threats and find new allies, all of which will set up some interesting storylines for the next few volumes of the series. I liked where the story went towards the volume, and there were some really interesting developments that did a fantastic job following the strong opening issues.

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While this volume features a number of great characters, as the name suggests, the story is mostly focused around Cyclops and Wolverine, who team up again for the first time in years. These two are probably two of the most iconic X-Men ever created, and the longstanding rivalry and dislike between them has long been a recurring X-Men story arc. However, in recent years, this dislike has turned into direct antagonism, especially after the events of the 2011 miniseries, Schism, where a fight of their respective ideological differences saw them split off and lead two separate groups of X-Men. This antagonism continued through several major X-Men arcs, including Avengers vs X-Men, but it was ultimately left unresolved due to Wolverine’s death in 2014. As a result, this volume is the first time Wolverine and Cyclops have both been alive in nearly five years, and it was interesting to see the two of them finally come together again. I really enjoyed their reconciliation in this volume, especially as all it took for these two to get on the same page was two simultaneous resurrections, the complete destruction of the X-Men, one cathartic fight against a group of bigots, and a one-word greeting on the battle field.

The rest of the volume continued to build on their relationship as they work together to reform the X-Men. It is a fun return to the pre-Schism dynamic, as Wolverine once again follows Cyclops’s lead, and the two have a fun, banter-laden relationship built on mutual respect. However, Rosenberg does not ignore some of their prior conflict; rather he incorporates it into their relationship. Cyclops is fully aware that much of the X-Men’s current issues are due to his past actions, such as pushing for a more militant approach while he was the mutant leader, going to war with both the Avengers and Inhumans, and killing Professor X. As a result, he starts to rely on Logan’s opinion a lot more than some of the other X-Men, such as his brother Havok, as he knows that Wolverine won’t just agree with him if he is in the wrong again. This new era of cooperation between Cyclops and Wolverine forms a fantastic heart of this volume of Uncanny X-Men, and it was great to see these two characters back in action again after their lengthy absences.

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I rather enjoyed the artwork that was featured in Wolverine and Cyclops, and the artistic team of Larroca and the colourist Rosenberg do a good job producing an interesting art style for this volume. I personally liked the darker artistic tone quite a lot of the scenes had, which I felt reflected the tone of the series and which was also a result of the X-Men trying to remain hidden by doing their missions at night. I also liked the interesting character designs that featured in the book, as the team is forced to wear a mismatched bunch of scavenged uniforms from across the various X-Men eras, which really helped highlight the low resources and support they have. There are a number of detailed and exciting action sequences throughout the book that the artists do an amazing job bringing to life. I was particularly fond of the first major sequence, in which Cyclops and Wolverine took on the anti-mutant soldiers near the X-Mansion. It was a particularly brutal couple of pages, and I loved seeing the two main characters in action again. I also really liked the scene where Wolverine first reveals himself. The look of horror and resignation of several characters’ faces when they hear “snikt” was just beautiful. Extra art done by John McCrea and Juanan Ramirez for the two background stories, Wolverine Returns and The Last Blindfold Story, added an interesting new element to the volume, and it was cool to see their different art style in the middle of the book. Overall, this was some great artwork, and I cannot wait to see what this team produces in the future.

Wolverine and Cyclops is a bold new direction for Uncanny X-Men that I really enjoyed. With a darker universe, some interesting story directions and the return of two of the team’s most iconic characters, the X-Men have entered a brave new era, and I was glad to be there for the ride. This new creative team for Uncanny X-Men did a fantastic job reintroducing these two amazing characters, and they have proven that they have some intriguing ideas. The next volume of this series is out in October and is already one of my top comics to buy later in the year.

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Waiting on Wednesday – Upcoming Star Wars Books August-December 2019

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Tie-in Novel, Waiting on Wednesday13 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.

It has come to my attention that I might have recently developed a slight addiction to Star Wars expanded fiction. Why else would I go out of my way to read and review four of the Star Wars books that have been released so far this year, as well as collect a huge number of Star Wars comics? The obvious answer is that Star Wars is awesome and all the tie-in media I have read are freakin’ spectacular, with some fantastic stories that feature so many of the franchise’s iconic characters. So far this year I have reviewed the 2019 releases Queen’s Shadow, Master and Apprentice, Alphabet Squadron and Thrawn: Treason, as well as several Star Wars books and comics that were released in previous years. Of these, Thrawn: Treason was probably my favourite; however, the year is far from over, and there are still a number of awesome Star Wars novels and comics set to be released.

For this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I am looking at some of the top upcoming Star Wars tie-in media releases coming out later this year. Many of these books are tied into the upcoming Star Wars movie, The Rise of Skywalker, and I am curious about what sort of plot hints or tie-in elements will be included as a result. Each of these upcoming releases sound pretty amazing and I will be reading and reviewing all of them in the coming months, no matter what.

Vader: Dark Visions by Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum (Issues released between 6 March and 12 June 2019, trade paperback out 27 August 2019)

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This is a pretty cool one to start the article off with. Honestly, I will be grabbing this comic just for the cover alone; Vader looks so awesome as a dark knight on it. I just love it.

I am also a massive fan of the character of Darth Vader (who isn’t?) There has been an amazing run of Darth Vader comics in the last couple of years, including the 2015 Darth Vader series (check out my review of Volume 1 here) and the Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith series (check out my review of Volume 2 and 3 as well), and this looks likes it is going to be another epic Vader story.

The series is being written by Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum and will be his debut Star Wars series. I have read a bunch of Hopeless’s series before, including Avengers Arena, Cable and X-Force and Avengers Undercover, and I look forward to seeing how he takes on the character of Darth Vader. If the series synopsis is anything to judge by, it sounds like Hopeless has come up with a pretty cool story concept.

Goodreads Synopsis:

WHO IS DARTH VADER? He has been many things: a SITH warrior, a commander, a destroyer. DARTH VADER is to many throughout the GALACTIC EMPIRE a symbol of fear and mysterious, otherworldly power. But there are some who have seen the DARK LORD in a different light. There are some corners of the galaxy so dark and desperate that even Vader can be a knight in shining armor. The first issue of a new STAR WARS limited series, writer Dennis Hopeless (CLOAK AND DAGGER, JEAN GREY) sheds new light on the many sides of the galaxy’s greatest villain.

I really like the idea of a more complex look at Darth Vader’s character, and watching Vader go up against opponents so evil they make him look good is surely going to be epic. While I have not read any of the individual issues yet, the collected edition is out in around two weeks, and I fully intend to grab this as soon as it comes out.

Galaxy’s Edge: Black Spire by Delilah S. Dawson (release date – 3 September 2019)

Galaxy's Edge - Black Spire Cover.jpg

Black Spire is the second book in Star War’s Galaxy’s Edge mini-series, which serves as a tie-in to the new Disneyland park of the same name (where I will be going to in a few weeks). Black Spire is written by intriguing author Delilah S. Dawson, who has previously written a couple of official Star Wars short stories, as well as 2017’s Phasma.

Goodreads Synopsis:

After devastating losses at the hands of the First Order, General Leia Organa has dispatched her agents across the galaxy in search of allies, sanctuary, and firepower—and her top spy, Vi Moradi, may have just found all three, on a secluded world at the galaxy’s edge.

A planet of lush forests, precarious mountains, and towering, petrified trees, Batuu is on the furthest possible frontier of the galactic map, the last settled world before the mysterious expanse of Wild Space. The rogues, smugglers, and adventurers who eke out a living on the largest settlement on the planet, Black Spire Outpost, are here to avoid prying eyes and unnecessary complications. Vi, a Resistance spy on the run from the First Order, is hardly a welcome guest. And when a shuttle full of stormtroopers lands in her wake, determined to root her out, she has no idea where to find help.

To survive, Vi will have to seek out the good-hearted heroes hiding in a world that redefines scum and villainy. With the help of a traitorous trooper and her acerbic droid, she begins to gather a colorful band of outcasts and misfits, and embarks on a mission to spark the fire of resistance on Batuu—before the First Order snuffs it out entirely.

I like the sound of this book’s plot. A small group of rogues and thieves battling against overwhelming odds is pretty classic Star Wars fare, and it looks like Dawson has an excellent setting and a cool collection of characters to for the story. Blatant commercialism aside, this does look like it is going to be a rather interesting read, and I am putting in an order for it as we speak.

Resistance Reborn by Rebecca Roanhorse (release date – 12 November 2019)

Resistance Reborn Cover

This is probably the upcoming Star Wars book I am looking forward to the most, having previously mentioned it in my Top Ten Most Anticipated July – December 2019 Releases list. Resistance Reborn is the one of the first books in the loosely connected sub-series, Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and will be one of the many upcoming novels that explores the period between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker before the movie comes out in December. From what I understand, Resistance Reborn is probably going to be the novel that ties in the most with The Rise of Skywalker, and if there are any big reveals or plot hints, this is where we are mostly likely to find them.

Goodreads Synopsis:

In this Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker novel, Poe Dameron, General Leia Organa, Rey, and Finn must struggle to rebuild the Resistance after their defeat at the hands of the First Order in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

While the above plot synopsis is a little light on detail, it does seem like this book will focus on the main protagonists from these latest movies as they attempt to rebuild from their major defeat in The Last Jedi. I imagine that the author will focus pretty heavily on the four characters mentioned in the synopsis and detail the various hardships and issues that they experience during this period. You also have to imagine that several other characters who featured in the movies, such as Rose or Chewbacca, will make some appearances, and I will interested to see what happens with them. It is unclear whether we will see much of Kylo Ren or other members of the First Order, but the book will need to have some form of antagonist. Personally, I hope that Benicio del Toro’s DJ fails to make an appearance (in either the book or future movies), but that’s just me. The idea of rebuilding a resistance from scratch sounds pretty cool, and I look forward to seeing how the author covers that. Overall, I think that this book will be a good combination of character development and intriguing story, and I look forward to checking it out.

I am also excited in the choice of author. Rebecca Roanhorse has been on a real tear in the last couple of years with her Navajo inspired fantasy novels, including the books in her acclaimed The Sixth World series. While I have not had the pleasure of reading any of her books yet, I have heard good things from a number of reviewers and look forward to seeing what her first foray into Star Wars fiction is like.

Force Collector by Kevin Shinick (release date – 19 November 2019)

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This is another book in the Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker range, and it is probably the novel that I know the least about. I do know that it is being marketed as a young adult novel, and I know that the author, Kevin Shinick, is an interesting choice. This will actually be Shinick’s first proper novel, as he is best known as a television show writer, having worked on shows such as Robot Chicken and Mad, as well as developing the current animated Spider-Man television show. Apart from writing several comic book series and the children’s book Chewie and the Porgs, Shinick has no experience writing a full novel, and it will be interesting to see what he comes up with.

Goodreads Synopsis:

In this Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker young adult novel set just before The Force Awakens, a restless teenager sets out to discover what connection his mysterious Force powers have to the fabled Jedi and what the Force has in store for him.

This is a pretty generic synopsis for Force Collector, and aside from the useful titbit that the book is set just before The Force Awakens, there really is not too much information there. The cover picture actually gives a lot more away, as it shows a young man, probably the titular Force Collector, on a desert planet. In his possession he has a number of items associated with the franchise and the Jedi, including a Storm Trooper helmet, a Tusken Raider weapon, one of those Jedi training spheres and a lightsaber. While it is cool to see all of these, this cover really raises more questions than it answers. Is this character collecting these items or has he just found them? Which planet is he on: Tatooine or Jakku (both associated with famous Jedi)? Why would he be on either planet before the events of The Force Awakens? And how will his story tie into The Rise of Skywalker as promised? I look forward to finding out more about this book in the future, and I am very curious to see what happens in it.

Star Wars: Allegiance by Ethan Sacks and Luke Ross (released between 9 October – 30 October 2019)

Star Wars Allegiance Cover.jpg

The final entry in this article is an upcoming four-issue comic book miniseries Star Wars: Allegiances. Allegiance is another series that ties into the upcoming The Rise of Skywalker movie, showing a different side to rebuilding of the Resistance.

Marvel Comics Synopsis:

BEFORE THE EXCITING EVENTS OF STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER! Hounded by the FIRST ORDER across the galaxy, the RESISTANCE is in dire need of ships, weapons and recruits to make a final stand against KYLO REN’S forces. Desperation drives a delegation led by GENERAL LEIA ORGANA and REY to entreat the Rebel veteran’s one-time allies, THE MON CALAMARI, to join the fight — but decades after Imperial occupation enslaved their planet, there are those willing to stop at nothing to prevent another war from bloodying the waters of Mon Cala. A system away, POE DAMERON and FINN have their own mission: to hunt down a weapons cache on the remote moon of Avedot, unaware that they are being hunted by the most notorious criminal gang in the galaxy.

This sounds like a pretty cool comic, as not only are there several intriguing adventures in it, but it also looks at politics in the post The Last Jedi universe. I am particularly interested in seeing how the Mon Calamari plays into this, as recent Star Wars comics have done some fantastic storylines around this water planet. The third volume of the Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith series, The Burning Seas, featured the Empire’s initial invasion and conquest of Mon Cala and the devastation the caused taking the planet. The eighth volume of the 2015 Star Wars series, Mutiny at Mon Cala, which ran around the same time as The Burning Seas, shows how the Mon Calamari joined the Rebellion following the events of A New Hope. Both of these stories were extremely well written and showcased how much the people of Mon Cala suffered under the Empire. As a result, I am very keen to see what has happened to the planet after the fall of the Empire, and I am very curious to see what role they will play in fighting the First Order.

All four issues of this series are set to be released in October of this year, although I probably will not read it until it is released in its collected trade paperback (I really prefer collected editions to single issues). That means I probably will not be able to read it before The Rise of Skywalker comes out, but I am very eager to see how this series goes.

 

As you can see, there are some amazing sounding pieces of Star Wars extended fiction coming out in the few months. I want all of the ones I have listed above, and I fully intend to get them. What pieces of Star Wars fiction are you looking forward to? Let me know in the comments.

Usagi Yojimbo – Vol 33: The Hidden by Stan Sakai

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Five-Star Books, Historical Fiction, Murder Mystery10 Comments

Usagi Yojimbo The Hidden Cover

Publisher: Dark Horse Books (9 July 2019)

Series: Usagi Yojimbo – Volume 33

Length: 200 pages

My Rating: 5 out of stars

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While there are a number of great books and comics coming out this year, one of the releases that I have been most keenly looking forward to was this year’s volume of Usagi Yojimbo. Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai is a fantastic comic book series that utilises Japanese style, characters and history into an excellent series. This series is one of my favourite bodies of work, and I will move heaven and earth to get each instalment, and I especially loved last year’s volume, Mysteries. I was pretty darn excited to get the 33rd volume, The Hidden, and powered through it the afternoon that I received it.

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The Hidden continues the story of Miyamoto Usagi, a wandering ronin samurai who lives in a version of medieval Japan populated by anthropomorphic animals. Usagi’s life occurs in the early 17th century, during the Edo era of Japan. This is a pretty interesting time period to set a story, as with the land mostly at formal peace thanks to the rule of the Shogun, many samurai have been forced to roam the land without a master to serve. Usagi, a highly skilled samurai based on the legendary historical warrior Miyamoto Musashi, has been forced to live the ronin lifestyle after the death of his lord. Wandering the roads and seeking employment as a Yojimbo (a bodyguard), Usagi encounters all manner of rogues, bandits and criminals, as well as a number of supernatural foes from Japanese folklore.

The Hidden is made up of issues #166-#172 of the series and is actually one of the rare Usagi Yojimbo volumes to feature just one single adventure rather than multiple interconnected or standalone stories. This volume also continues to pair Usagi with Inspector Ishida for the entire volume. Ishida, who is essentially a Japanese Sherlock Holmes (although based on real-life Honolulu policeman Chang Apana), is a recurring character within the Usagi series who has appeared in multiple volumes, often for just one issue or adventure. However, after teaming up to investigate a murder a couple of volumes ago, Usagi has been living in Ishida’s town and assisting him with his investigations. As a result, Ishida has become a secondary protagonist for the last two volumes, with Mysteries, for example, focusing on the two solving several different crimes.

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This new volume starts with a brand-new case, when two samurai are pursued into the city and brutally murdered. When Usagi and Ishida discover crucifixes on the dead samurai’s bodies, they quickly realise that both the victims where Kirishitans (Christians). Christianity, which has been bought into the country by European missionaries, has recently been outlawed in Japan by the Shogun, and his agents are hunting down all practitioners. It soon becomes clear that the dead samurai were killed by agents of the Shogun who were attempting to recover a mysterious book of foreign design.

However, in a twist of fate, a petty thief manages to steal the book off the corpse of one of the samurai. This thief is now the most wanted man in the city, as the Shogunate agents and their hired killers attempt to find him and the book at all costs. As Usagi and Ishida work out what has happened, they are determined to bring the killers to justice. Hunting for both the book and the criminal who stole it, Usagi and Ishida, with the help of the masked master-thief Nezumi, manage to locate part of the book, and what they discover could rock the entirety of Japan. As they attempt to come to terms with their discovery, the Shogunate agents determine that the two investigators are a threat and decide to eliminate once and for all.

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While I may have had to wait a whole year to read this latest volume, it was definitely worth it. Sakai has once again produced an outstanding comic book that I could not have put down for anything. Not only has Sakai written an intriguing and clever story with a great mystery and an informative look at a new aspect of Japanese history, but he tells it through his beautiful Japanese-inspired artwork that really brings the characters and the landscape to life. Together this results in another exceptional piece of work that I absolutely loved.

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The main story focuses upon Usagi and Ishida’s investigation into the murders of Christian samurai and the hunt for the mysterious book the Shogunate agents are searching for. This was a really interesting story, and I liked how Sakai took the entire volume to really flesh out the investigation. The two characters go on a compelling adventure in this book, running into a number of colourful characters, dodging political restraints, interrogating a number of suspicious characters and getting into several deadly fights. However, what starts out as an intriguing investigation soon turns into a deep and powerful tale of convictions, belief and faith, and the things one must do to preserve all three. This is shown by a number of characters, including Usagi and Ishida, who risk everything to find the truth and more. There is also the amazing character arc of new character Hama, whose heart-rending sacrifice is one of the most memorable parts of this book. There is also a fairly major revelation about one of the other characters towards the end of the volume that actually changes the way you see the story and is guaranteed to make you look back to see the various things you missed the first time. Several recurring Usagi characters are used exceedingly well in this book. The mysterious masked thief Nezumi makes a great return, helping the protagonists with their investigation. It is always cool to see Nezumi in action, and I enjoy seeing the grudging respect build between him and Ishida, despite them living on opposite sides of the law. Everyone’s favourite snitch, Toady, makes another appearance, adding a lot of humour to the story as he attempts to weasel his way into more gold. Overall, this was another well-written and captivating story that was a real pleasure to read.

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One of my favourite aspects of the Usagi Yojimbo books is that Sakai often uses them to explore some fascinating piece of Japanese history, culture, mythology or industry and present them in a way that his western audience can appreciate. I was really glad that he continued this trend in The Hidden, as this time he takes an intriguing look at the role of early Japanese Christians in 17th century Japan. These Christians, who are the titular hidden ones of this volume, were an outlawed minority, due to Christianity directly contradicting a number of traditional Japanese beliefs and therefore challenging the authority of the Shogun. This latest volume shows this persecution in action, as the city is locked down by agents of the Shogun who are hunting for a valuable Christian item. The reader gets a sense of the illicit and hidden nature of these Christians and the way they were hunted, and Sakai also shows certain unique parts of this hunt, such as the fumi-e (trampling image). The fumi-e was an image of a cross that the Shogun’s enforcers placed on the ground in front of the gates of barricades that were set up at key points of the city. In order to pass through the barricades, pedestrians were forced to stamp on the image, showing their disdain for the Christian religion, and those who refused to step on the image were arrested as Christians. This was a fascinating part of Japanese history that I found incredibly interesting to see in action, and one that Sakai was able to cleverly work into the book’s plot. There were also a few fun scenes which looked at a black-market dealer who sold items which originated outside of Japan. Due to the Shogun isolating the country, these were incredibly valuable items, and I liked seeing what items this dealer considered valuable (the dealer’s European dress also made for a stunning visual as well). All of this was really cool to learn about, and I cannot wait to see what aspects of historical Japan the author explores in his next volume.

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Sakai’s fantastic artwork is once again one of the major highlights of this volume. Sakai is a particularly skilled artist who always does a fantastic job bringing the beauty and grace of Japan and its culture to life. The artwork on the surrounding landscape is just spectacular, and I always love attention to the historical detail on the buildings and people inhabiting his towns. One of the highlights of The Hidden that I particularly liked was the consecutive prayer gates leading up to a shrine that the characters visit. The visuals on all these gates were just amazing and very distinctive. I also really enjoyed the way that Sakai portrays his battle sequences in his series; he has a real talent for bring multiple high-energy battle scenes to life. I especially like how he manages to convey so much action and intensity in his still frames, and it really shows off some cool aspects of Japanese sword play. This was another beautifully illustrated volume, and the great art goes exceedingly well with the fantastic story Sakai has devised.

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Volume 33 of Usagi Yojimbo, The Hidden, was another excellent addition to this amazing series. Sakai once again produces a compelling story in his unique comic-book universe which results in a spectacular volume that I know I am going to read again and again in the future. While this was an outstanding Usagi Yojimbo story, I now have the downside of having to wait a whole other year to get my next Usagi fix. Make sure to check back next year when I will no doubt gush about how much I loved volume 34 of this series.

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