Product Description: In the tradition of celebrated collections The Art of Sin City and The Art of Hellboy, Dark Horse is proud to showcase the work of multi award-winning artist Stan Sakai in The Art of Usagi Yojimbo. Timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the creation of Sakai's signature character, Usagi Yojimbo, this stunning hardcover will be printed on high-quality paper stock and will feature scores of never-before-seen pieces, a long out-of-print 12-page primer illustrating how Stan creates each of his Usagi stories, 48 full-color pages of Stan's beautifully painted artwork, and more. Additionally, some of the biggest names in comics pay tribute to their favorite rabbit ronin in a fantastic gallery section, with pinups by Frank Miller, Sergio Aragones, Jeff Smith, and Matt Wagner, among others! An overdue addition to the bookshelves of any avid Usagi fan or admirer of the comics medium, The Art of Usagi Yojimbo is destined to become a treasured piece in many collections.
A fun read. I was recently introduced to the Usagi Yojimbo thanks my schools library, a very interesting story of a humanoid rabbit Ronin the story is named after. Now, I'm not to far into the story, but thankfully that didn't matter when I checked out The Art Of. This hardcover book contains all kinds of illustrations, some early character designs of Usagi, unused covers and comic pages, colored illustrations as well as feed back from the creator on how he does what he does, usually with some pretty humorous responses and images. The book consists of 200 pages, so it's pretty easy to breeze through, but you will have fun looking through it, what with its content and stylish design.
As a collectors item, I would highly recommend this. There's also a paper back edition from what I understand, so if $40.00 and up is not in your price range, you can try for a cheaper copy at $15.00 and up. Not a bad deal.The Art Of Usagi Yojimbo
If I had one gripe, it's that I wished there was more info on more of the characters and there backgrounds for newcomers, but aside from that it's still a great book.
Worth picking up! If you like the series, this art book is really worth buying!
The printing quality is very high. It has a hard cover with a mix of a matte and glossy finish which looks very classy. It has really high quality paper, and vellum inserts in between chapters. It also has a lot of color pages, including some color comic chapters in watercolor. Very nice!
The book also has a lot of unique content, including a chapter on how Stan makes each chapter (told in comic form!) There are some interesting sketches and a section showing how Stan comes up with those nice introductory illustrations. It also has jaw-droppingly nice con drawings that you can't really see in other places.
If you're a fan of Stan's work and thinking of picking this up, it's worth the price!
Another winner from an Eisner winner! Stan Sakai's fantastic Usagi Yojimbo is probably one of the best character in modern comics today. With this 20th anniversary book, old fans and new readers alike get the best of Usagi as well as an insightful history in the creation and mastery behind such a well-loved character. Looks at players in the world of Usagi, the use of Japanese mythos and culture from the days of the first shoganate, and the art style of Stan himself is just a brief sampling of what you'll find in this collection. It is more than well worth the money for anyone with even a passing interest in Japan, comics, and, of course, Miyamoto Usagi.
Stan Sakai's Best! This is a great book. It has tons of covers and pages of fun filled stuff. Getting this book is like getting 3 FULL GRAPHIC NOVELS!!!! This is actually my first usagi Yojimbo book and I almost know EVERY CHARACHTER!!!