Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo returns in new ICE AND SNOW miniseries

Last year, comic creator Stan Sakai announced that he was moving his Usagi Yojimbo creation back from IDW to previous publisher Dark Horse under the new imprint Dogu. After a long wait, fans of the rabbit rōnin will be delighted to hear that the publisher has revealed details for the first storyline from this new partnership. Usagi Yojimbo: Ice and Snow, is a new 5-issue miniseries featuring Usagi and his new-found cousin Yukichi, a character introduced in the previous IDW series, as well as the return of fan-favorite villain, Jei. In addition to Sakai writing and providing art and lettering, the series will also feature colors by HiFi Colour Design.

Here’s how Dark Horse describes the miniseries:

Usagi and Yukichi are still in the snowy mountaintops of Northern Japan, following Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo story arc, “The Green Dragon.” They are led to the hut of a strange hermit who allows them to spend the night at her home to shelter from the snow storm. Meanwhile, the maniacal Jei and his familiar, Keiko, are on Usagi’s trail when they stumble upon a bandit lair and subdue a band of cutthroats and thieves.

Before returning to Dark Horse, Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo has found a home at different publishers over the decades. First published in 1984 at Thoughts and Images, Usagi since moved to Fantagraphics, Mirage Comics and then Dark Horse. In June 2019, Sakai brought the rabbit ronin to IDW where the main series continued.

In addition to the main cover by Sakai, a variant cover (UPC 7 61568 01096 1) by Skottie Young will be available for standard order. In addition, a third cover (UPC 7 61568 01096 1) by Paolo Rivera will be available, which comics retailers can order one copy for every 25 copies ordered of Cover A or B.

Check out the variant covers below and look for Usagi Yojimbo: Ice and Snow #1 to arrive in stores on Wednesday September 27, 2023.