Usagi Yojimbo is entering a new era and receiving a new creative team on Usagi Yojimbo: Kaitō ’84, a five-issue series debuting from Dark Horse Comics this March. Scripted by Zack Rosenberg (T.S. Hullabaloo), with art and lettering by co-writer Jared Cullum (Kodi), the book follows a descendant of the samurai rabbit in 1980s Osaka. It marks the first Usagi Yojimbo series or spin-off not written by creator Stan Sakai, who, incidentally, debuted the character in 1984.
In 1984 Osaka, the bloodline of Miyamoto Usagi lives on through Kaitō, a cunning rabbit thief with a rebellious spirit. He embodies his ancestor’s legacy in a way the stoic samurai we know and love never could. A daring new heist for a legendary spear sets Kaitō down a perilous path, forever altering his destiny and placing the fate of Osaka, and perhaps the world, on his shoulders.
Sakai states, “I had pitched a series of Usagi stories spotlighting descendants of the original Usagi. Space Usagi was the first of these. Now to have a limited series with Kaitō, a 20th century descendant, in Osaka is exciting. This is a wonderful story by Zack Rosenberg featuring characters new though familiar, and beautiful watercolor art by National Cartoonists Society award winner Jared Cullum. This is something to look forward to!”
Rosenberg adds, “The world Stan Sakai created is one of the most beloved in comics. Our goal with Kaitō ’84 was to honor that incredible legacy while delivering a high-stakes, action-packed adventure that feels distinctly new. We are truly excited for readers to meet Kaitō and join him on his journey.”
Cullum states, “I spent much of the early 1990s, as a kid, carrying around a tattered Usagi Yojimbo action figure in my pocket, and filling countless notebooks with poorly drawn bunny-eared and bandana-clad stick-figure comics. To say Kaitō ’84 was a childhood dream project wouldn’t be correct, because I never even fathomed this as a possibility.”
He continues, saying, “It’s such a deep, humbling honor to play in this sandbox. I wake everyday hoping to improve my craft and focus enough to rise to a modicum of our ambition for the stories. It’s only by the grace, generosity and kindness of Stan, Julie, and his family, and the erudition of Zack and Justin, I’m able to continue going about my life, filling notebooks with these little pictures.”
Issue #1 will be released on March 11, with a main cover by Cullum, and variants by Jim Rugg and Sakai himself. Subsequent issues will respectively have variants by Kevin Eastman, David Petersen, Kim Hu, and Daniel Warren Johnson, as well as additional covers by Sakai. In the meantime, the latest Usagi Yojimbo series, Ten Thousand Plums, will be released in trade paperback and a limited edition hardcover on Tuesday, November 25.
No, not okay.