Monday, January 25, 2016

Usagi Yojimbo #151


In another single-issue tale, Usagi Yojimbo #151 opens with the rabbit ronin stumbling upon a valley of death where a ruined procession, and the broken bodies of both its samurai escort and the attacking bandits all line the forest floor. In the middle of the carnage Miyamoto Usagi finds only a single survivor, the daughter of the sake brewer in Maru Town who is the promised bride to the son of a brewer in the town of Tansu in two days time.

With only two days before her scheduled wedding, and on the eve of a tempestuous storm about to erupt, Usagi volunteers to accompany Haruko to Tansu when the pair are attacked again on the road by Koroshi, the League of Assassins.

Offering one bloody battle between Usagi and gang of assassins, a discussion of arranged marriages, and a pair of late twists involving the schemes of both members of the wedding party (neither of whom is as honest as they pretend to be), Usagi Yojimbo #151 delivers on all counts. Must-read.

[Dark Horse, $3.99]

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