Usagi Yojimbo is a samurai rabbit, a ronin wandering old Japan in an historically faithful world where the characters just happen to be animals. His stories run the gamut, with gifted cartoonist Stan Sakai hitting all kinds of emotional beats. This issue starts a particularly ambitious run, a seven-issue story called The Hidden about the persecution of Christians in the country. It’s the end of the sixteenth century, and the land is run by feudal lords. There’s a text page […]

The five-issue sequel to the graphic novel Incognegro is one of the early releases from Berger Books, a new imprint from Dark Horse Comics. As with the previous, it’s written by Mat Johnson and illustrated by Warren Pleece. Incognegro: Renaissance can be read without having read the previous book, because this one is a prequel, jumping back a decade to New York in the 1920s. (Given one of the shocking events of the older book, about a light-skinned black man […]

I’ve previously talked about how charming Andi Watson’s Glister is, but that was when you had to import the stories from the UK. Now Dark Horse has brought out a single-volume edition with all four of the stories and plenty of extras. (You can see some of them in this PDF Watson posted, ending up with encouragement for young readers to create their own stories.) Glister is an energetic, intelligent young woman who lives in a fairytale-like world. Her home, […]

Stan Sakai’s samurai rabbit has been a part of comics for over 30 years, longer than a number of readers have been alive. It’s easy to take it for granted as a result, but every time I read an issue, I’m impressed by the clarity of the stories, the insight into the characters, and the accomplishment of the artistic storytelling. The most recent three issues, all stand-alone stories, cover a range of emotions, too, demonstrating the wide scope of what […]

The crime caper/road trip/family of witches story wraps up successfully. The three young women confront their burglar (who’s also a manipulative, jealous ex-boyfriend), but first, there’s time for a magical fashion change, because even when you’re fighting for justice, you should feel good about how you look. We find out who’s behind the plot to steal their artifacts. We knew the ex was trying to gain his own power — and how timely is a plot about a pouty white […]

As the witches’ road trip continues, this issue is great for fans of the “monster boyfriend” theme. The women’s next stopping point turns out to be an abandoned-looking house in the wilds of Maryland, where Megan Levens gets a chance to draw an attractive young beast man. Kate Leth’s story is fun and flirty, but there’s an undertone of ethical consideration, as Jolene enters someone else’s home and Andy’s tempted by stealing from a recipient of stolen goods. The monster, […]

Spell on Wheels is one of those genius concepts that seems so obvious when you see it but it took the creative imagination of its writer, Kate Leth, to bring it about. Here it is: Three witches are robbed, so they go on a road trip to recover their lost items, which have been sold online by a vengeful ex. Jolene is a technopath. Claire is psychic and reads tarot cards. Andy handles spells and potions. They’re a terrific trio, […]

Writer Christos Gage has done it again with this new run. He does an amazing job of making these well-known characters and their challenges relevant to today’s concerns. Instead of having them refight old battles, he’s putting them in involving situations that the reader can find scary in deep, substantial, mature ways. In the previous issue, a dragon attacked San Francisco, causing terrible destruction and loss of life. This issue explores the government response — which includes forced registration for […]