Space Usagi: Death and Honor

by Stan Sakai, Emi Fujii (Contributor)

The rabbit ronin 's classic adventure in space—now in color and with a bonus issue-long story!

Featuring Stan Sakai's emotive artwork and expert lettering, with colors by Emi Fujii. With a new introduction from Stan Sakai, and also collecting the Space Yokai Hunter one-shot comic!

As the general of Lord Shirohoshi's space fleet, it's Usagi's responsibility to keep the lord and his heir safe. Now tasked with the education and protection of the lord's heir, Usagi must remain vigilant at all times to protect the heir from a murderous plot and an unexpected betrayal.

Collects Space Death and Honor #1­–#3 and Space Yokai Hunter .

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Science Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

Published July 16, 2024

About the author

Stan Sakai (Japanese: 坂井 スタンSakai Sutan; born May 25, 1953) is an artist who became known as an Eisner Award-winning comic book originator.

Born in Kyoto, Sakai grew up in Hawaii and studied fine arts at the University of Hawaii. He later attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. He and his wife, Sharon, presently reside and work in Pasadena.

He began his career by lettering comic books (notably Groo the Wanderer by Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier) and became famous with the production of Usagi Yojimbo, the epic saga of Miyamoto Usagi, a samurai rabbit living in late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth-century Japan. First published in 1984, the comic continues to this day, with Sakai as the lone author and nearly-sole artist (Tom Luth serves as the main colorist on the series, and Sergio Aragonés has made two small contributions to the series: the story "Broken Ritual" is based on an idea by Aragonés, and he served as a guest inker for the black and white version of the story "Return to Adachi Plain" that is featured in the Volume 11 trade paper-back edition of Usagi Yojimbo). He also made a futuristic spin-off series Space Usagi. His favorite movie is Satomi Hakkenden (1959).

Reviews

[Diz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art and story in this are much better than in the other Space Usagi volume White Star Rising. The events in this book immediately precede the events in White Star Rising, so if you are planning on reading the series, don't read them in the wrong order like I did.

[Brooke 📚 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miyamoto in Love is the medicine I need

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been waiting a long time for more Space Usagi. It doesn't disappoint.

[Ben A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Space Usagi: Death and Honor collects the three-issue mini-series of the same name, as well as the one-shot Space Yokai Hunter. Taking the heart and soul of the Usagi Yojimbo series and transporting it to a future, as always, Stan Sakai delivers a rich, epic and beautiful story from the first page to the last.

Special Thanks to Dark Horse Comics and Edelweiss Plus for the digital ARC. This was given to me for an honest review.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, if a bit slight.

[Joseph R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Japanese medieval ronin Miyamoto Usagi has a descendant who both follows in his ancestor's footsteps and has traveled into outer space. Space Usagi is a rabbit warrior for a clan who follows the same bushido code that his ancestors did. He is a general in Lord Shirohoshi's fleet. When they are attacked by a rival clan, Usagi is assigned to protect the Lord's son, taking him away from the battle and to the Mino clan where an arranged marriage with the Mino princess will solidify their alliance. The story follows the typical Usagi arc with a lot of medieval-style ships and outfits in the science fiction setting. I enjoyed it a lot even as I guessed the ending.

The book also includes Space Usagi: Yokai Hunter, a short work about the medieval Usagi going to a haunted castle to save the daughter of some coal merchants. He fights a bunch of spirit creatures and monsters as he works his way up the castle. It's a nice exercise in creative creature craft and has a little twist at the end that goes on a bit longer than it needs to, but is still charming. I enjoyed it.

Recommended.

I read this on Hoopla, a service available from my local library (and maybe yours too!).

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I'd read the solicit a little closer - I have the old SPACE USAGI collection that includes all three of the original three-issue miniseries, but I've never paid attention to the titles of each individual miniseries. DEATH AND HONOR is the first of those original Space Usagi miniseries, so I already have it. Yeah, this version is in color. And it's in hardcover. And it DOES include the YOKAI HUNTER one-shot, which - to date - hasn't been collected elsewhere. That said, if I'd realized it was the original Space Usagi mini, I'd probably have passed on buying this one. The coloring is great. The hardcover got slightly bent in the mail. The YOKAI HUNTER one-shot is packed with fun creatures, but is - storywise - a little thin. All of which is to say, the book is very good, but there's nothing essential in it to justify having a second copy of a story I've already read multiple times.

All that said, if you haven't read it, it's a fun story and this is a nice edition.

[Peter Derk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't sure how a samurai would work in space, but basically it seems like we have a samurai story with spaceships. Which works for me. We don't need to go into the impracticality of using swords when laser guns are available. I mean, we've done that, right? And by my reckoning, it always seems to work out more fun and action-y when we just go ahead and have super impractical swords. Star Wars? Check. Star Trek 2009 when Sulu has a weird extendo sword for no real reason? Check.

If your futuristic space story is not living up to your expectations, add a sword. That's the lesson here.

[Tim Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last Space Usagi I read was back in the days when Mirage Comics was printing Stan Sakai’s work. I’m so happy to see that years later Dark Horse is continuing the stellar journeys of the samurai rabbit.
Death and Honor is an enjoyable self contained story with many of the elements of the earthbound Usagi Yojimbo tales. I’m not usually a space fantasy fan but enjoyed the integration of SF with samurai adventures. As always, Sakai’s art and writing are amazing; I’ve been reading his work for forty years and have never been disappointed.
Highly recommended.

[Mathew · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's fun!
A nice samurai in space tale with fun tech ninjas and space battles to round things out. The story isn't super impressive, but the illustrations have nice details that make up for the A to B-trayal story. Something that has always amazed me is Sakai's ability to keep his work so incredibly simple, and yet with just a few lines he can make his characters look absolutely haggard or beat to crap. This work meets all expectations and although lacking in surprises, is still a fun read.

[A.E. Stueve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usagi Yojimbo is one of my favorite literary characters. Stan Sakai's concise storytelling, historical knowledge, and beautiful art have made him iconic. Now we are blessed with a story of his descendant in the far flung future having adventures in space? More please. Though I miss the historical facts sprinkled throughout, the space opera/kung fu movie magic makes up for that loss.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

The rare in color Usagi even if it is about his descendant instead of himself. It's got everything you expect in a Usagi Yojimbo comic, just set in space and in full color. Also included is a Halloween one shot from last year.

[Mee Too · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven’t read usagi since high school (in a galaxy..a looooong time ago..) I was delighted to see that it was still going with wahhhhh… ‘Space Usagi’ lol

I’m not sure how they ended up in space, and it’s still great 😊.

I tried to get away but they keep reeling me in.

[Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was fine. Not my favourite of Usagi, not the worst.
Read it digitally.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

To some degree, this is just a goofy marketing move. So stories are getting re-told. But Sakai is so good at it that who cares?

[Håvard Wigtil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overfladisk moro, men veldig gøy! En del historieelementer er åpenbart resirkulert fra hovedserien, en blading av latskap og intertekstualitet.