Tag: Dogu Publishing

Stan Sakai will pay tribute to his late brother in the next ‘Usagi Yojimbo’ miniseries

The five-issue ‘Usagi Yojimbo: The Thousand Plums’ will debut in March.

Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo will return in a new miniseries next March, featuring two different stories — “Ten Thousand Plums” and “Tabo.” That second story, in particular, has significant meaning for Sakai, as it pays tribute to his deceased brother.

“‘Tabo’ is very personal to me,” Sakai said. “It was written as a tribute to my younger brother, Kenneth, a month after he passed away and was inspired by his struggles during his last days. I cherish the time growing up with him in Hawaii. When she saw how deeply I felt about this story, Emi (Fujii) volunteered to color it as she knew Kenneth and his gentle spirit.”

Continue reading “Stan Sakai will pay tribute to his late brother in the next ‘Usagi Yojimbo’ miniseries”

Slugfest | Dark Horse resurrects ‘Lester of the Lesser Gods’

Plus: The Winx saga continues, Usagi turns 40, the Dreadnoks return and more!

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.

Lester of the Lesser Gods, which was originally published by Albatross Funnybooks, is finding new life at Dark Horse this year.

Written by Eric Powell and Lucky Yates, and featuring artwork by Gideon Kendall, Lester began life as unproduced animated short before finding its way to comics.

Continue reading “Slugfest | Dark Horse resurrects ‘Lester of the Lesser Gods’”

Space Usagi hunts Yokai in a new one-shot this October

Stan Sakai and Emi Fujii channel the supernatural in this outer space tale.

Stan Sakai will return to the future version of his popular ronin rabbit in Space Usagi: Yokai Hunter this fall.

The full-color one-shot by Sakai and colorist Emi Fujii, who is coloring the current Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: WhereWhen miniseries, will find Usagi facing supernatural horrors in outer space. It will be published by Dark Horse Comics under Sakai’s Dogu Publishing imprint.

Continue reading “Space Usagi hunts Yokai in a new one-shot this October”

Usagi returns to Dark Horse this September

Stan Sakai’s rabbit samurai contends with the mystical villain Jei in a new miniseries.

Stan Sakai’s long-eared samurai, Usagi Yojimbo, will return to Dark Horse this fall in a new miniseries, Usagi Yojimbo: Ice and Snow. The five-issue miniseries is part of Sakai’s Dogu Publishing imprint, which Dark Horse announced last fall.

“I’m very excited, honored and thankful to have my own publishing imprint with Dark Horse,” Sakai said at the time. “As the sole creator and owner of Usagi Yojimbo, this is a significant milestone. I’ve known Mike Richardson for more than 30 years and he is one of the pioneers and champions of creator-owned IP. As the industry continues to change, I feel he brings a unique progressive perspective.”

Dark Horse published Usagi Yojimbo for about 20 years, up until 2019 when it moved to IDW. That relationship did not last long, but did result in several Usagi-related projects, including color versions of the famously black-and-white title and a graphic novel featuring Chibi Usagi. This new miniseries will be in color, thanks to HiFi Colour Design.

Continue reading “Usagi returns to Dark Horse this September”

Slugfest | Frank Miller draws a new variant cover featuring Wolverine

Plus: a manga tribute to Marvel, Star Trek’s ‘Day of Blood,’ Power Rangers, Oni Ronin and Whoopi Goldberg!

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.

It’s been awhile since we’ve seen Frank Miller draw Wolverine. Before moving on to DC to work on Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns, Miller worked with writer Chris Claremont on the character’s first miniseries in the early 1980s, which, along with his work on Daredevil, established Miller as a top-tier creator.

Decades later, Miller has drawn a variant cover for Ghost Rider/Wolverine: Weapons of Vengeance Alpha #1:

Continue reading “Slugfest | Frank Miller draws a new variant cover featuring Wolverine”

Usagi + Ninja Turtles meet again in ‘WhereWhen’

Stan Sakai will write and draw a new miniseries bringing the old friends together.

Earlier this year Dark Horse Comics announced that Stan Sakai and Usagi Yojimbo would return to the publisher as part of the Dogu Publishing imprint after spending a few years at IDW, but it looks like Sakai’s time at IDW isn’t quite up. IDW announced today that Sakai is writing and drawing a team-up between the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Usagi Yojimbo, titled WhereWhen.

“I am so pleased with the story and art for WhereWhen,” Sakai said. “There is a lot of emotion and, of course, lots of action. I actually wrote this story about five years ago and had been anxious to get to it. In the past, the Turtles have met just a few of Usagi’s friends. This time, everyone is thrown in—Gen, Tomoe, Jotaro, Yukichi, Kitsune, Chizu, and more! This one is epic!”

Continue reading “Usagi + Ninja Turtles meet again in ‘WhereWhen’”

Stan Sakai returns to Dark Horse to spearhead a new imprint

‘Usagi Yojimbo’ returns to the publisher as a part of Sakai’s Dogu Publishing imprint.

Stan Sakai’s legendary run on Usagi Yojimbo has walked the path with multiple publishers over the decades, including Fantagraphics and, most recently, IDW. But now the legendary ronin rabbit will return to the publisher where he stayed the longest — Dark Horse Comics.

Following a more than two-year stint at IDW, Stan Sakai will return to Dark Horse to helm his own imprint: Dogu Publishing — joining Karen Berger, Matt Kindt, Kevin Smith and Brian Michael Bendis, who also have their own imprints at Dark Horse. Prior to 2019, Dark Horse had published Usagi for more than 20 years.

Continue reading “Stan Sakai returns to Dark Horse to spearhead a new imprint”