Plus, Digital Dark Knight stories from some of the best independent comic creators are collected and a look at the masterless samurai of Stan Sakai and Mike Richardson’s 47 Ronin.
WRITER: Mike Richardson
ARTIST: Stan Sakai
Publication Date: March 6, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: Dark Horse
UPC: 76156815949300311
Dark Horse Comics publisher Mike Richardson has been fascinated by the story of 47 ronin since the inception of his comic book company.
The national ‘story of Japan’ is one of honor, sacrifice and loyalty in feudal Japan at the start of the 18th century.
Masterful artist of Usagi Yojimbo fame, Stan Sakai, was chosen as the perfect artist for the story by Richardson.
Along with help from legendary manga writer Kazuo Koike (Lone Wolf and Cub), Richardson has the resources he needs to make an authentic and beautiful five issue portrayal of the legend in comic book form, no doubt to have this passion project collected into a beautiful hard bound edition eventually.
Both Sakai and Richardson have made research trips to Japan to study location, wood prints, and visit the gravesite of the 47 ronin. Sakai has been quoted as basing his artwork on these woodblock prints to further carry on the visual tradition of telling this story. While most famous for drawing a cartoon rabbit samurai, Stan has used these woodcuts as basis for the expressive mouths and character design of the humans in the story in tribute to the more traditional versions of the story.
Issue #3 deals with the collection and scheming of the ronin who wish to avenge the wrongful seppuku death of their master Lord Asano. Many say goodbye to their family as they wait nearly a year to attack the shogun Kira who is responsible for Kiro’s death.
Tensions are high at the end of this issue and the attack is coming soon. As I’m not familiar with the story of the 47 ronin, I hope to read this and do more personal research on the subject myself to compare and contrast with more traditional storytelling of the legend. From two accomplished comic book samurai, I’ll take this version as more than just an introduction to the story of Japan. I’ll take this as the ultimate interpretation in my favorite art form, much as I do for Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha volumes.
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