Depicted in a style faithful to that of Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, the Turtles look like they have stepped right out of the original Mirage comics in both appearance and personality. As you’d expect, the authentic feel of feudal Japan and samurai action is very much present, but Sakai perfectly integrates the Ninja Turtles into Usagi’s world. With the exception of one story written and drawn by Peter Laird (a great little story that pays tribute to the meeting of Robin Hood and Little John whilst, playing off Usagi against his closest Turtle counterpart and eventual friend – Leonardo), these are all written and drawn by Usagi Yojimbo writer and artist Stan Sakai. But the comic crossovers were definitely the best thing to come out of this arrangement. Usagi has appeared in several Ninja Turtles toylines and all three animated series. The creators of their respective series quickly realised this and – having a mutual admiration for each other’s work – set about producing several crossover pieces over the years. Basically a loving tribute versus an insane parody! As you’d expect, this makes for some great personality clashes with the serious Usagi having to content with the more larger than life Turtles. And what better way to examine those differences that through this new collection from Dark Horse featuring all of their meetings throughout the years.Īs described in TMNT co-creator Peter Laird’s introduction, Usagi Yojimbo is a traditional Japanese samurai tale that just happens to feature animals instead of people whilst TMNT are mutated anthropomorphic animals that have been dropped into a modern world with regular people. But from a storytelling standpoint, they could not be more different. They are both anthropomorphic animals who partake in forms of Japanese martial arts and are generally viewed as the golden standard when it comes to independent publishing in comics.

Usagi Yojimbo and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have a few things in common.

Stan sakai usagi