I’ve been reading comics for a while now and on the whole, there’s not much to get that excited about. There are some great stories and some great art but on the whole, it’s average stories and art I’m meh about. But on occasion, there’s a diamond waiting to be discovered. Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo is one of those rare diamonds. I don’t think I’ve read a single issue that I haven’t loved and that’s a quite a feat considering how many issues there are. It’s taken me over a year to buy all the volumes – up to vol. 23 now which is the most recent one. (I mean, what’s not to love about a rabbit samurai?)
Today I read Usagi Yojimbo issue 93 – Chanoyu. And this particular issue is astounding. So good I had to read it again straight away. It’s a powerful illustration of how a story can be told with little or no dialogue and that you don’t need the characters to say everything single thing that comes into their heads. Sometimes the best stories are told without words.
There are so many artists out there who should be paying close attention to Usagi Yojimbo because it’s a master class in how to tell great stories in a simple fashion without all the noise.
For those interested, Chanoyu is the Japanese formal tea ceremony. Tea was introduced to Japan in the 9th century. Chanoyu rose to prominence in the 14th and 15th centuries and is still practiced today. There are variations of the ceremony but the one so beautifully illustrated in Usagi Yojimbo is one where the participants speak very little. The idea is to commune on a spiritual level rather than by using words.