Tag Archives: julie sakai

Chibi Usagi and his adorable friends must fight the evil Salamander King to save a dogu village!

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Dark Horse’s Dogu Publishing imprint is bringing the captivating story of Chibi Usagi to fans with the “Best Publication for Early Readers” Eisner Award winning Chibi Usagi: Attack of the Heebie Chibis–Expanded Edition. Written and illustrated by Julie Sakai and Stan Sakai with colors by Emi Fujii, the bigger-than-ever story of these tiny heroes will be ready for fans in February 2025.

Included in this paperback collection are the beloved Chibi Usagi stories “Attack of the Heebie Chibis,” “Attack of the Teenie Titans,” “The Story of Chibi Usagi and the Big Bad Jei,” “Chibi Usagi and the Goblin of Adachi Plain,” and “Chibi Tomoe and the Zó Ninja” – as well as all color Chibi Usagi pinups that ran as Usagi Yojimbo comic back covers and an expanded bonus section with additional pinups from Julie Sakai and Stan Sakai – sometimes signing their work together as JuSt Sakai!

In Chibi Usagi: Attack of the Heebie Chibis–Expanded Edition: The rabbit samurai has been reimagined in a “Chibi World,” and Miyamoto Usagi isn’t the only one! While fishing for freshwater eels, Chibi Usagi and his friends Chibi Tomoe and Chibi Gen rescue a dogu. Discovering that the dogu’s village has been enslaved by the Salamander King, there is no choice but to band together, rescue the village and free everyone from the reign of the Salamander King once and for all!

Get tiny, get cute, and get the most adorable collection ever created for Usagi Yojimbo fans when Chibi Usagi: Attack of the Heebie Chibis–Expanded Edition arrives in bookstores on February 11, 2025 and comic shops on February 12, 2025. Pre-order now from TFAW, Amazon, Barnes and Noble or your local bookstore for $19.99. Visit PRH Comics or Comic Shop Locator for more details and stores near you.

Chibi Usagi: Attack of the Heebie Chibis–Expanded Edition

Usagi continues to protect his clan in Space Usagi: White Star Rising

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Dark Horse Comics and Dogu Publishing continue the celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Stan Sakai’s epic adventure comic, Usagi Yojimbo. Space Usagi: White Star Rising is the second Space Usagi story, featuring colors by Emi Fujii. Each issue will also be available with a variant cover from popular comic artist Peach Momoko. Each of the three issues of this miniseries will include a new eight-page short story by Julie Sakai and Stan Sakai, featuring Space Usagi’s Akemi character!

Taking place directly after the Space Usagi: Death and Honor arc, Space Usagi: White Star Rising sees Miyamoto Usagi, the descendent of the legendary rabbit ronin known as Usagi Yojimbo, continuing to defend the Shirohoshi clan in the far future from scheming rivals, the Kajitori. He meets new friends, like space pirate Rhogen, and new enemies, led by Empress Amateh. 

Protect and defend the future at all costs when Space Usagi: White Star Rising #1 (of 3) arrives in comic shops on October 23, 2024. It is now available for pre-order at your local comic shop for $4.99.

Space Usagi: White Star Rising #1

Stan Sakai brings Usagi and imprint Dogu Publishing back to Dark Horse

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Dogu Publishing

Dark Horse Comics has announce a new partnership with Stan Sakai’s Dogu Publishing. The Usagi Yojimbo comics universe and more will return to Dark Horse under the umbrella of a new imprint, Dogu. The announcement of this new partnership comes just ahead of the September 1 release of Season 2 of the hit Netflix animated series, Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, based on the world of Usagi Yojimbo created by Sakai. 

Usagi Yojimbo had previously been published with Dark Horse but in 2019 the title moved to IDW Publishing. Now, it returns to Dark Horse. Sakai has hinted at displeasure with how his comics had been handled at IDW on social media.

Dark Horse Comics has been a longtime home of the works of Stan Sakai, most recently publishing the continuing new editions of The Usagi Yojimbo Saga. Dogu Publishing is led by Creative Chairman Stan Sakai, CEO Jeremiah Blank, COO Julie Sakai, and Daniel Fujii, President/Publisher for Dogu Publishing.

The goals of the Dogu imprint include: to create a space for up-and-coming creators and artists to be featured, andto expand the Usagi Yojimbo universe through working with other artists and writers. The expanding Usagi universe is sure to bring about exciting tales to please both new and longtime Usagi readers alike. 

Stan Sakai has won numerous awards for his work in comics, including most recently the Eisner Award for Best Publication for Early Readers for Chibi Usagi: Attack of the Heebie Chibis with Julie Sakai. Dark Horse and Dogu plan to continue to publish Chibi Usagi, Space Usagi, the Color Classics, and more to be announced.

Review: Chibi Usagi: Attack of the Heebie Chibis

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Chibi Usagi: Attack of the Heebie Chibis

I can honestly say that I have been a fan of Usagi Yojimbo, ever since I saw him in the early Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics. Many of those books were in preteen days, and I honestly lost interest for a while. It was not until years later, when I was temporarily stationed in Japan, that my interest got reignited. I discovered all these cool Samurai movies from the 1950s and 1960s while there, which only made me nostalgic for those Stan Sakai comic books.

So when I came back stateside, I picked where I left off on reading the Rabbit Samurai. It still surprises me how so many people still haven’t heard of this excellent comic book character. It has evolved in many ways, to a cult-like status amongst comic book fans. In Stan and Julie Sakai’s Chibi Usagi: Attack of The Heebie Chibis, the classic characters gets a new take geared towards middle-grade readers resulting in an exicitng feature-length story.

We find Usagi, Gennosuke, and Tomoe, where while fishing, discover a Dogu, a prehistoric creature running away from a slaver monarch, called the Salamander King, who attacked his people and captured them.  The three friends decide to help the Dogu take back his village and thwart the Salamander King from his reign of terror.  They would face peril after peril until they reach his village only to face the Salamander king’s minions, the Heebie Chibis, which they lose and are forced to work in the mines. Eventually, the three friends revolt and defeat the Salamander King, chasing him and the Heebie Chibis away. By the comic’s end, the Dogu reward the three friends but not before one more clash with the Salamander King, one which he sees his end.

Overall, Chibi Usagi: Attack of the Heebie Chibis is an exciting story that any fan of any age can get into. The story by the Sakais is charming. The art by Sakai and Fujii, is gorgeous. Altogether, easily the most accessible story involving this enigmatic protagonist.

Story: Julie Sakai, Stan Sakai Art: Julie Sakai, Stan Sakai
Color: Emi Fujii Letterer: Julie Sakai
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy

IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: comiXology – Amazon – Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW – Bookshop