See my initial post for the context. Suffice to say that I will be sharing my entries to the Classic Comics Forum tradition, “ Twelve Days of Classic Comics Christmas“. This is a cross-post of my tenth entry, representing #3 on my list of favorite comic book Crossovers.
3. Usagi Yojimbo and Zato-Ino (inspired by Zatoichi)
“Blind Swords-Pig!”
from Critters #7 (Fantagraphics, 1987)
by Stan Sakai
While Spider-Man has dominated my list this year, I had to make some room for the best non-Spidey comic book series in history. What originally came to mind is Usagi/Ninja Turtles, as that fits neatly in the theme. But then I thought about [the contest moderator] using Captain Strong as a Popeye stand-in, and remembered Usagi Yojimbo is filled with such stand-in characters. Surely his meetings with Lone Wolf and Kid would qualify as well then.
And that thought process brings us here. Zatoichi is the famed blind swordsman of Japanese cinema. Did you know there have been around 30 Zatoichi films? I think I’ve seen one of them. There was even a film, Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo. (With Usagi’s character drawing from a mix of Yojimbo with the Miyamoto Musashi of the Samurai trilogy).
But this isn’t Miyamoto Musashi. It’s Miyamoto Usagi. “Usagi” being the Japanese word for “rabbit”. So of course he doesn’t meet Zatoichi, the blind swordsman; he meets Zato-Ino, the blind swords-pig.
One of the series’ (many) great characters in one of the series’ (many) great tales.
Ino sees the flaws in everybody except himself. And is always ready to believe the worst of people and lash out at the world. Usagi is the first person to try to understand him and connect with him, but Ino is too hateful and spurns Usagi’s advances. It’s a tragic tale of a man (err, pig) who thinks he is seeking a peace the world denies him, when, in truth, it is he himself who stands in the way of his own peace.
