Possibly the best of the Fantagraphics volumes. I don't own any more Usagi Yojimbo, so for now this one is my last. Waiting for the omnibus to come out to see what it contains. I would love to read the Mirage and the Dark Horse series though when I get the chance.

The main reason I like this one the best is the chapter dedicated to Ino's return to the series. He is now married happily to a peasant woman, but badly hurt from an arrow. Luckily Usagi and Gen accidentally find Ino and his wife cottage. The end up saving him and she tell them a little surprise. When they leave it just makes you smile because it was raining the entire dreadful night and the next day it's beautiful and everyone is just happy.

Another huge plus to this volume is the return of another favorite character Gen. Not only does he return, but we finally get his origin story. In the previous volumes we only knew he was a bounty hunter, but nothing about his upbringing. This time we find out he father was a samurai as well and he influence Gen to become a sword fighter. Honestly, Usagi and Gen make a perfect pair in comics. It's not like Batman and Robin though, because Gen is no sidekick.

I recommended reading the introduction by Sakai's very good friend Sergio Aragonés as well. He share his knowledge of old school comic to those who have been reading them only because of the movies. It almost feel like Aragonés doesn't care too much for the superhero movies being made today. Mainly they take away everything the comic creator but his hart and soul into the comic book. So he praises Sakai's work because he is a mast of the comic book form. Not only can he draw a beautiful moment, but he's a perfect story teller. Makes you realize why some comics don't and shouldn't be made into movies.

As I'm taking a break from Usagi Yojimbo, I did learn valuable lessons form the first series done by Fantagraphics. Stan Sakai's works show that he is a great man and very respected among those of us who are really into comic books. Sure you can like your Batman and Superman, but I'll stick with the underdogs who tend to tell timeless stories. That's why Usagi Yojimbo is my favorite comic book character and comic book series. ( )

This book brings back two of my favorite characters, Gen and Ino, and I have no complaints. ( )

The "Gen's Story" tale is great, and the other few tales are good, too. The art is not as spectacular as it was in "The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy" but the honest emotion of the characters make up for it. ( )