The eighth volume in Stan Sakai's prestige Saga collection includes three volumes-worth of storylines- "Two Hundred Jizo", in which Usagi and Inspector Ishida team up to solve a double murder, help an allied clan protect its honor, and discover the soy sauce business is as deadly as it is tasty; "Thieves and Spies", where Usagi joins forces with a thief and a samurai to thwart a black-market Ginseng trade, meets a fellow ronin with a few tricks up his sleeve, comes sword-to-sword with a brash European envoy, and escorts a bride-to-be to her fiance only to uncover a matrimonial assassination plot; and "The Hell Screen", a thrilling tale that finds Usagi working alongside his natural enemy--a Kappa--to cast out a violent renegade, face-to-face with a deadly Komori ninja who owes Usagi a debt, and teams up once more with Ishida in the midst of an investigation of a ghastly painting known only as the Hell Screen! Collects Usagi Yojimbo Book 29- Two Hundred Jizo, Book 30- Thieves and Spies, and Book 31- The Hell Screen

Author Biography

Stan Sakai was born in Kyoto, Japan, grew up in Hawaii, and now lives in California with his children, Hannah and Matthew. He received a fine arts degree from the University of Hawaii and did further studies at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. His creation, Usagi Yojimbo, is the story of a samurai rabbit living in a feudal Japan populated by anthropomorphic animals. It first appeared in Albedo Comics in 1984. Since then, Usagi has appeared on television as a guest of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; and as toys, on clothing, in comic books, and in a series of trade paperback collections. In 1991, Stan created Space Usagi, the adventures of a descendant of the original Usagi, dealing with the samurai in a futuristic setting. Stan is also an award-winning letterer for his work on Sergio Aragones's Groo- The Wanderer, the Spider-Man Sunday newspaper strips, as well as for Usagi Yojimbo. He is the recipient of a Parents' Choice Award, an Inkpot Award, multiple Eisner Awards, two Spanish Haxturs, an American Library Association Award, and a National Cartoonists' Society Division Award. Usagi Yojimbo Book 12- Grasscutter was used as a textbook in Japanese history classes at the University of Portland.