Usagi Yojimbo #12

• Title: Usagi Yojimbo #12
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Stan Sakai
• Artist: Stan Sakai

Miyamoto Usagi is offered a chance to do harm to Lord Hikiji. The lord is far too well protected to ever attack directly, as Usagi knows all too well. Instead, Kato suggests they strike at Lord Hikiji’s power and weaken his reputation by denying him any further advancement. The cost? Every life in Usagi’s home village.

Kato’s plan is devious and brutal, to attack the shogun’s agent on his way to the city which will harm Hikiji’s reputation and also bring the shogun’s vengeance down on the village. Realizing how large the plot already is, Usagi pretends to go along with it for a time, acting as the samurai willing to do anything for his lord’s honor.

For those who know the character, the twist of Usagi showing his true colors is not surprising (although the glimpse at a bloodthirsty Usagi is shocking). He would not risk the lives of anyone, let alone the village he grew up in and the woman he still loves for a political victory. To survive he and his childhood frenemy must stand against the plot, at least until help can arrive.

[IDW, $3.99]