Book Review: Usagi Yojimbo/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Complete Collection by Stan Sakai et al.

Usagi Yojimbo/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Complete Collection by Stan Sakai and Peter Laird

A book containing all the crossover stories with the ronin rabbit, Usagi Yojimbo, and the heroes in a half-shell, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Here's the story-by-story reviews:

Turtle Soup and Rabbit Stew--is an out-of-continuity (for both franchises) meet-up of Usagi with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Well, just Leonardo, who falls through time into feudal Japan and has a quick encounter with Usagi. For the few pages it lasts, the story is fun.

The Crossing--Usagi has another run-in with Leonardo, this time at a river. Usagi wants to cross dry, so he demands the fat friar resting on the riverbank give him a ride across. The friar's hat hides his face. He turns out to be Leonardo, who starts an epic fight with Usagi. The story is entertaining (even if borrowed from Robin Hood) and has a nice ending.

The Treaty--Leonardo is bringing pizza over to April's so the gang can have movie night but he falls through another space/time hole and winds up with Usagi. Usagi is transporting a treaty between two lords. The Neko Ninja Clan wants to steal the treaty. A horde of them are about to rob Usagi when Leonardo shows up. There's a bit of action, drama, and one horrible injury (the pizza gets stomped on) before Leonardo goes back. The story is short and fun.

Shades of Green--Usagi and his friend Gen the rhino wind up in a village surrounded by the Neko Clan who want the most valuable thing in the village--a rat with unusual powers named Kakera. The rat convinces Usagi and Gen to help. The rat believes they need more help, so he had the two ronin collect some turtles from a nearby pond. The rat performs an incantation and the turtles transform into the Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles. Usagi has already had some adventures with them, so they don't wind up fighting first (as often happens when Marvel superheroes first meet). They band together to help the rat escape from the clan. The story is a good blend of action and fun. 

Namazu, or The Big Fish Story--There's a legend of a giant catfish that was subdued by a god and pinned in place under a great sacred rock. Part of the rock has fallen out and earthquakes are becoming more frequent as the catfish struggles to get free. Usagi meets Kakera, who quests to replace the rock. He knows it will be tough so he summons the four turtles to help out. On their way to the sacred rock, they run into Jei, an ultra-creepy samurai who has brought dozens of hirelings to prevent the repair. The usual action happens. The story's legend is more interesting than the actual action, but still fun.

The book ends with some background on the folklore and the making of Namazu as well as an extensive collection of sketches and covers from individual issues of these stories.

Recommended, the combination of Usagi and the Turtles is a lot of fun.