Usagi Yojimbo has gone by way of many kinds since creator Stan Sakai launched the title within the late Eighties. The sequence’ signature character, samurai rabbit Usagi Miyamoto, has been preventing by way of Edo-era Japan for many years, even leaping outdoors of his personal setting to crew up with the Teenage Mutant Turtles in comics and a number of animated sequence. Considered one of his descendants, Yuichi Usaki, stars within the Netflix animated sequence Samurai Rabbit: The Rabbit Chronicles, set in twenty sixth century Japan, and one other debilitated member of the family is the middle of the Area Rabbit sequence, a far-future sci-fi comedian.
Polygon can solely reveal that Darkish Horse will take Usagi Yojimbo to a brand new stage on March 11, 2026 with the five-issue sequence Usagi Yojimbo: Phantom Thief ’84. On this sequence, one other descendant of the unique Usagi Warriors lands in Eighties Osaka.
The brand new title, teased in Ashcan Comics at NYCC 2025, is the primary Usagi Yojimbo spinoff not written by Sakai himself, with a screenplay by Zack Rosenberg (TS Hullabaloo) and artwork and letters by Manga Artists Guild winner Jared Karam (Kodi).
“The world created by Stan Sakai is without doubt one of the most beloved worlds in comics,” Rosenberg mentioned in an announcement to Polygon. “Our objective with Kaito ’84 was to honor that unbelievable legacy whereas delivering a high-stakes, action-packed journey that feels distinctly new. We’re actually trying ahead to readers assembly Kaito and becoming a member of him on his journey.”
Every difficulty will function a canopy by Callum and two variations by artists together with Kevin Eastman of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, David Petersen of Mouse Guard, Kim Fu of Kiltopia: Nano Jams, Daniel Warren Johnson of Transformers, and Stan Sakai himself. Beneath are previews of all three difficulty #1 covers.
Picture: Jim Rugg/Darkish Horse
Picture: Stan Sakai/Darkish Horse
“As a baby, I spent a lot of the early Nineteen Nineties carrying a battered Usagi Yojimbo motion determine in my pocket and filling numerous notebooks with poorly written stick-figure cartoons with bunny ears and bandanas,” Karam mentioned in an announcement. “It isn’t true that Phantom Thief ’84 was a childhood dream challenge, as a result of I by no means thought one thing like this was potential. It is a deep and humbling honor to have the ability to play on this sandbox. Each day I enhance my craft and add to the story. I get up eager to be targeted sufficient to extend my ambition slightly bit, and that is solely potential due to the grace, generosity, and kindness of Stan, Julie, and their household, and the erudition of Zach and Justin.
Right here is Darkish Horse’s description of the sequence:
In 1984 Osaka, Miyamoto Usagi’s bloodline lives on in Kaito, a crafty rabbit thief with a rebellious spirit. He embodies the legacy of his ancestors in a manner that the stoic samurai we all know and love by no means may. A daring new heist for the legendary spear leads Kaito down a harmful path, altering his destiny perpetually and inserting the destiny of Osaka, and maybe the world, on his shoulders.
“Usagi Yojimbo Kaito ’84” is scheduled to be obtainable in comedian shops in March 2026.
