Wonderful Usagi Yojimbo Cake Topper

This wonderful Usagi Yojimbo Cake Topper was made by The Bunny Baker Café & Cake Studio.  The detail on Usagi Yojimbo is perfect; he looks like he walked right off of one of Stan Sakai’s covers.  Usagi is in a classic pose resting on his knees.  He is wearing the outfit you almost always see him wearing.  To me, it looks a lot like a gi.  The pants have wide legs, the top wraps around and ties in the front, and it also has loose sleeves.  His pants are black.  His top is blue with white trim.  He has his two swords; one is in his hand and one is in a sheath.

Usagi Yojimbo was created by Stan Sakai and is one of the longest running creator owned comic book characters.  Here is the cover of the very 1st appearance of Usagi Yojimbo.  The issue was Albedo Anthropomorphics #2 back in 1984.  Over the years, Stan Sakai has won a Parent’s Choice Award and 5 Eisner Awards (the academy award of comic books). The latest was earlier this month, when Stan won an Eisner Awards for Best Letterer for the 3rd time.

Usagi Yojimbo is a the story of a ronin (i.e. a  samurai with no lord or master).  The stories and settings are historically accurate.  Many of the characters are influenced by or drawn from cinema, manga, anime, and mythology.  The comic book is usually published in black and white, though there have been a few special color issues and stories.  

While Usagi Yojimbo is one of the finest comic books ever published, the character is probably best known as a minor guest star / supporting character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Usagi Yojimbo has appeared in the TMNT comics, animated series, and toy lines. Likewise, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have appeared in a few issues of Usagi Yojimbo.