Usagi Yojimbo #1 / Ragnarök: The Breaking of Helheim 1 Featured Art Feature 

Exclusive Art Process: Stan Sakai and Walter Simonson Mash Up Usagi Yojimbo and Thor

By | May 20th, 2019
Posted in Art Feature | % Comments

Stan Sakai and Walter Simonson are two stone-cold legends in the comics industry, and both happen to be releasing new volumes of stories featuring their most beloved characters this summer at IDW. We’ve got an amazing exclusive today featuring artwork from both. I’m going to let IDW editor Scott Dunbier explain what we’re looking at here:

To celebrate the launches of brand new Usagi Yojimbo and Ragnarok story arcs, legendary artists Stan Sakai and Walter Simonson have collaborated for the first time on a beautiful jam cover! This rare collaboration will be published as connecting retailer incentive covers on both first issues. We thought fans of Stan and Walter would get a kick out of seeing how this unique art came to be… so, without further ado…

Stan Sakai laid out the art first.

Then, Stan went ahead and inked his portion…

…while Walter penciled what was left.

Then, Walter went in and inked the rest of the cover.

Notice how both artist’s worked on a variety of figures, on the full art? Sort of confusing as to who did what, right? That’s what we thought too! So here’s a handy color-coded legend that breaks it down!

Finally, the finished art was handed off to the incredibly talented (and eisner-winning!) laura martin, who worked her magic on it. And, to be fair, stan and walter are no strangers to mr. Eisner’s eponymously named awards themselves!

“Usagi Yojimbo” #1 goes on sale June 19, and “Ragnarök: The Breaking of Helheim” #1 will be available July 17—interested in getting one (or both) of these rare and sure-to-be-in-demand covers? Tell your local retailer using these codes: “Usagi Yojimbo” #1 Cover RI-B (UPC Code: 82771401801100131, Diamond Item Code: MAY190552) and “Ragnarök: The Breaking of Helheim” #1 Cover RI-B (UPC Code: 82771401820200131, Diamond Item Code: APR190593).

The final piece will be auctioned off at San Diego Comic Con. Look for more info on that coming up; here are series editors Scott Dunbier and Bobby Curnow holding the finished piece.

Thanks to IDW, Scott, Bobby, Stan, and Walter for making this a reality, and make sure to pick up both issues with the variant covers this summer!


Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

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