Critters #14
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeCritters #14 is one of the key way-stations in Stan Sakai's Miyamoto Usagi finding his audience before his own title launched: the 'Bounty Hunter II' chapter printed here was later collected as part of Usagi Yojimbo Vol. 1: The Ronin, cementing the Critters run as canonical pre-series reading. The issue also illustrates what made Critters historically significant as a whole — editor Kim Thompson assembled creator-owned, adult-oriented anthropomorphic work from across the independent comics landscape at a moment when that genre was staking serious literary ground. As the flagship anthology of Fantagraphics' funny-animal line, each issue was a demonstration that talking-animal comics could carry mature drama, serial soap opera, and action-adventure simultaneously under one cover.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Critters was launched by Fantagraphics Books in 1986 under the editorship of Kim Thompson and ran for 50 issues through 1990, making it the longest-running anthropomorphic anthology of its era before Furrlough and Genus. Issue #14, cover-dated July 1987, arrived at a pivotal moment: Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo solo series from Fantagraphics had just launched (also July 1987), meaning this Critters installment was appearing concurrently with — and feeding reader appetite for — Usagi's graduation to his own book. The issue's cover was drawn by Danish cartoonist Freddy Milton, whose Gnuff strip was a long-running fixture of the anthology.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published July 1987 by Fantagraphics Books; 32 black-and-white pages; cover by Freddy Milton.
- Contains 'Bounty Hunter II,' a Usagi Yojimbo story written and drawn by Stan Sakai, featuring the ronin rabbit Miyamoto Usagi and his mercenary companion Gen.
- The Usagi Yojimbo story from this issue was subsequently reprinted in Usagi Yojimbo Vol. 1: The Ronin (Fantagraphics), which collects Critters #1, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, and 14 alongside Albedo and Summer Special material.
- Also contains 'For the Love of Gnellie,' a Gnuff story by Freddy Milton, and a Birthright installment by Steven A. Gallacci.
- Miyamoto Usagi had originally debuted in Albedo Anthropomorphics #2 (November 1984) before moving to Critters; his first standalone Fantagraphics series launched the same month as this issue.
- Critters was edited by Kim Thompson and served as Fantagraphics' flagship anthropomorphic anthology title throughout the 1980s, running for 50 issues total before declining sales led to cancellation in 1990.
- Characters from Reed Waller and Kate Worley's Omaha the Cat Dancer — including Omaha (Susan Jensen), Chuck Katt (Charles Tabey Jr.), Shelley Hine, and Jerry Davidson — are indexed as appearing in this issue, reflecting Omaha's presence across multiple Critters installments during this period.
- Gen (Murakami Gen), Usagi's rough-edged mercenary friend indexed here, made his first comics appearance in Critters #7 (December 1986) before recurring throughout the Fantagraphics run.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Usagi Yojimbo #1 (1987), Usagi Yojimbo #[1] (2000), Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition #1 (2010), Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition #1 (2015), Usagi Yojimbo: La Colección Fantagraphics #1 (2017), Usagi Yojimbo #1 (2017), Familien Gnuff #8
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