Usagi Yojimbo #9

Stan Sakai's cover for this IDW issue tells you everything you need to know about the tension packed into "Tatami Part Two": the rabbit ronin Usagi stands back-to-back with a young female companion, both braced for a fight as a ring of armed cat ninja close in from the shadows and treetops around them. Scattered shards of what appears to be broken tatami tile litter the ground at their feet, hinting at the confrontation already underway. It's a beautifully composed standoff — outnumbered but unbroken — rendered with the clean, expressive linework Sakai has made his own.