After 36 years of Stan Sakai's rabbit ronin chopping it up with various bandits and honorless ne'er-do-wells, the series has constructed an intense fanbase, while new readers deprive themselves due to the ever-growing, intimidating back-catalog of stories. For the last 25 of those 36 years, Dark Horse Comics proudly displayed the title as one of their staples, occasionally shifting their marketing to encourage new eyes, but rarely achieving fresh celebration.