Mike Allred pays tribute to Akira Kurosawa.

One of our favorite indie comic book artists takes on the works and legacy of one of the greatest masters in cinemas!

Mike Allred, the indie comic book creator well-known for his creation, Madman, and the recent comic book sensation from DC Comics's Vertigo imprint, iZOMBIE, stretches his uncanny talent to conjure an amazing illustration of cross culture awesomeness! From Toshirō Mifune's Kuwabatake Sanjuro in Yojimbo (用心棒), the 1961 black-and-white jidaigeki (period drama) epic directed by Akira Kurosawa, to Clint Eastwood's the Man with No Name in 1964's A Fistful of Dollars, a spaghetti western remake of Kurosawa's original directed by Sergio Leone, to Bruce Willis's John Smith in 1996's Last Man Standing, an officially authorized remake of Kurosawa's original set in the vein of Prohibition-era gangster thriller that was directed by Walter Hill, Allred's pop art-esque graphic provided a cool vibe to the cinematic legends (and the lesser by-product).

In the artist's own words:

One of the nifty events at TR!CKSTER
was a CRITERION sponsored gallery/auction
tribute to the great AKIRA KUROSAWA.
My contribution was YOJIMBO where I
depicted the Italian (FISTFUL OF DOLLARS
via Sergio Leone) and American (LAST
MAN STANDING via Walter Hill) remakes
standing behind the legendary original,
TOSHIRO MIFUNE.

Source: Allred Art!: CRITERION AKIRA KUROSAWA TRIBUTE!