The cartoonist Stan Sakai and his 17th-century samurai rabbit, Usagi ­Yojimbo, are about to embark on new, colorful adventures, with a monthly series starting in June with a new publisher, IDW.

IDW Publishing is also planning a series of full-color collected editions of the complete Usagi saga, which began in 1984. The series had been at Dark Horse Comics since 1995 and was primarily printed in black and white.

Sakai, 65, said in a telephone interview Wednesday that the series is “mainly fantasy and action and adventure, but there’s a lot of teaching there, too,” as it is set in an anthropomorphic version of 17th-century Japan. “I draw from that history and culture and folklore to make my stories,” he said.

Previous installments have shown the craftsmanship of forging swords, the construction of massive paper kites and examined the role of Christian missionaries who went to Japan. The new series, which will be colored by Tom Luth, will begin with a three-part story involving bunraku, or Japanese puppetry.

Usagi Yojimbo has an avid following and is critically acclaimed. The site Comics Alliance ran an article, “What’s So Great About Usagi Yojimbo? Everything,” remarking on the consistency and craftsmanship of the series, down to characters’ deaths: Their last breaths are expressed by showing a skull in their word balloons. (There have been ample opportunities to hone this motif thanks to a high occurrence of fatalities in the ongoing tale.)

The series has also won five Eisner Awards, the industry equivalent of an Oscar, including three for best lettering. In 1996 Sakai was awarded an Eisner for Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition and, three years later, he received one for Best Serialized Story.

Sakai hopes to continue the adventures of Usagi for many more years. “I have no other job skills,” he said with a laugh. “If not for Usagi, I’m unemployed.”