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-colored 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 on 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.