Usagi Yojimbo Color Classics #1 is being released on January 22. 2020 as a new comic series.
According to IDW "This series collects the original early issues of the acclaimed long-running series, NOW IN FULL COLOR! Every issue will also feature new behind-the-scenes material and art."
According to Stan Sakai "The plan is for ALL the Usagi stories to be colored. We chose to begin with Samurai because it really is Usagi’s origin story and Goblin of Adachigahara, the first story published, will be revisited in next month’s issue 6. It seemed Redundant to present that story so soon.
The first trade featured mostly shorter stories. Since the Fantagraphics run of the series we’re mostly 20 pages, the early stories in Book 1 will be used as fillers to extend the page count.
The IDW color stories will first be printed as comic books to help recoup the costs of coloring, as they did with the early TMNT stories, then those stories will be collected in graphic novels. The comic series will be cancelled when it no longer becomes cost effective. From then it will appear only as GN, though not on a regular schedule, as would be the case when it first comes out as comics." (Tue Oct 29, 2019 on the Usagi Yojimbo Dojoboard forum)