Usagi Yojimbo Creator On Samurai Rabbits & 30 Years in Comics
Stan Sakai may introduce himself at dinner parties as simply a cartoonist , but for fans of his Samurai-inspired comic Usagi Yojimbo, he’s more like a legend.
The 58-year-old Japanese-American’s series follows the interactions of anthropomorphic animals in 17th century Japan. The hero, a samurai rabbit named Miyamoto Usagi, is loosely based on the famous Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. It follows the hero as he explores the countryside on a warrior’s pilgrimage, occasionally offering his services as a bodyguard.
“It’s about Japanese culture and history but told from a entirely western point of a view,” explained Sakai.
Since its inception in 1984, Usagi has become one of the most acclaimed North American indie comics. In 1999, the Will Eisner Comic Awards named an Usagi book the best-serialized story and earlier this year, IGN.com, arguably the most important video game and comic review site, rated Miyamoto Usagi among their top 100 comic book characters. The comic has more than just critical acclaim, however, it’s also popular the world over.
You can find it in various Latin American countries and it has a huge following in Europe. The French edition (the comic has been translated into several languages) is particularly popular. He signed a few from that series this weekend at Montreal’s Comiccon. His international popularity got off to an unexpected start, however.
“Actually, Croatia was my first foreign edition. They called about 20 years ago,” said Sakai. “And my first question was, ‘Don’t you have a war over there?’” Since then, his Croatian fan-base has grown steadily; he’ll be there next year for the opening of a Usagi exhibition.
But Sakai says he’s “always surprised” by Usagi’s fame. “It still boggles my mind that people in Indonesia and the Czech Republic are reading my work,” he said. In a bizarre bit of irony, though, it seems the only place it hasn’t taken off is Japan.
In Los Angeles, Sakai’s hometown, the series is huge. There’s an exhibition—Year of the Rabbit: Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo—open there now. Sakai loves the exhibition, especially the section featuring Usagi as drawn by other artists.
American comic book artist and Sin City creator Frank Miller did one in trademark film noir style, and Marvel godfather Stan Lee drew Usagi dressed as Spider-Man.
Sakai and Lee have been working together for 25 years, ever since Lee called him to ask if he’d be interested in doing the lettering for the Spider-Man newspaper strip.
“The first time [Lee] called, he said, ‘Hi, it’s Stan Lee, I’m looking for Stan Sakai.’ And I thought, ‘Wow! He really sounds like Stan Lee,’” said Sakai with a grin.
When Lee found out that Sakai’s son was a huge fan, he sent over a box full of signed memorabilia, and there’s a picture of Sakai’s daughter, Hannah, in Lee’s office.
Lee isn’t Sakai’s only connection to ubiquitous North American comic book culture—he has a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles connection too. Thanks to his friendship with TMNT co-creator Peter Laird, Miyamoto Usagi has appeared in Turtles comics, and vice-versa, and has even made appearances in the Turtles’ animated TV series.
While he has watched his friend’s creations jump to the silver screen, he’s not sure if there’s a film future for Usagi—not that he hasn’t gotten suggestions.
“There have been some wild takes on Usagi [for film], so wild. Just so wild that I said, ‘Well, I don’t think so,’” he said. One particularly outlandish take was a live-action Usagi that takes place in modern Los Angeles.
Not all were bad, however, and he’s still hoping an offer he got from the Jim Henson Company will pan out—he really wants a Miyamoto Usagi puppet.
If a movie does materialize, though, he’s just hoping it’s more faithful than some of the more recent comic book movies. Sakai was disappointed with the recent X-Men: First Class film, and wasn’t happy with Thor either.
He noted that Montreal’s Comiccon seemed to be one of the few conventions still focused on actual comic books. “In San Diego,” he said, “the focus has shifted from comics into Hollywood and gaming.”
No matter what the future of the industry, Sakai has no plans to look for other work.
“I will be doing this forever; I love Usagi,” he said. “And,” he added, “I have no other job skills.”
This article originally appeared in Volume 32, Issue 04, published September 20, 2011.
