Thirty years ago a rabbit samurai drawn by a man from Hawaii appeared in a comic book available nationwide for the first time. Stan Sakai’s ongoing "Usagi Yojimbo" comic series has followed the long-eared warrior’s travels across an anthropomorphic feudal Japan ever since, gaining fans around the world and inspiring local cartoonists in the process.
To celebrate the milestone, Dark Horse Comics, publisher of "Usagi Yojimbo," is releasing a book featuring various comic artists’ takes on Sakai’s character. That gesture alone is testament to the longevity and enduring popularity of his creations.
But there’s another, grander purpose behind "The Sakai Project," released Wednesday in advance of Comic-Con International in San Diego, which closes Sunday. The book, priced at $29.99, is the product of the comics community coming together to help the beloved creator deal with the rising costs of caring for his ailing wife.
The 61-year-old Sakai was born in Kyoto, Japan, but grew up in Kapahulu, devouring the comic and cartoon adventures of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Astro Boy and Speed Racer. As far back as he can remember, he loved drawing. Sakai graduated from Kaimuki High School and the University of Hawaii and went on to marry his childhood sweetheart, Sharon, and create a successful, long-running comic series that has been translated into many languages.
As an adult he met many of his childhood idols, including Jack Kirby and Stan Lee at Marvel Comics and the man regarded as the "god of manga," Osamu Tezuka. Sakai has worked as a letterer with Lee on the "Amazing Spider-Man" comic strip and with another of his heroes, Mad Magazine artist Sergio Aragones, on the "Groo the Wanderer" series.
On his own, though, Sakai found his greatest fame with "Usagi Yojimbo," which is loosely based on the life of 17th-century samurai Miyamoto Musashi. In an interview with the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in 2006, he said he found inspiration for rabbit samurai Miyamoto Usagi in the classic "chambara" movies he watched at the Kapahulu Theater. ("Usagi" means "rabbit" in Japanese.)
| HOW TO HELP
» "The Sakai Project: Artists Celebrate Thirty Years of Usagi Yojimbo" is available at comic book stores and online at ow.ly/zyc28.
» The Comic Art Professional Society is accepting monetary donations for the Sakais. Online donations may be made via Paypal at ow.ly/zyctZ. Checks made out to CAPS or Stan Sakai may be sent to Sakai Fundraiser c/o CAPS, P.O. Box 656, Burbank, CA 91503.
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To date, Usagi’s adventures have spanned more than 200 issues collected into 28 graphic novels — the first eight with original publisher Fantagraphics, the other 20 by Dark Horse. One of those books, "Grasscutter," was used as a history textbook by the University of Portland, a credit to Sakai’s exhaustive research on the origin and history of the Japanese islands.
His stature was affirmed through numerous honors from the National Cartoonists Society, the American Library Association and the Eisner Awards, the industry’s equivalent of the Oscars.
The series has also spawned an art book, a "Space Usagi" spinoff comic, a full-color miniature graphic novel, a tabletop role-playing game, a video game and collectible figurines.
Usagi has gone on adventures with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, co-creators of the original TMNT comic, were such fans of Sakai’s work that they wanted to include the character in their series as well.
The books have been translated into multiple languages, giving Sakai the opportunity to travel around the world to appear at comic conventions and meet fans. Those fans, as well as his peers, have called him one of the most approachable people in the industry.
"He’s one of the nicest, most generous comic pros I have ever met, always meets you with a hello and a smile. … And Sharon is the same way. Sweethearts both!" said Garage Art Studios artist Tone Rodriguez, who is vice president of the Comic Art Professional Society, a group of cartoonists and writers based in Southern California, of which Sakai is a member.
Freelance Hawaii cartoonist Jon Murakami, who draws the "Gordon Rider" comic series and the "Calabash" comic strip for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, said he recalls seeing Sakai’s work in the 1980s and thinking he had a chance at a career in cartooning as well.
"Stan was awesome enough to contribute a page to the ‘Gordon Rider’ five-year anniversary tribute book despite his deadlines. … Stan and Sharon are great people — humble, fun and caring," Murakami said.
BEHIND THE SCENES, Sharon Sakai was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in 2004. The type 3 atypical meningioma tumor was benign but so rare, the Sakais were told, that among the 9 million patients covered by their insurance carrier, Kaiser Permanente, there were only three cases similar to hers.
Radiation seemed to keep the tumor in check until 2011, when it returned aggressively, paralyzing her left side, including her throat and vocal cords. The side effects of treatment have included diabetes, high blood pressure, loss of hearing and sight, and an inability to eat solid food.
Sakai is now convalescing at home in Pasadena, Calif., confined to bed and breathing through a tracheostomy tube. She’s had to be rushed to the emergency room several times and was down to 77 pounds at one point. But through it all, "she still maintains a great positive attitude and is such an inspiration to everyone who knows her," Stan Sakai said via email.
He took to posting on Facebook about his wife, and although he was hesitant to talk about it at first, Sakai said the support he found on social media was overwhelming. The social network also helped when the family suffered a second tragedy in December when their 20-month-old grandson Leo died in his sleep. Among those offering support was Rodriguez, who said Sakai’s Facebook musings struck a personal chord.
"My mother suffered a stroke some years back and it was my father who handled her care afterward. But I saw (my father) every day, so I didn’t notice how the daily care and worry affected him," he said in an email. "But at our monthly (Comic Art Professional Society) meetings, I was noticing (the impact on Stan). And that’s when I decided our group could help."
The idea of a charity auction got the blessing of the group’s board members and Sakai’s friends and colleagues. But when it reached Sakai, "He said politely, ‘No, we’re fine, thank you,’" Rodriguez said.
He agreed to the auction after some persuasion.
"What changed my mind was Tone’s plan to ask artist friends to do artwork of Usagi for sale on eBay," he said. "I love seeing other creators interpret my character, and that led me to agree to the auction."
An open call went out for contributions and items from the comic industry and fan community flooded in.
"We thought we would get maybe 25 drawings, but more than 400 came in, many from artists I had never met but knew only through reputation," Sakai said.
What was originally expected to be a "little" auction on eBay grew into a 20-week effort that ended July 20 with more than 470 original pieces of art and other comic memorabilia sold — most of it featuring Usagi but with other series represented as well. The cheapest items sold for $9.99; the most expensive was an original pen-and-ink poster of Scrooge McDuck by artist Don Rosa that sold for $5,355. It was the first original piece Rosa had parted with in more than five years.
"It seemed to be the same over and over again: These artists and fans gave without a second thought because this was going to help the Sakais," Rodriguez said. "It’s a real testament to how beloved these two are."
A NUMBER of professional artists and industry veterans contributed to the auction effort, including Aragones, Eastman, Jeff Keane ("Family Circus"), Joe Staton ("Dick Tracy"), Mike Mignola ("Hellboy"), Frank Cho ("Liberty Meadows"), Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott ("Baby Blues"), Jeff Smith ("Bone," "RASL"), Scott Shaw ("The Flintstones," "Simpsons Comics") and Sakai himself.
Several Hawaii artists submitted pieces. Murakami sent in an action-packed page of Usagi engaged in a heated battle with an insidious foe that has bested many — a kendama. A piece by Amy Tokuda depicts Usagi giving a shaka with childhood love interest Mariko in a cheerful floral scene; another shows the pair under the night sky. Tokuda said she tried to capture a spirit of hope in both works.
"With the obstacles the Sakai family has to face, having hope is the best thing to give you comfort, self-esteem, and the strength to keep moving on no matter what the situation is," she said in an email. "I’m grateful for being able to submit my own artwork to help out Stan. I’ve always felt when someone inspired you a lot, it’s good to help them out as well as a way of saying thank you."
Local artist Theodore Lee depicted Usagi in a dynamic pose in one piece and showed the samurai battling a ninja in another. He focused on themes of strength and striving to attain and maintain goals.
"Although I have never met Sharon or Stan Sakai, Stan’s influence has made me strive higher to get to where he is at in the comic book industry or as a professional artist," Lee said in an email.
THE IDEA for "The Sakai Project" sprouted from the response to the auction. Dark Horse founder and publisher Mike Richardson agreed to not only donate the cost of producing the full-color, glossy-paged book, but also to give 100 percent of the profits to help the Sakais, according to Rodriguez. Bill Morrison, a former editor at "Simpsons"/ "Futurama" comics publisher Bongo Comics, was chosen as the book’s editor.
Selecting the pieces for the book — originally planned for 100 pages but later expanded to 160 due to the volume of submissions — was no easy task. Cost limited the number of pieces that could be featured. According to Randy Stradley, Dark Horse editor and vice president of publishing, well-known artists whose work would attract fans and generate the most money for the cause were obvious picks, then came work from lesser-known artists that was "arguably great."
"Finally, we wanted to include some of what we called the ‘love contributions’ — those pieces which were maybe not the most polished but which were so heartfelt in their execution that the emotion behind them flowed off the page," Stradley said in an email.
Audra Furuichi, familiar to Star-Advertiser readers as the artist behind "nemu* nemu: Blue Hawaii," was one of those who made the cut. Her piece shows the rabbit samurai with sword drawn and surrounded by three ethereal foxes — a tribute to the character Kitsune in the "Usagi" series.
Furuichi said she didn’t learn about her piece’s inclusion until a few days before the book’s release.
"I’m super thrilled and a little bit surprised," she said via email. "I was going to pick up the book anyway since there are quite a few pieces I was interested in seeing and I was certain a bunch of my comic peers would be included. … There were so many spectacular pieces!"
Sakai said the outpouring of love that has come from the project has been humbling.
"We are both overwhelmed with the show of support from all around the world, even from countries, such as Macedonia, in which ‘Usagi Yojimbo’ is not even published," he said. "A few bookstores in the U.S. and France designated a Stan Sakai Day in which they arranged in-store artist signings and a portion of the day’s profits was given to Sharon’s care."
All money donated is going into an account that is used solely to pay for her care, Sakai said.
In the meantime the couple continues to celebrate the little victories.
"She has good days and bad," he often writes in his Facebook posts.
As impressive as a 30-year run in comics is, the Sakais marked their 37th anniversary this month. As he posted on Facebook that day, "Sharon wrote this on my iPad: ‘I’m so lucky that I married you. I
The post, to date, has garnered 1,342 "likes." Fitting, perhaps, for one of the most "liked" couples in comics.
