Interview: Stan Sakai

On July 22nd through 24th, while attending San Diego International Comic-Con, I ran around to as many of my favorite kids comics creators as I could and asked them all the exact same questions. Keep in mind, exhibit halls are crazy loud and crazy busy, so there is a lot of background noise. Let me know in the comments if you have trouble hearing anything and I’ll translate for you.

Usagi Yojimbo is one of those series that flies under the radar. It’s not flashy. It never (as far as I remember) has holographic covers. The art and/or writing team doesn’t change (the whole thing is done by Stan Sakai). In fact, the last time I can remember any fanfare at all is when the book celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary and Dark Horse put out a congratulatory poster. Don’t get me wrong, it was a really nice poster, but a poster isn’t really fanfare, if you know what I mean.

And yet, when I started reading comics in my early twenties Usagi Yojimbo was there, lurking just inside my superhero-centric blinders. And for the next twenty-seven years, Miyamoto Usagi has continued to be there, with his ears tied back and wielding his sword, ready with a new story whenever I come out of whatever genre-reading frenzy I’ve dived into. And he never, ever disappoints. Ask anyone who has ever read Usagi Yojimbo and you’ll hear the same thing. The stories are great. They’re great for tweens and teens and for adults and for jaded librarians who need to be reminded what solid storytelling is.

Stan Sakai is as well-regarded as his creation. Often referred to as one of the kindest men in comics, I invite you to take a look at the video and see if you don’t agree.