WIZARDWORLD.COM, JUNE 21, 2001

[Steve Hubbell]

BITCHIN’ BUNNY: 5 MINUTES WITH STAN SAKAI ON USAGI YOJIMBO
by JENNIFER M. CONTINO (WIZARDWORLD.COM, JUNE 21, 2001)

Usagi Yojimbo is the type of comic that people from all walks of life can read and enjoy. It’s a mix of action, adventure, love, honor, and so many more characteristics that you just don’t find conveniently in one place. It’s no surprise this imaginative anthropomorphic series from the mind of Stan Sakai has lasted over 17 years and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. Stan’s one of the friendliest guys around and was happy to spend five minutes talking about his little bunny bodyguard.

WIZARDWORLD.COM: If you lived during Usagi’s time, what social class do you think you would have belonged to and why?

STAN SAKAI: Well, my mother is from the samurai class and my father is descended from peasants. That’s why my maternal grandfather was against their marriage. My father was stationed in Japan after WW2 but the concern was more about him being from a lower social class than being an American. However, to answer your question, I would probably be a commoner. Less than six percent of the people were of the samurai class. The rest were farmers, townspeople or the emerging merchant class.

WIZARDWORLD.COM: What initially attracted you to the setting and time period for Usagi Yojimbo?

STAN SAKAI: I grew up watching “chambara” or sword fighting movies. There was a theatre down the street where I lived that showed those films every weekend. As I got older, I grew more and more fascinated with the history and culture of Japan.

WIZARDWORLD.COM: If you were going to write a modern Usagi tale, where would you set the story and what would it be about?

STAN SAKAI: Actually, I wrote a contemporary story featuring a descendant of Usagi. She’s an investigative reporter involved in an Agatha Christie-style whodunnit. I never finished drawing it. I worked on rough plots for a bunch of his descendants. Their common link is that they are all inheritors of Usagi’s original swords. The only series that I finished was the Space Usagi Trilogy.

WIZARDWORLD.COM: Usagi Yojimbo has such a rich, lavish cast. What inspired you to create them?

STAN SAKAI: Usagi, himself was based upon a real person, Miyamoto Musashi, a 17th century samurai. Many supporting characters, such as Tomoe, have also had inspirations from living people. Some others, like Lone Goat and Kid, have basis in pop culture. Most are from my own imagination.

WIZARDWORLD.COM: Usagi’s going to be reaching his 50th issue soon. What plans do you have for the anniversary issue?

STAN SAKAI: This will be his 50th Dark Horse issue. If you count his series from Fantagraphics and Mirage, we are talking well more than a hundred issues. The story for this 50th issue was suggested by someone at Wizard who said ‘Why not make this a milestone issue. Have him die.’

WIZARDWORLD.COM: Is Usagi a finite series?

STAN SAKAI: Usagi was first planned as a finite story within a larger epic centered around another character of mine named Nilson Groundthumper. I found I liked writing Usagi better and now I’ve been writing and drawing Usagi for 17 years now. I could easily go on for another 17.

WIZARDWORLD.COM: I’m surprised that no one has snatched up this series for an animated show or CGI movie. Have you been approached by any studios and would you like to eventually see your characters presented in another media?

STAN SAKAI: We have been approached many times but the right studio has yet to come along. Meanwhile, I do have demos of Usagi in traditional animation as well as CGI. And, don’t forget, he was in two episodes of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” TV series.

WIZARDWORLD.COM: If you had the chance to team-up Usagi with any other comic book character, whom would you choose?

STAN SAKAI: I really don’t know. He’s really in a world of his own. He has crossed over into the Ninja Turtles world a few times and Groo has made a couple of cameos. Maybe Usagi and Bone. They both anthropomorphic - - sort of.

WIZARDWORLD.COM: What’s next for Usagi and what else are you working on?

STAN SAKAI: I’m working on a few single issue stories, building up to a longer story arc. That’s the way I usually work. The shorter stories are a good jumping on point for newer readers whereas the older readers seem to prefer the longer, more involved epics like “Grasscutter” for which I received on Eisner. Besides Usagi, I’ve illustrated a story written by Greg Rucka for the Oni Color Special and I am writing and drawing a Simpson’s story for the Treehouse of Horror Annual.