DARK HORSE COMICS, DECEMBER 1, 2002

[Steve Hubbell]

THE STAN SAKAI INTERVIEW
By ADAM GALLARDO (DARK HORSE COMICS, DECEMBER 1, 2002)

For a while, it seemed that the gods were telling us they didn't want this interview to happen. Originally, Stan Sakai and I were meant to get together for a few minutes while we were both at Comicon, but our schedules never meshed and that didn't happen. Then when we set up a phone interview the tape recorder I use went on the fritz. But it takes more than signs from above to stop me. So, armed with a new recorder and a healthy sense of hubris, I finally got back Stan and conducted this interview wherein Stan and I discuss Stan's earliest work, his interest in Japanese history and culture, and the stories that make up the latest Usagi Yojimbo collection, Shrouded Moon.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Correct me if I'm wrong, the first issue of Usagi came out from Fantagraphics in 1991?

STAN SAKAI: You are wrong.

DARK HORSE COMICS: I am wrong, excellent.

STAN SAKAI: His first appearance was in 1984 in a comic book called Albedo, issue #2 and so that means in about a year and a half, it will be the 20th anniversary of Usagi. But the first Usagi comic book, you're right, did come out from Fantagraphics. That was the summer special. But before that he appeared in Critters on Fantagraphics, and like I said, Albedo.

DARK HORSE COMICS: So between 1984 and 1991 were you doing other characters or were you just concentrating on getting the first issue of Usagi done?

STAN SAKAI: Mainly Usagi, but I also dabbled with other characters such as Nilson Groundthumper & Hermy. In fact, I think there may be a Nilson Groundthumper trade collection coming up from Dark Horse in about a year or so.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Oh really? I didn't know about that.

STAN SAKAI: Yeah, yeah. Well, this is something very preliminary. Diana [Schutz, Sakai's editor at Dark Horse] and I were just talking about it. She says, "It's a go." and I said, "Well sure, it's a go for me, too." All that's left is just sitting down and collecting all the stuff.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Is this all art work you still have or does it exist only as film somewhere?

STAN SAKAI: I have every page of Usagi artwork that I did. Usagi and Nilson. Except for the covers.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Really?

STAN SAKAI: Yes. I have... I don't sell my story pages.

DARK HORSE COMICS: I had no idea.

STAN SAKAI: Yeah, I sell some art on the Dark Horse Gallery website, some sketches and things from Usagi, and some miscellaneous covers. But there are no print published story pages.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Is that just so it's easily collected or is there another reason you're doing that?

STAN SAKAI: Gee, I don't know.

DARK HORSE COMICS: [Laughs] OK.

STAN SAKAI: I just never sold any of them.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Right.

I was reading some things on the Web about you and I read a newspaper article that actually accompanied the last batch of sketches you sent for the DH Gallery. And I read that you were born in Japan.

STAN SAKAI: Um hum.
DARK HORSE COMICS: But that your father is a Hawaiian Native?

STAN SAKAI: No, no, no, no. My dad -- well I'm third generation Japanese-American. My grandparents came from Japan and then settled in Hawaii. And my dad was stationed in Japan after WWII. Met my mom there and they got married and I was born in Japan; Kyoto.

DARK HORSE COMICS: I see.

STAN SAKAI: My older brother was born in Tokyo.

DARK HORSE COMICS: On a military base there?

STAN SAKAI: Um, by the time I was born he was already out of the service. And they just traveled around Japan for awhile. Before going back to Hawaii where my dad was from.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Right. Well I was asking this because you obviously have a love of Japanese culture and history. And I'm wondering, is that something you picked up on your own or has there always been an interest in your family for the culture of Japan?

STAN SAKAI: Well I grew up in Hawaii and you know Hawaii has a huge Asian population. Part of the Japanese culture was always around me. There was a movie theater just down the street from where I lived that showed Samurai movies every Saturday. And you know, I'd be there every Saturday and pretty much I just grew up in the culture.

DARK HORSE COMICS: So it's not something that you had to go back and re-discover.

STAN SAKAI: I actually had to do that too. Most of my research comes second hand from books and videos and such.

DARK HORSE COMICS: How old were you the first time you returned to Japan?

STAN SAKAI: My family left Japan when I was three years old and I didn't gone back until 1998. I was a guest of the Osama Tezuka studios. Tezuka created Astro Boy and Kimba and all those. And the studio invited my wife and myself along with a couple of other cartoonists, for an International Symposium. And I got to meet, besides the Tezuka studio people, I got to meet publishers as well as animators and other artists. So that was really nice. So, I also got to, the also took us around as tourists. We had a great time.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Is your work read in Japan?

STAN SAKAI: It's not translated into Japanese, no.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Oh.

STAN SAKAI: I don't believe there's been an American comic book that has made any type of impact on the Japanese Manga market. American comic books have been published in Japan, but you know, they've been issued by smaller publishers and on a very small scale.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Right. I remember that for awhile Dark Horse was trying to make a go of publishing in Japan.

STAN SAKAI: Um hum.

DARK HORSE COMICS: And it, it didn't work out.

STAN SAKAI: Yeah.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Did your trips in Japan renew your interest in the history of Japan?

STAN SAKAI: Oh yeah. I mean it was great. One of the things we did was made it a point to make a Pilgrimage to the Tokugawa Shrine at a Niko National Park and that's something I always wanted to do, so we got to do that. Unfortunately, it was in the middle of winter. But it was crazy. It was snowing and it was just gorgeous.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Right. Cool.

STAN SAKAI: Yeah, there were a lot of snow monkeys too.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Monkeys?

STAN SAKAI: Yeah, after we got back we were seeing all these reports on the news about all these snow monkeys in the area attacking tourists for their food.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Oh, (laughter)

STAN SAKAI: Hey, that's where we were!

DARK HORSE COMICS: But you avoided that?

STAN SAKAI: Yeah we didn't know anything about that. We just thought, "Oh, how cute, snow monkeys."

DARK HORSE COMICS: Usagi seems to be one of the few titles on the stands that, well, it's not aimed at kids but it seems very friendly to kids. An adult wouldn't have to worry about handing their kid this book.

STAN SAKAI: You are right. Uh huh.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Is that something that you do intentionally?

STAN SAKAI: No.

DARK HORSE COMICS: It just happens naturally?

STAN SAKAI: It just happens because basically I don't write to any specific audience except for myself.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Right.

STAN SAKAI: And these are just types of stories I would like to read. But you're right, it has, you know, mass appeal. Just this year, Usagi received an American Library Association award. Which is kind of neat. I did a library tour in Hawaii at about a dozen libraries and I'm actually doing another library presentation in October here in Pasadena.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Do you find kids responding to Usagi?

STAN SAKAI: Yeah. Very much so.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Do you think it helps that it's anthropomorphic?

STAN SAKAI: You know, it might be. It might be a little friendlier, kid friendly, just because it is funny animals, but I just draw funny animals because I think they're pretty fun.

DARK HORSE COMICS: (laughter)

STAN SAKAI: They're kind of cool.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Have you ever thought about doing things that aren't anthropomorphic?

STAN SAKAI: Oh yeah.

DARK HORSE COMICS: And I know you have done certain things but I guess I was asking about maybe doing a bigger project.

STAN SAKAI: Um, no. I'm not interested. I really enjoy working with Usagi. I would, you know, take on other projects but just as on a short term basis. Such as the eight-pager I did for Star Wars Tales, the Grendel story that I illustrated for "Red, White and Black."

DARK HORSE COMICS: I looked through the issues today that are going to be collected in Shrouded Moon. And they're all shorter stories.

STAN SAKAI: Right.

DARK HORSE COMICS: I think the longest one is two issues; is that a pattern you like to follow where you do a long arc followed by shorter stories ?

STAN SAKAI: Exactly. The newer readers seem to like the shorter stories. It's a great jumping on point for newer readers.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Right.

STAN SAKAI: Where as the older readers seem to enjoy the longer stories because I can do a lot more with them. I do a lot more research and do more character development. So like I said, the shorter stories are great jumping on points for newer readers. Also, the shorter stories set up the longer epics. I mean, characters that appear in the shorter stories would, you know, become major characters in the longer stories.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Right. That was actually something I wanted to ask you about. A lot of times, reading a story, I realize that you've brought in a character or a theme that you first introduced years ago. Is that difficult for you to keep track of everything you've...?

STAN SAKAI: Not, no, not for me. I can do that because you know, I write and draw everything. So I can set up a situation or start a thread that won't be fulfilled or realized until years down the way. Such as, I just finished the duel at Kitanoji shrine in issue #60 of Usagi. But that was set up way back in issue #7. Which is what, about five years ago?

DARK HORSE COMICS: Right.

STAN SAKAI: And there've been characters there that I introduced that, you know, I haven't brought back, but I do have plans for them.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Okay. Do you ever re-read your work?

STAN SAKAI: Ah, yeah occasionally.

DARK HORSE COMICS: When you do, do you ever stumble upon a character that you think; "I should bring him..."?

STAN SAKAI: [Laughs] Um, sometimes but more it's , I just think of a situation and say; "Hey, this character might be nice in it." The current story arch I'm working on now, I re-introduced some other main characters but then I also introduce some new characters. It's more a case of just, you know, finding a story and finding a character that fits into that story.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Right. Do you ever find yourself giving into pressure from fans who want to see certain characters?

STAN SAKAI: Ah, once in a great while. The priest Sanshobo was just introduced in a four page story way back in issue #4 of the Dark Horse run, and I think that character got the most reader response; favorable reader response, I ever had. So I brought him back and made him a prominent player in the "Grasscutter II" story. So even Gen; Gen the Bounty Hunter; which you know has a big presence in Shrouded Moon, started off as a one shot character and you know, I got a lot of reader response and I really liked him myself, so I developed him a lot more. Gave him a back story and, yeap, like I said, he plays a prominent part in Shrouded Moon now.

DARK HORSE COMICS: So what is going to happen in Usagi past the duel?

STAN SAKAI: Past the duel? Usagi and Jotaro are traveling around together for awhile to get to know each other a bit better. Usagi's in a dilemma whether to tell Jotaro that Jotaro is really his son.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Right.

STAN SAKAI: And along the way they have adventures. They meet up with a lot of characters, friends from Usagi's pass. So it just seems to Jotaro, you know, Usagi knows everybody. And these are characters from, you know different walks of life. Right now I'm working with a story in which they meet up with the thief; Kitsune. In another story, they meet the Ninja; Chizu. And further on down the line, they'll meet the Lone Goat & Kid again.

DARK HORSE COMICS: Oh, (laughter) great. Now I've seen in different places sketches of a modern day character you've worked on as the descendant of...?

STAN SAKAI: Oh yeah. I did a series of stories about Usagi's descendants and...basically, it follows the ownership of Usagi's swords. And the present day descendant, the contemporary descendant, is an Investigative Journalists called Terry Miyamoto. She owns Usagi's swords and the story that she's involved in is like a murder mystery. A who-done-it based upon Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians." It's a story I never finished.

DARK HORSE COMICS: It's not something you plan to finish?

STAN SAKAI: Well I would like to. I had it all plotted out and a few of the pages were actually roughed in. But again, it's just that I don't have the time to do it.