The Once and Future Samurai: An Interview with Stan Sakai about His New ‘Usagi Yojimbo’ Series, ‘Senso’
by Tyler Chin-Tanner (Broken Frontier - September 5, 2014)
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Usagi Yojimbo, the comic series created by Stan Sakai about a long-eared samurai traveling the countryside of feudal Japan. Over these past three decades, Stan has hardly missed a beat weaving new tales of Usagi and his friends. It’s no wonder, then, that the series has attracted quite a following with readers spanning across generations.
This is certainly the case in my family. Having read Usagi Yojimbo as a child and into adulthood, I couldn’t wait to read it to my daughter Maddy. And perhaps many would say I didn’t wait quite long enough, as it is filled with sword duels and clan warfare.
But Maddy took to it immediately, and it wasn’t long before we had read through all 28 volumes of the regular series (most of them more than once), as well as the various extra series such as Space Usagi. This is why we were so excited about the announcement of this year’s new miniseries – Usagi Yojimbo: Senso.
I had the opportunity to speak to Stan about his new series, and since Maddy was coming up with some pretty good questions of her own, I thought it would be fun to conduct the interview from a two-generation perspective.
Maddy (age 7): When did you first come up with the idea to write a story about a rabbit who is also a samurai?
Stan: I created the character in 1982, when I drew a sketch of a rabbit with his ears tied up into a chonmage (samurai topknot). I was going to do a comic series inspired by the life of a real 17th-century samurai named Miyamoto Musashi. Instead, I used this new character and named him Miyamoto Usagi. “Usagi” means “rabbit” or “hare” in Japanese.
Tyler (age 39): Your new series, Usagi Yojimbo: Senso takes place 20 years into the future from the ongoing series. Why did you want to make such a big leap in time for this story?
Stan: I had this story in my head for more than 10 years, but just never had the opportunity to work on it. The premise is: What if the martian invasion that was chronicled by HG Wells in War of the Worlds was preceded by a few scout ships two hundred years prior, and what if they landed in feudal Japan?
[Stan expanded on the answer to this question on Facebook] Senso could not follow the usual Usagi timeline because now he is a ranking officer in the Geishu clan and Lord Noriyuki is a very capable adult. These two things alone would have to take place in Usagi's future. There will be other surprises, such as the snag in Usagi's and Tomoe's relationship revealed in issue 2, as the story unfolds.
I wanted this to have an epic feel to it, so included samurai armies in full battle armor fighting tripods, ninjas versus aliens, towns and castles ablaze, all culminating in a huge fight at the end.
Maddy: You mean to tell me it’s been 20 years and Usagi still hasn’t told Jotaro he’s his father?! Why’s he such a procrastinator?
Stan: Usagi never told Jotaro he is his father because of honor. Usagi does not want to cause a wedge between Jotaro and Kenichi, the man who raised him and is regarded as his father. He is willing to sacrifice the love of his son for what he thinks is right.
On the other hand, they look too identical to be anything other than father and son.
Tyler: Dark Horse just released The Sakai Project hardcover, celebrating 30 years of Usagi Yojimbo by collecting other artist’s interpretations of the Usagi characters. What does it mean to you to look back over three decades of creating Usagi Yojimbo and to see how much of an influence it’s been on not just readers, but other comic creators?
Stan: I really enjoy seeing Usagi drawn by various creators, and The Sakai Project was a wonderful way to celebrate Usagi’s 30th anniversary. Some of the best creators in the world drew interpretations of my character.
The idea came about because my wife, Sharon, has some critical medical issues. We have very good health insurance but it does not cover everything. Tone Rodriguez and friends at CAPS, the Comic Arts Professional Society, solicited art donations to auction on eBay to help cover those expenses.
We expected, maybe, 25 pieces. When it was finished, well more than 400 pieces were sent in, with still more trickling in. Steve Wyatt spent about 30 hours each week categorizing the art, organizing the auctions, and sending them out. The auctions were spread out over 19 weeks, with 20-30 pieces listed each week.
There was so much great art that Bill Morrison approached Dark Horse with the idea of publishing a book of some of this art. Not only did Dark Horse agree, but they are not taking any profits from this. Everything goes into a special fund designated for Sharon’s care. It is a beautiful book.
Maddy: Now that you’re doing a series about the future, do you every think you’ll do a whole series about Usagi’s past, when he was a student of Katsuichi Sensei?
Stan: I don’t think I will do an entire series, but I will continue to do shorter stories of Usagi as a child being taught by Katsuichi Sensei. I like these stories because at the end Usagi always learns something about life or being a samurai, and these lessons always help him later in life.
Tyler: What are your plans for Usagi after the Senso miniseries is over? Are you going to keep the character in this timeline for more adventures, or are you going to go back to where we left off in the regular series and continue showing Usagi’s journey in the 20 years leading up to Senso?
Stan: After Senso I will go back to doing the regular Usagi series, picking up where it left off. Even the numbering will continue with issue #144. If you add up all the issues published by Fantagraphics, Mirage, and now Dark Horse, you will find I have done more than 200 issues.
Dark Horse will start a series of Usagi omnibus collections, titled The Usagi Yojimbo Saga. Each volume collects three Usagi trades in a larger format. The first 630-page volume is scheduled for October.
Maddy: Do you have any plans to make Usagi into anything else other than the comic, like a movie or anything like that?
Usagi has been optioned for film and television many times over the years, and Lintika Films currently has the movie rights. They did a seven-minute stop-action short, The Last Request, which was debuted at my Spotlight panel at Comic-Con International: San Diego. It is available on YouTube. The short was made to show to investors.
The second issue of Usagi Yojimbo: Senso comes out on September 3, and The Sakai Project hardcover is already out. To find out more, visit the Usagi Yojimbo website or The Usagi Zone at Dark Horse Comics.
Stan Sakai wrote: August 20
Stan Sakai wrote: August 21
