If you had told me twenty-five years ago that I would be celebrating two hundred issues of my Usagi Yojimbo comic-book series, I would have said you were dreaming. At that time, no creator-owned series had reached one hundred issues, let alone twice that number.
The first issue of Usagi was published by Fantagraphics Books in 1987. I had bought five hundred copies from the publisher to either give away or sell at conventions. This was a huge amount; I normally got only fifty copies of my other books, and even then I was hard pressed to get rid of them. Good friend Sergio Aragonés advised me, “Just five hundred? No. Get a thousand!” So, I ordered a thousand. However, Fantagraphics never canceled the original order, and one day 1,500 comic books showed up on my doorstep! I was going to send a third of them back, but my then-editor Kim Thompson called to tell me the comic had immediately sold out and was slated for a second printing. So I kept the books . . . but I’m still trying to get rid of them. If you are ever at the San Diego Con, I’ve got them—cheap.
Usagi had appeared in anthologies since 1984, but now he had his own series, and I was to write, pencil, ink, and even letter these issues on a regular basis. I remember when the ten-page “Bounty Hunter” was first published in Critters #1, a couple years earlier. It took me a month to complete those ten pages, and I thought I was working at my top speed. Today I wish I had the luxury of working at such a leisurely pace.
Fantagraphics continued to publish thirty-eight issues, then I went to Mirage for sixteen, and I’ve been at Dark Horse since 1995. In that time, there has also been a Summer Special and four Color Specials, so DH Usagi #141 will mark the two hundredth issue overall. That doesn’t count the Yokai graphic novel or the three Space Usagi miniseries. Rather than celebrate the milestone with an epic multi-issue story line with guest stars and crossovers, I went with the smaller, more intimate tale of a stone carver named Masa, who has a vision to carve two hundred images of Jizo, a deity who eases suffering and shortens the sentence of souls in Hell to help deliver them to Paradise. Jizo also answers prayers for health, success, children, and general goodness. That Masa bears (and I really do mean “bears”) a striking similarity to me is no coincidence. He even shares part of my Japanese middle name.
When I first started Usagi, I was concerned with just putting out the next issue. Now I can lay groundwork for stories that will not see print for years down the line. “Duel at Kitanoji” was one such story. It was agreed that Usagi would deliver his teacher, Katsuichi, for a duel with sword master Nakamura Koji one year from the date of that promise. That was in DH UY #7. The actual duel was fought in issue #60. One year had elapsed in Usagi’s world, but six years had passed in ours. Back then, I was in a sweat to figure out what to do for the next issue. Now I have a general idea of what is going to happen a year from now. However, I’m still sweating out the next issue. Some things never change.
The year the first Usagi trade collection came out was also 1987. I remember how proud and excited I was. Now there are twenty-seven collected trade paperbacks. The books have been translated into a dozen languages, I have traveled to many of those countries, and there is currently a major exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles—Year of the Rabbit: Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo—running through October 30.
Now, after twenty-seven years of working on Usagi Yojimbo, and twenty-five years and two hundred issues of his comic books, I have to say that, yes, dreams really do come true.
--Stan Sakai