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The Sakai Project--book and fundraiser
Stan Sakai, author and artist of the Usagi Yojimbo comic is often described by his colleagues as "one of the nicest guys I've ever met." This isn't just exaggeration or flattery--I had the good fortune to meet him at a convention several years ago, and he is indeed one of the nicest guys I've ever met. Admittedly, I only sat through a couple of his panels and chatted with him at the autograph table for a short time, but he was incredibly nice and gracious and down-to-earth. I walked away from the encounter wanting to buy more of his books because he was just such a darn nice guy. Incidentally, he also draws incredibly fast--he did a full page sketch on my The Art of Usagi Yojimbo book in, I swear, less than 30 seconds. His hand just flew across the page and it was like, "scribble scribble scribble--done!" It was just a rough sketch, but it was large and fairly detailed, and I was so impressed. It's one of my prized possessions.
Unfortunately, sometimes bad things happen to nice people, and Sakai's wife, Sharon, suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. In order to raise funds for Sharon's medical expenses and to celebrate Usagi's 30th anniversary, his fellow comic book artists contributed artwork of Usagi that was auctioned off, with some of the best pieces being collected into The Sakai Project: Artists Celebrate 30 Years of Usagi Yojimbo. It's a beautiful hardcover book with mostly color illustrations of various artists' tributes to Usagi.
The organizers said they were overwhelmed by the response of over 400 drawings--far too many to be included in the book, unfortunately. I knew that Stan was well-liked and respected in the comic industry, but had no idea of just how beloved he was. The contributing artists range from the more obvious, like Sergio Aragones, who draws Groo the Wanderer (Sakai has been his letterer for many years) to mainstream artists like Family Circle's Jeff Keane (who'd have thought he'd even heard of Usagi?) to renowned superhero comic artist Neal Adams (Batman, X-Men). And one of my favorites, nemu*nemu's Audra Furuichi (who resides in Hawaii, where Stan grew up) also contributes a beautiful full-page illustration.
It's really cool to see how the different artists interpret Usagi (and some of the other Usagi 'verse characters) in their own unique styles, and the money goes to a good cause. Publisher Dark Horse is footing the bill for publishing the book, so all of the proceeds will go to the Sakais. The Comic Art Professional Society is also accepting direct donations for the Sakais via Paypal at ow.ly/zyctZ. Or checks made out to CAPS or Stan Sakai may be sent to Sakai Fundraiser c/o CAPS, P.O. Box 656, Burbank, CA 91503.
Unfortunately, sometimes bad things happen to nice people, and Sakai's wife, Sharon, suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. In order to raise funds for Sharon's medical expenses and to celebrate Usagi's 30th anniversary, his fellow comic book artists contributed artwork of Usagi that was auctioned off, with some of the best pieces being collected into The Sakai Project: Artists Celebrate 30 Years of Usagi Yojimbo. It's a beautiful hardcover book with mostly color illustrations of various artists' tributes to Usagi.
The organizers said they were overwhelmed by the response of over 400 drawings--far too many to be included in the book, unfortunately. I knew that Stan was well-liked and respected in the comic industry, but had no idea of just how beloved he was. The contributing artists range from the more obvious, like Sergio Aragones, who draws Groo the Wanderer (Sakai has been his letterer for many years) to mainstream artists like Family Circle's Jeff Keane (who'd have thought he'd even heard of Usagi?) to renowned superhero comic artist Neal Adams (Batman, X-Men). And one of my favorites, nemu*nemu's Audra Furuichi (who resides in Hawaii, where Stan grew up) also contributes a beautiful full-page illustration.
It's really cool to see how the different artists interpret Usagi (and some of the other Usagi 'verse characters) in their own unique styles, and the money goes to a good cause. Publisher Dark Horse is footing the bill for publishing the book, so all of the proceeds will go to the Sakais. The Comic Art Professional Society is also accepting direct donations for the Sakais via Paypal at ow.ly/zyctZ. Or checks made out to CAPS or Stan Sakai may be sent to Sakai Fundraiser c/o CAPS, P.O. Box 656, Burbank, CA 91503.