I’ve been missing issues 18 & 19 of the original Fantagraphics run of UY for awhile now. I’ve scoured every comic book shop, used bookstore, and rummage sale in town. I’ve spent endless hours searching Craigslist and Ebay. I’ve followed classified ads of “1000s of Independent Comics!” across town to dig through people’s guest rooms piled high with long boxes. I’ve searched every website that sells . . . well, you get the picture. I couldn’t find the damn things.
Last night I posted a cry for help on the Usagi Yojimbo forums. I checked them this afternoon from work. Nothing. I get home and I have a private message. I begin reading it without noting the sender:
Stan? ::checks sender:: S! It’s Stan Sakai!
I wrote him back a hearty thank you and all is right with the world. Just when I think I can’t get any more disgusted with how people treat each other, something like this happens and proves that I’m the one seeing things the wrong way.
I’ve really got to read this comic someday. I’ve heard nothing but good things about it, and now it sounds like it’s written by the kind of guy I’d be happy to give my money to.
Yes, Stan is a great guy. I see him at the San Diego Comicon just about every year, and though I’m sure I’m just one of the hundreds of fans that drop by his booth, he’s always very cordial and friendly. He has drawn little pictures (you should be getting them in your 18 and 19 as well) in all the graphic novels I’ve gotten, and they’re really cool. You meet a lot of egos at the Comicon, and Stan certainly isn’t one of them. Really a nice guy, and it doesn’t surprise me that he’d do this for you.
If you were that desperate for those issues, you should have sent a plea out on the SDMB ! I surprised some gal at a booth from instructions from an SDMB post (and it was pretty funny). And I would have been happy to snag those issues for you (there are a lot of books available from Dark Horse itself, as well as big retailers like Bud Plant at the con. In fact, on more than one occasion, I’ve needed to go to the Dark Horse booth for Usagi books because Stan has run out).
Are you aware of the big “The Art of Usagi Yojimbo” hardcover that came out last year ? Good stuff.
Let me also toss in a thumbs-up to Stan Sakai. I briefly met him at the SPXpo in Bethesda, MD in 2000(?). I bought a copy of Grey Shadows from him, and he made a point of making sure there was an original sketch in the front of the book (there wasn’t, so he took the time to put one in).
Then, I complimented him on Grasscutter and he gave, what seemed to me, to be genuine thanks for the my compliment along with a big smile. I’ve had other comic pros show some appreciation for compliments on their work (and others have a “whatever” response), but Sakai seemed to really enjoy my comments, and that made me feel appreciated as a reader.
IMO, Sakai’s a good guy and a great creator. Maybe after this thread dies you should send him a link to it, because I doubt anybody’s going to say anything negative about him and it’d be a nice way of saying thanks, not just by you but by some of his other fans as well.
Grasscutter was the first Usagi Yojimbo I read. I had a vague familiarity with the character from the old TMNT cartoons and one of my friends kept telling me it was a legitimate comic book. I didn’t really believe him but one day I saw Grasscutter in the library and checked it out. Immediately after finishing I went on a mad bender of buying a devouring every UY comic I could find until I hit the roadblock of Fantagraphics 18 & 19.
I’m still hooked, though. I have a little Usagi figurine on top of my desk and my wallpaper is wonderful painting of Gennosuke which, unfortunately, I can no longer find on the internet. I wish I knew who the artist was because I’d like to buy a print.
Need to get it autographed sometime, though – the only Stan Sakai signature I have was when he, Sergio, Mark, and Tom autographed my copy of The Death of Groo.
