Stan Sakai

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Stan Sakai is a Japanese American who has been writing and drawing comics since 1984. Born in Kyoto, Japan, Sakai grew up in Hawaii and presently resides and works in the Los Angeles area.

His most famous and critically acclaimed work is Usagi Yojimbo, although he has created or worked on many comics of interest to furries, including Albedo Anthropomorphics, Beauty of the Beasts, Cutey Bunny, Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy, Ninja High School, Space Usagi, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as well as many well-regarded non-furry comics as Groo The Wanderer, the Sunday strips for the serial Spider-Man, the comic book Shi, and occasional covers for Marvel and Disney comics. An award-winning artist, his accolades include multiple Eisner and Haxtur awards, as well as Best Anthropomorphic Comic Book in the Ursa Major Awards five times running for 2001-2005, with a double award in 2004 for The Art of Usagi Yojimbo.

Stan Sakai's art style is distinctive. Although his art style uses simple line designs like many funny animal cartoons, and his character's faces can go very wild during a 'take', he also includes many realistic traits; characters generally are anthropomorphic, and have at least a slight amount of biological plausibility. His designs may have been the influence of the later Mobian designs used in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book and animations. However, one thing that Stan Sakai has never done is drawn a tail on any of his characters; in Fantagraphics #24, he stated that "... giving them tails would make them somehow a bit too animalistic," and that he, himself, doesn't know whether or not Usagi Yojimbo has a tail.

Although not himself a furry, Stan Sakai appeared as the guest of honor at Anthrocon 2004. Although he had been leery of attending furry conventions in the past, he and his family enjoyed themselves.^[1] Since that first visit, he has planned other visits to other furry conventions; not as a guest of honor, but a fellow convention attendee.