Stan Sakai was born in Kyoto, Japan, and grew up in Hawaii. He began his career by simply lettering comic books as he perfected his art and began working in the industry. He wrote and illustrated The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy, a comic series with a medieval setting, influenced by Sergio Aragones's Groo the Wanderer. Sakai is most famous for his original creation, Usagi Yojimbo, an epic graphic novel saga that began in 1984 and now spans more than 34 volumes. He is set to executive-produce a new Netflix comedy-action and CGI animated series, titled Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, based on the globally successful Usagi Yojimbo comic book. Usagi has been published in sixteen languages and Sakai has been honored with a number of awards. In 2015, he was named to the ALA YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens list.
