Stan Sakai's Hulk and Anakin Skywalker

[riddler13]

The letterer for Groo, the illustrator for 47 Ronin, the creator/writer/illustrator/letterer/inker/authority supreme for Usagi Yojimbo, Stan Sakai has found the time to do some one-offs too. According to the man himself, he worked on a short Hulk story called "Oni", a "Peanuts" strip, an interlude in "Queen and Country". I also found a Star Wars story, and somebody in a forum mentioned a Rocketeer and a Grendel story.

I was unable to find the "Queen and Country", "Peanuts", "Grendel" and "Rocketeer" excerpts, but I do have the Hulk and the Star Wars stories to share below.





From Stan: "I received a call from Marvel out of the blue about the Strange Tales project. I was told I could use any of their characters and pretty much do whatever I wanted with if. My first thought was Spider-Man as a ninja, since I was a big Ditko fan, but that just seemed too obvious. I told the editor that I wanted to do a Samurai Hulk, and I planned to kill him at the end. That was fine with him. A samurai on the losing side of a battle was turned into an "oni" ogre by Gama the witch who called him "Sashimono" after the "banner" he carried on his back. I liked the visuals of the Hulk in full samurai armor fighting against samurai."

So, a young sashimono ("banner-yielder") for Lord Munakata is struck by Gama's rays and turns into a shapeshifting green ogre? Geez Stan, how on the nose can you get? (Loved it, though).



Enemies beat him and he got angry. They won't like him when he's angry.



He turns the tide of battle with his super powers and goes on a rampage, killing everyone in the field, wave after wave after wave, including:



Now on to the Star Wars story.



Anakin has two urchins friends who are constantly being chased by Watto. One day, Anakin and his buddies find a light saber in Watto's office, play around with it and accidentally messes with Sebulba's podracer.



Meanwhile, Watto has problems of his own - namely, that the only realistic way of not losing his shop due to massive debt is to bet against Sebulba and his unbeaten record.



Sebulba loses due to a malfunction caused by a faulty wire, and Watto's happy again... well, not completely.



"STAY OUT!"

Comments

[berani00]

And strange the first one was definetly.

[full_metal_ox]

Since Charles Schulz prided himself on never using assistants, I assume the Peanuts strip was for a tribute work?

[riddler13]

Most likely.

Question is, which one?

I'd be much obliged if someone found it :)

[full_metal_ox]

Speaking of strange...knowing that Sakai's a Ditko fan, Onmyouji! Doctor Strange is something I'd read the hell out of--particularly given the rigorous research that Sakai could be relied upon to bring to the table.

[full_metal_ox]

Okay; the anthology in question is Peanuts: A Tribute to Charles Schulz (BOOM! Studios 2015), by Paul Pope, Ryan Sook, Zac Gorman, Roger Langridge among others; here's a review: http://coverlessreviews.tumblr.com/post/131168829703/peanuts-a-tribute-to-charles-schulz

Sakai's piece, with Julie Fujii, is "Escapade in Tokyo", a travelogue episode wherein a friendly local comes to the rescue of a lost Charlie Brown:

https://www.bleedingcool.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Peanuts_TributeCharlesSchulz_HC_PRESS-26.jpg

https://www.bleedingcool.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Peanuts_TributeCharlesSchulz_HC_PRESS-27.jpg

(The name "Akemi" can be rendered with a character meaning "red"--make of that what you will.)

[riddler13]

Thank you so much! I will track it down now :)

And yes, there is someone with the Mifune mon (crest) sitting in the background on pg.1 ;)

[riddler13]

[full_metal_ox]

Another standout is Melanie Gillman's "Weird", in which Peppermint Patty and Marcie struggle to articulate the exact nature of a relationship they have no words for:

http://68.media.tumblr.com/23def72b5dac71344a6b8a36f4fe5cc7/tumblr_inline_nw84amQ9Zo1slcdqj_540.jpg

(Bonus points for the insinuation that Marcie is familiar with Revolutionary Girl Utena.)

[riddler13]

Awesome!

You know what? I think this anthology deserves a post of its own. But if I were to do it, I'd have to go and buy it first.