Southern California's CAPS, the Comic Art Professional
Society, will launch an ongoing series of eBay auctions of original comic art.
Its goal is to raise funds for medical care for Sharon Sakai, the wife of
respected cartoonist and longtime CAPS member Stan Sakai, creator of the
samurai rabbit USAGI YOJIMBO. Sharon has been battling a debilitating brain
tumor for some time; after an extended hospital stay and convalescence, she is
currently at home, but her condition requires 24-hour care and medicine that
costs more than the Sakai's insurance covers. 100% of the proceeds of these
auctions will go directly to Stan and Sharon Sakai to help pay their ongoing
medical expenses.
The CAPS auctions will be conducted through eBay.com beginning on Thursday, March 6, with a new set of
auctions every following Thursday. Each auction, sold under the seller name of
"CAPSauction", will be ten days in length with twenty to forty items
in each set of auctions. The donations of original artwork and collectibles
(including newly created art unique to this event, vintage comic book pages,
comic strips, illustrations, animation art, limited edition statues, and IDW
Artist's editions books) number over three hundred with new items arriving
every day.
Contributors include:
Adam Hughes, Alex Maleev, Arthur Adams, Batton Lash, Darwyn Cooke, Eric
Powell, Jan Duursema, Jerry Ordway, Jordi Bernet, Matt Groening, Michael
Allred, Mike Mignola, Paul Gulacy, Sanjulià n, Scott Shaw!, Jim Steranko, Tim
Sale, William Stout, Bill Sienkiewicz, Cameron Stewart, Dan Brereton, Daniel Parsons, Dave Gibbons,
Dean Yeagle, Doug Sneyd, Dustin Nguyen, Bill Morrison, Tone Rodriguez, Sergio
Aragonés, Fabio Moon, Francisco Francavilla, Gene Ha, Geof Darrow, Gilbert
Hernandez, Jack Davis, James O'Barr, Kevin Eastman, Jeff Lemire, Jeff Smith,
Kazu Kibuishi, Liam Sharp, Tom Richmond, Michael Jantze, Olivia, Oscar Martin,
Paul Chadwick, Richard Corben, Tom Mandrake, Walter Simonson, Charles Vess, Dan
Spiegle, J. Scott Campbell and many more.
Many of the pieces featuring Usagi Yojimbo will appear in
a new oversized hardcover book from Dark Horse, THE SAKAI PROJECT: ARTISTS
CELEBRATE THIRTY YEARS OF USAGI YOJIMBO, which will be released on July 23,
2014. All proceeds from this book will go to Stan and Sharon Sakai. Much of the
custom Usagi Yojimbo art created for this book will also be sold as a part of
CAPS' online auctions.
These fund-raising auctions will be promoted through
ComicArtFans.com, and the CAPS - COMIC ART PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY Facebook page
where you will be able to see updated information such as when certain pieces
will be auctioned.
1. "CAPS_Stan_Sharon_Sakai_2004_Spain.jpg" - Taken in 2004 during healthier days, Stan & Sharon Sakai visiting the ancient aqueducts of Segovia, Spain. photo credit: © 2004 Stan Sakai
2. "CAPS_Jeff_Smith_Usagi_Bone.jpg" - CAPS will be auctioning this rare original drawing of Bone by creator Jeff Smith who teamed his character up with Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo.
3. "CAPS_J_Scott_Campbell_Usagi.jpg" - Known for his exquisite work with female characters, J. Scott Campbell created this wonderful ink drawing to benefit Sharon & Stan Sakai in the CAPS auction