Super Mario-Kun In America! As Well, Kid Icarus and Donkey Kong Jr Manga?

It's very interesting that this image found in the March/April 1989 issue of Nintendo Power has art drawn by Yukio Sawada. This artists would later do the manga Super Mario-Kun. The artist took on some Zelda as well. I wonder if this was his first ever contribution to Nintendo? If this lead into Super Mario-Kun, or if in 1989, he had already started on the Manga? There is so very little information regarding this long running Manga series online. I always found that strange, considering how popular Super Mario is. Another point of interest is that I have seen on E-bay Donkey Kong Jr and Kid Icarus mangas that seem to have been drawn by Yukio prior to his work on Super Mario-Kun.

Even though the page says there are 7 forest creatures, I can see an 8th, can you?

Here's some pictures from Youji ga Asoberu Family Computer Ehon - Donkey Kong Jr. It was published by Nintendo / Hikari no Kuni back in 1985. I have no idea if the artist is Yukio Sawada, but the styles are certainly similar. It's very rare, though you can find it on E-bay from time to time, listed at some insane price.

Gotta love the how to draw page! (Which only shows how to draw his face for some reason. There was probably more inside the book.)

It's interesting that the Snap Jaws are drawn like little crocodiles instead of bear traps.

This is the Kid Icarus Manga. It usually goes for $50, or so. Fairly expensive. It was published in 1987. It looks like the Mario-Kun artist worked on this as well.