Comic genius: Asian-American graphic author tackles race issues

Children's author and cartoonist Gene Luen Yang had wanted to write a superhero book for a long, long time.

Yang, who caught the world of children's literature's attention with his 2006 graphic novel, 'American Born Chinese,” (First Second reprint, 2010, $9.99, ages 12 and up), made history when his graphic novel became the first to be nominated for a National Book Award and the first to win the American Library Association's Printz Award. It also won an Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album-New as it explored racist stereotypes thrust upon Asian-Americans in our culture.

Yang seems to be a bit of a superhero himself - unsuspecting, high school computer teacher by day/phenomenal, creativity-bursting graphic novelist by night.

At the Library of Congress, Yang spoke on Diversity at the 2014 National Book Festival. Looking at past literary greats in the room such as E.L. Doctorow, Nina Khruscheva, and Kai Bird, Yang joked, 'I'm a comic-book guy.” Although that is true and it may sound insignificant, he firmly believes comics are a force for learning, enlightenment and change. He put this belief into practice in 2013, another superhero kind of year for Yang, releasing a two-volume graphic novel, 'Boxers & Saints,” (First Second, 2013, $34.99, ages 12 and up).

In this fascinating tome, we're given a glimpse into the Boxer Rebellion, a piece of Chinese history few Americans know of. Yang scored a second nomination for the National Book Award and walked away winner of the L.A. Times Book Prize.

'Boxers & Saints” follows the lives of two Chinese peasants at the turn of the century, a time marked by blood, sacrifice, and belief. Yang's first volume, 'Boxers,” offers the perspective of Little Bao, the youngest son among boastful brothers, who eventually earns enough power and knowledge to lead the Rebellion. The second volume, 'Saints,” follows Vibiana, a girl whose tumultuous childhood takes her on a spiritual journey converting to Catholicism. Yang intersects these two lives in a dramatic show of force to choose between country or faith.

This year, Yang finally got his chance to write a superhero book. In 'The Shadow Hero,” (First Second, 2014, $17.99, ages 12 and up), illustrated by Sonny Liew, we are told a captivating story of why ordinary Asian-American boy, Hank Chu, strives to rebirth himself as a superhero, The Green Turtle, to both avenge his father's murder and combat crime in mob-laden 1940s Chinatown; and, we are also privy to a bit of comic book history.

In the mid-1940s, during comic books' 'Golden Age” of inception, the first Asian-American comic creator was a cartoonist named Chu Hing. Hing's World War II superhero was called The Green Turtle who defended China from the 'venomous octopus that is Japan,” a historical sentiment of the time. Yang and Liew learned that Hing wanted his hero to be Chinese, yet Hing's publisher feared that a Chinese superhero would not sell and told him to make the hero white. Because the face of Hing's hero is never shown, always obscured by his cape or his hyper-muscular arms, and the unexplained shadow character with him isn't explained either, Yang and Liew question that Hing kept The Green Turtle's identity hidden so he could imagine his superhero as he wanted: a Chinese superhero.

Yang and Liew's 'The Shadow Hero,” perhaps the first Asian-American superhero, is given a full, glorious story along with a fully-realized shadow, the celestial tortoise of ancient Chinese mythology. This is a graphic novel sure to intrigue comic book lovers everywhere.

Beyond the masterful storytelling of Yang, here are recommendations of worthy graphic novels that could find their place among stockings and dreidels this holiday season:

l 'Sisters” by Raina Telgemeier (Graphix, 2014, $24.99, ages 9 and up). In this follow-up to Telgemeier's phenomenal memoir success, 'Smile,” young Raina can't wait to be a big sister, but things are all too different once Amara comes along.

l 'El Deafo” by Cece Bell (Abrams, 2014, $21.95, ages 9 and up). This graphic novel memoir shows Cece's awkward pains of growing up with a hearing disability. With warmth and humor, Cece slips into her superhero persona El Deafo to save the day, complete with her Phonic Ear hearing pack and her red cape.

l 'This One Summer” by Jillian Tamaki; illustrated by Mariko Tamaki (First Second, 2014, $17.99, ages 14 and up). Rose and Windy are friends whose families meet every summer at cabins in a beach community. In this coming of age novel, unspoken troubles between Rose's parents unfold alongside another drama between two teenagers on the island.

l 'Ichiro” by Ryan Inzana (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014, $12.99, ages 12 and up). Ichiro lives with his Japanese mother in Brooklyn. When he is taken back to his mother's homeland to meet his grandfather for the first time, he learns about the bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Japan's old gods. In Tokyo, Ichiro begins to question the overwhelming nature of war in a fantastical way.

' Wendy Henrichs is a children's author living in Iowa City.