It is an honor and a privilege to interview Gene Yang, known for “American Born Chinese” and “Boxers & Saints.” And now he and Sonny Liew offer you “The Shadow Hero.” With all the unpacking, literally and figuratively since Comic-Con, I finally share with you this interview. You really can’t say enough about Gene Yang. He has opened up a great path for others to dare to follow. Yeah, he’s that big of a deal.
I took my time with putting together my review of his latest work, which you can read here. There is a wonderful energy to Gene Yang, on paper, and certainly in person. He comes across as very self-assured, energetic, and generous. Now that I’ve had a chance to process what he and Sonny Liew have accomplished with “The Shadow Hero,” I really want to yell it from the rooftops. Yeah, it’s that good.
I’m just thinking about it right now and the book hits you on so many levels: the immigrant experience; navigating Chinese culture from the viewpoint of natives and outsiders; the Golden Age of comics; the 1940s; parents; mothers in particular; fathers in particular; the fate of communities, the fate of cities, the fate of superheroes. I could go on but you get the picture. Just go read “The Shadow Hero” and you will get a vivid, enriching, and entertaining experience, one that you can return to again and again.
“The Shadow Hero” is a full-color 176-page graphic novel, published by First Second Books. You can find this book here, here, and here.
You can always visit Gene Yang at his website right here.