Gene Luen Yang

Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru’s Superman Smashes the Klan adapts the 1946 episode “The Clan of the Fiery Cross” from The Adventures of Superman radio show, focusing on the Lee family moving to Metropolis and facing racist attacks from a group of bigots in bedsheets. Yang sets the story in 1946 with the Golden Age Superman, incorporating elements of the character’s changes during the radio show. For instance, this graphic novel introduces Kryptonite as well as showing Superman learn to show more use more of his alien powers rather than seem like an extension of the circus strongman. Yang uses these changes in Superman’s powers to parallel the Man of Tomorrow’s narrative with the immigrant experience in America. Just as he expands the story of the Lee family from the radio drama, Yang brings in other elements from the immediate postwar Superman comics. The result is a great Superman story that gets to the heart of the character’s message while showing the lasting importance of the 1946 radio show nearly 80 years later. show less

I adored this graphic novel! Literally could not put it down start to finish and finished with tears in my eyes. It’s so heartwarming and truly a joy to read.

The story follows Val who thinks her family might be cursed - doomed to never have happiness in love, always only suffering. She meets some lion dancers and starts learning the art and also starts hoping that this could be her chance to break the cycle and be lucky in love. There’s a really sweet and relatable romance in the book show more that was so well written!

Val goes on first dates, gets to know boys, and navigates entering this part of adulthood. She also delves deeper into lion dancing, which was such a cool part of the book! I loved seeing the drawings of the characters practicing and I loved learning about lion dancing.

The art style was so alive - the lions had so much movement during the dances, and so much expression was captured in the character’s faces throughout the story. There are some darker, slightly somber moments, and they always felt perfectly balanced.

The ending of this book was wonderful - the story is leading towards something and when it hits, it’s beautiful and touching. I was so happy and satisfied and closed the novel knowing I had read something special.

First five star read of the year! show less

Boxers and Saints, Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel set about the Boxer Rebellion in China told from the perspective of a young man who becomes a rebel leader and a young woman who converts to Christianity and stands against the rebellion. I loved Boxers, but was less enamored with Saints. Boxers felt like a full story, showing the history of foreign colonial contact with the Chinese and fleshing out motivations for its characters. I loved the artwork, especially the Chinese gods that the show more rebels envisioned themselves transforming into; I also loved the author's decision to depict all foreign speech in meaningless scribble while the Chinese dialogue was written in English. This heightened the reader's identification with the Chinese rebel perspective because like the Chinese villagers, the reader literally has no idea what the foreign missionaries and soldiers are saying and must judge them solely based on their actions.

Saints, which is about 1/3 the size of Boxers, definitely felt like a sidenote. It focuses on a girl who is unwanted, called a devil, vows to be the most devilish devil she can be, and decides that aligning herself with the so-called "foreign devils" by converting to Christianity is the most evil thing she can do. Unlike the main character in Boxers, who rises to the status of prominent rebel leader fairly quickly, she struggles throughout her book to find a purpose and seems like a bystander in her own story. This might have been intentional, as Yang in both books draws attention to the male warrior's fear of contamination by women - whose "Yin" will weaken their fighting spirit - and their attitudes that women can't really contribute in a meaningful way to society. But the female character's general listlessness, combined with the shorter narrative, made this perspective feel like more of an afterthought to the "real" story presented in Boxers. I am posting the combined review on the bookpages for both volumes, because they are intended to be read as a set. show less

ARC provided by NetGalley

It is almost time for one of the highest Air Nomad holidays, Yangchen’s Festival, which has not been celebrated in over one hundred years. Aang decides its time to change that. With the help of Katara, Sokka, Toph, and three air acolytes they head to the island to celebrate. But trouble is in the air. Visits from Avatar Yangchen, Toph’s laid back attitude, and a refinery owned by the Fire and Earth Kingdoms operating on sacred Airbender land, is about to set off show more another war! Damage is being done and a mysterious quake has everyone’s nerves on edge. While Aang is an airbender and the Avatar, Toph may hold the key to solving this mystery.

One of the best things about the graphic novel series of Avatar the last Airbender, has been that Gene and crew have the chance to tell us new stories about Aang and the gang. Even better though is that they get to bridge the gap between Avatar the Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra, so we can see what happened in between times. In this book we see how the factory on Airbender land is leading the world into the industrial age, with nonbenders able to do tasks that were once only able to be done by benders. My favorite thing about this new trilogy though is that we get to focus on Toph. Because seriously, how much more awesome can you get than Toph? No seriously...try to be more awesome than Toph and you can’t. She’s small, fierce, kick butt, powerful bender, who despite her facade just wants to be a part of the team. I love it! Gene has clearly immersed himself in the Avatar universe and has accurately captured the characters and their movements within his writing. He has created a well crafted story that does justice to the series and feels just like an episode (ok multiple episodes) of the TV series. He accurately captures the essence of the characters, like Toph and Sokka and that sense of humor/immaturity/maturity that we all grew to love.

The artwork...wow the artwork is absolutely fantastic. I don’t think Bryan Gurihiru worked on the actual series, but man does he capture the characters perfectly. It’s like looking at a print version of the cartoon. He’s able to capture their expressions, even their very movements down to the last detail. And the colors are absolutely pitch perfect.

All in all this is the absolute perfect combination of writer and artist to work on this series and continue it for fans. For fans of the series this is just what you’ve been waiting for. It feels like Aang and crew never left. And if you’re new to the series...why are you starting with this book? Go watch the original series and get hooked on it and then come back and read this title. I give this tale 4 out of 5 stars and can’t wait to see what happens next. show less