In this deceptively simple and colour-filled graphic novel, we are introduced to the author’s family history as seen through the eyes of five female members at fifteen. The book starts in 1908 with Weng Pixin’s great-grandmother Kuan in China. Her story is followed by the narratives of her grandmother Mei in 1947, her mother Bing in 1972, herself in 1998, and the imagined story of Pixin’s future daughter in 2032. The fact that we are shown, rather than are able to attend to their verbalizations, is an indication of the struggles this matrilineal family has, and continues to face, with silence as their paramount defense in all aspects of their lives. “She grew to quiet her voice, just so she could survive.”
While the stories are not completely based on her female family members due to the silence and lack of family stories, Pixin extrapolates the histories and uses her art to explore the concealed and stifled personal struggles that had traditionally been internalized, subdued, and hidden from others in her lineage. It is through her art and the telling of these stories that Pixin delves into the rationale behind the harrowing and negative relationship she had always had with her own mother. These stories are told in a series of vignettes, moving both forward and backwards in time, each exploring key and interrelated elements in the lives of the five characters. This arrangement effectively illuminates the inter-generational complexities of societal expectations, family dysfunction as well as successes, and reveals how they are transferred from one generation to another. The themes that resonate within these vignettes are the love of nature and animals, a sense of alienation from the adult world, the suppression of trauma, and the sanctuary of artistic expression to compensate for the silence that predominated each of their lives. The breaking of that silence and the understanding of the causes of the frustrations and anger that seems insurmountable is the valuable undertaking that Pixin and her imaginary daughter explore with the fragments of the family history that they can find. “I wonder also what it would be like to live in a world where you have no control over your life.”
Pixin’s illustrations, painted in bold and vibrant colours, are reminiscent of folk art, focusing primarily on domestic settings. Included in the panels are extreme close-ups, recurring images of crickets, and the daily chores of each of the teenagers within their time frames. The layout of the panels is not static, but, while fairly conventional, it is also reflective of an uncomplicated and straightforward narration that combines to engage the reader in unanticipated observation and mediation. This is not a book that should be read quickly, but savoured. The ambiguity of the stories being told adds to the appreciation of the book as a whole. The occasional full-page panels add to the awareness of this being a work of art and passion. The occasional dialogue offers additional snippets of information about each of the characters, their motivations, and their challenges, but it is not the driving force for this graphic novel. It is the images, and the silences within the panels and illustrations, that ultimately carry the story.
Recommended for high school library collections, public library collections, and collections on memoir, family histories, and Chinese creators and history.
Let’s Not Talk Anymore By Weng Pixin Drawn & Quarterly, 2021 ISBN: 9781770464629 Publisher Age Rating: 16 and up
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18) Creator Representation: Chinese Character Representation: Chinese
For anyone worried about what Robert Kirkman would be doing after The Walking Dead, fear no more!
Fire Power follows the story of orphaned Owen as he searches for answers to who his parents were. He has sought knowledge at temples around China before landing at the Temple of the Flaming Fist, where he meets master Wei Lun, an hysterical and wise old man who is trying to relearn the power of the Fire Fist. Wei Lun has answers for Owen, but must join the order and prove himself first. While there, Owen also meets Ling Zan, a sympathetic lady who shows kindness to Owen when none of the other disciples will. At the Temple, there are several mysteries, including a dragon who is guarded around the clock, and a Scorched Earth clan determined to free it. Owen must show his ultimate loyalty and prove himself worthy of Wei Lun’s trust. At the end of the novel, we flash forward 15 years, where the rest of the this story presumably will happen.
I got some definite Iron Fist and Doctor Strange vibes throughout Owen’s training at the Temple, and I really enjoyed the whole thing. Master Wei Lun is absolutely hilarious, and I actually laughed out loud several times through this volume. But, holy time jump, Batman! I was IN that story between Flaming Fist and Scorched Earth, so much so that I forgot to really come up for air. Then, we jump 15 years into the future and leave it on a crazy cliff hanger! I can’t wait for the next to come out so I can continue this crazy journey with Owen.
Samnee’s art is a cartoony style, and it is beautiful. The color palette is full of rich tones, and the scenery around the temple is stunning. Characters are extremely expressive, which adds to the hilarity at some moments and the heartbreak at others. Battle sequences are clear and easy to follow, and the attack sequences using special abilities are vivid.
Image rates this for Teen, and that is perfectly fitting. There is some mild language, and a bit of violence with some blood, but not a ton of gore. This story so far would be fine for middle school and high school audiences.
Fire Power Volume One: Prelude By Robert Kirkman Art by Chris Samnee ISBN: 9781534316553 Image Comics, 2020 Publisher Age Rating: Teen (13+)
Browse for more like this title NFNT Age Recommendation: Tween (10-13), Teen (13-16), Older Teen (16-18)
Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales is the umbrella title for a series of three compilations themed after a specific region of which this one is the third. The first two cover Europe and Africa while the fourth one, on Oceania tales, is in publication. All have been funded through Kickstarter efforts.
I had high hopes for this collection of Asian folktales, but was dismayed to discover that few of them have source notes or any markers for context. The geographic location is mentioned, but no background is provided for readers who may not be familiar with yokai, kitsune, demons, and other supernatural beings from Japan, China, India, Georgia, Laos, Myanmar, Turkey, Iraq and Tibet. I was very pleased, however, with the reworking of “The Ballad of Mulan” which followed the ancient tales rather than the Disney film. Aside from this tale and a few others such as the title story and “Urashima Taro,” most of the stories may not be familiar with young audiences. This is not a criticism, but it is also where source notes could have made this an outstanding addition to the ongoing reworkings of folklore in the comic book format.
The length of the stories varies as does the black and white art work in this anthology. Several of the tales have been modernized to including texting and other nods to contemporary life, but the vast majority have retained the ancient settings; particularly those by a diverse range of illustrators including Gene Luen Yang, Nina Matsumoto, and Carla Speed McNeil. Most of the other creators in this collection are known better through their webcomics and indie titles. The illustrations range from manga-like cartoon-y artwork to detailed and realistic penciling and the application of black and shadows. The mood of the stories is also as diverse as the tales themselves, with a mixture of light and dark themes. Some of the tales are excerpts from longer legends and books such as Yang’s “From the Journey of the Monkey King” from American Born Chinese. All the tales offer warnings or advice for the protagonists and the readers. Unfortunately for many of the protagonists, there is a great deal of pain in learning these lessons. They do, as the overall theme indicates, offer a cautionary edification for the reader.
I wish I could recommend this for library collections but the lack of source notes for this storyteller is truly a stumbling block. There is no need in today’s publishing world not to respect the tales and culture from where the stories originated. Very few of the entries even acknowledge that the individual tale has been adapted.
Tamamo the Fox Maiden and Other Asian Stories By C. Spike Trotman, ed. Kate Ashwin, ed. Kel McDonald Art by Carla Speed McNeil, Gene Leun Yang, Nina Matsumoto, et al ISBN: 9781945820342 Iron Circus, 2018 Publisher Age Rating: all ages NFNT Age Recommendation: Easy Readers (5-9), Middle Grade (7-11), Tween (10-13)
Browse for more like this title Related to…: Inspired by myth, Retelling
Gene Yang is best known as an independent comics creator. His American Born Chinese was a surprise hit in 2006 and his further graphic works (The Shadow Hero, Boxers & Saints) have skillfully explored problems of Chinese and Chinese-American identity while also telling compelling, brilliantly drawn stories. He has taken over existing creative franchises in the past, in the form of his marvelous Avatar: The Last Airbender graphics, but has never before tackled a high-profile superhero title. Yang’s New Super-Man series is his first opportunity to put his mark on an existing superhero mythology and world, and he delivers brilliantly.
Yang’s hero is not the enormously familiar/enormously white Superman of Action Comics fame, but is instead a Chinese teenager named Kong Kenan, If Supes is classically known as a do-gooder and boy scout, Kong is in some ways the opposite. Introduced as a bully and a clown, over time the new Super-Man of Shanghai reveals himself as a person with a heroic but angry-and-wounded heart. The reasons for his heroism are rooted in well-delivered comic book cliches—a tragically dead mother, an emotionally distant father, conflicted feelings about new superpowers. Created by the Chinese government’s shadowy Ministry of Self-Reliance, Kenan finds himself imbued with colossal-but-unreliable power, and is forced to work with the Wonder Woman and Batman of China (!) in the newly formed Justice League of China. It is a team created as much for Chinese propaganda purposes as it is to fight the increasing number of super-villains cropping up in Chinese urban centers.
If the plot ideas are not entirely fresh—sassy teenage superhero finds himself via heroism—the details, delivery, and storytelling all start strong and grow stronger over time. For example, Kenan’s teammates could easily be portrayed as either cheap imitations, government thugs, or half-baked jokes. Instead, Kenan finds himself befriending and respecting the Chinese Batman and Wonder Woman despite their differing philosophies and maturity. For their part, they have no respect for ideals such as democracy and liberty, but instead value personal loyalty and compassion and so are willing to bend the rules for their friend. In contrast, the Justice League’s first opponents, the Freedom Fighters of China, have ideals that Western readers are more likely to identify with, but several of them have fallen off the path to super-heroism into outright terrorism. It’s details like these that Yang mines for nuance and context, allowing him to talk about mainland China’s politics and attitude towards intellectual property without becoming mired in overblown philosophical discussion. At the same time Yang creates a warm and humorous chemistry between his main characters, highlighted by the chilliness of both Kenan’s father and the Ministry of Self-Reliance’s intimidating director, Doctor Omen.
Another outstanding aspect of this series is how Yang uses super-heroic tropes to explore superhero comics’ problematic (at best) history with Asian characters—figures like The Mandarin, The Golden Claw, the bizarre racist Humpty-Dumpty Egg Fu, and DC’s own Fu-Manchu rip-off Ching Lung-—a Yellow Menace caricature who appeared on the cover of Detective Comics #1, and who makes an appearance as an apparent mastermind in early issues of New Super-Man. This is familiar territory for Yang, who has explored American caricatures of Asians with characters like American Born Chinese’s Chin Kee, but touching on elements specific to superhero comics provides Yang with a new opportunity to redeem comics’ past while not allowing superhero stories to ignore it.
Conversely, Yang also explores Chinese cultural touchstones in this series, introducing his readers to perhaps unfamiliar elements of Chinese society and storytelling. For example, the Wonder Woman of China is actually the Green Snake, a hero from one of China’s most famous folk tales, echoing the more familiar Wonder Woman’s origins in Western mythology while rooting his new character firmly in Asian traditions. Bridging the gap between these concepts is Kenan’s sifu and martial arts mentor, I Ching, who not only teaches Kenan about Chinese mystical concepts like the 8 Trigrams (from the oracular Chinese book the I-Ching) and qi (life energy), but also served a similar (if more stereotypical) role as Wonder Woman’s mentor during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Superheroes are often touted as modern myths, but Yang seems to be exploring their potential for historical and cultural exploration in ways other creators haven’t touched on. As a longtime student of Chinese martial arts, I realize I might be part of a very small target audience for some of this discussion, but this fact also lets me appreciate the fact that Yang gets the details on difficult concepts right, and explains them adroitly without getting too bogged down in exposition.
New Super-Man is a smart, fun read. While the superhero battles often have dark undertones, the characters and dialog provide a welcome sense of humor throughout, and Yang’s command of the DC Universe makes Kenan and his allies plausible additions to an already complex world. The nature of mainstream superhero comics does mean this is not the visual storytelling feast Yang is known for, but artists Viktor Bogdanovic and Billy Tan both do a good job within the the genre’s constraints. If your library collects superhero comics, this is one of the better offerings currently on the shelf. Aimed at younger teens but appropriate for children, this representation of both Chinese culture and Chinese heroes also makes this book a good candidate for school libraries. Some of Yang’s earlier works were successfully designed as earth-shakers and paradigm breakers, and if you come in expecting that you will be disappointed. However, this is a superhero series that is quietly moving the needle, treating Chinese characters and culture with respect and humor while acknowledging the Chinese government’s problematic nature.
Read it.
New Super-Man by Gene Yang Art by Vicktor Bogdanovic. Billy Tan vol. 1 ISBN: 9781401270933 vol. 2 ISBN: 9781401273903 vol. 3 ISBN: 9781401280444 DC Comics, 2018 Publisher Age Rating: (Teen 13-16)
Discover the wonders of everyday life with four stories set in Beijing, China. In My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder, Nie Jun explores life through the eyes of a young girl named Yu’er and her grandfather.
Yu’er is disabled, and relies on her grandfather for transportation. She dreams of swimming in the Special Olympics, but the family does not have access to a pool. So her grandfather fashions a harness to a tree that allows Yu’er to practice swimming. The message of the story is if you believe in yourself, anything is possible.
In another story, Yu’er finds some neighborhood kids tormenting a butterfly. She tries to stop them, but they push her to the side. A young boy, Duobao, comes to the rescue. He whisks Yu’er away to what he calls Bug Paradise. Duobao shows her the visual and sensory pleasures that can be found there. From the sounds of crickets chirping, to the buzz of the bee, Yu’er imagines a symphony all around her. The scene captures the marvel and magic that surrounds us, that we are too busy to notice.
Yu’er has rosy cheeks and wears an orange and white cap with a tuft of her bangs hanging out. Her grandfather is a rotund fellow, who is always in a jovial mood. The artwork is done in the style of watercolor. The main colors used are orange, yellow, green, and blue. The courtyard residences that make up the hutong are naturally grey, but the author infuses them with orange and green window trimmings to give it a vibrancy. It makes the images pop out, and you want to absorb every little detail.
My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder captures what life is like living in a hutong. These types of structures are normally found in the northern parts of Beijing. A hutong is an alleyway that connects rows of siheyuan. Siheyuans are residences that are built to form squares or rectangles to create a courtyard. These types of spaces began during the Yuan dynasty circa 1271-1368. When initially people think about Beijing, they might think of the Summer Olympics. A visual of huge crowds, historic buildings, and a place where tradition and the present combine. The hutongs as depicted in the graphic novel give us a sense of interconnectedness of the community. By being connected physically, communities become closer and cooperation is necessary for peace and harmony.
I found My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder to be a visual feast for the eyes and like a warm cup of soup for the soul. You can’t help but feel your spirit glowing. The story radiates happiness, and an appreciation for the simple things around us. Children will enjoy the visuals, and the character of Yu’er. The theme of the importance of dreams, and not letting your limitations define you will resonate with the young and old.
My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder by Nie Jun ISBN: 9781512445909 Graphic Universe, 2016 Publisher Age Rating: 7-11
Are you looking for some graphic novels on mythology? Each book in Capstone Publishing’s Universal Myth series is a collection of myths centered around a common theme. Dawn of Time covers creation myths, End of Days doomsday myths, Cleansing the World flood myths, and Warring Gods conflict between gods. While each collection includes at least one myth from one of the major pantheons– Norse, Greek, and Egyptian–they also include myths from less well-known ones, such as a variety from African nations, Native American tribes, Chinese, and Sumerian. Each volume includes critical thinking questions, a list of books for further reading, and a glossary. The fact that the series includes pantheons beyond the main ones as well as supplementary materials indicate quite a bit of promise, but the series, as a whole, does not quite fulfill its potential.
Mythology can be fascinating, with insightful stories, but these books frequently shortchange the storytelling. When the collection is on point, the result is a short, engaging telling that flows relatively well. However, at times, the brevity prevents the stories and cast from being fully developed, and as a result, some of the stories can be confusing to read or even inaccurate.
One example is the story of how Loki is chained. In the original myth, Loki is restrained by chains made from his son Nari’s entrails, but End of Days portrays Loki chained in ordinary chains. Whether this was done to conserve space or out of ignorance, it further reduces the quality. Another example comes from Warring Gods: there is a myth from Babylon where the gods are fighting after the death of the leader, but not everyone is identified and it’s unclear what they are fighting for. Each story has an introductory section that occasionally provides useful context, but that is not consistent from story to story.
Cheesy dialogue throughout the books also disrupts the story’s flow. For example, in Cleansing the World, a character has to face the consequences of stealing from one of the gods. Instead of a serious death scene, the character screams “Ahh” as his executioner raises his sword behind him. The dialogue adds an air of humor that does not seem appropriate to the stories being told.
The series does not have the same artist for each volume, and the art’s quality fluctuates over the course of the series. Dawn of Time is the weakest: the characters’ poses are stiff, the colors are dull, and the vague backgrounds do little to contribute to a sense of place. The other books have stronger art, but there are still points where the characters’ poses are stiff and awkward or the perspective does not fit with the narrative. The font used throughout the series can be hard to read; it looks carved, and the shape and relatively small size can make it hard to read the words.
The concept behind Universal Myths is a good one, but the inconsistency makes it difficult to recommend. If educators want to use one of the collections, supplementary materials would be necessary to provide additional context. Capstone Publishing recommends it for grade levels 3-9; the series does not get overly gory or sexual, so younger readers would be fine with the series. The fact that these myths are portrayed in such a basic way suggests that students older than fifth grade on are less likely to find this interesting. Libraries developing recreational collections might want to seek out other comic portrayals of myths.
Universal Myths Series Cleansing the World: Flood Myths Around the World by Blake Hoena Art by Silvio Ob ISBN: 9781515766278 Dawn of Time: Creation Myths Around the World by Nel Yomtov Art by Dante Lividini ISBN: 781515766292 End of Days: Doomsday Myths Around the World by Blake Hoena Art by Felipe Kroll ISBN: 9781515766261 Warring Gods: Immortal Battle Myths Around the World by Nel Yomtov Art by Ray Dillon ISBN: 9781515766285
Escape to Gold Mountain chronicles an aspect of North American history that is rarely discussed in mainstream culture: the treatment of Chinese immigrants and their descendants in the western U.S. and Canada across several centuries. Spoiler alert: bad things happen.
The book follows the Wong family from the immigration of Wong Ah Gin in 1845 to the present day. In the framing story, elderly Emily Wong explains the family’s history to her grandchildren. Though the Wong family is fictional, some incidents in their story are based on real events and the author takes artistic license in his depiction of their interactions with real historical figures.
Since the Wong family immigrated to North America, they and their Chinese co-workers, neighbors, and friends suffered insults, segregation, violence, legalized discrimination, and other forms of racism. But North America—then referred to as Gam Saan, or Gold Mountain—was not the only place they faced trouble. Nineteenth century China had been rocked by two opium wars and its economy was strained under the burden of reparations, with more wars and violent rebellions yet to come. Little wonder that Wong Ah Gin and many others left to search for work in the U.S. and Canada.
Despite the outrageous treatment they received, many Chinese immigrants remained in North America. They worked on railroads and in factories, created communities and built families, and even contributed heavily to American and Canadian war efforts; in short, they acted as model citizens despite the fact that they were not allowed citizenship. Eventually, the U.S. and Canada stripped their racist laws from the books, issued formal apologies, and recognized the citizenship of Americans and Canadians of Chinese descent.
In addition to its seldom-publicized historical topic, this book adopts an atypical perspective: it follows the history of a people rather than a region. The Wongs travel back and forth across the U.S.-Canadian border, even spending some time in Hawaii. They interact with white Americans and Canadians, but also native Hawaiians and other First Nations people. Occasionally, members of the family or their friends travel back to China, giving the reader a glimpse of the situation there. A timeline at the front of the book tracks historical events, which is helpful because their order can be a bit unclear as the story jumps between members of the Wong family in different eras.
The book’s black-and-white line art is more expressive than it is realistic: postures can be stiff and expressions exaggerated. With so many characters who age and change in appearance as the decades roll by, it can sometimes be a little hard to keep them all straight, but that’s not a major problem. There is considerable violence and tragedy, but it’s shown with sadness, not sensationalism.
I found this volume’s historic and linguistic information fascinating. Several Chinese-language phrases are included and explained, and we also see antiquated phrases and terms with which I was unfamiliar. For example, Americans used to call the Chinese “celestials,” because China was sometimes called the Celestial Kingdom. However, the text can be repetitive when trying to emphasize a point and some of the dialog is a little stilted, even when characters are speaking their first languages. Multiple introductions at the start of the book are provided by relevant experts who illustrate the author’s credentials, including the founder of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia – readers must get through several pages of text before starting the graphic novel. There are also thoughtful endnotes that provide context and explain some of the author’s research.
Escape to Gold Mountain has a lot to teach its readers, yet it remains an engaging and entertaining story. It would be good support for a middle or high school history curriculum, whose students possess the attention span required to take on its long and complicated story.
Escape to Gold Mountain: A Graphic History of the Chinese in North America by David H. T. Wong ISBN: 9781551524764 Arsenal Pump Press, 2012
In this deceptively simple and colour-filled graphic novel, we are introduced to the author’s family history as seen through the eyes of five female members at fifteen. The book starts in 1908 with Weng Pixin’s great-grandmother Kuan in China. Her story is followed by the narratives of her grandmother Mei in 1947, her mother Bing in 1972, herself in 1998, and the imagined story of Pixin’s future daughter in 2032. The fact that we are shown, rather than are able to attend to their verbalizations, is an indication of the struggles this matrilineal family has, and continues to face, with silence as their paramount defense in all aspects of their lives. “She grew to quiet her voice, just so she could survive.”
Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales is the umbrella title for a series of three compilations themed after a specific region of which this one is the third. The first two cover Europe and Africa while the fourth one, on Oceania tales, is in publication. All have been funded through Kickstarter efforts.
Gene Yang is best known as an independent comics creator. His American Born Chinese was a surprise hit in 2006 and his further graphic works (The Shadow Hero, Boxers & Saints) have skillfully explored problems of Chinese and Chinese-American identity while also telling compelling, brilliantly drawn stories. He has taken over existing creative franchises in the past, in the form of his marvelous Avatar: The Last Airbender graphics, but has never before tackled a high-profile superhero title. Yang’s New Super-Man series is his first opportunity to put his mark on an existing superhero mythology and world, and he delivers brilliantly.
Discover the wonders of everyday life with four stories set in Beijing, China. In My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder, Nie Jun explores life through the eyes of a young girl named Yu’er and her grandfather.
Are you looking for some graphic novels on mythology? Each book in Capstone Publishing’s Universal Myth series is a collection of myths centered around a common theme. Dawn of Time covers creation myths, End of Days doomsday myths, Cleansing the World flood myths, and Warring Gods conflict between gods. While each collection includes at least one myth from one of the major pantheons– Norse, Greek, and Egyptian–they also include myths from less well-known ones, such as a variety from African nations, Native American tribes, Chinese, and Sumerian. Each volume includes critical thinking questions, a list of books for further reading, and a glossary. The fact that the series includes pantheons beyond the main ones as well as supplementary materials indicate quite a bit of promise, but the series, as a whole, does not quite fulfill its potential.
