The Shadow Hero

As a fan of American Born Chinese, I wanted to read more of Gene Luen Yang’s work. I think the world is a better place with him and his work: I’m definitely all for more Chinese protagonists (or any of colour, for that matter).

The Shadow Hero is an inventive imagining (albeit based on an old comic) of a Chinese superhero and how he became who he is. There is intrigue involving ancient Chinese spirits and a mob boss, and humour is laced throughout, giving the story a light feel despite some dark moments.

The plot hits some bumps along the way that unfortunately aren’t always believable, like how would Hank’s mother gleefully coerces her son to become a superhero without once considering his safety (until tragedy strikes), or Hank’s uncle is conveniently a kung fu master. Instances like this such as these remove immersion in the wonderfully drawn panels. Yang seems more interested in the idea of Chinese superhero than writing a cohesive and structured narrative.

I also read today that the Russo brothers, the same who directed the previous two Captain America films will be directing a Chinese superhero film (thanks to their Chinese producers, not really because it was a passion project of theirs). Here’s hoping it’ll be good.

American Born Chinese

Read this all in one day. It was really good, but also it was a quick read. I couldn’t help but think of my book proposal while I read this and how similar (growing up in a conflicting environment between personal culture and North American culture) and yet different (my life is very gay) it is. I related a bit to this, and it was interesting to me because I didn’t have such an identity crisis growing up in Vancouver as the main character did in this book. I’m first generation, but there was never any racism in elementary school or with teachers. Then again, there were a lot more Asian/Chinese kids in my school, so I’m sure we all became normalized to the fact that Vancouver wasn’t a white city.

As for my underwear, I think it’s supposed to be a jockstrap thing built into the underwear itself. It’s kind of funny-looking in that makes my dick stick out, and not particularly in an attractive way. Not sure how I feel about it. Maybe I’ll decide once I wear it a bit more. What do you think?