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Gene Luen Yang

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Gene Luen Yang
Yang at 2014 National Book Festival
Yang at 2014 National Book Festival
Native name
Traditional: 楊謹倫,
Simplified: 杨谨伦
Born (1973-08-09) August 9, 1973 (age 51)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
Genregraphic novels
Notable awardsMacArthur Fellow
Website
geneyang.com

Gene Luen Yang (Chinese Traditional: 楊謹倫, Simplified: 杨谨伦,[1] Pinyin: Yáng Jǐnlún; born August 9, 1973)[2] is an American cartoonist. He is a frequent lecturer on the subjects of graphic novels and comics, at comic book conventions and universities, schools, and libraries.[3] In addition, he was the Director of Information Services and taught computer science at Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, California.[4] In 2012, Yang joined the faculty at Hamline University, as a part of the Low-Residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults (MFAC) program.[3] In 2016, the U.S. Library of Congress named him Ambassador for Young People's Literature.[5] That year he became the third graphic novelist, alongside Lauren Redniss, to receive the MacArthur Fellowship.[6]

Early life

Yang believes he was born in either Alameda or Fremont, California.[4] He is the child of an electrical engineer from Taiwan and a programmer who grew up in Hong Kong and Taiwan, both of whom emigrated to the United States.[2] They met at the San Jose State University Library during graduate school.[4] His parents instilled in him a strong work ethic and reinforced their Asian culture. In a speech at Penn State, where he spoke as a part of a Graphic Novel Speaker Series, Yang recalled that both of his parents always told him stories during his childhood.[7]

Yang was a part of a small Asian-American minority in his elementary school. He grew up wanting to be an animator for Disney. In third grade, he did a biographical report on Walt Disney, which is where he says his obsession started.[7] This changed in fifth grade when his mother took him to their local bookstore where she bought him his first comic book, issue 57 of the Superman series DC Comics Presents, a book she agreed to buy because Yang's first choice, Marvel Two-in-One issue 99, featured the characters Thing and Rom on the cover, which she thought looked too frightening.[7]

Yang attended the University of California, Berkeley for his undergraduate degree. He wanted to major in art but his father encouraged him to pursue a more "practical" field so Yang majored in computer science with a minor in creative writing.[8] In college Yang found himself much less of a minority. During this time, he began to question his faith, but a moment he experienced while walking through the woods during his freshman year caused him to make Jesus his life's focus.[4]

Career

After graduating in 1995, Yang worked as a computer engineer for two years. However, after a five-day silent retreat, he felt he was meant to teach, and left his job as an engineer to teach computer science at a high school.[8] In 1996, Yang began self-publishing his own comics under the imprint Humble Comics. Yang went on to be published with First Second Books (an imprint of Macmillan Publishers),[4] Marvel Comics, SLG Publishing, Dark Horse Comics, Harper teen, The New Press, and Pauline Books & Media.[9]

In 1997, Yang first published comic Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks under his Humble Comics imprint, and it won him the Xeric Grant, a self-publishing grant for comic book creators.[8] Yang later published two more installments in the Gordon Yamamoto mini-series and a sequel, Loyola Chin and the San Peligran Order. In 2010, both Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks series and Loyola Chin and the San Pelgrino Order were published together as Animal Crackers by Slave Labor Graphics.[10]

In 2006, Yang published American Born Chinese with First Second Publishing,[11] winning the annual Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association, which recognizes the year's "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit".[12] It was the first graphic novel to be a finalist for the National Book Award, Young People's Literature,[3] and won an Eisner Award for best new graphic album.[13] American Born Chinese has been on the Booklist top Ten Graphic Novel for Youth; NPR Holiday Pick, Publishers Weekly Comics Week Best Comic of the Year, San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year, the National Cartoonists Society Award for Best Comic Book,[14] The Chinese American Librarians Association 2006/2007 Best Graphic Album – New, Time Magazine Top Ten Comic of the Year, and Amazon.com Best Graphic Novel/Comic of the year.[15]

Yang's other works have been recognized as well. In 2009, Yang was awarded another Eisner Award for best short story for his collaborative work The Eternal Smile which he wrote and Derek Kirk Kim illustrated.[3] Yang was nominated for Eisner Awards for both Prime Baby and his collaborative work Level Up.[13]

Yang wrote the Avatar: The Last Airbender comics series for Dark Horse Comics, the first volume of which was released in January 2012.[9] Yang's graphic novel, Boxers & Saints, which was published by First Second Books in September 2013. In July 2016, DC Comics released the first issue of New Super-man, featuring a separate Chinese character in the Superman mold, written by Yang.[16] In October 2019, Yang created a limited series, Superman Smashes the Klan, a loose adaptation of a famous 1946 story-arc from The Adventures of Superman radio series, "Clan of the Fiery Cross", in which an Asian-American family is threatened by the Ku Klux Klan and a young and unsure Superman is determined to protect the children from the terrorists.[17] Making his Marvel Comics debut, Yang will write a self-titled miniseries starring the martial arts superhero Shang-Chi, set for a June 2020 release. According to Yang, the series will explore the relationship between Shang-Chi and his archenemy father Zheng Zu, who was originally the infamous villain Fu Manchu.[18]

Yang advocates the use of comics and graphic novels as educational tools in the classroom. In his final project for his master's degree at California State University, East Bay, he emphasized the educational strength of comics, claiming they are motivating, visual, permanent, intermediary, and popular.[19] As a part of his Master's project, Yang created an online comic called Factoring with Mr. Yang & Mosley the Alien as a method of teaching math. This idea came from a time where Yang was substitute teaching a math class at Bishop O'Dowd. Due to the position of Director of Information Services[20] he held at the school, he was forced to miss classes and used the comics to help the students learn the concepts in his absence. Positive student feedback inspired him to use the idea for his Master's project.[8]

American Born Chinese

Main article: American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese was released by First Second Books in 2006. The first story line is Yang's contemporary rendition of the Chinese story of a Kung Fu practicing Monkey King of Flower-Fruit Mountain, The Monkey King, and his journey to the west. Yang replaces the Buddha from the original story with a Christian influenced deity Tze-Yo-Tzuh. Throughout the story, The Monkey King is unhappy with himself as a monkey and continually tries to become another version of himself. Tze-Yo-Tzuh tries to help The Monkey King accept himself. When The Monkey King refuses Tze-Yo-Tzuh imprisons him under a mountain of rocks. A monk named Jiang Tao is sent by Tze-Yo-Tzuh on a mission to carry three packages to the west and is to pick up his disciple, The Monkey King, on his journey. He finds The Monkey King imprisoned under the mountain of rocks and frees him from the mountain by convincing The Monkey King to return to his true form.

The second story line follows an American-born Chinese boy, named Jin Wang, who moves to a suburb where he goes to school with only two other Asian students. Jin struggles with his Chinese identity and begins to reject it when he meets a new Asian student, Wei-Chen. Wei-Chen is a Taiwanese[11] immigrant who just came to the United States and he and Jin become best friends. Jin begins dating a Caucasian girl in his class and her friend Gregg asks Jin not to ask her out any more because he felt she needed to protect her image. Jin perceives this as a personal attack on him because of his race and becomes angry. Angry and confused, he kisses Wei-Chen's girlfriend and they have a falling-out. That evening, Jin recalls the fight he had with Wei-Chen and convinces himself that Wei-Chen deserved it. That night, Jin has a dream about a Chinese woman he had met when he was younger. She had told him that he could be anything he wanted if he was willing to give up his soul. He awakens the next morning and looks in the mirror to see himself as a Caucasian boy and he changes his name to Danny.

The third story line follows Danny, the "all-American boy"[11] and his Chinese cousin Chin-Kee, who comes to visit every year. Danny is embarrassed by his cousin Chin-Kee, who is depicted in traditional queue and buck-teeth, because he is Chinese. At the end of this narrative, we learn that Chin-Kee is really The Monkey King. The Monkey King then proceeds to tell Danny that his son Wei-Chen was sent to live among the mortals without sin for forty years but that he had changed and no longer wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father. That is when The Monkey King decided to visit Danny. Danny realized that the reason Wei-Chen fell into sin was his fault and as he realizes this, he turns back into Jin Wang. The Monkey King gives Jin Wang a card with an address on it and Jin Wang goes there to make amends with Wei-Chen.

Although Yang draws from experiences in his past to write these narratives, they are not autobiographical.[21] American Born Chinese has been recommended to teachers for classroom instruction.[22]

Awards and recognition

In January 2016, Yang began serving a two-year term as National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, a program organized by the Children's Book Council, Every Child a Reader, and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.[23]

Yang was named to the 2016 class of the MacArthur Fellows Program, receiving what is commonly called the "Genius Grant". The MacArthur Foundation that names the fellows said that his "work for young adults demonstrates the potential of comics to broaden our understanding of diverse cultures and people."[24]

Selected works

  • The Rosary Comic Book (Pauline Books & Media, 2003) A graphic novel telling of the stories behind the mysteries of the Catholic rosary in which each panel represents one of the prayers.[25]
  • Animal Crackers (SLG Publishing, 2004) Featuring Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks and Loyola Chin and the San Peligran Order.[26]
  • American Born Chinese (First Second Books, 2006) [27]
  • The Eternal Smile (First Second Books, 2009). A collection of three short stories.[28]
  • Prime Baby (First Second Books, 2010) Thaddeus is upset to discover that not only is his baby sister (who he hates) is an inter-dimensional conduit for peace-loving aliens, but that nobody will believe him.[29]
  • Level Up (First Second Books, 2011) Dennis Ouyang's parents expect him to go to medical school instead of becoming a professional gamer. He finds himself trapped on the path to medical school by four angels and must find a way out.[30]
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender, illustrated by Gurihiru (Dark Horse Comics, 2012–2017):
  • Boxers and Saints (First Second Books, 2013), Two novels set during the Boxer Uprising, Boxers describes the "bands of foreign missionaries and soldiers" who "roam the countryside bullying and robbing Chinese peasants." Little Bao, "harnessing the powers of ancient Chinese gods," recruits an army of Boxers, "commoners trained in kung fu who fight to free China from 'foreign devils.'" [36] Saints concerns an unwanted and unwelcome fourth daughter, Four-Girl, who finally finds friendship in Christianity. But bands of young men roam the countryside, murdering Westerners and Chinese Christians alike. She will have to decide whether she is willing to die for her faith.[37] Boxers and Saints won the 2013 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature[38], was nominated for the 2014 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel,[39] and was a 2013 National Book Award finalist.[40]
  • The Shadow Hero, illustrated by Sonny Liew (First Second Books, 2014) An origin story for the obscure Golden-Age comic book hero The Green Turtle, who is thought to be the first Asian-American superhero.[41]
  • Superman Vol.3 #41–50, illustrated by John Romita Jr. and Klaus Janson (DC Comics, 2015–2016)
  • Secret Coders, illustrated by Mike Holmes (First Second, 2015–)
    1. Secret Coders, 2015
    2. Paths & Portals, 2016 [42]
    3. Secrets & Sequences, 2017
    4. Robots & Repeats, 2017
    5. Potions & Parameters, 2018
    6. Monsters & Modules, 2018
  • New Super-Man #1-18, series about a Chinese Superman, Kong Kenan (DC Comics, 2016–2018)
  • New Super-Man and the Justice League of China, the series concludes the adventures of Kong Kenan and the other Chinese heroes (DC Comics, 2018)
  • The Terrifics #15- (DC Comics, 2019-)
  • Dragon Hoops (First Second Books, 2020)

Anthologies

  • Up All Night (Harper Collins) – 14-page short story
  • Secret Identities (The New Press) – 12-page short story
  • Strange Tales II (Marvel Comics) – 4-page short story
  • Nursery Rhyme Comics (First Second Books) – 1-page short story
  • Shattered (The New Press) – 4-page short story
  • Open Mic (Candlewick) – 4-page short story
  • Comic Squad: Recess! (Random House) – 12-page short story

See also

References

  1. ^ "杨谨伦：美生中国人的表述." (Archive) Government of the United States. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  2. ^ a b Antonucci, Lisa; Xochitl Ayon; Justin Beck; Cassandra Ulrich; Yahaira Vega; Alnas Zia (March 23, 2012). "A Biography of Gene Luen Yang". Archived from the original on October 18, 2011. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d "Announcing New Faculty". Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e Chen, Alice C. (May 11, 2008). "The Humble Comic: Gene Yang's Christian take on being American-born Chinese fuels his emerging comics career". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
  5. ^ George Gene Gustines, Library of Congress Anoints Graphic Novelist as Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, New York Times, 4 January 2016.
  6. ^ "Meet the 2016 MacArthur Fellows". www.macfound.org. John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  7. ^ a b c Yang, Gene. "Gene Yang Speaks as Part of Graphic Novel Speakers Series". Retrieved March 20, 2012.
  8. ^ a b c d "Story Hour in the Library: Gene Yang". December 2, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
  9. ^ a b Yang, Gene. "Comics". Retrieved April 23, 2012.
  10. ^ "Animal Crackers". Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  11. ^ a b c Yang, Gene (2006). American Born Chinese. 01 First Second Books. pp. back cover. ISBN 978-0-312-38448-7.
  12. ^ "Michael L. Printz Winners and Honor Books". YALSA. ALA.
      "The Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature". YALSA. ALA. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
  13. ^ a b Yang, Gene. "About". Retrieved April 10, 2012.
  14. ^ "National Cartoonists Society". www.reuben.org. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  15. ^ "Awards and Honors - First Second". First Second. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  16. ^ "Naming Super-Man". April 14, 2016.
  17. ^ Pinion, Kyle. "The long-awaited SUPERMAN SMASHES THE KLAN debuts this October". The Beat. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  18. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/12/books/shang-chi-marvel.html
  19. ^ Jacobs, Dale (January 2007). "More Than Words: Comics as a Means of Teaching Multiple Literacies". English Journal. 96 (3): 19–25. doi:10.2307/30047289. JSTOR 30047289.(registration required)
  20. ^ "Comics in Education: About Gene Yang". Retrieved April 23, 2012.
  21. ^ "Interview with Gene Luen Yang". Winter 2007. pp. 84–88. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  22. ^ Gutierrez, Peter (Fall 2009). "Integrating Graphica into Your Curriculum: Recommended Titles for Grades 6–12". Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  23. ^ "Yang Named National Ambassador for Young People's Literature".
  24. ^ "MacArthur Foundation". www.macfound.org.
  25. ^ Yang, Gene Luen (April 1, 2003). Rosary Comic Book: Includes the Luminous Mysteries. Pauline Books & Media. ISBN 978-0819864796 – via Amazon.
  26. ^ Yang, Gene Luen (October 23, 2012). Animal Crackers: A Gene Luen Yang Collection. SLG Publishing. ISBN 978-1593621834 – via Amazon.
  27. ^ Yang, Gene Luen (December 23, 2008). American Born Chinese. Square Fish. ISBN 978-0312384487 – via Amazon.
  28. ^ Yang, Gene Luen (April 27, 2009). The Eternal Smile: Three Stories. First Second. ISBN 978-1596431560 – via Amazon.
  29. ^ Yang, Gene Luen (April 13, 2010). "Prime Baby". First Second – via Amazon.
  30. ^ Yang, Gene Luen (June 7, 2011). Level Up. First Second. ISBN 978-1596432352 – via Amazon.
  31. ^ Yang, Gene Luen; DiMartino, Michael Dante; Konietzko, Bryan; Gurihiru (February 20, 2013). Marshall, Dave (ed.). Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Promise. Dark Horse Books. ISBN 9781616550745 – via Amazon.
  32. ^ Yang, Gene Luen; DiMartino, Michael Dante; Konietzko, Bryan; Gurihiru (February 5, 2014). Marshall (ed.). Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Search. Dark Horse Books. ISBN 9781616552268 – via Amazon.
  33. ^ Yang, Gene Luen; DiMartino, Michael Dante; Konietzko, Bryan; Gurihiru (February 24, 2015). Marshall (ed.). Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Rift. Dark Horse Books. ISBN 9781616555504 – via Amazon.
  34. ^ Yang, Gene Luen; DiMartino, Michael Dante; Konietzko, Bryan; Gurihiru (September 21, 2016). Marshall (ed.). Avatar: The Last Airbender – Smoke and Shadow. Dark Horse Books. ISBN 9781506700137 – via Amazon.
  35. ^ Yang, Gene Luen; DiMartino, Michael Dante; Konietzko, Bryan; Gurihiru (October 25, 2017). Marshall (ed.). Avatar: The Last Airbender – North and South. Dark Horse Books. ISBN 9781506701950 – via Amazon.
  36. ^ Yang, Gene Luen; Pien, Lark; Yang, Gene Luen; Yang, Gene Luen (December 6, 2017). Boxers & saints. OCLC 825754024.
  37. ^ Yang, Gene Luen; Pien, Lark (December 6, 2017). Saints. OCLC 823897885.
  38. ^ "The winners of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes are ..." April 11, 2014 – via LA Times.
  39. ^ Cavna, Michael (August 18, 2014). "SMALL PRESS EXPO: Here are your nominees for the 2014 SPX Ignatz Awards…". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  40. ^ "National Book Awards 2013". National Book Foundation. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  41. ^ Yang, Gene Luen (July 15, 2014). "The Shadow Hero". First Second – via Amazon.
  42. ^ "Exclusive: Gene Luen Yang's SECRET CODERS, VOL. 2 Cover Reveal - Nerdist". August 13, 2015.

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