1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Yang, Gene Luen. The Shadow Hero. New York: First Second, 2014. ISBN 978-1-59643-697-8.
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Author Gene Luen Yang and illustrator Sonny Liew recreate the first Asian American comic book hero Green Turtle who takes to the streets to bring down Ten Grand, the local gangster who had Green Turtle's father killed and extorts money from local Chinese business owners.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In this graphic novel for teens author Gene Luen Yang creates his own origin story for Green Turtle, the first Asian American comic book hero in America from the 1940s, and unlike the original, which publishers would not allow the author to visually depict the hero's facial features as Asian American, illustrator Sonny Liew lets his visual representations of many different kinds of Chinese faces fill the book. Thus, defying the old racist portrayals as Asians as slant-eyed, buck-toothed people who all look the same.
This origin story shares some commonality with other superheroes. It focuses on the protagonist Hank, who has wanted to grow up to be a grocer in the city just like his father. Hank enjoys spending long hours working side-by-side with his father and the two are very close. But Hank's mother has other ideas for him. Super ideas. Hank is motivated by his mother's desperation to have something adventurous and amazing in her life to don a green super suit and rid their neighborhood of crime. However, later when a local gangster has his father killed in their store, Hank's heroism is motivated by his need to seek justice on behalf of his father and his community, similar to Batman.
Interlaced through Hank's story, which takes place a half generation or so after the end of the Ch'ing Dynasty in 1911 and after his father and mother immigrated (separately) to America, is the underlying influence of four shadow spirits: Dragon, Phoenix, Tiger and Tortoise (1). The myth says that these spirits were born with the birth of China and live in a place between "our world and the next" (1). Their existence is linked to the livelihood of the country and their disagreement on how to help the country thrive after the fall of the dynasty leads to Tortoise hitching a ride to America and his brother Dragon coming after him.
Yang's attention on Hank's mother is a driving force in the book, not just because she encourages Hank to become something more, but because Yang is very forward about the disappointment the mother felt when arriving in America as an immigrant and in fulfilling her duty in honoring her parents' wishes, even though she desired to put space between herself and Chinatown. So often immigration stories are about how moving to America improved lives for immigrants, but for Hank's mother, she felt let down because instead of "color and astonishment" she found a world that was "gray, noisy and rude" (5).
Yang and Liew develop a hero who is very brave and quick thinking -- and still poor enough that he has to get everywhere by borrowed car, bus, and on foot. Even his costume, as the story progresses, becomes less and less, until toward the end of the adventure when he's barely in underwear and a cape, showing that his heroism is more human than super, which is an odd situation, given that superheroes really do exist in Hank's time.
Instead, Hank is a hero for regular people wanting to make a difference in their community. His detective work leads him to find that the evil in his neighborhood is highly connected to the leaders of his city, like the mayor and the chief of police. It's hard to have justice in Chinatown, when those in power have turned a blind eye to people in need.
But the bond Hank feels for his father is strong, and when he stumbles upon the Tortoise Shadow, he is promised one wish. Hank realizes that he could benefit by a superpower and asks to never be shot like his father. Tortoise grants him his wish and shares with him more about his father's life than Hank ever knew.
Throughout the story, it feels like Hank's ability to be accepted as a hero, when he isn't super, is equivalent to being able to be accepted in America, even though he isn't white. Toward the end of the book, his friend Red asks him: "Hank, be honest. Do you really think dressing up in that silly costume will make them accept you? Do you really think it will make you a part of them?" (150). Hank is unsure how to answer. In his heart he doesn't feel accepted into typical American culture, but as he learns on his adventures what makes the other super heroes super isn't really cultural assimilation, he realizes his cultural story doesn't have to be rooted in it either.
At the end of the book Yang gives the history of the original comic book hero and provides pages from one of the original comics. Both elements are great for readers who are interested in the history of comics and literary analysis.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S) and AWARDS
NPR Best Book of the Year
YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens
CCBC Choice
Chinese American Librarians Association Best Book Award
ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adults
YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults
Booklist Editor's Choice
From The New York Times Book Review
"What America needs is for people to shed the expectations of translation and immerse themselves in other worlds. It's O.K. if you can't pronounce ma po tofu, it's O.K. if you can't pronounce my last name and it's O.K. if you learn about our ways through graphic novels. America has to start somewhere and I'd recommend The Shadow Hero. Soon enough, it'll all be familiar."
From Kirkus Reviews
"Yang's funny and perceptive script offers clever riffs on familiar tropes and explores themes of identity, heroism and belonging."
5. CONNECTIONS
The Green Turtle chooses his own costume and name, even after his Mom tries to push an identity on him. Parents can do that some times. They only want the best, but sometimes they miss who their child is telling them who they are.
Think about your strengths, what would your special powers be? Would you have a shadow like GreenTurtle that was based on a connection to the past of your people? Or is there some aspect of your character that is more likely to suit you? Perhaps, if you're shy, you'd become invisible, or if you like to run you'd be super fast. Or if you have a lot of empathy, you could read others' thoughts!
Take time to think about who you are and then draw a self-portrait of what your superhero outfit would look like. Once you have your look and power identified, think of a challenge in your neighborhood that your superhero could resolve, and then create your own comic book about it. Teachers should have pre-printed empty comic panel papers for students to choose from as well as pencils, colored pencils, or fine markers for them to draw and color.
No comments:
Post a Comment