I work at a high school, and we have an anime and manga club. Gene Luen Yang animeclubhigh Change image and share on social
As I was researching, I was struck by how similar the Boxers were to Joan of Arc. Joan was basically a French Boxer. She was a poor teenager who wanted to do something about the foreign aggressors invading her homeland. Gene Luen Yang aggressorarcbasically share on social
In academia in general, there's this push toward using comics as an educational tool. Gene Luen Yang academiacomiceducational Change image and share on social
Ch'in Shih-huang is the first emperor of China. He united seven separate kingdoms into a single nation. He built the Great Wall and was buried with the terra-cotta soldiers. The Chinese have mixed feelings about him. They're proud of the nation he created, but he was a maniacal tyrant. Gene Luen Yang buildburychina share on social
At any comic book convention in America, you'll find aspiring cartoonists with dozens of complex plot ideas and armloads of character sketches. Only a small percentage ever move from those ideas and sketches to a finished book. Gene Luen Yang americaarmloadaspire share on social
To be able to write 'Superman,' to be able to work with the legendary artist who is John Romita Jr., I signed on as soon as I could. Gene Luen Yang artistjohnlegendary Change image and share on social
The rumor is Chu Hing really wanted the 'Green Turtle' to be Chinese American, but the publisher didn't think that would sell. If you read those books, the hero almost always has his back facing the camera so you can't see his face. When he turns around, his face is obscured. Gene Luen Yang americanbackbook share on social
I would hope that maybe math teachers could use 'Prime Baby' as a way of establishing an emotional connection between students and numbers. Gene Luen Yang babyconnectionemotional Change image and share on social
With my own comics, I try hard to get the vision in my head onto paper, to have one match the other as closely as possible. With the 'Airbender' comics, I'm working with someone else's vision, an already-established vision. I want to stay true to what's come before. Gene Luen Yang airbendercloselycomic share on social
I wanted to make an explicitly educational comic that taught readers the concepts I covered in my introductory programming class. That's what 'Secret Coders' is. It's both a fun story about a group of tweens who discover a secret coding school, and an explanation of some foundational ideas in computer science. Gene Luen Yang classcodecoder share on social