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A review by saidtheraina
Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology by Keith Chow, Parry Shen, Jeff Yang
4.0
I really dig the idea of this. Provide a place for Asian-American graphic novelists to present their vision of Asian-American superhero comics. It should be noted that I am not a rabid reader of superhero comics (tending to gravitate toward indie/alternative/small press graphic novels), so this is not an expert's perspective and I may not be the target audience.
And, like most anthologies, in terms of success, it's a grab-bag. Some of the selections are less well-executed than others, some of the selections are more didactic than others. Some of the comics are more sexist than others (yes, comics focusing on women superheros are relegated to a chapter titled, "Girl Power," which is... not particularly excusable).
The standout selections for me were as follows:
1. Justified (pg. 170-71) by Ken Wong & Tiffanie Hwang
When I picked up this book to review it a couple of months after reading it, this two-page spread was the only story I remembered before actually opening the book again. I'm pretty shocked to see that it's only two pages long. Really, really good work.
2. A Day at Costumeco (pg. 119-125) by Jeff Yang & A. L. Baroza
When I flipped through the thing to refresh my memory, I saw this one and gasped in glee. Though apparently not aggressively memorable, this is a great take on day-to-day superhero society (not unlike [b:Top 10 The Forty-Niners|59706|Top 10 The Forty-Niners |Alan Moore|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348393076s/59706.jpg|2647078], [b:Powers Vol. 1 Who Killed Retro Girl|105864|Powers, Vol. 1 Who Killed Retro Girl?|Brian Michael Bendis|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348572693s/105864.jpg|102045], [b:Born in Fire Rising Stars 1|771577|Born in Fire (Rising Stars, #1)|J. Michael Straczynski|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347605403s/771577.jpg|757632], [b:Soon I Will Be Invincible|645180|Soon I Will Be Invincible|Austin Grossman|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320554514s/645180.jpg|955983], [b:Watchmen|472331|Watchmen|Alan Moore|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327866860s/472331.jpg|4358649] etc. etc. etc.). I especially dug the focus on kids and coming of age in such a world.
3. The Blue Scorpion & Chung (pg. 63-74] by Gene Yang and Sonny Liew
Totally obvious behind-the-music on The Green Hornet. But really, it needed to exist.
I'd love either of the first two to be expanded into a longer graphic novel. And I hope that more anthologies like this one will come out, maybe focusing on other underrepresented populations. Quite possibly my favorite part about this is that, as detailed in both the extra material and their contributions, the editors were inspired to create this organically. We can tell it was a labor of love. There's even a timeline of when these comics are set in the back, y'all!
Based on my personal experience with this, I'd probably give it three stars, but because more books along these lines should exist (at least as long as we don't have a perfect society, race-politics-wise), it gets an extra.
And, like most anthologies, in terms of success, it's a grab-bag. Some of the selections are less well-executed than others, some of the selections are more didactic than others. Some of the comics are more sexist than others (yes, comics focusing on women superheros are relegated to a chapter titled, "Girl Power," which is... not particularly excusable).
The standout selections for me were as follows:
1. Justified (pg. 170-71) by Ken Wong & Tiffanie Hwang
When I picked up this book to review it a couple of months after reading it, this two-page spread was the only story I remembered before actually opening the book again. I'm pretty shocked to see that it's only two pages long. Really, really good work.
2. A Day at Costumeco (pg. 119-125) by Jeff Yang & A. L. Baroza
When I flipped through the thing to refresh my memory, I saw this one and gasped in glee. Though apparently not aggressively memorable, this is a great take on day-to-day superhero society (not unlike [b:Top 10 The Forty-Niners|59706|Top 10 The Forty-Niners |Alan Moore|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348393076s/59706.jpg|2647078], [b:Powers Vol. 1 Who Killed Retro Girl|105864|Powers, Vol. 1 Who Killed Retro Girl?|Brian Michael Bendis|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348572693s/105864.jpg|102045], [b:Born in Fire Rising Stars 1|771577|Born in Fire (Rising Stars, #1)|J. Michael Straczynski|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347605403s/771577.jpg|757632], [b:Soon I Will Be Invincible|645180|Soon I Will Be Invincible|Austin Grossman|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320554514s/645180.jpg|955983], [b:Watchmen|472331|Watchmen|Alan Moore|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327866860s/472331.jpg|4358649] etc. etc. etc.). I especially dug the focus on kids and coming of age in such a world.
3. The Blue Scorpion & Chung (pg. 63-74] by Gene Yang and Sonny Liew
Totally obvious behind-the-music on The Green Hornet. But really, it needed to exist.
I'd love either of the first two to be expanded into a longer graphic novel. And I hope that more anthologies like this one will come out, maybe focusing on other underrepresented populations. Quite possibly my favorite part about this is that, as detailed in both the extra material and their contributions, the editors were inspired to create this organically. We can tell it was a labor of love. There's even a timeline of when these comics are set in the back, y'all!
Based on my personal experience with this, I'd probably give it three stars, but because more books along these lines should exist (at least as long as we don't have a perfect society, race-politics-wise), it gets an extra.