Just skimmed on through this and it looks like Jeff Yang has a new column out at Asian Pop on Avatar and some other films. I'll read it in-depth myself a little later, but wanted to post it on up:
When is an Asian cartoon not an Asian cartoon? The answer to this Zen dilemma is at the heart of the latest high-octane kerfluffle currently clogging the Net -- one that's pulled into its vortex two of the most celebrated Asian American creators in comics: Gene Yang, National Book Award finalist for his graphic novel "American Born Chinese," and Derek Kirk Kim, whose work has won comics' most prestigious laurels -- the Xeric, Ignatz, Eisner and Harvey awards.Read it in full here.
That's because the two happen to be passionate devotees of Nickelodeon's animated TV series "Avatar: The Last Airbender." The show completed its third and final season last year, only to have the cable network green light a live-action, big-screen adaptation, a proclamation greeted with both anticipation and anxiety by the show's burgeoning fan base.
Last month, with the unveiling of the film's principal cast, their worst fears came true, prompting self-proclaimed "Avatards" -- chief among them 'toon titans Yang and Kim -- to launch a protest that's generated torrents of both support and criticism.
