This has been sitting in my inbox for a few days now and for some odd reason I'm just getting around to posting it - but make no mistake - my penchant for procrastination along with sinking into the deep waters of a meat induced coma and doing research on if rubbing PB & J on my sheets really will get gum out of the sheets - well - those have no bearing on how much I'm already looking forward to Secret Identities: Shattered!
Check It.
Fan-favorite creators from first volume of groundbreaking Asian American comics anthology to return in second — joined by many more leading Asian American lights of mainstream and indie comics; new anthology will extend storylines of many characters from original, while adding all-new tales in an expanded set of pulp genres
New York—
The creators of the pioneering anthology of Asian American comics, SECRET IDENTITIES, are excited to announce that work is now underway on a second volume of all-new tales set in the grand tradition of heroic graphical fiction: SECRET IDENTITIES VOLUME 2: SHATTERED, targeting a 2012 publication date.
"Sales of the first volume have been far beyond what we could have possibly expected," says Secret Identities (www.secretidentities.org) Editor-in-Chief Jeff Yang. "And the reaction from readers has continued to pour in: We want more. And we wanted more too."
DEVELOPMENTAL SUPPORT
The first volume was one of the year's best-selling books for independent publisher The New Press, which quickly expressed interest in continuing the series. But it was a generous development grant from the Vilcek Foundation that has ultimately made the new volume possible.
"Putting together the first book was a monumental task," says Secret Identities Managing Editor Parry Shen. "And the more we thought about doing a sequel, the more we realized we had to figure out a way to make it even bigger, better and more boundary-breaking than the original."
The Vilcek Foundation, whose mission is to honor and celebrate the outstanding artistic and scientific contributions of immigrant innovators and creators in the United States, profiled the unique role of immigrants in comic books in their Summer 2010 Newsletter (http://orsp.in/cBv9oT) — and chose to showcase Secret Identities, whose 66 contributors include creators born in Taiwan, Korea, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and the Philippines among their number, as a unique example of the graphic novel art. Upon hearing that the Secret Identities team was thinking of doing a sequel, they offered to support the lengthy editorial and artistic process necessary to make it happen.
ON THE DARK SIDE
"We already had an idea of where we wanted to go," says Education Director and Editor at Large Keith Chow. "In the first volume, we focused on using superheroes as a lens through which to expose and celebrate Asian American history and culture. This time, we wanted to expand our perspective to the darker side of the SI Universe, while also incorporating a broader range of comic genres — from hard-boiled pulp to martial arts, adventure and science fiction."
The idea was originally seeded when, at a 2009 New York Comic Con panel on Secret Identities, an audience member noted that as exciting as the project sounded, it was easy to tell stories about heroes — the real challenge is to tell stories about villains. It was then that the SI team began to consider the possibility of exploring the nefarious, sinister and menacing side of the good guy/bad guy equation in order to upend, reenvision, reimagine — to shatter — distorted or negative images that have shadowed Asian Americans since the earliest days of our arrival in this country.
"The idea of putting a focus on stories that showcased strong and vivid interactions between heroes and villains — even stories with the 'villain' as protagonist — opens up so many interesting ways to question the power of perception to shape reality," says Yang. "It also inspired us to conceive of a narrative that will serve as the framing story for the book — a single long tale whose multiple episodes will introduce each book's chapter, while allowing us to continue the stories of some of our favorite characters from Volume One."
THE "LONG" ARC
The framing story will follow the aftereffects of an unfortunate mystical accident perpetrated by the protagonists of Volume One's "Driving Steel" — Jimson Fo and his young friend (and future American legend) John Henry — which releases a quintet of archfiends into the world, each with the power to reshape reality to conform to its image: The Manipulator, The Temptress, The Brute, The Brain and The Alien. The immortal Fo then takes it upon himself to pursue the demons across the ages, collaborating with heroes of each time period to defeat and destroy these infernal nemeses.
"The two things people told us they wanted most in a second volume were longer arcs and continuations of the stories of some of the characters they loved in the first book," says Art Director Jerry Ma. "This framing story gives us a way to make that possible. But there'll be plenty of original stories and characters in Volume Two — including characters imagined by readers and audiences at the many places where we've brought Secret Identities in the past few years."
SEEKING CONTRIBUTORS
Since the publication of Secret Identities in 2009, the SI Team has presented a unique workshop at schools, colleges and community institutions across the nation — a session called “Build a Hero,” in which they work with audiences to create original superhero characters on the spot, with editors guiding the crowd to collaboratively weave an identity, origin and backstory while an artist sketches and inks the hero on the fly.
"We think bringing the audience into the book is one of the most important things we've been able to do with Secret Identities," says Shen. "Some of the most interesting stories and characters in Volume One came from people who'd never even tried to write for comics before — but had a brilliant vision of something they wanted to bring to life. We just helped them do it!"
In that spirit, the SI Team is once again soliciting contributions — in the form of brief pitches for story ideas and characters (both heroes and villains) emailed to submit@secretidentities.org. Artists are also invited to submit samples of their work or links to their online portfolios for the editors to evaluate.
These stories/characters will be featured alongside already confirmed contributors such as Cliff Chiang (Justice League: Generation Lost), Greg Pak (Incredible Hercules, World War Hulk) and Bernard Chang (Superman, Wonder Woman).
More kick-ass details on what the team is looking for can be found down at the site along with a downloadable contributors' guide.
Hari will also be opening for legendary Marc Maron for 5 shows in 3 nights at the Punchline from Thursday October 8th through Saturday October 10th. Pick up tickets here.
News from the CBR that I wanted to post up for those who are interested in kicking it down to the AACC:
The organizers of the First Annual Asian American ComiCon (AACC), a celebration of the unique contemporary role and historical legacy of Asians and Asian Americans in the world of graphic fiction, have announced a new featured guest for the event, to be held on Saturday, July 11, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Museum of Chinese in America (215 Centre Street in New York).
Science fiction author William F. Wu has been nominated five times for the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards, has published over a dozen novels as well as over 50 short stories that have appeared in a wide variety of magazines and anthologies, including George R.R. Martin's best-selling Wild Cards books. His most acclaimed book, Hong on the Range, was chosen for the Wilson Library Bulletin's list of science fiction "Books Too Good to Miss" and was a selection for the American Library Association list of Best Books for Young People, the New York Public Library's Recommended Books for the Teen Age, and a Young Adult Editor's Choice by Booklist Magazine. Wu's success as a writer has caused his academic work to be overlooked; the recipient of a Ph.D. in American Culture from the University of Michigan, Wu has extensively researched the evolution of the image of Asians in Western popular fiction, and is the author of the historical study The Yellow Peril: Chinese Americans in American Fiction, 1850-1940 (Archon Books, 1982).
Recently, New York University revealed that Wu has donated his extensive collection of comic books depicting the history of Asian and Asian American cartoon images to the NYU Fales Library and Special Collections, the college's primary collection of rare books and other special collections materials. The collection is currently being catalogued and will be the subject of a major exhibition and academic event this Fall. As part of AACC's partnership with NYU's Asian/Pacific/American Institute, Wu will share notable images from the collection and discuss the legacy of the Asian image in pulp and popular culture in a unique Spotlight discussion at the con.
Exciting and humbling news. I'm being honored by the National Japanese American Historical Society at this year's awards dinner on Saturday, March 21 (6pm reception, 7pm dinner and program). The event will take place at the Kabuki Hotel in San Francisco's J-Town (1625 Post St.) and is open to the public but it is a fundraiser so keep that in mind with the ticket price of $150 a person. If you're in the SF area that weekend I'll be there Friday afternoon through Sunday morning so swing by for the dinner or let's hang afterward. The Many Faces of Manga exhibit is also open through June 30.
Here's a little background on the NJAHS so you get a better understanding of their mission and what the fund-raising is going to support. NJAHS was founded in 1980 as "Go For Broke, Inc.", whose purpose was to promote the history and accomplishments of Japanese American veterans of the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service who distinguished themselves during World War II. As the organization evolved into an institution dedicated to preserving the history of Japanese Americans in general and educating the public about the contributions of Japanese Americans to American Society, it changed its name in 1986 to the National Japanese American Historical Society.
Cool article from Asian American Comics on Bernard Chang:
Bernard Chang is pencilling two issues of Gail Simone's "Wonder Woman" series for DC Comics. The first issue hit stores last Wednesday and features an alien race called the Khunds, whom Chang redesigned to give an Asian look. Newsarama's Best Shots crew had this to say about Chang's art in "Wonder Woman" #18..
Here's some video of comic book artist Jae Lee (who won an Eisner Award for his work in Marvel's Namor the Sub-Mariner, Inhumans) and writer Peter David, both collaborators on the Marvel Comics' spinoff of Stephen King's The Dark Tower novels, from their midnight signing at Midtown Comics in NYC this past Tuesday (hat tip asianamericancomics.com):
If you're in the mood for something new to read, check out Fred Chao's Johnny Hiro: Half Asian All Hero which just started up and is on its 3rd issue.
On tap for the new issue:
Johnny and Mayumi go to the opera where they see Toshi, an old friend from Japan. As Toshi starts putting the moves on Mayumi, 47 Ronin Businessmen attack seemingly from nowhere. What could they be after? A modern spin on a classic Japanese tale.
The San Francisco Examiner came out with an article featuring Debbie Huey and her comic Bumperboy. Who is Bumperboy?
The hero of our stories, Bumperboy was born and raised in the Land of Bubtopia. He is always eager to learn and discover new things, as well as explore places he has never visited. He loves to meet new friends. Bumperboy is an avid marble player and one of the fastest borpers in Bubtopia. He wears a white rubber suit to protect him from high-speed borping. He is a bit on the competitive side, but he knows how to be a good sport. Bumperboy also enjoys watching cowboy movies and eating gummy worms in his spare time.
Released this month, the graphic novel Shortcomings is from Optic Nerve author Adrian Tomine and is his first foray into the long form graphic novel. Check out some articles on his new collection:
Tomine is the highly regarded author of the Optic Nerve series. His masterfully produced, ever-growing body of work is published by Montreal’s Drawn and Quarterly. His illustrations have also been featured in many mainstream magazines, as well as on the merchandise of rock band Weezer. A new novel, Shortcomings, is Tomine’s first attempt at a long-form graphic novel. Its content is collected from its originally serialized format in the Optic Nerve series.
After finishing each issue of his self-published cartoon, Optic Nerve, a teenage Adrian Tomine would slip the comic into an envelope, slap on enough stamps to ensure it survived the cross-continent journey from the southern U.S. to Canada and drop it into a mailbox with a Montreal address scrawled on the front.
Uptight Asian nerds. Weird arty types. Horny lesbians.
Stereotypes, if you're looking for them, abound in Shortcomings, the new Drawn + Quarterly graphic novel by Optic Nerve series creator Adrian Tomine. And that's Tomine's point: Pigeonholing people by race, gender identity or level of nerdiness can cloud your ability to see anything else about a person, including things that could prove to be way more pertinent. Like, say, the fact that they're crazy!
Mbutu Mondondo Bienvenu, a political science student living in Brussels is challenging Tintin in the Congo sales and says, “I want to put an end to sales of this cartoon book in shops, both for children and for adults. It’s racist and it is filled with colonial-era propaganda."
The slantyapolis/seftre blog has served millions of views trying to help in its own way, to give voice to the Asian and Asian American community, as well as document it, over the last 18 years. Sometimes op-ed, sometimes straight news, sometimes off the beaten path--the continued impetus remains that there's power in sharing voices and in sharing your own voice and reflecting that back into the communities you belong to.
If you're looking for the 2008 In Review Posts, the link list has been moved out, but you can still get to them all by following this link which pulls them up by label (they'll be in reverse so go to the oldest post to read them in order).
2007 In Review Posts
If you're looking for the 2007 In Review Posts, the link list has been moved out, but you can still get to them all by following this link which pulls them up by label (they'll be in reverse so go to the oldest post to read them in order).
