I was so flattered to be invited to be part of the stellar line-up of cartoonists to celebrate Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew’s new graphic novel from First Second, THE SHADOW HERO. The gn, which tells the story of The Green Turtle, the first Asian American superhero, is a total delight. I’ve been admirer of both Yang and Liew’s for some time now, and I was fascinated to learn about Chu Hing, the original Green Turtle artist.
For my tribute piece, I tried to work in the same Fiction House/Lou Fine key that Chu Hing did. Golden age comics boasted a remarkable blend of lurid, dead-serious romantic adventure and utterly ridiculous whimsy. Gene and Sonny evoke it marvelously in their book, and this image is my attempt to do so as well.
NPR’s Code Switch blog on The Shadow Hero.
