secret identities: the asian american superhero blog

SIUniverse For Japan: The Swag

2011-03-31T12:35:00.011-04:00

So rather than constantly updating the original announcement of the auction, I figured I'd give the items for bid their own place on the blog. So here it is.

Check this space often to see what cool and unique items are currently for bid as we try to raise some money for the ongoing relief efforts in Japan. You can also keep track with the SIUniverse For Japan auction at our main eBay page for siuniverseforjapan or check the hashtag #SIU4Japan on twitter.

After the jump, check out the items that are available now.

3/28/11: Secret Identities + Signed Bookplate & Voltron Sketch

~~sketch by Jerry Ma~~ ENDED: $36.00

3/29/11: Ultimate "Better Luck Tomorrow" Fan Package

~~donated by Parry Shen~~ ENDED: $71.00

3/30/11: "The Motel" DVD

~~signed by writer/director Michael Kang~~ ENDED: $27.00

3/31/11: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet 1st edition Hardcover

~~signed by author Jamie Ford~~ ENDED: $26.00

4/1/11: "Surrogate Valentine" HD Digital Download

~~donated by Lynn Chen~~ ENDED: $25.00

4/4/11: Secret Identities + Signed Bookplate & M.U.S.C.L.E. Sketch

~~sketch by Jerry Ma~~ ENDED: $35.88

4/5/11: Exclusive Miyazaki Club T-shirt for Women

by Martin Hsu STILL AVAILABLE!

4/5/11: Exclusive Miyazaki Club T-shirt for Men

~~by Martin Hsu~~ ENDED: $24.00

4/6/11: Haruko from FLCL Original Art

~~by A.L. Baroza~~ ENDED: $30.00

4/7/11: Dawnstar from Legion of Super-Heroes Original Sketch

~~by Greg LaRocque~~ ENDED: $51.00

4/8/11: Hideaki Akaiwa: Real Life Superhero Original Color Drawing

~~by Jimmy J. Aquino~~ ENDED: $30.00

4/11/11: Exclusive Monkey King T-shirt

by Gene Yang FOUR MORE AVAILABLE

4/12/11: "West 32nd" DVD

signed by writer/director Michael Kang

4/13-14/11: "Sense & Sensibility" (Marvel Comics) Original Pages

by Sonny Liew

Issue 4, Page One

Issue 5, Page 2

4/15/11: Six-Pack of Mango Pop Greeting Cards

by Keiko Agena

Announcing SIUniverse For Japan: Online Auction to Support Relief Efforts in Japan

2011-03-25T14:49:00.021-04:00

Help the people of Japan by bidding on items donated by members of the SIUniverse family.

Two weeks ago, the world was stunned by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that ravaged northern Japan. Though the aftermath of the natural disaster and resulting nuclear crisis is no longer front page news, the people of northern Japan still need our help. This is why SIUniverse Media is announcing SIUniverse For Japan, an online auction to raise money for ongoing relief efforts in Japan.

Through ebay Giving Works, 100% of the final sale of any item sold through SIUniverse For Japan will go toward GlobalGiving’s Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. Search for eBay seller ID “siuniverseforjapan” or follow SIUniverse on twitter and Facebook for regular updates on the auction.

Over the next several weeks, fans will be able to bid on everything from original artwork, action figures, t-shirts, DVDs, CDs, comics, books, and other unique items donated by some of the creative talent behind Secret Identities and know that all proceeds will go towards rebuilding the lives of the people affected by the disasters. The first item, a copy of Secret Identities plus a bookplate signed by Jeff Yang, Parry Shen, Keith Chow and Jerry Ma, will be up for bid beginning on Monday, March 28.

The following SI-affiliated artists and creators will also have items available for bid in the coming weeks:

Keiko Agena
Jimmy J. Aquino
A.L. Baroza
Blacklava
Jef Castro
Bernard Chang
Lynn Chen
Tanuj Chopra
Keith Chow
Jamie Ford
Martin Hsu
Michael Kang
Shin Kawasaki
Kazu Kibuishi
Greg LaRocque
Sonny Liew
Jerry Ma
Greg Pak
Koji Steven Sakai
Alexander Shen
Parry Shen
Tak Toyoshima
Glenn Urieta
Gene Yang
Jeff Yang
And while you're at it, head on over to Epic Proportions where Jerry is donating 100% of every sale to relief efforts in Japan as well!

Doughboy Needs Your Help!

2010-12-15T10:30:00.002-05:00

Jason Lee, the founder of TurtlistMedia.com and one of Secret Identities' earliest supporters, is in the process of producing a short film called "Doughboy."

Doughboy, is a short film dark comedy about Felix, a superfan of Data (the Asian American kid from The Goonies), who decides to pursue his late father’s American Dream of making funnel cakes as easy to find as the hot dog. He designs and builds a mobile funnel cake-making suit inspired by Data and begins to sell them on the streets of Little Tokyo. It’s a million dollar idea, but there is one fatal flaw that he is forced to realize when he is confronted by a militant activist group protesting the name of his business: Data’s Funnel Cakes.

Check out the trailer below:

Unfortunately, Jason needs to raise some more money to get this project off the ground! This is where you come in. Just visit Doughboy's Kickstarter page and pledge to donate as little as $1 to help support a young Asian American filmmaker bring Doughboy to life. The world could use another Asian American hero. And more funnel cakes.

Make Your Own "Evil Chinese Professor!"

2010-10-25T17:58:00.003-04:00

Since we recently announced Volume 2 would be dedicated to shattering Asian stereotypes, it only makes sense to point you all to a brand new Asian stereotype just in time for the midterm elections, thanks to the right-wing "think" tank Citizens Against Government Waste: the Evil Chinese Professor!

Well, now it's our turn to reclaim Professor Evil. A few Asian Am blogs--Angry Asian Man, 8Asians, Disgrasian, Reappropriate, channelAPA, and Hyphen--have gotten together to sponsor this contest.

Basically:

Download the .ZIP archive, including the subtitle-stripped .MOV file and .RTF text file transcript of the original "Chinese Professor" video.

Get the video file, write a hilarious alternate monologue for the Evil Chinese Professor, re-subtitle the footage, add a call-to-action voiceover at the end, and upload your parody to a video sharing service like YouTube or Vimeo (Heck, upload wherever you can. CAGW is apparently cracking down on all parodies).

Then send the link to evilchineseprofessor@angryasianman.com. The best three videos as judged by the sponsoring bloggers will win some fabulous as-yet-undetermined prizes. The deadline to submit is November 27, which happens to be Bruce Lee's birthday.

ANNOUNCING SECRET IDENTITIES VOLUME 2: SHATTERED!

2010-10-11T12:31:00.006-04:00

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 details on what the team is looking for can be found at http://www.secretidentities.org/site/v2, including a downloadable contributors' guide.

To schedule interviews with SECRET IDENTITIES’ editors and contributors or to request further information on Volume Two, please email Jeff Yang at jeff@secretidentities.org or Keith Chow at keith@secretidentities.org.

The SIU Invades Comic-Con. Again.

2010-07-19T21:26:00.004-04:00

Well, it's that time of year when all of fandom descends on sunny southern California for a sensory overload of lights, sound and sweat. Yes, people, it's Comic-Con time. And just like last year, you can find the diverse members of the SECRET IDENTITIES fam throughout the San Diego Convention Center.

In addition to Jerry Ma and Parry Shen (Fri. and Sat.) at the Epic Props booth #1737, be sure to seek out the rest of the SIUniverse

Bernard Chang: booth #1223
Cliff Chiang: booth #1320
Ming Doyle: booth #N11 & DD10
Larry Hama: booth #2307
Erwin Haya: booth #D06
Martin Hsu: booth #G02
Benton Jew: booth #DD-23
Kazu Kibuishi: booth #2235
Dustin Nguyen: booth #FF-04
Jonathan Tsuei: booth #DD-10
Blacklava: booth #4929

SI at the SI! Talkstory at the 2010 Folklife Fest

2010-06-29T10:56:00.003-04:00

This past Sunday, the SI crew (Secret Identities, that is) got a chance to talk about the book and "build a hero" with a volunteer from the audience at the Smithsonian Institute's (the other SI, natch) 2010 Folklife Festival.

It was definitely an awesome experience to get a chance to be a part of such a great tradition. Big thanks to Phil Nash, Terry Hong, Chloe Ith, Kozue Tsunoda, and the rest of the Smithsonian staff and volunteers that made this happen!

To read more about our adventures in the D.C. heat, read Jerry's recap For What It's Worth and the Smithsonian's Asian Pacific American Program's official blog.

SIUniverse Ballers Crowned a Champ... Like, Two Monrhs Ago

2010-06-02T21:57:00.004-04:00

So, the NBA Finals are about to begin tomorrow night, and once again it's the Lakers vs. Celtics (which, I think would make an awesome name for a basketball video game. Get on that EA Sports.) And I was reminded that we sponsored a fantasy NBA league full of SI fam, fans, and friends.

Well, we can report that L.A.-based musician/sound engineer Ethan Chu walked away as the league champ, but the real winner was Dream League. The Asian American community basketball organization received a cool $100 donated from the various SIUniverse Ballers! So congrats Dream League! And go Lakers (for those of you reppin' the Westside) and go Celtics (for our Beantown fam)!

Bid on Items from the SI Crew to Benefit ImaginAsian

2010-04-20T17:04:00.003-04:00

We've mentioned the ImaginAsian fundraiser to benefit the APA programs in Indiana before, but now the gallery is finally on exhibit at Purdue University and now, some of the items on display are now up for auction here.

Among the plethora of cool items up for sale include some nifty contributions from members of the SI fam. Check out the SI-related items and bid on 'em to help out a great cause!

Bid on a signed mixed media collage featuring art from Better Luck Tomorrow and Secret Identities from our very own Parry Shen;
Our Art Director Jerry Ma, along with the Angry Asian Man himself Phil Yu, has a signed ink sketch of Bruce Lee for bid;
G.I. Joe godfather Larry Hama has a signed pencil sketch of the Baroness available;
Rock star artist Cliff Chiang contributed an original, signed Gatchaman pencil sketch;
Cliff's DC Comics brother-in-arms Bernard Chang also contributed an ink drawing of Supergirl for auction;
Finally, you can bid on an original Secret Asian Man strip entitled "Lil Kim" by Tak Toyoshima.

Of course, there are tons of other really cool items from every corner of Asian America available, including some more SI-related swag. Stay tuned and get involved!

SI DAILY DEAL today on BLACKLAVA.NET!!!

2010-04-14T03:17:00.001-04:00

Valentine's Day = A box of chocolates.

Chinese New Year's = A Red Envelope.

Asian-Pacific Heritage Month = a copy of SECRET IDENTITIES: The Asian American Superhero Anthology.

Do you have your copy yet?

If not, you're in luck because SECRET IDENTITIES is teaming up with BLACKLAVA for today's Daily Deal! And to celebrate, a lot of green screen was used for the Hot Minute Video (as seen below).

Orders received within the first 24 hours will receive a BOOKPLATE(drawn by Art Director, Jerry Ma) AND a SIGNED LITHOGRAPH of Kelly Hu and Cliff Chiang's creation, "JIA" -- free!

There are two editions to select from: An Unsigned Book for $20 OR a Signed Book for $35 (autographs and artwork on inside cover from Keiko Agena, Sung Kang, Lynn Chen, Benton Jew, A.L. Baroza, Martin Hsu, Bernard Chang and Parry Shen ).

This is a deal you can't get on Amazon. Shipping is free so don't delay as once this deal is gone -- it's gone!

Check out the deal at: www.blacklava.net

C2E2 Chicago Comic Con Badge Giveaway!

2010-04-10T17:36:00.002-04:00

In just a couple of weeks, I’ll be attending the C2E2 Comic Con in Chicago, April 16-18 at my usual Epic Proportions Booth(729). Unfortunately I'll be the only Secret Identities Editor there, but hopefully you can join me!
This is the first year for this show, but I have no doubt in my mind that it’s going to be a great show.
I’m in my apartment right now preparing for it.
I can’t wait to get there, as Geof Darrow will be sitting at my booth each day signing autographs and promoting the new shirt he’s done with me. Which is based off of his Shaolin Cowboy comic. You can see the shirt here.

Anyway, in part of my excitement for the con, I’d like to give out one free badge to someone for the weekend. Meaning, whoever gets this badge will not have to pay to enter the show, but will have to find their own way to Chicago.
All you have to do to be considered for the badge is just write me an email at:
info@epicprops.com

Let me know how why you want to come. And then after you’ve won, come hang out with me and the crew in Chicago.

-jerry
www.epicprops.com

More...

Parry Shen is The Man of Tomorrow

2010-02-27T14:16:00.004-05:00

Facebook and Twitter followers are already aware, but if you're not one of them (and why aren't you?!) make sure you check out this exclusive PopCultureShock interview with the one and only Parry Shen!

In the link, Parry and I talk about how he got the part in Better Luck Tomorrow, how we suckered him into joining the Secret Identities crew, being on Team Coco (that's Parry with his stuntman on Hatchet, the Asian Conan himself, Steven Ho in the photo) and what it feels like to be a video game character. There's a lot more in the link, so if you haven't read the interview, what are ya waiting for?!

Follow the SI Crew on Twitter!

2010-02-01T16:31:00.006-05:00

After a few months of prodding, the whole S.I. editorial crew is now on Twitter. While you've been able to follow us as a collective (@SIUniverse) for several months now, Jerry Ma (@epicprops) and Parry Shen (@parryshen) have joined fellow tweeters Jeff Yang (@originalspin) and me, Keith (@the_real_chow) on the mirco-blogging phenomenon. So if you were ever interested in the mundane we do on a daily basis, give us a follow.

And we aren't the only SI alums on Twitter. You can also find the likes of Keiko Agena, Greg Pak, Jamie Ford, Martin Hsu, and more! Just check out this list of everyone in the Secret Identities fam.

ImaginAsian: Identity and Experience in Contemporary Asian Pacific America

2010-01-15T09:30:00.008-05:00

Thought I'd take a break from the 2009 retrospectives (What? We're already two weeks into 2010?!) to give a shout out to Secret Identities superfan (and former Angry Asian Man Reader of the Week) Kate Agathon and her call for contributions to her pet project, the ImaginAsian exhibition, to raise funds for materials and resources for Asian American Studies collections at the libraries of Purdue and Indiana University.

Several members of the S.I. crew have donated submissions for the installation. Parry Shen contributed a collage of his work on S.I. and Better Luck Tomorrow; Jerry Ma collaborated with the Angry Asian Man himself, Phil Yu, on a pair of sketches featuring Bruce Lee and Quick Kick; I submitted signed copies of a poem about Bruce Lee called "Like Water" and a script page from "Peril"; and Larry Hama turned in a couple original G.I. Joe sketches.

So as you can see, it's a fun and worthy cause. Check out the official announcement below, and get involved!

ImaginAsian: Identity and Experience in Contemporary Asian Pacific America
Fundraising Exhibition April 2- May 9, 2010

In celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2010 and to generate funding for materials and sources for Asian American Studies collections at the Purdue University and Indiana University libraries, Kate Agathon, the Council on Asian American Studies, the Tippecanoe Arts Federation, and the Asian American Network of Indiana (AANI) are sponsoring a fundraising installation/exhibition of donated art addressing identity and experience within contemporary Asian Pacific America. The exhibition is intended to raise awareness and understanding of the Asian American community as articulated through a variety of art including photography, visual, and literary.

Open to everyone, submissions are being solicited nation-wide. Celebrity contributors include writer Maxine Hong Kingston, director Michael Kang, actor Parry Shen, hip hop group Far East Movement, Congressman Mike Honda, artist Stella Lai, illustrator/graphic designer Jerry Ma, poet Bao Phi, writer Tao Lin, comic legend Larry Hama, and many other prominent stakeholders within the Asian American community. Contributors do not need to be of Asian descent to participate!

For a donation of $5 or more, contributors are asked to fill an 8.5 x 11” space with creative art, writing, photography or any other artistic medium that addresses contemporary Asian Pacific American identity or the Asian Pacific American experience. Each submission will be vetted by a team for common themes and appropriateness.

Inspired by the Greater Lafayette Art Museum’s Mosaic, ImaginAsian will comprise of a display of 8.5 x 11” creative gifts celebrating the contemporary Asian Pacific American experience. The exhibit will be displayed April 2- May 9, 2010 at the Tippecanoe Arts Federation located at 638 North Street, Lafayette, IN 47901.

Bidders can bid on their favorite pieces of work by taking part in a silent auction that will take place throughout the duration of the exhibit. Submissions must be received by February 28, 2010 and can be sent to:

Kate Agathon
1809 Bengal Place
Lafayette, IN 47909

Checks made payable to the Asian American Network of Indiana are welcome. The Asian American Network of Indiana is a not-for- profit organization. All gifts are tax exempt. For more information, contact Kate Agathon at kate.agathon@gmail.com.

2009 Rewind: The Year of Secret Identities, Part Four

2010-01-05T10:13:00.008-05:00

Happy New Decade, loyal SI blog readers! While I had intended to finish these look-backs before the end of the year (they are "end-of-year" recaps after all), it seems I've let these 2009 rewinds slip into 2010. Ah well, it is what it is. Anyway, Part four brings us to the summertime which featured two major events.

Of course, the big one was San Diego Comic-Con in July, but we kicked off the season with a little convention of our own: the Asian American ComiCon at the brand new Museum of Chinese in America in New York.

What initially supposed to be an event to showcase Secret Identities quickly morphed into a full-on comic convention--with an artist alley, a bevy of panels, special guests, a performance by the awesome band Paperdoll, and even an award ceremony for the Man himself, Larry Hama! The whole thing came together in, like, five weeks and fortunately went off (mostly) without a hitch! One of the day's special guests, Derek Kirk Kim, had a nice write-up on his blog, and the event itself got nice reviews by Publishers Weekly and Comic Book Resources. Even the Wall Street Journal got in on the act!

Some other highlights from the AACC include Bernard Chang and Sean Chen facing off in a real time comic battle, as captured by MTV:

Comic Artists Face-Off: Bernard Chang vs. Sean Chen
Quicky

And an epic night of karaoke, as captured by SI contrib Jeremy Arambulo. Our friends at TurtlistMedia also have an excellent recap of the Asian American ComiCon, as well as an in-depth interview with me, Parry and Jeff (from our appearance at Northwestern University). Needless to say, the AACC was an example of the community (both comics and Asian American) coming together to celebrate art and good times!

To keep up with what went down at AACC, and if and when there'll be another, become a fan of the Asian American ComiCon on Facebook!

But our summer was not over. In fact, it was just beginning. After a brief stop in Baltimore to visit the Geppi Entertainment Museum with Larry Hama, we were off to San Diego for the mother of all comic conventions: Comic-Con International! And this was a big deal for us, because, as in Los Angeles at JANM, SDCC meant a huge Secret Identities family reunion.

And thanks to our awesome Art Director Jerry Ma, we had (mostly) free reign of the Epic Proportions booth. We took advantage of our awesome booth space by hosting a bunch of celebrity signings. Kicking it off with the "Blue Scorpion" of Gene Yang and Sonny Liew, with a surprise appearance by Larry Hama. We also had Gilmore Girls star Keiko Agena stop by with her "Learn to Share" artist Ming Doyle and star Kelly Hu and DC artists Cliff Chiang and Bernard Chang. Jeff even had time to moderate a panel with Gail Simone, Dwayne McDuffie, Jai Nitz, Stuart Moore and Gene Yang.

Be sure to check our Facebook page to see more photos from our exploits in San Diego!

Come back next time to see the last of our 2009 Rewind posts in which we'll go over the events of the fall, including our first ever Baltimore Comic-Con and a swing through New England. And I promise to get it posted before another year is over.

2009 Rewind: The Year of Secret Identities, Part Three

2009-12-22T09:35:00.008-05:00

As promised, we're continuing our end-of-the-year recap focusing on Springtime in the SI Universe. After spending a good portion of April doing media appearances, including events at NYU and Williams College--and, as documented yesterday, a swing through some awesome schools in Illinois and Indiana--the month of May was one major event after another. I think it had something to do with May being Asian American Heritage Month.

I don't think having the book published close to APA month was a coincidence. I mean, what better time to showcase Asian American superheroes than Asian American Heritage Month, right? The month included a slew of press, including an extensive feature on the State Department's official website America.gov! We also launched the first of six special Teacher Guides (the rest of which will be released throughout 2010).

We also kicked off the month-long festivities attending Free Comic Book Day in Baltimore with Greg LaRocque and on a wet, wet Sunday in New York City for the 30th annual A/PA Heritage Festival. Despite the torrential downpour, we had the opportunity to meet a ton of people and make new fans. The CAPA fest wasn't our only major appearance in New York, however. For the entire month, original artwork was on display in the Time Life building on Sixth Avenue. The gallery was meant to promote a special reception and panel held on May 21 and presented by Time Inc's Asian American Association. In addition to myself, Jeff & Jerry, we were joined on the panel by SI Senior Artist Jef Castro, and comic superstar artists Christine Norrie and Cliff Chiang. The whole thing was expertly moderated by DC/Vertigo editor Pornsak Pichetshote.

Check out photos from the panel on Facebook.

A few days later, the six of us were joined by the Man himself, G.I. Joe creator and living legend Larry Hama, for a special signing at the world famous Midtown Comics in Times Square. Facebook photos available here. The website Pop Culture Shock was there to capture the whole thing on video:

A week later, we capped off APA month with a whirlwind weekend of events in and around Los Angeles. Basically, if you were a bookstore or library in Southern California, chances are, somebody from Secret Identities was there! Outside of San Diego Comic-Con, I'm pretty sure our main event at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo was the biggest gathering of Secret Identities contributors ever. Jerry's excellent recap -- with some great candid photos -- of the weekend can be read at his blog here.

And that does it for April and May. But we weren't finished quite yet because Summer = Convention season! And not only did we have a presence at the trifecta of Comic-Cons (i.e., New York, San Diego, and Baltimore), we decided to throw our own Asian American ComiCon too! Read all about it next time!

2009 Rewind: The Year of Secret Identities, Part Two

2009-12-21T13:27:00.007-05:00

We've been looking back on the events and milestones that made 2009 the year of the SI Universe. Last week's post focused on the beginning of the year and our debut appearances at NYCC and ECAASU. Today, we'll focus on the the launch of the book and our swings through Chicago and the midwest.

While the first part of the year was all about getting hyped for the publication of the book on April 15, the press and promotion we did January-March paled in comparison to the seemingly endless touring and appearances that made up most of April and May. We kicked the whole thing off on March 30 in West Lafayette, IN at Purdue University. Joined by the illustrious (and Lafayette homeboy) Bernard Chang, our first college visit and workshop was a rousing success! The next day, we hopped in the car for the 2 hour drive to Champaign, IL to speak at the University of Illinois. In addition to a lunchtime discussion and evening workshop, we were also interviewed by the local public radio program "Afternoon Magazine" (which you can hear here -- beginning about five minutes into the program in the link). Of course, there's no rest for the wicked, so we packed up and headed straight to the city of Chicago for a midday signing event at the totally awesome comic shop Challengers Co mics + Conversation followed by a presentation at the University of Illinois-Chicago that evening. We were also given the great honor of guest lecturing at Professor Schaafsma's American Studies class while we were at UIC. Finally, we wrapped up our tour through the Big Ten a few miles north of Chicago at Northwestern University in Evanston. By then, the three of us were pretty exhausted after visiting four schools, and driving hundreds of miles, in four days... as you can probably tell by watching this promo we shot for TurtlistMedia after our Northwestern gig:

I mean, I was so tired, I got the website's name wrong! (Sorry, Jason!)

And that was the end of our swing through the Midwest (though Parry loved Chicago so much, he came back a week later to speak at Columbia College!) Of course, April was also the month in which the book finally came out, and so I can't forget the fact that on its pub date, we got a nice little promo on ABC News, intro'd by Charlie Gibson himself!

While I planned to include our NY and LA launches in this post, I think they deserve their own. So check back tomorrow to hear about our events at the Time Life building in NYC and the Japanese American National Museum in LA.

2009 Rewind: The Year of Secret Identities, Part One

2009-12-14T12:49:00.006-05:00

Over the next few days, we're going to be looking back on the events and milestones that made 2009 the year of the SI Universe. Today, we'll focus on the first part of the year that led up to the launch of Secret Identities in April.

Although Secret Identities had been gestating in one form or another since mid-2006, it's hard to believe the enormity of the fact that what started out simply as an idea finally became an actual book sitting on shelves in stores across the country in 2009. And what a year it's been! We kicked off the year with many sleepless nights. In fact, I think it's safe to say that Art Director Jerry Ma and EIC Jeff Yang rang in 2009 in sleep-deprived state since they were editing and designing pages up to the very last second so that the book go to press on time. But January is when the reality that Secret Identities was finally coming to light set in since we were a Featured Item in that month's Previews and retailers could start ordering the book for their stores. But that was only the beginning...

Two big events bookended the month of February: New York Comic-Con and the East Coast Asian American Student Union Conference. The S.I. crew made our official debut on a specially dedicated, standing-room-only panel at NYCC. Moderated by Publishers Weekly's Anne Ishii, the panel featured S.I. contribs Greg Pak, Bernard Chang and Jef Castro, in addition to myself and Jeff Yang. We also debuted the first official "trailer" for the book, edited by the one and only Parry Shen. In fact, Parry had so much fun cutting that video together, he went on to direct a dozen more, all available on our official YouTube channel.

As great a success as Comic-Con was, it paled in comparison to the reception we got a few weeks later at the ECAASU conference held at Rutgers! With Parry flying in from L.A., ECAASU marked the first time the whole editorial crew was together in public. But more than that, the love we got from the students in attendance was overwhelming. From our morning workshop to the keynote address we delivered in front of a crowd of hundreds in a packed theater, we had a blast meeting fans and making friends at ECAASU. It felt like coming home. To paraphrase the Mountain Brothers, "our community, it's what we live for."

I think the biggest shock we had at ECAASU was the fact that we sold a ton of books there... even though the book wouldn't be available for two more months! Ostensibly, the students in attendance bought a huge sticker in lieu of having the actual book (though slickly designed by Jerry, it was a sticker nonetheless.) Still, the kids at ECAASU are definitely considered the "early adopters" of Secret Identities! In fact, the show of support we received at ECAASU directly led to a massive influx of "fans" to our Facebook page. So thank you, Rutgers!

I think it was at ECAASU, at like 3AM when we were still selling bookplates, that we all decided we were all a part of something special. And as the pub date of April 15 drew even closer, we were just getting started...

Next time... The SI Crew reps the Chi and the Midwest... Gets in an Empire state of mind for it's New York launch... and feels the California love in Los Angeles...

An Interview of Epic Proportions

2009-12-02T21:20:00.005-05:00

If you follow us on Facebook or Twitter, you may have seen this interview posted already. But what's one more place, huh?

I sat down with my man Jerry Ma over at PopCultureShock.com to talk shop. We discuss everything from Jerry starting Epic Proportions, joining Secret Identities and charming the ladies. If you haven't seen it already, check it out here!

And after you read the piece, head on over to Epic Proportions and enter "KEITHCHOW" in the promo code field and receive $3 off any t-shirt purchased through the site. That's right. I'm a coupon, yo!

Pre-Order Secret Asian Man Trade at Amazon!

2009-11-30T21:18:00.004-05:00

This is awesome!

I've been waiting for a collection of Tak Toyoshima's Secret Asian Man strips for a long time, and it looks like we're finally getting one just in time for the holidays. Secret Asian Man: The Daily Days will be available on December 14, but you can pre-order it now at Amazon. Tak took it upon himself to self-publish the book, and he's even taking PayPal orders at his website.

We can't wait to see his book sitting on our bookshelf (right next to Secret Identities, natch!)

SIUniverse Ballers: Week One Update

2009-11-02T20:52:00.002-05:00

Considering that the NBA season is 82 games long, don't expect these updates to become a regular feature here at the SI blog. Still, I thought you might want to know how the teams are doing.

So far, Koji Steven Sakai's Team Rabbit, Ren Hsieh's The Royal We and Steve Nguyen's Steve Squad are the cream of the fantasy crop, posting seven or more category wins. Alas, the season's still young, and a lot can happen between now and April.

Rank	Team	W-L-T	Pct	GB	Last Week	Waiver	Moves
1.	Team Rabbit	8-1-0	.889	-	8-1-0	3	2
2.	The Royal We	7-1-1	.833	0.5	7-1-1	1	1
3.	Steve Squad	7-2-0	.778	1	7-2-0	12	3
4.	DINGLEJERRIES	6-3-0	.667	2	6-3-0	9	1
5.	Yellow Peril	6-3-0	.667	2	6-3-0	8	1
6.	The Turds	5-4-0	.556	3	5-4-0	6	-
7.	Win With Lin	4-5-0	.444	4	4-5-0	10	-
8.	MyStickFigures	3-6-0	.333	5	3-6-0	4	2
9.	LA Fakers	3-6-0	.333	5	3-6-0	7	2
10.	Agent 0	2-7-0	.222	6	2-7-0	5	1
11.	7 Seconds or Mess	1-7-1	.167	6.5	1-7-1	2	-
12.	FU-KUNG	1-8-0	.111	7	1-8-0	11	-

SIUniverse Ballers: The Secret Identities Fantasy Basketball League

2009-10-23T12:20:00.006-04:00

Just in time for a new NBA season, and to celebrate the fact that NBATV in HD has finally come to Verizon FiOS, we are announcing a Secret Identities-affiliated fantasy basketball league made up of book contributors, celebrity friends, and SI super fans.

So far, team managers include Secret Identities Art Director Jerry Ma, Wonder Woman artist Bernard Chang, Saving Face actor Brian Yang, The People I've Slept With screenwriter/producer Koji Steven Sakai, Yao Central blogger Ren Hsieh and more!

There are still room for more players, so if you're interested send an email to keith@secretidentities.org with "SIUniverse Ballers" in the subject line. There's a $25 entry fee, a portion of which will be donated to the Asian American basketball organization Dream League.

But hurry up. The live online draft starts this Monday night, October 26 at 7:30pm PDT. Follow the action this season at http://basketball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/secretidentities

See You in Baltimore This Weekend!

2009-10-06T09:31:00.003-04:00

After stops in New York and San Diego, we'll complete the Comic-Con trifecta with a jaunt through B-more for Baltimore Comic-Con this weekend. Secret Identities editors Keith Chow and Jerry Ma will be repping the book in Artists Alley at Table #54. Make sure to stop by. Jerry will be doing some sketches and will have some of his awesome Epic tees in tow as well.

Also in attendance at Comic-Con are fellow SI contribs Bernard Chang, Cliff Chiang, Larry Hama and Greg LaRocque. Check us out!

"The Weapon" Movie a.k.a. Why Do We Even Bother?

2009-09-18T13:24:00.011-04:00

So the latest comic book property to catch the eyes of Hollywood execs is a little ditty called "The Weapon" from Platinum Studios. Never heard of it? Well, neither have we. Apparently, the comic's about a martial artist/inventor/businessman named Tommy who is able to create solid objects out of light--like Green Lantern, I suppose--and creates the superhero persona of "The Weapon" to market and promote his product. (For what it's worth, you can read the entire four-issue run here.)

The comic came out in 2007 and is now moving forward as a major motion picture. Granted, Platinum Studios' entire raison d'être is to create licensing opportunities for its comic properties, so it isn't a shock that there's a movie deal in place. What's shocking is who has been tapped to play the lead character--who, by the way is an Asian American guy named Tommy Zhou. The Hollywood trades are reporting David Henrie, star of Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place, has been cast in the lead as Tommy.

Since I've never seen an episode of Waverly Place, I can't speak to Henrie's acting ability. But having just read through the first issue of The Weapon online, it's pretty obvious that Tommy Zhou is an Asian American guy. And it's pretty obvious that David Henrie is not an Asian American guy. But more than that, Tommy is a character whose ancestry is a pretty major component of the book (for instance, the backstory he creates for his newly invented products is based on old Chinese myths his grandfather used to tell him as a child).

In the wake of casting controversies in movies like 21, The Last Airbender and Dragonball Evolution, it's a punch in the gut to see yet another Asian/Asian American character become whitewashed in the live action adaptation. (And unlike Avatar and Dragonball, the whole "the story doesn't take place on earth" argument doesn't even apply this time). More on this from Angry Asian Man and channelAPA.

On the one hand, we created Secret Identities to fill a void in the superhero comics world. (One of the things we do when talking on college campuses is to ask the audience to count how many Asian American superheroes there are). The reasoning is that seeing more diversity in comics will translate to other forms of media since comics seed so much of what is popular in entertainment. So it's even more troubling to see a wholly original Asian American superhero character be portrayed by the kid with no lines on How I Met Your Mother.

I guess we're wrong. Maybe Tom Cruise will play The Nisei Kid in the 9066 movie adaptation after all?

Good News and Bad News from SI Contrib Tak Toyoshima...

2009-09-03T22:17:00.009-04:00

Well, you may have heard already that United Features Syndicate didn't renew Tak Toyoshima's awesome strip SECRET ASIAN MAN for daily syndication--their loss, dammit. Here's Tak's announcement of the news:

THE RETURN OF SECRET ASIAN MAN WEEKLY
After just over three years of daily syndication with United Features, Secret Asian Man will shift gears and return to a weekly format. On Saturday September 19, 2009 papers will run the very last daily strip. It was disappointing that United Features decided to pull the plug but at the same invigorating to think of the freedom. I'm not going to bad mouth United Features at all but it will be liberating to be able to act on SAM related projects without having to clear them...and there are a couple I'm already working on.

So what does this mean for the strip? The characters and continuity will remain but I will produce one larger strip a week (like a Sunday comic format) and will keep running in publications and web sites that choose to continue running it. I even picked up a couple of new papers! The very last daily strip will reveal a major development in SAM's life so stay tuned, see what happens and onward and upward for SAM!

On the other hand, the return to weekly format gives Tak more time to...BE A DAD TO HIS NEW BABY SON, born at 5 pm today, and joining his proud parents and big bro Owen in the Toyoshima household. (Just missed being one of our Secret Identities babies...) Congrats to Tak!

And thanks, Tak, also for joining me at the Asian American Journalists Association convention (link: Gil Asakawa's Nikkei View) this year for a signing session that was, uh, light in numbers, but huge in camaraderie. See you when we're back up in Boston in the fall!

SI Draw Off! Even More Optimus

2009-09-01T10:13:00.011-04:00

The SI Draw-Off mentioned last time was not exclusive to the four editors. In fact, this meme is open to the whole SI Crew, so if any of you have an Optimus Prime picture itching to "roll out," then feel free to send 'em our way!

As promised, here are a few more Optimus portraits from real artists. To your left is our friend Bernard Chang's contribution to the challenge. To make things more difficult, Bernard drew The Heartbreak Prime in less than five minutes while playing poker with Parry and friends.Had no idea the Autobots were down with wrestling factions from the mid-90s. Does this mean the Dinobots are the nWo?

Up next is a take on Optimus by our very own Senior Artist Jef Castro. The second Jef heard about the meme, he knew he had to take part, so he whipped up this sketch in a matter of minutes! And look at him. All dramatic and stuff. And if you notice, all the real artists (Jerry, Bernard, Jef) actually drew windshield wipers on the chest. Damn artists and their attention to detail!

So, is there anyone else out there in Secret Identities Land that wants to step up to the plate with their own Optimus?

Third Angry Asian Man Contest Winner: Wildstyle

2009-08-31T11:04:00.003-04:00

Also posted at angry asian man.

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And now, the third winning entry from the Secret Identities Superhero Contest, where readers were asked to submit their own original idea for an Asian American superhero. This one, WILDSTYLE by Tiffany Namwong, received a special honor as our first-day contest winner. Here it is, as rendered by artist A.L. Baroza.

EDITORS' NOTES

We already commented on Tiffany Namwong's Wildstyle--and we were particularly delighted to meet her in person at San Diego Comic-Con, where she made good use of the free registration she won in our special first-day mini-contest. As we looked at the other entries, we thought that Tiffany's hero was certainly one of the top three entries overall--but for fairness's sake, we decided to add a fourth winner as well, since Tiffany already got her own copy of SI signed by a horde of contribs at SDCC.

Anyway, for those who missed the original synopsis of Tiffany's hero, which won her a free registration for SDCC, here it is again--as well as A.L. Baroza's awesome visualization of the young Thai tattoo artist. I had the privilege of working with Aldin on the SI story "A Day at CostumeCo," and he brings the same visual flair and painstaking attention to detail to Tiffany's character--even including Wildstyle's demonic nemesis Maya and a horde of uglies to complete the tableau. Thanks, Tiffany and A.L.!

EDITED DESCRIPTION

Wildstyle by Tiffany Namwong

Ratana Nantakarn is a teenaged Thai American girl, born into a struggling immigrant family, raised by television and saved from drug addiction by the only adult who's been able to win over her trust: A Buddhist monk who encourages her nascent artistic skills, and helps her gain admission to a prestigious art academy. But after her mentor's work with at-risk youth leads to run-ins with the "connected" local drug syndicate, an anonymous tip leads INS to revoke the monk's visa and deport him back to Thailand. An enraged Ratana drops out of school, returning to the streets to try to find the thugs responsible for her mentor's plight. In doing so, she finds another outlet for her artistic sensibilities, becoming the queen of the Los Angeles tagging scene. Ratana with a spray can on a dimly lit street is like a tiger in the jungle; she uses her artistic skills to feed her ego, but to feed herself she turns to petty crime, and soon falls back into the rabbit-hole of addiction.

Meanwhile, realizing that Ratana is on their trail, the same gangsters who arranged for her mentor's disappearance decide to remove her from the equation as well. She escapes to Thailand after scamming an elderly man looking for a young escort for his summer vacation. She succeeds in locating her old teacher, too late to reconnect with him: He'd been working with a local charity continuing his work with troubled youth, but recently passed away of cancer.

Arjun Gautama, a young Indian American man who has spent the summer volunteering for the charity, tells her that the monk asked for her in his final moments, and gives her his ashes. Ratana takes them to the monk's ancestral village hoping to find a suitable resting place for his remains. Instead, she finds a wrecked and empty hamlet, destroyed by drug lords, whose only surviving structure is the old, abandoned temple in which the monk once served.

In a fit of self-hatred and a desire to vent her frustrations over the fact that her mentor died without anyone to care for him or provide for his final respects, she impulsively pulls out her spray can and desecrates the shrine.

But the temple is not entirely empty: The holy place's long-forgotten guardian spirit rises up out of its altar, calling forth a curse on the blaspheming human invader. Her life and soul are forfeit for her crime, and all seems lost - until the spirit of the old monk rises out of his ashes, and bids the guardian to hold.

The sin Ratana has committed cannot simply be forgiven. But the monk asks that she be given the opportunity - and the power - to earn that forgiveness, using her talent to redeem the crime she committed with that talent.

A great evil, the demon Maya, is attempting to build a dominion on Earth, having taken human form as a pop idol on the verge of superstardom, and enslaving youths with the addictive combination of her music and a devastating new drug.

To defeat Maya and her army of followers, Ratana is given the ability to bring her art to life...using human canvases: She must seek out and befriend a series of youths who are ripe to become "vessels" for Ratana's power. Once these men and women have willingly made the decision to accept the burden, Ratana tattoos their backs the image of a creature and a holy mantra that transforms them into that creature - irrevocably, until Maya is destroyed.

Ratana's mission takes her and Arjun - whose friendship she increasingly grows to depend on, until it evolves into something more - to Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, and finally back to Los Angeles, seeking out new allies, while pursuing Maya and battling her host of demons, hoping to simultaneously save the world and put her own personal demons to rest.

SI Draw Off! The Optimus Prime Meme

2009-08-29T09:19:00.011-04:00

So, for some odd reason, we your humble Secret Identities editors decided to each do a rendition of the iconic Autobot leader Optimus Prime. This all started because Jerry posted a quick sketch of Prime that Parry did and shared it with all of his Facebook friends.

Here's how Parry explains the drawing:

"I was looking over some of the sdcc photos that Marcy took of the iron fist you tattoed on my arm and noticed she called him a 'transformer' because you were originally supposed to draw an optimus prime for me.

Then I remembered you sketching him out on a napkin at Nobu and being amazed at you recalling all his little details.

So I too, starting sketching him out to see if I could rememeber as well (see attached) and [Parry's daughter] Avery came up and asked if I was drawing a robot - to which I proudly replied 'Yes, it is!'.

Avery: Are you practicing so you can draw me a robot someday?

Me: Yep.

Avery: I've never seen you draw a robot before But Jerry could probably draw me a better one.

Me: Muther #!@* "

Seeing that Parry had left out Prime's trademark horns, I started sketching out my own version and sent it to Jerry and Parry. Thus, challenging the rest of the crew to a draw-off. If you look closely, you can see that I sketched this on the back of another document. (I didn't have any blank paper on hand). I did this from memory, but needed help on the Autobot symbol. That thing is hard to draw!

Optimus used to be one of my go-to doodles whenever I was stuck in a boring meeting or class, so I had t o come correct. Only later did I realize that by challenging a group of people that included Jerry Ma, my Optimus was going to get served pretty handily. (More on Jerry's later.)

Up next in the Optimus Gauntlet was our Editor-In-Chief himself, Jeff! I think this is the first time I'd ever seen any of Jeff's doodling. (I've seen Parry sketch a few times. He even did our contribution to the "signing wall" at the Chicago comic shop Challenger's!). Jeff did his sketch freehand and in crayon. He claims his five-year-old son Hudson loves it though. Even if he did draw Optimus with lips (just like the Michael Bay movie). Personally, I think the blue crayon is a nice touch!

Rounding out the editorial team is our Art Director Jerry Ma. Of course he had to go and hand everyone their a**es with his "five-minute" sketch. I think he cheated. For one, well, Jerry's actually an artist, so that's not fair. And #2, okay, so there is no number two. But I guess Parry's daughter Avery was right after all. Jerry "could probably draw a better one."

Up next, artists Bernard Chang and Jef Castro throw down the gauntlet as they transform and roll out their own five-minute Primes.

Next Angry Asian Man Contest Winner: The Sneak

2009-08-25T08:34:00.003-04:00

Also posted at angry asian man.

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Here's the second installment of the winning entries from the Secret Identities Superhero Contest, where readers were asked to submit their own original idea for an Asian American superhero. This is THE SNEAK by Kevin Cheung, as envisioned b Jerry Ma. Here's are all the details...

EDITORS' NOTES

And now, The Sneak. We really liked the idea of a B-boy hero, and thought Kevin did a good job of establishing the character; the main things that we felt needed tweaking here involved tightening up the origin story (originally Richie just finds his super-powered sneakers in an alley--gotta amp up the drama a little more than that!) and shaping the powers a little. In Kevin's submission, Richie's powers involved transmuting and manipulating surrounding objects based on his emotions; we changed them to blades that project Richie's emotions into similar kinds of energy (anger generates heat, etc.). The energy blades also tie back to Richie's B-boy name, SAM or Samurai.

Meanwhile, SECRET IDENTITIES art director Jerry volunteered to bring The Sneak to life as soon as he saw the outline. Here are his own thoughts on the hero:

"As a big fan of Planet B-Boy and America's Best Dance Crew, I really wanted to draw this character—especially since I'm actually working on my own B-Boy type of comic as well right now. Unfortunately I'm NOT a graffiti artist...which should be painfully obvious here. But I thought it was necessary for the character to have a 'street' type of logo. So whenever The Sneak becomes big time, he can get a real street artist to redo that for me. Maybe my boy John Franzese (artist for the story MEET JOE in SI) would like to take a stab at that, eh? Lastly, I thought after watching Planet B-Boy again to get into the mood for this drawing, that the 'big' hair was like...necessary. And since he's dubbed 'Sam,' I thought it'd be cool if he wore one of my samurai tshirts. Hope this sketch captures what Kevin had in mind when writing up this character!"

EDITED DESCRIPTION

The Sneak by Kevin Cheung

It's the early Eighties, and while the suits and labels haven't discovered it, the underground hip-hop movement is going strong. Richie Leung, an incoming freshman at the University of New York, encounters this rich new culture by accident, when he -- literally -- runs into a B-boy in performing his moves for a small crowd on the sidewalk in front of his dorm; accepting the awestruck Richie's apology, the B-boy invites him to a jam in the South Bronx, where he watches a dominating crew known as The Fresh Ones crush the competition. After the battle, he asks to join the crew and learn their moves. They reluctantly agree, giving him the B-boy name "Samurai" -- or SAM for short.

A few years later, Richie has become one of the crew's leaders, having spent all of his spare time learning, practicing and creating innovative moves. His passion has made him a master, but it's also led to his flunking out of UNY.

When his perfectionist immigrant father discovers that Richie has been spending his time dancing rather than studying, he calls his son home for an epic confrontation. During the fight, his father takes the shoes Richie removed before coming into the apartment -- at least there's one Chinese tradition Richie has continued to follow -- and hurls them out the window, telling him he's ashamed of him, and disowning him from the family. Richie tells him he doesn't care; he has a new family anyway: his brothers in the crew.

But as Richie seeks out his fellow Fresh Ones at their respective homes and hangouts, hoping for somewhere to stay -- and to borrow a fresh pair of shoes -- he's horrified to find each of them dead... murdered, without a clue or explanation as to why. Is it jealousy? Revenge? Something else? All Richie knows is that he's the sole survivor of his brothers -- and he'll only stay that way if he can keep one step ahead of whoever's been hunting them down.

And then, Richie finds himself attacked by dark, faceless figures. Fighting them off with modified B-boy moves, he races through the city, using his skills to dodge and acrobatically avoid his pursuers. Then he makes one bad move -- running down a treacherous blind alley into a dead end. His feet are bloodied by the full speed chase; the alley is full of broken glass and jagged pieces of metal, and the sound of his hunters is growing louder. That's when he notices shadowy figure before him, standing in the buzzing glow of an overhead neon light. As Richie watches, his heart pounding, the figure kneels down on one knee and lays out a pair of sneakers -- a brand new pair of Jags, with emblems on the side that he's never seen before. And then the figure fades into the shadows. Just before his mysterious benefactor disappears, Richie catches a glimpse of his face. He could swear that he looks just like the B-boy who'd invited him to his first jam.

Richie pulls the kicks on, just as his attackers pour into the alley. As they swarm him from all directions, he feels fear in his heart -- and there's a flash as the emblems on his shoes glow with a sudden light, and a pair of dull green blades appear in his hands, which when he swings them against his attackers seems to paralyze them, sending them stumbling to the ground. His fear turns to excitement, and the emblems on his shoes and the blades in his hands turn yellow, and strike now with a shocking electrical charge. As his confidence grows, the excitement turns to anger -- and the blades glow red with searing heat.

The attackers flee before Richie's newfound ability to turn his emotions into energy. Now, as B-boy Sam turned superpowered street samurai The Sneak, Richie decides to turn the tables, tracking down his attackers, uncovering why they've targeted him and his brothers -- and getting his revenge.

Angry Asian Man Contest Winner: Tumbas

2009-08-22T15:40:00.002-04:00

Also posted at angry asian man.

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As promised, here's the first rendering of the winning entries from the Secret Identities Superhero Contest, where readers were asked to submit their own original idea for an Asian American superhero. This is TUMBAS by Rochell Reyes, as drawn by Jef Castro. And all the details...

EDITORS' NOTES ON THE HERO

We thought this was a well-conceived and nicely developed character, and liked the way the story was set up to establish two brothers as equal and opposite forces -- a classic face-off of nemeses. At first we were a bit put off because the concept does have quite a bit of similarity with the story "Trinity" in SECRET IDENTITIES (which, written and drawn by Greg LaRocque, features not two but three half-siblings who are the children of a super-soldier and have each inherited some of his powers -- and dog tags are central to that story as well!), but we ultimately decided that this character complemented rather than duplicated "Trinity" and gave the creator the benefit of the doubt (Tumbas/Trinity crossover, anyone?).

In tightening the character and editing this origin, we made some small changes -- increasing Tumbas's age slightly from 13 to 15 (would a 13 year old be able to wear his dad's military uniform?) and altered Tumbas's powers slightly. To make the half-brothers more clearly an equal match, Tumbas has super-strength and heightened vision, while his sibling has super-speed and the power of invisibility. Strength versus speed and sight versus camouflage are classic counters. We also gave him a limitation -- his powers are initially limited, requiring "recharge," and must be triggered by adrenaline and an act of will. It's always better to give a hero room to grow!

And now, here's Tumbas, as drawn by Jef Castro, SECRET IDENTITIES' senior artist; Jef chose to draw John as he imagined him immediately after he discovering his powers, rather than "in action" in his dad's military uniform -- so you see him in this pic in all his surfer-boy glory!

EDITED DESCRIPTION

TUMBAS by Rochell Reyes

John Reyes is an ordinary 15-year-old Filipino American surfer kid from the San Diego coast. His name and complexion -- and the fact that he lives right next to the America's southern border -- often leads people to mistake him for Mexican. On the other, he's also often asked if he's Hawaiian, Samoan, Chinese, and at least one time, Egyptian. His ambiguous ethnic identity would be a source of irritation for many, but John has learned to take advantage of it, to fit in, or even disappear, as needed.

That skill at camouflage may be a legacy of his father, Marco Reyes, a 15-year veteran of Army military intelligence who recently was reported dead after a covert mission in Afghanistan; although the Army was unable to recover Marco's body, his unit's commanding officer has stated that the circumstances of Marco's death make it impossible that he might have survived.

When John's mother Jaya tearfully tells him the news, she expects him to be devastated; any other normal 13-year-old would be. But John tells her he feels nothing. His father's profession has made him an absentee for most of John's young life; how, he asks his mother, could he miss someone he'd never connected with at all?

A week after the news of Marco's death, John and Jaya receive a small package in the mail -- a box, containing a small metal rectangle bearing the name and rank of his father, LT. MARCO REYES, U.S. ARMY; his father's old dog tag from basic training. Jaya places the tag and its chain around John's neck, encouraging him to use it to remember his father, and to release whatever he has bottled up inside of him.

Later that day, sitting on the beach and holding the tag in one hand, John tries unsuccessfully to remember and mourn his father. In a fit of anger, he picks up a small rock and hurls it at the ocean. As he releases the stone, he feels a surge go through his body; when the rock hits the water, it doesn't skip -- it skates along at supersonic speed, raising a foot-high wake and sending mist and steam rising behind it as it disappears into the horizon.

John, shaken, tries to figure out what happened. He couldn't have thrown that stone that fast -- no human could. But somehow, he did. Piecing together what happened, he realizes that the sudden flash of strength came as he held Marco's tag and focused on his father's memory. But, try as he might, no amount of concentration can bring that power back.

Remembering that beneath his parents' bed is a foot locker of Marco's old memorabilia, John races home, hoping to discover some kind of clue. But the chest contains an old uniform, some snow globes collected from around the world, pictures of Marco's Army buddies. As John grits back tears of frustration and squeezes his father's dog tag in his fist, he feels another surge and the world goes white -- then refocuses with an entirely new perspective. He can now see with microscopic detail and perfect clarity, and even, as his eyes dart around the room, view the interiors of hollow objects. He blinks in surprise, and his hypervision fades, revealing the world in its ordinary state again...but not before he sees that the foot locker has a false bottom. John slides the bottom back. Beneath it is a yellowing notebook -- a diary going back to Marco's days before he'd met John's mother, recounting his days as a promising young high school grad who'd signed up with the Army to honor his late father, a Filipino veteran of the Second World War.

What they reveal is that Marco wasn't an ordinary member of military intelligence, but a recruit for a secret covert unit of super-soldiers, volunteers to undergo a series of experiments that gave them inhuman abilities. But then the diary stops, and John notices that a sheaf of pages have been torn from it. The only other thing left, tucked into the binding of the notebook, is an old black and white photograph -- a Polaroid of his father with his arm around a young Asian woman, who has a laughing baby in her arms. The woman, who looks East Asian, is not John's mother. The baby is not John.

In the days that follow, John learns more about his powers, activated by adrenaline and the memory of his father; the tag is a trigger, but the abilities seem inborn, a legacy of Marco's mutated genes. Unfortunately, the powers have limits; he can use either his strength or his vision, but not both simultaneously, and he can maintain them only for a short period of time. And after using either, he has to allow them to recharge; at first, he's unable to summon a "surge" more than once a day, though as he trains himself, using his father's old uniform and a souvenir mask his mother had brought back from a visit to the Philippines as his "costume," he quickly reduces the time lapse to an hour.

And then comes an encounter that will change John's life again forever. As he prepares to finish high school, San Diego is hit with a string of "silent robberies": Banks are being broken into and their contents stolen, without a trace of evidence -- except for a name graffiti spraypainted on the walls of every ransacked bank: "MARCO REYES."

The authorities question John and Jaya, investigating whether Lt. Reyes is in fact truly dead, and asking if they have any connection to the crimes. The combination of the harsh interrogation and the reminder of the loss sends Jaya into a state of depression, leading John to investigate the crimes himself, to clear his late father's name and raise his mother's broken spirits.

And that's when he encounters Marco Jr. -- the young boy in the secret photo, John's half-brother and elder by a year. Marco had met Marco Jr.'s mother, married her, and fathered Marco Jr. during his secret training overseas, at the USAG Humphreys base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. But when Marco Jr.'s mother passed away from an accident, his grandparents barred Marco from seeing him again, and ordered him to cut off all ties.

But upon Marco's death, each of his sons received one of his two dog tags -- activating the hidden secret within their chromosomes. John has inherited and is learning to use his father's superhuman strength and paranormal vision; Marco Jr., unnatural speed and the power to blend into the shadows. Fueled by rage at their deceased father (enhanced by the lies he's been told by his late mother's family), Marco Jr. has made it his goal to destroy Lt. Reyes's name; John, meanwhile, adopts the alias "Tumbas" (which means "equal" in Tagalog), John goes on a mission to stop his half-brother and clear his father's reputation -- while discovering the truth about the side of Marco Reyes that neither he nor his mother ever knew.

To learn more about Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology, visit the website here.

Angry Asian Man Contest Winners

2009-08-18T08:21:00.002-04:00

Cross posted at angry asian man

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All right. Many thanks to all who entered last month's Secret Identities Superhero Contest. You were asked to submit your own ideas for an original Asian American superhero. I apologize it's taken so long to announce the winners, but the Secret Identities editors are busy guys. After much deliberation, we have our three superheroes:

TUMBAS by Rochell Reyes
THE SNEAK by Kevin Cheung
HUSH by Juli Martin

And a special honor to our first-day contest winner:

WILDSTYLE by Tiffany Namwong

Nice work to all of you. They each get a signed copy of Secret Identities, and get their hero rendered by a Secret Identities artist. We'll unveil the completed sketches of each winning hero, including their descriptions, later this week.

Thanks again to everyone who submitted a superhero. We had an awesome, overwhelming response from readers who came up with some fantastic ideas. To learn more about Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology, go here.

Reviewing G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra

2009-08-10T09:21:00.005-04:00

So Jeff requested I repost the G.I. Joe movie review I originally posted over here. I guess, since it is the #1 movie in America, and that S.I. contributor Larry Hama was a consultant on the film (though his onscreen cameo* was left on the cutting room floor! Unconscionable!), it is tangentially related enough to Secret Identities to be posted here. I guess.

*to check out footage of Larry's cameo, see this behind-the-scenes video in which Larry discusses how he came to the world of the Joes.

Anyway, on to the review.
---

Since I reviewed Transformers: ROTF LMAO back in June, I guess it's only fair that I talk about my thoughts on G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra as well. (Interesting/creepy side note: when I came home from seeing Transformers, I turned on the computer to find out Michael Jackson was hospitalized/dying. Last night, after watching G.I. Joe, Twitter tells me John Hughes had passed. It's true, the '80s are slowly disintegrating from existence.)

OK, first up, shocker of shockers, I actually kind of liked the movie. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't good (at all), but it was undeniably fun. (Full disclosure, I saw the move for free at a vintage-style drive-in with some cool friends, so these factors could have attributed to the enjoyment factor). I think I liked it on a visceral level (similar to why I was a fan of the cartoon, methinks--which also, when you really get down to it, weren't very good either). Of course, I would have preferred a movie that adhered a little closer to Larry Hama's epic comic stories (especially his version of the Snake Eyes-Storm Shadow relationship), but that's probably asking too much.

I'll say this, if you enjoyed the cartoons, you'll like the movie. My brother Raymond observed too that if you were a 12-year-old, the cinematic G.I. Joe experience would have been a revelation. And I can't disagree. There's just something geeky cool about seeing all the cool vehicles and weapons wreaking havoc and blowing up cities. And you can't leave out the badass katana fights--ninjas make everything better after all. The one thing the movie got right, unlike Transformers, is that each of the characters had a distinct personality. Even if they were all wearing black leather, X-Men suits, each character on the Joe team--Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Breaker, and Heavy Duty--had a unique role and function. I actually kind of wish the movie was more about them than the two leads we got--Channing Tatum's Duke and Marlon Wayans' Ripcord. Tatum takes the notion of "wooden acting" to a whole new level. Seriously, this dude makes Hayden Christensen seem like a dynamic thespian. And while Wayans' Ripcord was a likable character, I would have liked him more if he weren't channeling 1997-era Will Smith. I was also disappointed in Dennis Quaid's General Hawk. Hawk was one of my favorite Joes growing up, and Quiad just sleepwalks through the whole thing. And also, would it have been so bad to let him wear a brown bomber jacket and green camo pants for just one scene in the flick? Is that asking too much?

On the Cobra side of things, I thought Sienna Miller was okay as Baroness (though I would have preferred the vague, eastern European accent she had on the cartoon) and dug Christopher Eccleston's snively, conniving interpretation of Destro. I'm undecided about Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Cobra Commander. He was appropriately over the top, but I couldn't get passed the redesign of the character, especially during the supposedly iconic reveal of him as "The Commander." I think that scene would have worked better if JG-L was wearing a mask that actually evoked one of Cobra Commander's many looks and not the weird, clear skull-looking helmet they gave him. I guess my problem with Cobra Commander and the Neo-Vipers is the same problem I have with the robot model designs in Transformers, namely that they are over-designed. I mean, the Cobra Trooper look is pretty hard to mess up. They're wearing blue military uniforms and blue helmets with red or black scarves over their faces! Why make them look like Imperial Stormtroopers crossed with an armadillo? I figured the looks of the Joes and Cobras would not be so difficult to translate to live action, so I don't understand the need to redesign everything. Some designs are iconic enough to stay the same, no? I mean they got the looks of Baroness, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow (for the most part) right, so why not the others?

So what did I like? Honestly, I liked the little touches. The most geek-out moment for me was when Breaker asked for a piece of gum and blew a bubble while in the car. I thought that was awesome! A nice little touch for the fans. I thought Snake Eyes was pretty cool (despite the mouth on the mask and lack of UZI. Seriously, Snake Eyes packs a glock? WTF?). I do wish the backstory of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow wasn't as simplistic as the movie made it seem. But it was serviceable. I hope there's more focus on them in Part 2. Basically, I want a Snake Eyes movie. (Hey, if all the X-Men movies can be about Wolverine, than all the Joe movies can be about Snake Eyes!) And Snake Eyes looks absolutely badass in a hood and trenchcoat!

I liked that the Night Raven, the C.L.A.W., the S.H.A.R.C.s, and the U.S.S. Flagg all made appearances. And Baroness' tricked out HumVee was essentially a modern version of the Cobra Stinger. The Pit was pretty cool too. I also liked that the Joe's arctic gear resembled Snow Job's.

Bottom line: it was a bunch of dumb fun. I really wanted to dislike the movie, but I have to admit I was entertained for two hours. It was definitely better than both Transformers movies, and there's a (naive) part of me that hopes they fix what they got wrong for the sequel. What can I say? At heart, I'm a diehard Joe fan. Larry Hama practically defined my childhood. I was gonna like it no matter what.

SDCC '09 Jam Piece Winner

2009-07-29T16:10:00.008-04:00

San Diego Comic Con 2009 was a huge success and 153 lucky people walked away with their newly purchased copies of Secret Identities.

With each signing we had everyday, an artist sketched either an existing Asian Superhero or one in "Secret Identities" as a part of a collage/jam piece to be raffled off to one lucky winner at the end of the convention (although Snake Eyes gets a pass on the Asian theme since hey, it's a Larry Hama original and "Asian Hulk" in the b.g. by Bernard Chang as well -- unless Hulk scribe Greg Pak writes it into reality at Marvel?).

However in order to get an entry, folks needed to first show us at least 10 collected signatures in their copy of "SI" from the 22+ contributors spread throughout the convention.

In the end, 30 folks had collectively compiled over 300 signatures/sketches and the winner is... Cecil DeClaro or Orange, CA. So thanks to everyone for playing along and great meeting you all!

Thanks to all the artists who jammed on this: Bernard Chang, Jimmy Aquino, Benton Jew, Tiffanie Hwang, Jerry Ma, Ming Doyle, Larry Hama, Gene Yang, Walden Wong and Sonny Liew.

Comic-Con Pass Winner

2009-07-20T12:03:00.006-04:00

Congrats Tiffany! See ya in San Diego...

Originally posted at angry asian man:

Thank you to everyone who has entered the Secret Identities Asian American superhero contest thus far. We got a handful of really strong submissions within the first twenty-four hours, and have a picked a winner for the San Diego Comic-Con guest pass giveaway portion of the contest. The winner is...

WILDSTYLE by Tiffany Namwong. A really cool, creative and thoughtful character. Here's a (slightly edited) description of Tiffany's winning hero:

Ratana Nantakarn is a teenaged Thai American girl, born into a struggling immigrant family, raised by television and saved from drug addiction by the only adult who's been able to win over her trust: A Buddhist monk who encourages her nascent artistic skills, and helps her gain admission to a prestigious art academy. But after her mentor's work with at-risk youth leads to run-ins with the "connected" local drug syndicate, an anonymous tip leads INS to revoke the monk's visa and deport him back to Thailand. An enraged Ratana drops out of school, returning to the streets to try to find the thugs responsible for her mentor's plight. In doing so, she finds another outlet for her artistic sensibilities, becoming the queen of the Los Angeles tagging scene. Ratana with a spray can on a dimly lit street is like a tiger in the jungle; she uses her artistic skills to feed her ego, but to feed herself she turns to petty crime, and soon falls back into the rabbit-hole of addiction.

Meanwhile, realizing that Ratana is on their trail, the same gangsters who arranged for her mentor's disappearance decide to remove her from the equation as well. She escapes to Thailand after scamming an elderly man looking for a young escort for his summer vacation. She succeeds in locating her old teacher, too late to reconnect with him: He'd been working with a local charity continuing his work with troubled youth, but recently passed away of cancer.

Arjun Gautama, a young Indian American man who has spent the summer volunteering for the charity, tells her that the monk asked for her in his final moments, and gives her his ashes. Ratana takes them to the monk's ancestral village hoping to find a suitable resting place for his remains. Instead, she finds a wrecked and empty hamlet, destroyed by drug lords, whose only surviving structure is the old, abandoned temple in which the monk once served.

In a fit of self-hatred and a desire to vent her frustrations over the fact that her mentor died without anyone to care for him or provide for his final respects, she impulsively pulls out her spray can and desecrates the shrine.

But the temple is not entirely empty: The holy place's long-forgotten guardian spirit rises up out of its altar, calling forth a curse on the blaspheming human invader. Her life and soul are forfeit for her crime, and all seems lost - until the spirit of the old monk rises out of his ashes, and bids the guardian to hold.

The sin Ratana has committed cannot simply be forgiven. But the monk asks that she be given the opportunity - and the power - to earn that forgiveness, using her talent to redeem the crime she committed with that talent.

A great evil, the demon Maya, is attempting to build a dominion on Earth, having taken human form as a pop idol on the verge of superstardom, and enslaving youths with the addictive combination of her music and a devastating new drug.

To defeat Maya and her army of followers, Ratana is given the ability to bring her art to life...using human canvases: She must seek out and befriend a series of youths who are ripe to become "vessels" for Ratana's power. Once these men and women have willingly made the decision to accept the burden, Ratana tattoos their backs the image of a creature and a holy mantra that transforms them into that creature - irrevocably, until Maya is destroyed.

Ratana's mission takes her and Arjun - whose friendship she increasingly
grows to depend on, until it evolves into something more - to Hong Kong,
Seoul, Tokyo, and finally back to Los Angeles, seeking out new allies,
while pursuing Maya and battling her host of demons, hoping to
simultaneously save the world and put her own personal demons to rest.

Nice work, Tiffany. She has scored herself a guest pass to next week's completely sold-out 2009 San Diego Comic-Con. Here's a note from the Secret Identities editors explaining why they chose Wildstyle:

Tiffany's entry impressed us on a number of levels. Her protagonist's story was gritty and believable, and there was an authenticity to Wildstyle's origin and powers - what they were and how she received them made sense, given her identity and cultural background. The story also scales up nicely, from the streets of L.A. to a globe-trotting quest to, well, a cosmic battle between ultimate good and ultimate evil; this narrative has a lot of texture and momentum, and could move forward in so many different ways. We also liked that Tiffany chose to
include some personal relationships for her heroine - a mentor, who can continue to advise her from beyond the grave, and a love interest, or at least potential love interest, whom she grows to depend on but is afraid she's putting into mortal danger. There's a Whedonesque feel to Wildstyle, and we mean that as a huge compliment!

We liked the two runner-up hero submissions as well: Kevin Cheung's "The Sneak," a b-boy who gains powers after discovering a mysterious pair of kicks, and "Hapa," a half-Korean intelligence agent (calling Daniel Henney!) with the chameleonlike ability to transform his features. But the hero we felt had the most interesting combination of originality and future potential was Tiffany's, and we look forward to seeing her at Comic-Con next week... look us up at booth 1735, Tiffany!

Again, thank you to everyone who entered. Tiffany won the Comic-Con pass, but everyone is still eligible for the main contest, which runs through the end of the month.

Again, we're challenging you to submit your own idea for a unique and original Asian American superhero. I'll pick the ten coolest submissions, then the Secret Identities editors will choose their three favorite heroes, each of whom will get their superhero idea rendered by a Secret Identities artist, and also receive a signed copy of the book.

Be creative, and have fun with this! To enter, please include a description of the hero (physical description, origin, powers, background, goals and nemesis) in 500 words or less. Thumbnail sketch optional. Email your entry, along with your contact info, to secretidentities@angryasianman.com by July 31. Winners will be announced on August 1.

Enter the "Build a Hero" Contest and Win Original Artwork & a Signed Copy of SI!

2009-07-19T21:07:00.004-04:00

Cross posted at angry asian man

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So... here's the part where we give away cool stuff. But you have to earn it. I've partnered up with Secret Identities to launch a very special contest. You've read the comics -- can you dream up your very own superhero?

We're challenging you to submit your own idea for a unique and original Asian American superhero. I'll pick the ten coolest submissions, then the Secret Identities editors will choose their three favorite heroes, each of whom will get their superhero idea rendered by a Secret Identities artist, and also receive a signed copy of the book.

Be creative, and have fun with this! To enter, please include a description of the hero (physical description, origin, powers, background, goals and nemesis) in 500 words or less. Thumbnail sketch optional. Email your entry, along with your contact info, to secretidentities@angryasianman.com by July 31. Winners will be announced on August 1.

Secret Identities Coast to Coast

2009-07-16T13:47:00.001-04:00

In preparation for Secret Identities’ San Diego debut, anthology contributors will be out in full force on both coasts this weekend. First up, Jeff Yang will be joined by Walden Wong, Jimmy J. Aquino, Alexander Shen, Tanuj Chopra and Tiffanie Hwang for a book release party and signing at Giant Robot – San Francisco at 6pm on Thursday, July 16. Then, on Friday, July 17 at 7pm, Yang, Wong and other guests will be at the Salinas Public Library in Salinas, California for a special signing event.

On Saturday, July 18 in Baltimore, Maryland, Keith Chow, Jerry Ma, Alex Tarampi, John Franzese and Larry Hama will be hosted by Geppi’s Entertainment Museum beginning at 12:30pm. The museum presentation will be followed by a special signing event at Ukazoo Books in Towson, Maryland at 6pm that same day. Finally on Sunday, July 19 at 1pm, veteran DC and Marvel artist Greg LaRocque will be joining Hama and the Secret Identities team for a meet & greet and signing event at The Avenue’s Barnes & Noble in White Marsh, Maryland.

At our events in Baltimore, anyone who purchases a copy of SECRET IDENTITIES will automatically be entered into a contest to win a FREE PASS to an advanced screening of Paramount's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra!

Bernard Chang Battles Sean Chen on MTV

2009-07-16T13:25:00.005-04:00

Last weekend at the Asian American ComiCon, folks from MTV Iggy stopped by to film some "drawing battles" between some of the industry's best artists. We had no idea what they were talking about. Of course, this is why they're professionals because what they got on film was awesome! First up is round one between BLVD studio mates Bernard Chang and Sean Chen:

mtviggy.com | chinese

SECRET IDENTITIES: THE ASIAN AMERICAN SUPERHERO ANTHOLOGY COMES TO SAN DIEGO WITH AN ALL-STAR LINEUP AT BOOTH #1735

2009-07-15T16:07:00.006-04:00

Scheduled Appearances by Kelly Hu, Keiko Agena, Sonny Liew, Ming Doyle, Bernard Chang and More; also Offering an Exclusive, Limited Edition Litho by Cliff Chiang; and Jeff Yang Moderates a Panel featuring Dwayne McDuffie, Gail Simone, Jai Nitz, Stuart Moore and Gene Yang.

July 15, 2009—With Comic-Con International: San Diego just around the corner, the editors of Secret Identities, the groundbreaking Asian American superhero anthology, have announced a full schedule of signings at Epic Proportions’ Booth #1735.

Featuring some of the creative talent behind the stories in Secret Identities, these appearances give fans the opportunity to meet some of the biggest names in comics, television and film!

Leading off the signing schedule at 12:30pm on Thursday, July 23 is the team behind “The Blue Scorpion & Chung,” Gene Yang (The Eternal Smile) and Sonny Liew (Liquid City). On Friday, July 24, the “Learn to Share” creative team of actress Keiko Agena (Gilmore Girls) and artist Ming Doyle (Comic Book Tattoo) will be signing from 2pm to 4pm. Superstar actress Kelly Hu (X2: X-Men United) and superstar artist Cliff Chiang (Green Arrow & Black Canary) are scheduled for Saturday, July 25 at 2pm. In addition, SIUniverse Media will be offering a convention exclusive lithograph of the Kelly Hu-created character JIA, featuring art by Cliff Chiang. Finally, “The Citizen” artist extraordinaire Bernard Chang (Wonder Woman) and "Agent Orange" artist Dustin Nguyen (Detective Comics) wrap up the show on Sunday, July 26 at 2pm.

The editors of Secret Identities—Jeff Yang, Parry Shen, Keith Chow and Jerry Ma—will also be available at Booth #1735 for the duration of the convention. However, the Secret Identities presence at Comic-Con extends well beyond a single booth. The following SI-affiliated artists and creators will be at their own booths throughout the convention center:

Bernard Chang (#1821)
Cliff Chiang (#1322)
Martin Hsu (#G-02)
Benton Jew (#EE-02)
Kazu Kibuishi (#2329)
Sonny Liew (#2329)
Dustin Nguyen (#FF-04)
Vince Sunico (#GG-18)
Francis Tsai (#2629 & #1415)
Anthony Wu (#2329)
Gene Yang (#AA-4)

To celebrate the gathering of so many contributors in one place, fans can participate in a special Secret Identities Scavenger Hunt! Anyone who has purchased a copy of Secret Identities and is able to collect verifiable signatures/sketches from each of the listed contributors will be entitled to a special prize at the Secret Identities booth!

In addition to celebrity signings and scavenger hunts, Secret Identities Editor-in-Chief Jeff Yang will be moderating a unique panel titled Four Color Reality: Making Comics Relevant to Readers Across Cultures in Room 3 on Friday, July 24 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm. Panelists include Dwayne McDuffie (Milestone Comics, Justice League), Gail Simone (Wonder Woman), Gene Yang (American Born Chinese), Stuart Moore (Wolverine: Noir, The 99) and Jai Nitz (Blue Beetle, El Diablo).

Panel Description:
Four Color Reality: Making Comics Relevant to Readers Across Cultures. Comic book stories have become the core of American pop culture—is there a big-budget spectacular that doesn’t in some fashion owe its existence to comic book roots these days? But sales of traditional-format comic books themselves have been in decline for years. This panel explores one reason for this shrinking market: the divergence between the identities of mainstream comic icons—who are typically straight, white, male and American—and the demographic makeup of a new generation of readers. How can the comic book industry connect with changing audiences—not just of diverse races and backgrounds, but of different cultural and national origins as well?

AACC Was a Blast! Thanks Everyone!

2009-07-13T09:49:00.006-04:00

Have to start first by giving props to all the volunteers, MoCA staff, panelists, artists and visitors to the show. It would not have been as great as it was if it weren't for any of you. Thanks!

From what I hear, a good time was had by all at the Asian American ComiCon. I wouldn't know since I was running around all day. When I did get a chance to sneak into a panel room, I saw SRO crowds and really interesting panelists having a good time together. Artists' Alley seemed like it had a good vibe and looked like it had a nice flow of traffic. Not sure what the final tally was at the silent auction, but there were a bunch of knockout pieces donated that fetched some good prices--with all proceeds going back to the Museum.

A more thorough recap is forthcoming (with photos!). Until then, check out Jerry's AACC recap at his blog.

I think Larry Hama summed it up best during his Kiyama Award acceptance speech when he talked about the importance of "community." Whether it's the Asian American community or the community of comic creators and fans, without a community, we are nothing. And ultimately, that's what the AACC was all about, celebrating the vibrancy of our community.

Mountain Brothers - Community.mp3 -

AACC drawing for donation

2009-07-02T00:14:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone. It's been awhile since I last posted anything. As most of you hopefully know, I'll be taking part at the AACC on July 11 along with a lot of other Secret Identities contributors.

Anyway, I was asked to donate a drawing to the show, which will hopefully help raise some money for the museum itself.

So I first did a drawing of Bruce Lee...and it really just didn't come out too well. I mean...maybe it's because I've just drawn the guy too much these past few months or something.

So I decided to draw The Monkey King instead. Who...was just one of my favorite characters growing up.

Anyway...here are both drawings. Hope everybody likes the Monkey King...and come to the show next week!
Hope to see you guys all there.

-jerry

The First-Ever Kiyama Award!

2009-06-28T21:51:00.005-04:00

So, if you've been following the updates across the comics world (say, at Heidi McDonald's essential "The Beat" column), you know that the first-ever Asian American ComiCon is giving out its first-ever installment of an annual award, which organizers have dubbed the Kiyama Award—after Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama, a Japanese American artist and cartoonist who lived and worked in San Francisco in the late Twenties and early Thirties.

Now why should that matter? Well, in 1931, Kiyama published his breakthrough book The Four Immigrants. A poignant collection of cartoon stories about life as a Japanese student expatriate in early 20th century San Francisco, the book explores the issues these early immigrants faced in a world whose language, culture and traditions were new, strange and confusing.

What makes The Four Immigrants special—and what makes Kiyama a verifiable pioneer, if somewhat by accident—is that, despite being originally intended for newspaper serialization, Kiyama’s stories were never published in that form. Which means that the first time they saw print was in this single, bound-and-collected book. This publication format, along with the fact that the stories in Four Immigrants featured a group of semiautobiographical characters (based on Kiyama and his friends) who grew, evolved and contended with real historical issues and events, has led some to advocate that it be recognized as the first original graphic novel published in America (arriving a decade before Virginia Lee Burton’s Calico the Wonder Horse in 1941 and nearly two decades before Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller’s It Rhymes with Lust in 1950).

As Heidi notes, that's a controversial stance to take—but it's one that the book's translator, the always sagacious Fred Schodt, has defended persuasively in this essay. Fred notes that the characters in Four Immigrants have a definitive and rather sophisticated narrative; even though many strips in the book have the look and beats of gag comics, the characters are richer and more organic than those found in, say, "Nancy" or "Bazooka Joe." They encounter and react to real-life events; they grow and change; they have actual arcs–for instance, two of the four immigrants end up returning to Japan, frustrated by the restrictive government policies of the era.

Schodt notes: “[Four Immigrants] visual style resembles that of U.S. gag newspaper strips...but its content– a serious story of an autobiographical nature, using apparently ‘real’ characters, who mature and develop over time– is closer to a modern ‘graphic novel’ than it is to early comic strips or comic books.”

Works for me! Anyway, regardless of where you stand on this somewhat academic argument, Kiyama's status as a unique and pioneering graphic fictionalist is not in question; his role in bridging two worlds, and his use of sequential art to tell quintessentially Asian American stories—all of these underscore his worthiness to serve as the namesake for an award honoring later creators who've done the same.

For this inaugural year, we're delighted to present this award to Larry Hama, the masterful writer who created the G.I. Joe universe, edited and scribed dozens of other titles (including Nth Man, Wolverine, Generation X, and Batman), and has just completed work on the first issue in a much-anticipated limited series featuring another real American hero—Barack the Barbarian.

The award itself is in the process of being created: Benton Jew, artist for "Driving Steel" in Secret Identities, has done a wonderful sketch of Henry Kiyama (with his omnipresent pet parrot!) that we'll be engraving on a glass tablet in Larry's honor. We did want to reassure Larry that this is not meant to be a "lifetime achievement award": Something tells us that much of Larry's best work still lies ahead...and as always, we'll be looking forward to reading it!

The First-Ever Asian American ComiCon Comes to New York on July 11, 2009!

2009-06-16T14:40:00.004-04:00

SIUniverse Media, the company behind the groundbreaking graphic novel Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology, in association with the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA), the Asian American Writers’ Workshop (AAWW), Asian CineVision, AsianAmericanComics.com and Diamond Comic Distributors have joined forces to organize 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.

The event will be held on Saturday, July 11, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the brand-new, Maya Lin-designed home of the Museum of Chinese in America. The Asian American ComiCon—the first of its kind—will be the first major event to take place at MOCA’s new two-level, 14,000 square-foot facility at 215 Centre Street in Lower Manhattan.

The day-long event will bring together leading Asian and Asian American creators, fans and readers of mainstream and alternative graphic fiction, and creative leaders of the larger Asian American community for a one-of-a-kind gathering, incorporating education, dialogue, spontaneous creativity, intergenerational outreach and the chance for established and emerging talent to show off their work. Tickets for the nonprofit event are $15 for students, $25 for adults (18 and older), and $75 for a special VIP Pass, entitling the bearer to priority reserved seating at all panels and workshops, a complimentary Asian American graphic novel, signed by its creators (courtesy of Diamond Comic Distributors), and an original sketch from one of the artists participating in the event's Artists Alley.

Registration will be limited, and is available in advance through the following link: https://www.nycharities.org/event/event.asp?CE_ID=4187

Note: All passes may sell out before the day of the event.

"The thing that makes this different from traditional cons is that it's designed to bring down boundaries," says Jeff Yang, co-chair of the event and Editor-in-Chief of Secret Identities. "We're bringing together creators from inside and outside of the comics world; exploring how film, literature, and history interact with graphic fiction; looking at the connections between Asia and Asian America, and we're giving attendees ways to meet, interact and engage with creators as they never have before. For this event, 'con' doesn't stand for 'convention'—we like to think it's short for 'conversation.'"

“Central to the Museum of Chinese in America’s mission is its goal to promote dialogue that transcends generational, geographical and cultural boundaries,” adds AACC co-chair Beatrice Chen, MOCA’s Director of Education. “The Asian American ComiCon, with its focus on exploring culture, identity and history through the world of comics, offers a compelling and accessible way to foster that dialogue.”

In addition to an exhibition room and an Artists' Alley, the Asian American ComiCon will feature three concurrent programming tracks:

· The SPOTLIGHT features high-profile comic creators in one-on-one settings discussing some of the ways in which the comics and non-comics worlds are overlapping and interleaving. Scheduled to participate in these sessions are Derek Kirk Kim (The Eternal Smile, Same Difference & Other Stories) and Larry Hama (G.I. Joe: Origins, Barack the Barbarian).

· READING COMICS, curated by AAWW Executive Director Ken Chen, explores comics as literature, as texts, and as cultural artifacts, with speakers including non-comics creators and critics as well as comics artists and writers.

· Finally, MAKING COMICS, programmed by Marvel writer Greg Pak, allows creators to share their insights on the industry and profession with those wanting a behind-the-scenes look at comics or advice on how to pursue a career in the field.

"Everyone knows that Asian Americans love comics, but no one's ever asked why” says Ken Chen. “That's why we organized the First Annual Asian American ComiCon as a mash-up of a fan convention, an Asian American Studies conference and a literary festival. The ComiCon will be a one-of-a-kind event that'll put superhero comic artists, professors, and novelists at the same table to discuss how we read comics today."

"I love the fact that Asian Americans are doing amazing work in every corner of the comics industry," says Incredible Hulk writer Greg Pak. "The Asian American ComiCon will give fans the chance to hear from indie superstars and superhero fan faves alike about creative choices and the practical reality of building a career. We're also hooking in a few behind-the-scenes comics executives who'll provide unique perspectives that I can't wait to hear!"

Among some of the top comics industry professionals scheduled to attend the First Annual Asian American ComiCon include:

--BERNARD CHANG (Wonder Woman)
--FRED CHAO (Johnny Hiro)
--SEAN CHEN (Iron Man)
--CLIFF CHIANG (Green Arrow/Black Canary)
--LARRY HAMA (G.I. Joe)
--DEREK KIRK KIM (The Eternal Smile)
--JERRY MA (Burn)
--CHRISTINE NORRIE (Breaking Up)
--GREG PAK (Incredible Hulk)
--KHOI PHAM (Mighty Avengers)
--MISAKO ROCKS! (Biker Girl)
--CHRISTINA STRAIN (Runaways)
--TAK TOYOSHIMA (Secret Asian Man)

The officials behind the launch of the AACC feel that the time is ripe to celebrate the contributions of the Asian American community to the comic book industry. To that end, the event will climax with the presentation to G.I. Joe creator Larry Hama of a special award recognizing his incredible career and the influence he's been on his peers and a generation of rising creators. “I’m honored,” says Hama, “as long as you don’t call it a ‘lifetime achievement’ award. I’ve still got a lot to do!”

For more information, please visit www.aacomicon.com
For general inquiries, please contact education@mocanyc.org
For press inquiries, please contact media@aacomicon.com

Ticket Information:
VIP Pass: $75*
Adult: $25
MOCA or AAWW Member: $15
Student (with a valid ID) and Senior (65 and over): $15
Child (age 10 and under): Free with Adult

*The tax-deductible VIP Pass not only helps to support MOCA, it also guarantees the richest possible experience at this event! Including:

· Priority reserved seating at all panels and workshops

· One Original Sketch drawn by an artist from the AACC Artists Alley—artist availability based on first-come, first-serve basis

· One Asian American graphic novel, signed by its creators—choose from:
Secret Identities: The Asian American Anthology (The New Press),
Good As Lily (DC Comics), or
Johnny Hiro Volume 1 (AdHouse Books)

· Admission to the invitation-only, post-Con VIP Reception

The First Annual Asian American ComiCon is presented by:

The Museum of Chinese in America (www.mocanyc.org): Founded in 1980, Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) is dedicated to preserving and presenting the history, heritage, culture and diverse experiences of people of Chinese descent in the United States. Through innovative exhibitions as well as educational and public programs, MOCA promotes dialogue and understanding among people of all cultural backgrounds.

SIUniverse Media (www.secretidentities.org): SIUniverse Media is the editorial and production team behind the pioneering Asian American superhero anthology Secret Identities, as well as its affiliated video, online and educational resources. Committed to raising up new voices from the Asian American community and creating original, authentic and engaging stories with an organically multicultural perspective, we strive to create work that pops eyes, drops jaws and opens minds, all at the same time.

The Asian American Writers' Workshop (www.aaww.org): Founded in 1991, the Workshop is the largest non-profit devoted to the creating, publishing, developing and disseminating of creative writing by Asian Americans. A community of readers and writers and the country’s preeminent authority on Asian American writing, the Workshop dedicates itself to empowering emerging writers of great promise to make the transition to a career in the literary arts.

Asian CineVision (www.asiancinevision.org): Asian CineVision is a nonprofit media arts organization dedicated to promoting and preserving Asian and Asian American media expressions by helping to develop and support both emerging and experienced Asian American film and video makers and other media artists working in a range of genres and styles; and helping to ensure that the full spectrum of Asian and Asian American media works reach diverse audiences in Asian American communities and beyond.

Asian American Comics (www.asianamericancomics.com): Edited by Greg Pak, writer of Incredible Hulk and creator of the Marvel superhero Amadeus Cho, AsianAmericanComics.com is devoted to spreading the word about Asian American comic books, comic book characters and comic book creators. We hope AsianAmericanComics.com will help neophytes find interesting reading material, point existing readers towards new creators and books and provide fans and pros a place to read all the latest news. For more about Pak's work, visit Pakbuzz.com.

Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. (www.diamondcomics.com): The world's largest distributor of English-language comic books and related merchandise, Diamond Comic Distributors is based in Timonium, MD, with strategically located Distribution Centers servicing more than 4,000 specialty retailers worldwide.