Yesterday afternoon, Netflix announced a trio of animated projects featuring Asian American protagonists and creative teams. Among those series was one based on a comic book from an old friend, Mech Cadets based on the Boom! series by Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa.
Continue reading “‘Mech Cadets’ Brings the SIUniverse to Netflix”
In 2009, the Asian American ComiCon was held in New York City, bringing together Asian indie and mainstream comics creators for a historic gathering to celebrate the unique and flourishing graphic storytelling of our community. Now, eight years later, AACC is hosting its second event: a Summit on Art, Action and the Future. In a time where diversity and creativity are both under attack, the Summit will feature diverse creators talking about where we’re going next.
Continue reading “The Asian American ComiCon Presents: A Summit on Art, Action & the Future”
The team behind the groundbreaking Asian American superhero anthologies Secret Identities and Shattered, in partnership with the Japanese American National Museum, have issued a Call for Submissions for New Frontiers: The Many Worlds of George Takei, an original graphic novel anthology that will serve as a companion volume to JANM’s historic exhibition of the same name (running through August 2017), which showcases Takei’s life and the cultural landscapes through which he has traveled. The anthology’s target publication date is July 2017.
Diverse creators with stories to share that speak to the themes and issues Takei has confronted in his life are encouraged to pitch them at the Submissions Form located at here before the pitch deadline of April 24, 2017. Relevant issues include, but are not limited to: unlawful incarceration, status as an “illegal” alien and the push for LGBTQ equality and civil rights for all, yellowface, whitewashing, media stereotypes, and the rise of digital culture and social media.
Continue reading “Announcing New Frontiers Anthology Inspired by the Life of George Takei”
A little over two weeks ago, I had the honor of leading a comics workshop with my SIUniverse partner Jerry Ma at the world renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Part of their annual Lunar New Year festival, Jerry and I helped small children and their families use inspiration from the museum’s rooms of Asian art to create their own superhero characters.
Continue reading “SIUniverse Celebrates Lunar New Year at The Met in NYC”
by Jerry Ma | Originally posted at Epic Proportions
The countdown begins, and I’m super excited to announce the guests I’ll be having at my booth for New York Comic-Con this weekend!
It’s always a pleasure and honor for me getting friends to come do some signings, but this year just seems to have some more excitement for me.
Continue reading “Epic Props’ NY Comic-Con Schedule and Exclusives”
Last night, the SIUniverse family was rocked when we learned we had lost one of our own. Francis Tsai, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2010, passed away after a long battle with the disease — just one week after celebrating his 46th birthday. In 2009, Francis became part of the SIUniverse by illustrating the story “Taking Back Troy” in the first Secret Identities volume. Though ALS slowly took away his ability to draw with his hands, he never let the disease stop him from creating art. First, he trained himself to draw using his feet, and when that was taken from him, he pioneered special technology using his eyes to create art.
A few weeks back, I had the honor to attend the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU’s presentation of Making It Up As I Go Along, a documentary about the legendary G.I. Joe creator Larry Hama. After the screening, I was also able to have a one-on-one conversation with Larry and fielded some questions from the audience in attendance.
If you were unable to be at the screening, the APA Institute has posted the whole thing online, and you can see it for yourself after the jump!
Continue reading “Making it Up As I Go Along with Larry Hama”
Chee and T is the newest film by my homie Tanuj Chopra (Punching at the Sun, Nice Girls Crew) and is currently being funded on Indiegogo. With a little less than two weeks left in the campaign, his crew has pulled out all the stops to reach their $75,000 goal. Right now, the project is about 65% of the way there, but they need one last push to get it over the top.
So what better way to raise awareness for their movie than getting a bunch of classic G.I. Joe action figures and reenacting the movie?
Continue reading “Tanuj Chopra’s Chee and T Told with G.I. Joe Figures”
Fun Size Horror is a horror film collective that has come together to create 31 films that celebrate Halloween! This unique carnival of terror kicks off today and will last until the last trick-or-treater. You can find all of the terrifying shorts distributed across DreadCentral, BloodyDisgusting, ShockTilYouDrop, Collider and HitFix, all week!
One of the included short films, Sleeper, was directed by my good friend Michael Velasquez. Fortunatley, I was able to convince Michael to answer a few questions about his short, as well as some of the things that keep him up at night.
Continue reading “Fun Size Horror Shorts in Time for Halloween”
On Wednesday, October 22, the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU is presenting Making It Up As I Go Along, a documentary by The Spitting Image. The film reveals the creative process of a man who has become a legend, beloved by throngs of comic book readers worldwide — cartoonist, musician, and G.I. Joe creator Larry Hama. Following the screening, Hama speaks with Keith Chow, founder and editor of The Nerds of Color and co-editor of the groundbreaking Asian American comic anthologies Secret Identities and Shattered.
Items from the A/P/A Institute-produced traveling exhibition, MARVELS & MONSTERS Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986 will be for sale in a silent auction to support the institute’s collections building initiatives. MARVELS & MONSTERS was curated using images from the William F. Wu Comics Collection, the world’s largest collection of American comic books featuring images of Asians and is housed at the NYU Fales Library & Special Collections.
Register for tickets by Monday, October 20. You can find and RSPVP to the event on Facebook as well.
Continue reading “Larry Hama Documentary Screening in New York City on October 22”
by Jerry Ma | Originally posted at Epic Proportions
Its that time of year again! One of my favorite times of the year!
Once again I’ll be at New York Comic-Con at the Javits Center at Booth 2010. The same location as last year and the same size booth! Meaning, its another 10×20 corner booth. Which might not mean a lot to most people, but this is a BIG deal for me.
And I have some really cool news too!
My good friend Bernard Chang will be joining me at the booth the entire con!
Continue reading “Epic Props at New York Comic-Con Booth 2010 with Bernard Chang”
Yesterday, Parry Shen challenged our own Keith Chow to take part in the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS research. This is the result: Continue reading N.O.C. One-Shot: Keith’s Ice Bucket Challenge
Hey East Coasters! I know all the cool kids are going to be in San Diego this weekend, but if you couldn’t make the cross-country trip, folks in the DMV can get their comics fix by coming to the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in Washington, DC’s Chinatown this Sunday, July 27.
I’ll be joined by illustrator Jamie Noguchi (Yellow Peril) and NPR Code Switch’s Kat Chow to talk about the secret origins of Secret Identities and Shattered as well as Jamie’s Yellow Peril webcomic. We’ll also discuss why we have chosen the comics medium to tell Asian American stories in the first place. Check out details after the jump!
Last Sunday evening, we flipped the script on the Google Hangout format. Instead of hosting Hard NOC Life, I had the pleasure to be Mega Ran’s guest on the NPC Collective’s monthly “Ask the NPC” series on YouTube.
Catch me on with Ran, and his NPC partners-in-rhyme Shubzilla, Sammus, and Sky Blew. We discuss a lot of topics including potential NOC/NPC collabos, gender representation in nerd spaces, how people perceive nerdcore music, and our favorite comics. Plus, we get into some show-and-tell of the best nerdy stuff in our rooms. Check out the video after the jump!
Continue reading “My Guest Spot on Ask the NPC Last Weekend”
by Jeff Yang | Originally posted at Quartz
In 1994, exactly 20 years ago, ABC decided to pick up the pilot for comedian Margaret Cho’s All-American Girl, making it the first sitcom to put an Asian American family on network prime-time TV. The show was slammed by the press and rapidly faded in the ratings; after airing just 19 episodes, the decision was made to cancel it. In her book, Cho cited bad reviews from Asian American cultural critics as being a key reason for ABC’s lack of faith in the show, calling out one in particular — me.
Two decades have gone by, and no network has aired another Asian American family sitcom since. But this weekend, ironically, ABC officially picked up Fresh Off the Boat — a sitcom based on celebrity chef Eddie Huang’s New York Times bestselling memoir of growing up with his two brothers and immigrant parents as a hip-hop-loving outsider in suburban Orlando, Florida. Playing little Eddie: My son, Hudson Yang.
The irony — or is it karma? — in the situation led me and my friend, illustrator Louie Chin, to collaborate on this comic.
Dwayne McDuffie is one of the most important figures in the history of the comic book industry. Perhaps that’s hyperbole, but I don’t think so. I know that his work has left an indelible mark on me, and the world is a lesser place without him in it.
I didn’t know Dwayne McDuffie personally. I only met him once. Briefly. It was in San Diego in 2009. The fellas (Jerry Ma, Jeff Yang, Parry Shen) and I were at Comic-Con to promote Secret Identities. Dwayne was on a panel moderated by Jeff, and the five of us were able to chat for a bit afterwards.
If you haven’t heard, there’s a little independent movie that just opened in theaters this weekend called Thor: The Dark World. Last month, friend of the blog Jerry Ma had these exclusive t-shirts — featuring artwork by legendary Thor artist Walter Simonson — for sale at the Epic Proportions/SIUniverse booth at New York Comic-Con. Now that the con is over, Jerry’s offering limited quantities of these shirts for sale at epicprops.com.
Featuring artwork from Simonson’s upcoming Ragnarök comic with IDW Publishing, why not grab one of these shirts before heading to the multiplex and feeding your eyeballs the latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? You could always opt for a different shirt in Epic’s line of “Signature Tees” featuring some of Walt’s artwork, including his take on the Norse God of Thunder, too.
Continue reading “Walter Simonson’s Ragnarök Tees from Epic Proportions”
It’s Wednesday again! But not just any ordinary Wednesday. For those of us on the east coast, today marks the calm before the storm that is New York Comic-Con! Speaking of which, be sure to swing by Booth #2010 and visit me and my SIUniverse buddies at the Epic Proportions mega-booth. We’ll have signings by Greg Pak, Bernard Chang, Cliff Chiang, Larry Hama and Walt Simonson all weekend.
Now that that’s out of the way, keep reading to see what are some books that I think folks will be buzzing about on the con floor. And find a comic shop near you, so you don’t miss out on the conversation.
Six years ago this month, five people gathered in a Brooklyn living room to pore through stacks of manuscripts and art portfolios in order to decide on what to include in a little project that would eventually go on to be known as Secret Identities.
To commemorate the occasion, Keith (@the_real_chow) welcomes his SIUniverse partners Jeff Yang (@originalspin), Jerry Ma (@epicprops), Jef Castro (@pointnquestion) — and a special cameo appearance by Parry Shen (@parryshen) — to reminisce about Secret Identities and Shattered.
Look for SIUniverse to represent on both coasts next week as Keith and Jerry will be holding it down at New York Comic-Con (BOOTH 2010!) and Jeff will be in Los Angeles for the opening of Marvels and Monsters at the Japanese American National Museum.
