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Printz Award, which recognizes books written for teens, as well as the first graphic novel to be a National Book Award finalist. “American Born Chinese” became the first graphic novel to win the Michael L. First Second released its edition (colored by Yang’s friend Lark Pien) in 2006. He was eventually put in touch with First Second Books, and the publisher expressed interest in releasing the comic as a fully colored graphic novel. After drawing an issue, Yang would head to a shop to make photocopies, staple them together by hand and sell them at local conventions and comic stores. Like his other early work, “American Born Chinese” was self-published. That was certainly true of me and ‘American Born Chinese.’“ “I think this is true of a lot of authors and artists - we’re trying to do self-therapy when we’re working on these different projects. “I remember feeling a real sense of release as I was working on the project, especially when I was done with it,” said Yang. But he says working on the book was “really cathartic.” (First Second / Macmillion Children’s Publishing Group)īased on his personal experiences, Yang had to unpack memories like being bullied as a kid and being made to feel like an outsider for being Chinese American. Although his work always featured Asian American protagonists, he had yet to make identity a central part of the story. He’d been making indie comics for around five years at that point, after graduating college in 1995. Yang originally started working on “American Born Chinese” in 2000. Another is the tale of the Monkey King, a mythical god from the 16th century Chinese classic “Journey to the West.” The third is about a popular blond-haired, light-eyed teen jock who is embarrassed of his visiting cousin, who is an amalgam of every racist Chinese stereotype perpetuated by mainstream culture. One storyline follows Jin Wang, who struggles after he transfers to a school where there is only one other Asian American student.

The graphic novel features three seemingly distinct narratives that are eventually revealed to be interconnected. Another was that the show represented the three different worlds that the story unfolds. That the adaptation retained that core premise was one of the most important things to the author. The main character eventually learns to accept himself through this friendship.” “And it turns out that this immigrant kid isn’t just from Asia, he’s actually from Asian mythology. It’s a story about “a young man who is struggling with his own cultural heritage, with the way he looks, with the language his parents speak, becomes friends with this immigrant kid,” said Yang. (First Second / Macmillon Children’s Publishing Group) But after reluctantly befriending his new classmate Wei-Chen Sun (Jimmy Liu), Jin gets pulled into a battle over heaven between mythological gods. “It felt like I was playing a virtual reality video game.”īased on Yang’s award-winning graphic novel, “ American Born Chinese,” which premieres Wednesday on Disney+, follows Jin Wang (played by Ben Wang), a teenager that just wants to fit in, play soccer and win over his crush.

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Whereas the promotional cycle for one of his books might involve appearances at events like librarian conferences, special advanced screenings of the TV series have taken Yang from the Bay Area to New York and even the White House.Īttending the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month celebration hosted by President Biden, which featured a screening of “American Born Chinese,” earlier this month “really felt like I was living somebody else’s life,” said Yang during a recent video call. For cartoonist Gene Luen Yang, the lead-up to the premiere of “American Born Chinese” has been “very surreal.”