For this week’s interview, we’re trying something new. We’ve recorded the first ever Kwanzoo podcast! You can listen along with the interview here.
Our interviewee is Gene Yang, author of a number of critically acclaimed comic books, including American Born Chinese. His next book, The Eternal Smile, is a collaboration with artist Derek Kirk Kim and is due out this spring from Macmillan. Commentary and notes on the interview are after the jump.
0:00 – I apologize for my poor mic presence. This was my first attempt at a podcast, after all.
0:38 – The Xeric Foundation gives grants to help comic book creators self-publish. It was established by Peter Laird, hence “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle money.”
2:00 – Richard Becker’s page can be found here
4:34 – You can read about the Market Street art installation that Gene mentions here.
8:56 – The Alternative Press Expo is held yearly in San Francisco. It’s worth checking out if you happen to be in the area.
10:45 – If you read webcomics, you may have seen Duncan’s Kingdom floating around. I want to say it was hosted on Modern Tales, but Google is failing me.
12:35 – I don’t know if it comes across, but I’m not picking on Gene for Duncan’s Kingdom being insufficiently Tolkienesque. I’m just pointing out that it’s not quite a straight fantasy story, as anyone who has read it knows.
15:40 – One of the three plotlines of American Born Chinese is a mock sitcom titled “Everyone Ruves Chin-Kee”, featuring an outrageously racist asian caricature who comes to live with his American cousin.
You can read more about Cousin Chin-Kee and the inspiration behind him here.
18:53 – Saving you the trouble of looking up the Boxer Rebellion with a link to Wikipedia. You’re welcome.
19:45 – Links to a few of Gene’s influences: Derek Kirk Kim, Tien Phan, Lark Pien, Jason Shiga, Jesse Hamm, Jason Thompson, Jeff Smith, Jay Stevens, Osamu Tezuka, Lynda Barry, The Disney Duck Artists, Adrian Tomine
20:35 – The Jason Shiga comic I’m groping for the name of is actually Fleep. You can read it for free on his site.
22:48 – Another of the storylines in American Born Chinese is based on The Journey to the West, a classic of Chinese literature. In the original, a Buddhist monk travels to India to retrieve religious texts. He’s aided by The Monkey King, a character who came to dominate the story.
23:35 – In the original Journey to the West, the Monkey King is trapped under a mountain by Buddha for causing trouble in the supernatural world. In American Born Chinese, the beleagured gods and demons instead appeal to “Tze-Yo-Tzuh”, translated in the comic as “He Who Is.”
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