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The Blog of Gene Luen Yang
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  • 2011
    • January
      • THE BLOG IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE BLOG!
        01/09/11


        As of today I'm officially retiring this blog! With the help of the good folks over at KickStart Media, I've started up a new website and blog here. Visit me there! Visit me often!

  • 2010
    • November
      • ABC the Song
        11/23/10
        Recently, Matthew, a middle-schooler from Portland, Oregon, got in touch with me over e-mail. He shared with me this amazing song that he wrote and performed, inspired by American Born Chinese.

        Check it out here.

        Thanks so much for sharing your talent, Matthew!


      • SJ Comics Fest
        11/12/10


        SLG Publishing is hosting a mini comics convention at their warehouse tomorrow (Saturday 11/13) from noon until 5pm. I'll be there, as will a number of SLG cartoonists. Thien Pham, my collaborator on Level Up, will be there, too! It'll be really intimate (read: small), which

      • Shadow and Mirror
        11/12/10




        My review of Suzy Lee's Shadow and Jeannie Baker's Mirror was printed in the New York Times over the weekend. It's also available online here.

    • October
      • Colorado Language Arts Society and CSU Sacramento
        10/30/10
        Life has once again gotten the best of me and I have fallen behind on my blog updates. In a couple of hours, I'll be speaking about how COMICS ARE INVADING AMERICA! at the Colorado Language Arts Society conference. I'm sitting in the swanky Inverness Hotel right now looking over my notes

      • Strange Tales Vol. 2 #1 Available Today!
        10/20/10
        Quick! Make your way over to your friendly neighborhood comic shop and buy yourself a copy of Strange Tales Vol. 2 #1 right now! Check out this amazing cover by artist extraordinaire Rafael Grampa:



        In addition to Grampa, this one issue features comics goodness from Kate Beat

      • Ohio State University's Festival of Cartoon Art
        10/13/10


        In just two days, Ohio State's 2010 Festival of Cartoon Art begins! The festival's already sold out, but I thought I'd mention it anyway. I'll be speaking there on Saturday about American Born Chinese. There are going to be many, many awesome aspiring and professio

      • Wanna Own A Page of Pure Awesomeness?
        10/13/10


        Derek Kirk Kim has put some pages from The Eternal Smile up for sale. They look gorgeous in the book, but the originals are absolutely breath-taking. Something about watercolor doesn't scan quite right, so you really have to see these in person to get the full effect. They'r

      • Monkey King T-Shirts
        10/01/10


        I got these t-shirts made right before Comic-Con this year, but a friend of mine has finally helped me put them up on the web for sale.

        The shirt was designed by my brother-in-law and features the Monkey King as he appears in American Born Chinese.

        Available in all

    • September
      • Fu Chang
        09/29/10


        This past weekend, Angry Asian Man asked me to do a guest post over at his blog while he was on vacation. I wrote about the racially-insensitive-but-still-slightly-awesome Fu Chang, a Chinese-American funnybook detective from the Golden Age of comics.

        If you're intereste

      • More Stuff on Saturday...
        09/17/10
        In addition to the Graphic Novel Day activities I mention in the post below, I'll also be visiting the South Regional Library in the Woodlands, TX this Saturday. I'm going to talk about why I make comics. If you're in the area, please come, especially if you're a cartoonist or

      • Graphic Novel Day
        09/15/10
        This Saturday 9/18/10, I'll be joining Terry Moore, Barbara Slate, and Esther Pearl Watson for the Houston Public Library's Graphic Novel Day in Houston, Texas. I'll be doing an hour-long workshop on making comics. I'll also be part of a panel discussion on graphic novels. Det

      • "Professor Waid, You Hippie Freak!"
        09/02/10
        Mark Waid, the writer behind Irredeemable and many other awesome comics, just released a better-articulated version of an off-the-cuff keynote he made at the Harvey Awards. He talks about comics, creative products in general, and our new file-sharing culture.

        I'm a worrier. It'

      • Rise of the Graphic Novel
        09/01/10
        Quick! Go back in time to April, 26 2010! Then get yourself over to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco where Andy Hartzell, Lark Pien, Dash Shaw and I have an awesome discussion about comics, the future, and the awesomeness of comics in the future.

        WHAT?! What do you mean your time

    • August
      • Busy, Busy, Busy
        08/20/10
        The academic school year's starting up and I'm trying to hit a couple of comics deadlines... those are my excuses for why I haven't posted lately.

        Here are some sketches I did for a one-pager I'm working on. It will eventually be published in an as-yet-unannounced ant

      • First Friday at SLG Publishing
        08/06/10


        What are you doing tomorrow (Friday 8/6/10) night? Come to SLG Publishing Headquarters in San Jose at 8pm! For those who aren't in the know, SLG Publishing puts out fabulous graphic novels like Street Angel and Skeleton Key. They've also put out a few graphic novels by me. T

      • Oh, Brother!
        08/05/10


        Just found out about this via the comics blogosphere-- man, I'm excited! Jay Stephens, one of my favorite cartoonists ever, is cartooning once again! He and Bob Weber Jr. are doing an online comics strip called Oh, Brother! There's a lot of hubbub around its launch because K

    • July
      • We Won An Eisner!
        07/28/10
        Just got back from the crush of humanity that is Comic-Con International. It was fun, it was tiring, it was geeky. Not that I minded -- those are my people. I have to say, though, comics' presence seems to be diminishing. Movies and video games and television were drawing big crowds. There

      • Strange Tales Volume 2
        07/23/10
        First, if you're at Comic-Con, please visit! Here's my signing schedule:

        Signing at First Second Books (Booth #1323)
        Saturday 7/24/2010 at 1:30pm
        Derek Kirk Kim will be there, too!

        Signings at SLG Publishing (Booth #1815)
        Sunday 7/25/2010 at 10:00am
      • Comic-Con International
        07/13/10
        I can't believe Comic-Con is just over a week away. Man, summer goes by fast. I will be there from Friday afternoon through Sunday. My good buddy Wayne Lo has graciously offered to share his table with me, so we'll be at table GG-19 in Artist's Alley. I'll also be doing signi

      • Harvey Pekar Died Today.
        07/13/10
        I found out this morning during my daily walk through the comics blogosphere. Harvey Pekar's been in the back of my mind all day.

        When I was growing up, our local library had a small collection of American Splendors dutifully shelved in the 741's. I tried reading them more tha

      • Comics Workshop in SF
        07/10/10
        Man, I thought I was getting so good at this whole blogging thing...

        I just realized I never mentioned this workshop I'm doing this Sunday 7/11/10 at the Asian Art Museum in SF. I'll be going over making comics, from beginning to end. We'll be designing characters, writin

      • Interview at The Millions
        07/08/10
        During my trip to Minneapolis, book reporter Paul Morton came to speak with me about comics, religion, and growing up. The Millions just put up our interview here.

      • Mark Waid is Amazing
        07/07/10
        Back when I was in my post-adolescent, anti-establishment, pro-indie-comics phase, I used to argue that they should've stopped making superhero comics after Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns. What's the point of scaling the mountain once the peak's been reached?

        Now Mar

    • June
      • The Last Airbender Opens At Midnight
        06/30/10
        Given the avalanche of horrifically bad reviews this movie has already been getting, arguing against its use of yellowface feels a bit like trying to beat a bag of hair at Scrabble. Most people are going to boycott it because of its suckitude rather than its racebending.

        I do want to mak

      • Astroboy Volume 3
        06/29/10
        I love love LOVE Japan's God of Manga Osamu Tezuka. I started reading his stuff as an adult and credit him for helping me get past my teenage anti-manga bias. (A friend and I used to argue American comics vs. Japanese comics, with me defending the good ol' U.S. of A.) His series Adolf i

      • Gordon Yamamoto Animated!
        06/23/10
        Some web animator friends of mine down in L.A. put together this little clip, based on a scene in Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks (currently available as part of Animal Crackers):



        Their rendition of Gordon is clearly better than mine. Thanks, Squadron B!

      • Prime Baby Beginnings
        06/23/10
        In the interview I did with Tom Spurgeon over at ComicsReporter.com, I mentioned three inspirations for Prime Baby:

        1. The sibling rivalry I witnessed at home after my second kid was born.
        2. A prime numbers project I assign to my students, and their inevitable questions about its

      • AsiaAlive in San Francisco
        06/22/10
        After my event in Washington D.C. on Friday, I'm going to teleport* to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco to be a part of their AsiaAlive program. I'll be hanging out from noon to 4pm on both Saturday and Sunday, drawing comics. I'll also have a fun little drawing activity for th

      • Booklist Youth Forum at ALA in Washington, DC
        06/20/10
        Later this week, I'll be heading over to the nation's capitol to punch a BP exec in the face to participate in the Booklist Youth Forum at the American Library Association Conference in Washington DC. I'll be joining my editor Mark Siegel (who also happens to be the genius behind Sai

      • Prime Baby Process
        06/16/10
        Wanna know how I make comics? Here's the quickie run-down, using page 2 from Prime Baby as an example:

        1. I start by writing a script. Sometimes this looks slick and formatted, kind of like a screenplay. Sometimes this is barely-legible chicken scratch on napkins. Unfortunately,

      • Graphic Novel and Comic Writing & Illustrating Conference
        06/08/10
        In the Minneapolis area? On June 19, 2010, Hennepin County Library and the Loft Literary Center are hosting a conference on breaking into comics! I'll be there, as will Zander Cannon, Barbara Schultz, Lars Martinson, Jude Nutters, Robin Schwartzman and Linda E. Davis. Registration is free, bu

    • May
      • Catholics Next Door
        05/31/10


        A couple of weeks ago, Greg and Jennifer Willits invited me on their Sirius/XM radio show to talk about Prime Baby, comic books in general, and faith. They're great people, and it was a lot of fun.

        They just posted a podcast of it to their website. Our interview starts

      • Prince of Persia
        05/27/10
        I gotta be honest. I probably wouldn't have gone to see this one in the theaters anyway. I loved the original video game when I was a kid, but with three little kids of my own now, making the trek out to the local cineplex is a feat of scheduling acrobatics. My wife and I both have to be real

      • The Last Airbender Movie
        05/24/10
        We're just over a month away from the opening of M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender movie. Yay. Derek and I did a couple of posts on it last year.

        Here's a comic about why I'm not gonna see it, despite being a huge fan of the original animated series:

      • Signing on 6/10/10
        05/24/10
        On Thursday 6/10/10, I'll be signing copies of Prime Baby at Giant Robot SF from 6pm to 8pm. Giant Robot is an awesome store, chock-full of Asian pop culture goodness. Address here:

        Giant Robot
        618 Shrader St.
        San Francisco CA 94117
        415-876-4773


      • Eternal Smile Bookclub Discussion Questions
        05/18/10


        A friend was kind enough to suggest The Eternal Smile to her bookclub. She asked my wife for some discussion questions to help make her case.

        Here's what we came up with:

        ***

        1. In each story of The Eternal Smile, the main character makes a dishono

      • Smile!
        05/17/10


        There are some amazing graphic novel memoirs out there -- I think nowadays it's the second most popular comics genre after superheroes -- but very few of them are appropriate for middle schoolers. Raina Telgemeier's Smile fills that gap brilliantly.

        In her preteen y

      • ABC on a Kindle
        05/12/10


        *Ta da!* Thanks to Ms. Robinson's class for providing this! I had a great time visiting you guys over Skype! You asked some awesome questions.

      • SLG Sale!
        05/11/10
        SLG Publishing is having a sale! Everything's 25% off over at their website. This includes my books with them and Street Angel, my most favoritest SLG comic ever.

      • American Born Chinese is on the Kindle!
        05/10/10


        WHAAAT??? I don't own a Kindle, so I'm really curious as to how a color graphic novel looks on a black-and-white display. I noticed that American Born Chinese isn't the only GN that's been Kindle-ized. Anyone have a photo they can share?

      • Humble Comics Website Updated!
        05/08/10
        It's been, what, four YEARS since I've done that? I don't even have Dreamweaver installed anymore so I had to use a text editor.

        I've added The Eternal Smile, Prime Baby, and Animal Crackers to the Comics page. I've also updated the About page. If you find any

      • Indonesian Smile
        05/06/10


        I got copies of the Indonesian translation of The Eternal Smile a while ago, but I didn't flip through it until just now. They did a beautiful job on the production values-- it's kinda crazy seeing your own work in a language you don't understand. Ever wonder what a spla

      • Event in Sacramento on Tue 5/4/10!
        05/02/10
        On Tuesday 5/4 at 4pm, I'll be at the Southgate Library in Sacramento talking about how I make comics. If you're in the area, come on by! Here's the address:

        Southgate Library
        6132 66th Ave.
        Sacramento, CA 95823
        (916)264-2700

    • April
      • What are you doing on Saturday 5/1/10?
        04/22/10
        Come to Mrs. Dalloway's, a cool indie bookstore in Berkeley! I'll be there on Saturday 5/1/10 at 7pm to talk about my two just-released books, Prime Baby and Animal Crackers. Here's the address:

        Mrs. Dalloway's
        2904 College Ave
        Berkeley, CA 94705

      • The Rise of the Graphic Novel
        04/20/10
        On the evening Monday 4/26, The Commonwealth Club will be hosting a panel discussion on Why Comic Books, Being So Freaking Awesome, Are Taking Over The Whole Freaking World (or as they put it, "The Rise of the Graphic Novel") with Lark Pien, Andy Hartzell, Dash Shaw, and me! Should be fun

      • Books!
        04/15/10
        Two of my books were released this month!



        First, First Second recently published Prime Baby, which collects a short story I did for the New York Times at the end of 2008.



        Second, Animal Crackers from SLG Publishing collects my first two graphic novels Go

      • Festival of Faith and Writing
        04/15/10
        This weekend, I'll be speaking at the Festival of Faith & Writing at Calvin College. I generally enjoy talking about comics, but I'm especially excited about this event because I get to talk about comics and God! I sometimes imagine Heaven to be a place where past, present, and future

      • Eisner Nom!
        04/15/10


        I found out late last week that "Urgent Request," the last story in The Eternal Smile, was nominated for an Eisner! I have to tell you, I'm extremely proud of that story. Derek did an such a phenomenal job on everything, from the layouts to the pacing to the watercolors

      • The Genius of Shiga
        04/03/10
        Last month, Bay Area comics genius Jason Shiga unleashed his masterpiece:



        If you want to see the sort of crazy formalist oomph-itude the comics medium is capable of, you need to go buy this book now. It will pop your mind grapes. Seriously.

    • March
      • Webcomics Awesomeness
        03/06/10
        Wanna read a couple of the most awesome comics ever? Right now? Online? For free?

        1. Derek Kirk Kim is serializing T.U.N.E., his next graphic novel, over at lowbright.com. It'll eventually be collected in paper-and-ink form by First Second, but it's available in all its awe

    • February
      • Long Tail Kitty by Lark Pien
        02/04/10


        This is the most amazing kid's comic I've read in a long time, and I'm not just saying that because the author is the colorist of American Born Chinese. The artwork - gorgeous brown brushstrokes paired with wistful, cloud-like watercolors - is absolutely stunning. And th

      • I'm back!
        02/01/10
        Man, it's been a long time since I've put up a post. I'm really terrible at this blogging stuff.

        All sorts of things have happened in the world since I was last here, the most traumatic of which was, of course, the earthquake in Haiti. I'm sure that by now everyone k

  • 2009
    • November
      • Eastwind Books this Weekend!
        11/30/09

        I'll be at Eastwind Books in Berkeley this Saturday (11/5) at 3:00 to talk about The Eternal Smile, American Born Chinese, and making comics. Eastwind is a great book store, specializing in all things Asian. Come by if you can!

        Eastwind Books of Berkeley
        2066 University

    • October
      • PRIME BABY AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!
        10/27/09


        In April 2010, First Second will release a collection of the strips I did for the New York Times. Prime Baby is a short little thing, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. The design folks at FS did a great job on the book's packaging. It just showed up on Amazon.com for

      • 2009 National Book Awards Finalists Announced!
        10/14/09


        The National Book Foundation has just announced the 2009 finalists.

        Over the past half year, I had the great honor of serving as a judge for the Young People's Literature category. It was an extremely difficult and extremely rewarding process. My eyes are still sore fro

      • Animal Crackers Bonus Feature Preview
        10/14/09
        In 2010, the good people at SLG Publishing will be putting out Animal Crackers, a single volume that collects both Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks and Loyola Chin and the San Peligran Order. I did a new 12-pager for it, a "Bonus Feature" of sorts, where I talk about how I put co

      • Alternative Press Expo
        10/13/09


        The Alternative Press Expo is happening in San Francisco this weekend! It's one of my favorite comics conventions, and my good friend Lark Pien is a special guest this year! She did the illo (above) for the APE 2009 program book. Apes have never looked cuter.

        I'll

      • Oregon Association of School Libraries
        10/13/09


        Just got back from the Oregon Association of School Libraries Annual Conference. Derek Kirk Kim and I did a session on Comics in the Classroom, then I did a presentation on how comics are invading American culture. I always enjoy these librarian shindigs. They're so enthusiastic

    • September
      • Derek is doing webcomics again!
        09/25/09
        CHECK IT OUT.

      • APAture
        09/25/09
        Tomorrow from 12pm-4pm, I'll be at APAture, the Asian-American art show in SF. Here's the address:

        Goforaloop Gallery
        1458 San Bruno Ave., SF

      • SLG Publishing Presents Comics Fest
        09/18/09


        Man, I'm bad at blogging. I really should have posted this a couple weeks ago, but is hosting a comics mini-convention at their warehouse tomorrow (Saturday 9/19/09). I'm gonna be there, as are a bunch of other SLG artists!

        Here are details:

        SLG Publish

    • July
      • Comic-Con International 2009
        07/20/09


        Comic-Con International 2009 is just around the corner, and this year I have the honor of being one of the Special Guests. The Special Guest list this year is absolutely NUTSO, mostly because Hayao Miyazake's on it! Derek Kirk Kim and I will be tabling at #AA4. We'll h

    • June
      • June Events
        06/03/09
        I have a few events coming up...

        Sat, Jun 6, 2pm
        Signing at Dr. Comics and Mr. Games
        4014 Piedmont Ave.
        Oakland, CA 94611

        Sat, June 6, 7pm
        Presentation at Books Inc.
        301 Castro St.
        Mountain View, CA 94041

        Tue, June 9, 5pm
        Presentati

    • April
      • Eternal Smile Officially Released Today!
        04/28/09


        Woohoo! This is the most visually stunning project I've ever been a part of, thanks to tremendous work by my co-conspirator Derek Kirk Kim. You can find it at your local comic book shop, your local bookstore, or Amazon.com!

        And while you're there, check out Secret

      • ABC-inspired Projects
        04/28/09
        Last week I had the pleasure of presenting at the Catholic Library Association conference in Anaheim, CA. There, I met Mr. Lopez, a technology teacher at St. Genevieve Elementary School in Panorama City. Mr. Lopez taught American Born Chinese to his 7th and 8th grade students, and he was kind enou

      • SLG Web Sale!
        04/14/09


        Looking for a place to spend that tax refund? SLG Publishing, the folks who put out my first two graphic novels (Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks and Loyola Chin and the San Peligran Order) are having a web sale! Already cheap comics are now 30% off! Go to www.slgcomic.com an

    • March
      • The Eternal Smile
        03/17/09


        My next big graphic novel project is The Eternal Smile, a collaboration with Derek Kirk Kim, an internationally celebrated cartoonist and one of my best friends. First Second Books will release it later this Spring... in May, I think. I'm not sure. I don't have a head for da

      • Secret Identities
        03/17/09


        On Tax Day 2009, Secret Identities, the premiere Asian American superhero anthology, drops. Because, you know, Asians love taxes.

        Just kidding.

        It looks pretty cool, Asian American comics luminaries like Greg Pak, Cliff Chiang, and Kazu Kibuishi contributed work.

    • January
      • Angouleme 2009
        01/30/09


        Last year, I visited the comic book equivalent of Shangri-La: The Angouleme Festival, the largest comics convention in the Western world. Absolutely amazing. The comics culture in Europe is very, very different from its American counterpart. Their storytelling traditions, their popula

      • The Last Airbender Casting Controversy
        01/28/09


        I’d like to give my $0.02 on The Last Airbender casting controversy, which my friend Derek Kirk Kim so eloquently commented on last week.

        Avatar: The Last Airbender is unmistakably Asian. I can’t really see a way around that.

        Yes, it was created by two white guys.

      • The Last Airbender
        01/22/09


        Derek Kirk Kim shares his thoughts on Paramount's casting decisions for the upcoming live-action movie based on Nickelodeon's The Last Airbender cartoon. I have some thoughts of my own, but I'm gonna need to wait until the weekend to get them up here. I'm swampe

  • 2008
    • December
    • November
      • YALSA Podcast
        11/19/08
        The Young Adult Library Services Association has just posted a podcast of a session I did at their conference last week. Terry Trueman and I were interviewed by Joel Shoemaker about our creative processes, favorite books, and all sorts of other fun stuff. Check it out!

      • Prime Baby Chapter 2
        11/17/08


        This week's Prime Baby is up over at The New York Times Magazine's Funny Pages!

      • 2008 Young Adult Literature Symposium
        11/11/08


        Just got back from YALSA's very first Young Adult Literature Symposium ever. It was a pretty wonderful experience. I got to hang out with such YA lit luminaries as Barry Lyga, Kaza Kingsley, and Margaret Peterson Haddix. I even got to share the stage with Terry Trueman, an incred

      • Prime Baby
        11/09/08


        My latest project is up on the Funny Pages section of the New York Times Magazine today. It's a short story called Prime Baby, and it'll be serialized every Sunday for the next 18 weeks.

    • October
      • Model Sheets
        10/27/08
        Here are a couple of model sheets from an upcoming project of mine...





        Should see the light of day in November 2008!

      • SLG Publishing
        10/01/08


        SLG Publishing one of my publishers. They put out Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks and Loyola Chin and the San Peligran Order, the two graphic novels I did before American Born Chinese. They're good folks who publish good comics. If you haven't checked them out befo

      • October Event
        10/01/08
        *Enter usual apologies for not blogging more here.* I had a great September with a number of events I forgot to announce. I took part in the Totoro Forest Project, the Walnut Creek Library Festival, and Champlin Park High School's Red-Hot Rebel Reads program. That last event was especially f

    • August
      • Crazy Summer
        08/05/08
        It's been a crazy summer, and I fell off the blogging wagon. Sorry! I went to China, taught comics at an art college, went to Comic-Con, and took our preschooler and our toddler camping with the in-laws. Everything was really fun, everything was really tiring.

        But I'm (hopefu

    • May
      • In Memory of Rory Root
        05/20/08


        I received word yesterday that Rory Root, the owner of Comic Relief in Berkeley, passed away. I first met Rory over ten years ago, when I'd just started making comics. Since then, he has carried every issue of every comic I've ever done, whether it was hand-stapled or pro

      • Booktalking Authentic Multicultural Literature
        05/15/08
        Just heard about this:



        Looks like a great resource for librarians and teachers. This isn't a completely altruistic plug, though... The author mentions American Born Chinese in the book. :)

        Find it on Amazon here .

      • May Events
        05/13/08
        I can't believe we're almost halfway through May already!

        This Saturday 5/17, I'm speaking at Cupertino Square as part of the Chinese-American heritage celebration that's happening there. They've got a really cool exhibition titled My Distant Land, featuring ph

    • April
      • STUMPTOWN!
        04/22/08
        I'm going to be in Portland, Oregon this weekend attending the Stumptown Comics Festival . I'll be on a panel with the amazing Derek Kirk Kim where we'll reveal our big project together. Find more details at Derek's site. Drop by and say hi if you can!

      • Don Rosa
        04/09/08


        Don Rosa, the greatest living Disney duck cartoonist, is one of my all-time favorite comic book creators. He's practically worshipped in Europe, but relatively unknown in America. It's too bad-- the man's a genius. I just found a great interview with him on YouTube.

      • All Up Night
        04/08/08


        Up All Night, an anthology of YA short stories about teenagers who can't fall asleep, will be released by HarperTeen on April 22! It's all prose except for one comic by me. My contribution is "The Motherless One," a tale from the early years of the Monkey King. I&#

    • March
      • I'm going to Washington DC
        03/25/08
        Sorry for the lack of updates! Every member of my family and I have been taking turns being sick for the last six weeks. I'm leaving for Washington DC today. There, I'll be doing a signing at Big Planet Comics on Wednesday 3/26 at 7pm. Here's the address and phone number:
      • I'm Sick...
        03/07/08
        ...so I'll be missing the 2008 Spring Conference of the Colorado Language Arts Society, unfortunately. I'm really sorry to be missing this-- it sounds like it's going to be an inspired gathering of teachers, writers, and other logophiles. But this season's flu has really knocke

    • February
      • Correction to Milpitas Event
        02/21/08
        I just realized I made a mistake in the February Events post. I'll be visiting the Milpitas Library on WEDNESDAY 2/27, not Thursday. Sorry about that! I'm doing a presentation to their new Teen Book Club, but everyone is welcome. It starts at 4pm. Here's the address:

        Mi

      • Chop Chop
        02/12/08


        Over at his blog, Dr. K has been discussing Chop Chop , the Chinese mascot of DC Comics' superteam The Blackhawks. Chop Chop is an ancestor to my character Cousin Chin-kee. Anyone who is interested in the history of stereotypes will find these posts fascinating.

      • First Second Books Creator Blog
        02/12/08
        I put an entry up at First Second the blog this week. I talk about my recent AMAZING trip to France.

        The First Second blog is hosting a series of creator entries. Go read the thoughts of comic book luminaries like Paul Pope, Brian Ralph, and Lark Pien!

      • February Events
        02/04/08
        On Saturday 2/16, I'll be doing a presentation at the SF Public Library, Chinatown Branch from 2:30 to 4pm. The library is located at 1135 Powell Street in San Francisco.

        On Saturday 2/23, I'll be at WonderCon 2008, signing at the SLG Publishing booth. I'm also schedule

      • NPR Interview
        02/04/08
        A couple of weeks ago I did an interview for NPR's new show The Bryant Park Project. If you're interested, you can find it here.

      • I'll be at Stanford University tonight!
        02/04/08
        I'll be doing a short presentation at Stanford University tonight. It'll be at 8pm, in the History Corner, Room 2, (building 200).

        ...probably should've posted this earlier...

      • Angouleme
        02/02/08
        Got back from Angouleme, France on Monday after spending the weekend at the Western Hemisphere's largest comic book festival. It was absolutely amazing. I got to meet with many of my favorite European cartoonists like Lewis Trondheim, Christophe Blain, and Joann Sfar. I even had a conversati

    • January
      • MERRY (BELATED) CHRISTMAS & HAPPY (BELATED) NEW YEAR!
        01/07/08
        I can't believe it's been well over a month since I last updated. I've had a busy December. Seriously. But Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I'm going to be at the Fremont Main Library this coming Saturday (1/12/08) from 3 to 4pm. The Fremont Main is an absolutely gorgeou

  • 2007
    • November
      • Fox Bunny Funny
        11/26/07


        Top Shelf Comix has recently published Fox Bunny Funny , my friend Andy Hartzell's latest graphic novel. Fox Bunny Funny is completely wordless and utterly engrossing. It's one of those stories that can be read in many, many different ways. The story is determined almost

      • Lark Pien is a genius
        11/19/07


        Need proof?

        Look here .

      • Good As Lily
        11/16/07


        This entry is months late, but in case you haven't heard, comics wunderkind Derek Kirk Kim and master illustrator Jesse Hamm have released their latest work, Good As Lily from Minx. Minx is line of graphic novels from DC Comics targeted at teenage girls, but enjoyed by all age

      • Lark Pien's I AM TEN
        11/09/07


        Bay Area cartooning phenom Lark Pien is having an exhibit at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco! Details here. Lark's artwork is the perfect blend of cuddly and creepy... you really need to see it for yourself!

      • November Events
        11/05/07
        I've got three events in November.

        On Tuesday, November 6th at 7pm, I'll be visiting the Lafayette Library as part of their "We The People" exhibit. Here's the address:

        956 Moraga Road
        Lafayette, CA

        On Thursday, November 15th, I'll

      • Amelia Rules!
        11/05/07


        Amelia Rules creator Jimmy Gownley and I were on a panel together at Comic-Con International in July. He handed me a copy of Amelia Rules #13 then, and I finally got a chance to read it now. It's as sensitive a treatment of the Iraq War as you could hope for, with a good measure

    • October
      • Best Lecture I've Ever Experienced
        10/10/07
        Notice I didn't title this entry "Best Lecture I've Ever Heard." The president of our school forwarded this to me:

        http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/92

        Beyond the immense importance of his topic, the lecturer here displays a deep understanding of m

      • National Book Festival
        10/01/07
        Went to the National Book Festival this past weekend and it was absolutely amazing. Had breakfast at the White House, hung out with the ingenious M.T. Anderson, met Holly Black and David Weisman and Jacqueline Wilson and a whole host of brilliant authors, and even saw the Magic School Bus. (Unfort

    • September
      • I <heart> NY
        09/18/07
        I had a great time in New York at the Museum of Chinese in the Americas. Can't believe so much fun could fit into one measly weekend! My fellow panelists are amazing people. Jann Jones (Big Wig Editor at DC Comics) and Jeff Yang (surprise panelist and writer for SF Gate) I've met before

      • Anchee Min's The Last Empress
        09/13/07


        Just finished this book last night. Liked it A LOT. I'm not sure how historically accurate it is, though. The portrait Min paints of the Empress Dowager is very different from others I've encountered.

        I had the pleasure of meeting the author at a San Francisco Pu

      • Lark Pien won a Harvey!
        09/10/07
        This past weekend, Lark Pien won a Harvey Award for Best Colorist for her work on ABC! Lark is part of the Bay Area comics crew I've hung out with for the past ten years and an absolutely brilliant cartoonist. She has more color sense in her pinky toenail than I do in my entire being. As m

      • Read On Wisconsin!
        09/05/07


        Just got a letter from Jessica Doyle, First Lady of Wisconsin, telling me that American Born Chinese has been selected as a January 2008 featured book for her Read On Wisconsin program. It sounds like an amazing program! Thanks so much for reading my book, Wisconsin!

      • MoCA Event 9/15/2007
        09/04/07


        Here's more info about the Museum of Chinese in the Americas event I'll be at later this month:

        THINKING INSIDE THE BOX:
        ASIAN AMERICANS IN THE COMIC BOOK AND GRAPHIC NOVEL WORLD

        September 15 at 7PM

        Museum of Chinese in the Americas (MOCA)<

    • August
      • Tezuka Exhibit
        08/31/07
        If I'd had this blog up a week ago, I would've announced my stint as Cartoonist-in-Residence at the Asian Art Museum in SF last Saturday. They have an AMAZING exhibit featuring the works of Osamu Tezuka, the god of manga. If you're in the area, you have to go check it out. It ends

      • September Events
        08/30/07
        I've got a busy September coming up. Here are two of the big events:

        On Sept 15 at 7pm, I'll be on a panel with Larry Hama, Christine Norrie, Jann Jones, and Jae Lee at the Museum of Chinese in the Americas in New York. The topic of the night will be Asian Americans in Comics.

      • I finally put up a blog!
        08/30/07
        I am absolutely horrible at updating my website. "It takes forever to do it with Dreamweaver," I'd always say to myself. "And I have grading or comics or dishes to do. If only I had an easy-to-update blog."

        Well, now I finally do. We'll see if it was the