Gene Luen Yang (Chinese Traditional: 楊謹倫, Simplified: 杨谨伦, Pinyin: ''Yáng Jǐnlún''; born August 9, 1973) is an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...

. He is a frequent lecturer on the subjects of

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

s and comics, at comic book conventions and universities, schools, and libraries. In addition, he was the Director of Information Services and taught computer science at

Bishop O'Dowd High School Bishop O'Dowd High School is a Catholic, co-educational, college preparatory school in Oakland, California, administered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland and named for the late auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, James ...

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...

. In 2012, Yang joined the faculty at

Hamline University Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline ...

, as a part of the Low-Residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults (MFAC) program. In 2016, the U.S.

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

named him Ambassador for Young People's Literature.George Gene Gustines
"Library of Congress Anoints Graphic Novelist as Ambassador for Young People’s Literature"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', January 4, 2016. That year he became the third graphic novelist, alongside Lauren Redniss, to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.

Early life

Yang believes he was born in either

Alameda An alameda is a street or path lined with trees () and may refer to: Places Canada * Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan ** Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan Chile * Alameda (Santia ...

or Fremont, California. He is the child of an electrical engineer from Taiwan and a programmer who grew up in Hong Kong and Taiwan, both of whom emigrated to the United States. They met at the

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) ...

Library during graduate school. His parents instilled in him a strong work ethic and reinforced their Asian culture. In a speech at Penn State, where he spoke as a part of a Graphic Novel Speaker Series, Yang recalled that both of his parents always told him stories during his childhood. Yang was a part of a small Asian-American minority in his elementary school. He grew up wanting to be an animator for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

. In third grade, he did a biographical report on

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

, which is where he says his obsession started. This changed in fifth grade when his mother took him to their local bookstore where she bought him his first comic book, issue 57 of the

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...

series '' DC Comics Presents'', a book she agreed to buy because Yang's first choice, '' Marvel Two-in-One'' issue 99, featured the characters Thing and Rom on the cover, which she thought looked too frightening. Yang attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

for his undergraduate degree. He wanted to major in art but his father encouraged him to pursue a more "practical" field so Yang majored in computer science with a minor in creative writing. In college Yang found himself much less of a minority. During this time, he began to question his faith, but a moment he experienced while walking through the woods during his freshman year caused him to make Jesus his life's focus.

Career

After graduating in 1995, Yang worked as a computer engineer for two years. However, after a five-day silent retreat, he felt he was meant to teach, and left his job as a computer engineer to teach computer science at a high school. In 1996, Yang began self-publishing his own comics under the imprint Humble Comics. Yang went on to be published with ''First Second Books'' (an imprint of

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

SLG Publishing Slave Labor Graphics (SLG) is an independent American comic book publisher, well known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat comics. Creators associated with SLG over the years include Evan Dorkin, Roman Dirge, Sarah Dyer, Woodrow Phoenix, J ...

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...

, HarperTeen, The New Press, and Pauline Books & Media. In 1997, Yang first published comic ''Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks'' under his Humble Comics imprint, and it won him the

Xeric Grant Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this h ...

, a self-publishing grant for comic book creators. Yang later published two more installments in the ''Gordon Yamamoto'' mini-series and a sequel, ''Loyola Chin and the San Peligran Order''. In 2010, both ''Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks'' series and ''Loyola Chin and the San Pelgrino Order'' were published together as ''Animal Crackers'' by Slave Labor Graphics. In 2006, Yang published '' American Born Chinese'' with First Second Publishing. Drawing upon the Chinese folk character of the trickster Monkey King, the book tells the story of a school-age second-generation immigrant who struggles with his Chinese-American identity. Although Yang drew from his own experiences, the book is not autobiographical. In 2021

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

ordered production of a television adaptation of the book. Yang's other works have been recognized as well. In 2009, Yang was awarded another

Eisner Award for Best Short Story The Eisner Award for Best Short Story is an award for "creative achievement" in American comic books that has been awarded every year since its creation in 1993. The Eisner Award rules state that "A short story must be within an anthology of bigg ...

for his collaborative work ''The Eternal Smile'' which he wrote and

Derek Kirk Kim Derek Kirk Kim is a Korean-American writer, director, and artist. He is the recipient of the Eisner (2004), the Harvey (2004), and the Ignatz Award (2003) for his debut graphic novel ''Same Difference and Other Stories.'' (The contents of which w ...

illustrated. Yang was nominated for Eisner Awards for both ''Prime Baby'' and his collaborative work '' Level Up''. Yang wrote the ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' comics series for Dark Horse Comics, the first volume of which was released in January 2012. Yang's graphic novel, ''Boxers & Saints'', which was published by First Second Books in September 2013. In July 2016, DC Comics released the first issue of '' New Super-Man'', featuring a separate Chinese character in the Superman mold, written by Yang and drawn by Viktor Bogdanovic. In October 2019, Yang created a

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...

, ''

Superman Smashes the Klan ''Superman Smashes the Klan'' is a three-part superhero limited series comic book written by Gene Luen Yang with art by Gurihiru and published by DC Comics. It is a Superman story which is loosely based on the 1946 '' The Adventures of Superma ...

'', a loose adaptation of a famous 1946 story-arc from '' The Adventures of Superman'' radio series, "Clan of the Fiery Cross", in which an Asian-American family is threatened by the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cat ...

and a young and unsure Superman is determined to protect the children from the terrorists. Making his

debut in 2020, Yang wrote a miniseries starring the martial arts superhero Shang-Chi. According to Yang, the series explores the relationship between Shang-Chi and his archenemy father Zheng Zu, who was originally the infamous villain

Fu Manchu Dr. Fu Manchu () is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, co ...

. In May 2021, in celebration of the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, DC Comics launched the hero Monkey Prince, created by Yang and

Bernard Chang Bernard Chang (born 1972) is a Canadian-American artist/designer best known for his work in the comic book industry and entertainment design. Career Born in Montreal, Quebec, Chang started drawing comics professionally in 1992 while attending Pr ...

. Yang advocates the use of comics and graphic novels as educational tools in the classroom. In his final project for his master's degree at California State University, East Bay, he emphasized the educational strength of comics, claiming they are motivating, visual, permanent, intermediary, and popular. As a part of his Master's project, Yang created an online comic called ''Factoring with Mr. Yang & Mosley the Alien'' as a method of teaching math. This idea came from a time where Yang was substitute teaching a math class at Bishop O'Dowd. Due to the position of Director of Information Services he held at the school, he was forced to miss classes and used the comics to help the students learn the concepts in his absence. Positive student feedback inspired him to use the idea for his Master's project. In 2018, Yang joined the board of directors of the

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) is an American non-profit organization formed in 1986 to protect the First Amendment rights of comics creators, publishers, and retailers covering legal expenses. Charles Brownstein served as the organiz ...

, a non-profit organization founded in 1986 chartered to protect the

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

rights of the comics community.

Awards and recognition

''American Born Chinese'' won the annual Michael L. Printz Award from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

, which recognizes the year's "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit". It was the first graphic novel to be a finalist for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

, Young People's Literature, and won an Eisner Award for best new graphic album. It has been on the '' Booklist'' top Ten Graphic Novel for Youth; NPR Holiday Pick, ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' Comics Week Best Comic of the Year, ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...

'' Best Book of the Year, the National Cartoonists Society Award for Best Comic Book, the Chinese American Librarians Association 2006/2007 Best Graphic Album – New, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' Top Ten Comic of the Year, and Amazon.com Best Graphic Novel/Comic of the year. In January 2016, Yang began serving a two-year term as National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, a program organized by the Children's Book Council, Every Child a Reader, and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Yang was named to the 2016 class of the

MacArthur Fellows Program The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

, receiving what is commonly called the "Genius Grant". The MacArthur Foundation that names the fellows said that his "work for young adults demonstrates the potential of comics to broaden our understanding of diverse cultures and people." In 2020, Yang won two Harvey Awards for his works: ''Dragon Hoops'' for Book of the Year and ''

'' for Best Children or Young Adult Book. At the 2021 Eisner Awards, ''

'' won both Best Publication for Kids and Best Adaptation from Another Medium while ''Dragon Hoops'' won Best Publication for Teens.

Selected works

*''The Rosary Comic Book'' (Pauline Books & Media, 2003) A graphic novel telling of the stories behind the mysteries of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

rosary in which each panel represents one of the prayers. *''Animal Crackers'' (

, 2004) Featuring ''Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks'' and ''Loyola Chin and the San Peligran Order''. *'' American Born Chinese'' (

First Second Books First Second Books is an American publisher of graphic novels. An imprint of Roaring Brook Press, part of Holtzbrinck Publishers, First Second publishes fiction, biographies, personal memoirs, history, visual essays, and comics journalism. It al ...

, 2006) *''The Eternal Smile'' (First Second Books, 2009). A collection of three short stories. *''Prime Baby'' (First Second Books, 2010) Thaddeus is upset to discover that not only is his baby sister (whom he hates) an inter-dimensional conduit for peace-loving aliens, but that nobody will believe him. *'' Level Up'' (First Second Books, 2011) Dennis Ouyang's parents expect him to go to medical school instead of becoming a professional gamer. He finds himself trapped on the path to medical school by four angels and must find a way out. *'' Avatar: The Last Airbender'', illustrated by Gurihiru (

, 2012–2017): **'' The Promise'' (

, 2012) **'' The Search'' (Dark Horse Comics, 2013) **'' The Rift'' (Dark Horse Comics, 2014) **'' Smoke and Shadow'' (Dark Horse Comics, 2016) **''

North and South North and South may refer to: Literature * ''North and South'' (Gaskell novel), an 1854 novel by Elizabeth Gaskell * ''North and South'' (trilogy), a series of novels by John Jakes (1982–1987) ** ''North and South'' (Jakes novel), first novel ...

'' (Dark Horse Comics, 2017) * ''Boxers'' and ''Saints'' (First Second Books, 2013), Two novels set during the

Boxer Uprising The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

, ''Boxers'' describes the "bands of foreign missionaries and soldiers" who "roam the countryside bullying and robbing Chinese peasants". Little Bao, "harnessing the powers of ancient Chinese gods", recruits an army of Boxers, "commoners trained in kung fu who fight to free China from 'foreign devils. ''Saints'' concerns an unwanted and unwelcome fourth daughter, Four-Girl, who finally finds friendship in Christianity. But bands of young men roam the countryside, murdering Westerners and Chinese Christians alike. She will have to decide whether she is willing to die for her faith. ''Boxers and Saints'' won the 2013 ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize for Young Adult Literature, was nominated for the 2014 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel, and was a 2013 National Book Award finalist. *''The Shadow Hero'', illustrated by

Sonny Liew Sonny Liew (born 26 September 1974) is a Malaysia-born comic artist/illustrator based in Singapore. He is best known for '' The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye'' (2015), the first graphic novel to win the Singapore Literature Prize for fiction. E ...

(First Second Books, 2014) An origin story for the obscure Golden-Age comic book hero

The Green Turtle The Green Turtle is a superhero originally published by Rural Home Publications. He first appeared in '' Blazing Comics'' (1944), and was created by Chinese-American cartoonist Chu F. Hing. While the original run of the character lasted only fiv ...

, who is thought to be the first Asian-American superhero. *''

'' Vol.3 #41–50, illustrated by John Romita Jr. and

Klaus Janson Klaus Janson (born January 23, 1952) is a German-born American comics artist, working regularly for Marvel Comics and DC Comics and sporadically for independent companies. While he is best known as an inker, Janson has frequently worked as a pen ...

(

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...

, 2015–2016) *'' Secret Coders'', illustrated by Mike Holmes (First Second, 2015–) *#''Secret Coders'', 2015 *#''Paths & Portals'', 2016 *#''Secrets & Sequences'', 2017 *#''Robots & Repeats'', 2017 *#''Potions & Parameters'', 2018 *#''Monsters & Modules'', 2018 *''New Super-Man'' #1-18, series about a Chinese Superman,

Kong Kenan Kong Kenan ( ; ) is a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and is known as the Super-Man of China. The character, who first appeared in ''New Super-Man'' # 1 (July 2016), was created by Gene Luen Yang and Viktor Bogdan ...

(DC Comics, 2016–2018) *''New Super-Man and the Justice League of China'', the series concludes the adventures of Kong Kenan and the other Chinese heroes (DC Comics, 2018) *''Free Comic Book Day: Fresh Off the Boat'' #1 (Boom! Comics, 2017) *''Superman Smashes the Klan'' (DC Comics, 2019-2020) *''The Terrifics'' #15-30 (DC Comics, 2019-2020) *''Dragon Hoops'' (First Second Books, 2020) *''Shang-Chi'' (Marvel Comics, 2020-2022) *''

Batman/Superman ''Superman/Batman'' is a monthly comic book series published by DC Comics that features the publisher's two most popular superheroes: Superman and Batman. ''Superman/Batman'' premiered in August 2003, an update of the previous series, ''World' ...

'' #16-22 (DC Comics, 2021) *''Monkey Prince'' (DC Comics, 2021-present) *''Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings'' (Marvel Comics, 2022) *''Shang-Chi: Master of the Ten Rings'' (Marvel Comics, 2023)

Anthologies

*''Up All Night'' (Harper Collins) – 14-page short story *'' Secret Identities'' (The New Press) – 12-page short story *''Strange Tales II'' (Marvel Comics) – 4-page short story *''Nursery Rhyme Comics'' (First Second Books) – 1-page short story *''Shattered'' (The New Press) – 4-page short story *''Open Mic'' (Candlewick) – 4-page short story *''Comic Squad: Recess!'' (Random House) – 12-page short story

References

External links

* * * * * * * * ** ** {{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Gene 1973 births Alternative cartoonists American comics artists American education writers American people of Hong Kong descent American people of Taiwanese descent Artists from the San Francisco Bay Area Educators from California Michael L. Printz Award winners Hamline University faculty People from Alameda, California Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area Living people American writers of Chinese descent American graphic novelists American male novelists California State University, East Bay alumni Novelists from Minnesota MacArthur Fellows American male non-fiction writers Eisner Award winners Eisner Award winners for Best Writer Harvey Award winners Marvel Comics writers