Shadow Hero

by Gene Luen Yang

[inlibrisveritas]

When I requested this graphic novel I honestly had no clue what it was about, all I saw was Gene Luen Yang’s name and I knew I needed to read it. He is one of the few auto-reads I have and with very good reason, he’s a fantastic writer and he puts a bit of his heart into all of his work. The Shadow Hero is the origin story for a long forgotten superhero created in the 40′s, and after finishing it I can honestly say I’m a Green Turtle fan.

The story is really fun and full of lessons. Our hero is the son of a struggling Chinese couple who work very hard to make ends meet. He’s a quiet guy content with his life as a grocer, however his mother has other plans for him and they involve wearing a cape. I really loved seeing his transformation into a superhero and his mother is incredibly intense but unintentionally hilarious. It has much of that golden age comic feel but it’s also updated enough to catch the attention of younger comic readers. The 161 pages that this story takes up is packed with emotion ranging from extremely heartfelt to laugh out loud hilarity. Sonny Liew’s artwork is also really solid and I loved how it held onto that old era feel.

As an added bonus Gene included some facts about the original Green Turtle and his creator Chu Hing. He also shares some of the rumors surrounding the original comics and why he chose to portray things he did. I thought some of his reasoning was fantastic. He also includes the first issue of the original Green Turtle comic so that the reader can see where the material came from and just how far it’s evolved.

The Shadow Hero is another gem among graphic novels and it further establishes the fact that Gene is one of my favorite comic book writers.