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 an ...

. 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 of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. 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 librar ...

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 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 ...

Early life

Yang believes he was born in either Alameda or

Fremont, California Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth most populous city in the Bay Area, behind San Jose, San Fran ...

. 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) sy ...

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 series ''

DC Comics Presents ''DC Comics Presents'' is a comic book series published by DC Comics from 1978 to 1986 which ran for 97 issues and four ''Annual''s. It featured team-ups between Superman and a wide variety of other characters in the DC Universe. A recurring ba ...

'', a book she agreed to buy because Yang's first choice, '' Marvel Two-in-One'' issue 99, featured the characters

Thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focus ...

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 u ...

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 publ ...

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 19 ...

, SLG Publishing,

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 known ...

, HarperTeen,

The New Press The New Press is an independent non-profit public-interest book publisher established in 1992 by André SchiffrinPauline 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, 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 American-born Chinese are the subset of Chinese Americans who were born in the US. The term may also refer to: * ''ABC'' (Jin album), a Cantonese language album by Chinese American rapper Jin, the name of which is the colloquially used acronym o ...

'' 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+ 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 1 ...

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 for his collaborative work ''The Eternal Smile'' which he wrote and Derek Kirk Kim illustrated. Yang was nominated for Eisner Awards for both ''Prime Baby'' and his collaborative work ''

Level Up Level Up may refer to: Film and TV *Level Up (2016 film), a British thriller film * ''Level Up'' (American TV series), a Cartoon Network live action series ** ''Level Up'' (2011 film), the movie pilot for the Cartoon Network series * ''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 ...

, '' Superman Smashes the Klan'', 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 Ca ...

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, comi ...

. 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. 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 California State University, East Bay (Cal State East Bay, CSU East Bay, or CSUEB) is a public university in Hayward, California. The university is part of the 23-campus California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 pos ...

, 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 organi ...

, 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 N ...

, Young People's Literature, and won an

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

for best new graphic album. It has been on the ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

'' 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 pap ...

'' Best Book of the Year, the National Cartoonists Society Award for Best Comic Book, the

Chinese American Librarians Association The Chinese American Librarians Association or CALA (), promotes the Chinese culture through the outlet of libraries and communicates with others in the profession of librarianship. History The Mid-West Chinese American Librarians Association beg ...

2006/2007 Best Graphic Album – New, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' 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 MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to ...

, 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 '' Superman Smashes the Klan'' for Best Children or Young Adult Book. At the 2021 Eisner Awards, '' Superman Smashes the Klan'' 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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

rosary The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or ...

in which each panel represents one of the prayers. *''Animal Crackers'' ( SLG Publishing, 2004) Featuring ''Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks'' and ''Loyola Chin and the San Peligran Order''. *''

'' ( First Second Books, 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. *''

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

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

(

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 their f ...

, 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 (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 The phrase fresh off the boat ''(FOB)'', off the boat ''(OTB)'', are sometimes-derogatory terms used to describe immigrants who have arrived from a foreign nation and have yet to assimilate into the host nation's culture, language, and behavior, ...

'' #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's ...

'' #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