Book Review: The Shadow Hero by G. L. Yang et al.

The Shadow Hero story by Gene Luen Yang, art by Sonny Liew, and lettering by Janice Chiang

Golden-age comics are not exactly known for their political correctness, especially when they involved World War II. One long-forgotten comic was The Green Turtle, a superhero who fought against the Japanese on mainland China. Chu Hing was the creator of the comic and, rumor has it, he wanted The Green Turtle to be Chinese. Rumor also has it that the publisher refused. The actual comics don't show the Turtle's face and every time his sidekick asks about the Turtle's origin story some emergency happens and readers never find out. The series only lasted five issues and faded quickly into obscurity.

Gene Luen Yang has created the missing origin story, as a tribute to the Golden Age comics and to this first Asian-American comic-book hero. The story is fairly well-detailed, with a pulpy plot set in a fictional California port city. Hank is the son of immigrant parents who run a grocery store. His mom is kidnapped during a robbery getaway but the superhero Anchor of Justice saves the day. She now wants Hank to be a superhero, especially since her husband is a meek and mild grocery clerk. Hank starts training with one of his "uncles," a neighboring shop owner who knows some martial arts. Hank's first adventure goes poorly, forcing the family to miss their usual payment to the Tongs, the local organized crime syndicate. One thing leads to another and eventually Hank becomes The Green Turtle fighting the Tongs.

The book is really well written as a pulp adventure and as a stereotypical slice-of-life from 1940s America as experienced by immigrants. The two elements work well together, building on each other to get enjoyable twists and pay-offs. The art evokes the early comics style while having its own distinctness. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the story.

Highly recommended.

Awesome quote from the book: "Sometimes, a fight you cannot win is still worth fighting."