Gene Luen Yang

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Gene Luen Yang at the 2014 National Book Festival

Gene Luen Yang ( Chinese : 楊 謹 倫, Pinyin: Yáng Jǐnlún ; born August 9, 1973 in Alameda or Fremont , California ) is a Chinese-American author and illustrator of graphic novels and comics.

Life

Childhood and youth

Yang is the son of Chinese immigrants and was born in California. His father is from Taiwan and his mother from Hong Kong . The two of them brought him into contact with Asian culture as a child and, for example, obtained Chinese children's books from which they read to him.

Yang said he was always fascinated by stories. As a child, he wanted to become an animator for Walt Disney Animation Studios . When his mother bought him his first comic book, DC Comics Presents Superman No. 57, in fifth grade , however, this career preference quickly changed to comics. Yang attended the University of California, Berkeley and wanted to study art, but his father advised him to look for a more "practical" field. As a result, he chose computer science as a major and creative writing as a minor.

After graduating in 1995, Yang worked as a computer technician for two years. However, he soon realized that this was not his world and found a job as a computer science teacher in a high school . He held this position for almost two decades.

Creative career

In 1996, Yang began publishing comic strips through his website humblecomics.com . He received the 1997 Xeric Grant Award for the comic book Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks . In 2000, Yang began work on the highly acclaimed graphic novel American Born Chinese , which he was able to complete after five years and published in 2006. Since then, Yang has published a number of comics and graphic novels. While Yang always wrote and drew his works in the beginning, he now often works with comic artists. Yang contributed ten issues as the author of the Superman comic series (Vol 3 # 41-50), the last of which was due to appear in March 2016. At the moment he is the main author of the comic series Avatar: The Last Airbender , which is also his first major work with strange characters and settings. Yang has been teaching at Hamline University since 2012 as part of the "Writing for Children and Young Adults" course.

Comics in the classroom

Yang advocates using comics and graphic novels as educational tools in school classes. He wrote his master's thesis at California State University, East Bay on the subject. In it he emphasizes the educational power of comics, as they are motivating, visual, permanent, mediating and popular. As part of the work, Yang created an online comic called Factoring with Mr. Yang & Mosley the Alien , which is designed to help teach and learn math. The idea came to him when, as a substitute teacher, he regularly had a class in mathematics. Due to his position as director of information services, he had to skip lessons and created the online comic so that students could learn the concepts in his absence. The positive feedback from the students led him to use the idea for his master's thesis.

Works

American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese contains three storylines. The first is a contemporary take on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West , with the Monkey King borrowed from it constantly trying to take on another form and not accepting himself. Eventually, he can escape his prison by turning back into a monkey. The second storyline follows the Chinese-born American boy Jin Wang, who struggles with his identity and finally gives his soul to a woman in a dream for the promise to be able to achieve anything he wants. The next morning he wakes up as a light-skinned boy and changes his name to Danny. In the third storyline, Danny receives a visit from his cousin Chin-Kee, who is shown with a Chinese braid and buck teeth. The "All-American Boy" Danny is ashamed of him because he reminds him of his true origins. Eventually Chin-Kee is exposed as the Monkey King whose son - a friend of Danny - does not want to follow in his footsteps because of Danny's actions. Then Danny turns back into Jin Wang.

Others (selection)

  • The Rosary Comic Book (Pauline Books & Media, 2003) - This graphic novel tells the stories behind the secrets of the Rosary and was published by a Catholic publisher.
  • Animal Crackers (SLG Publishing, 2004) - Contains the comic strips Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks and Loyola Chin and the San Peligran Order .
  • American Born Chinese (First Second Books, 2006)
  • The Eternal Smile , together with Derek Kirk Kim (First Second Books, 2009) - compilation of three short stories
  • Prime Baby (First Second Books, 2010)
  • Level Up (First Second Books, 2011)
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise , illustrated by Gurihuri ( Dark Horse Comics , 2012)
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender - The search , illustrated by Gurihuri (Dark Horse Comics, 2013)
  • Boxers and Saints (First Second Books, 2013)
  • The Shadow Hero , illustrated by Sonny Liew (First Second Books, 2014) - Origin Story for the Golden Age superhero Green Turtle
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Crevice, illustrated by Gurihuri (Dark Horse Comics, 2014)
  • Superman Vol.3 # 41-ongoing, illustrated by John Romita Jr. and Klaus Janson ( DC Comics , 2015 -...)

Articles in collective works

  • Up All Night (HarperTeen, 2009) - 14-page short story
  • Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology (The New Press, 2009) - twelve-page short story
  • Strange Tales II # 1 ( Marvel Comics , 2010) - four-page short story
  • Nursery Rhyme Comics (First Second Books, 2011) - one-page short story
  • Shattered: The Asian American Superhero Anthology (The New Press, 2012) - four-page short story
  • Open Mic (Candlewick, 2013) - four-page short story
  • Comics Squad: Recess! (Comic Squad, 2014) - twelve-page short story

Prizes / awards

Nominations

Yang was nominated for the Eisner Award with his works Prime Baby and Level Up . Boxers & Saints was nominated for the National Book Award and the Ignatz Award.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ " 杨 谨 伦 ： 美 生 中国 人 的 表述. ( Memento of the original from October 3, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove it Notice. " United States Government of America . Retrieved October 3, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / photos.america.gov
  2. ↑ Alice C. Chen: The Humble Comic: Gene Yang's Christian take on being American-born Chinese fuels his emerging comics career. In: The San Francisco Chronicle. May 11, 2008, accessed April 3, 2012 .
  3. ↑ Lisa Antonucci, Ayon Xochitl, Justin Beck, Cassandra Ulrich, Yahaira Vega, Alnas Zia: A Biography of Gene Luen Yang. March 23, 2012, archived from the original on March 11, 2013 ; accessed on February 22, 2016 (English).
  4. ^ A b c Gene Yang: Gene Yang Speaks as Part of Graphic Novel Speakers Series. Retrieved March 20, 2012 .
  5. ↑ a b c d Story Hour in the Library: Gene Yang. December 2, 2010, accessed April 18, 2012 .
  6. ↑ a b About: Gene Luen Yang , geneyang.com
  7. ^ Announcing New Faculty. Retrieved April 12, 2012 .
  8. ^ Dale Jacobs: More Than Words: Comics as a Means of Teaching Multiple Literacies. (PDF) National Council of Teachers of English, January 2007, pp. 19-25 , accessed March 16, 2012 .
  9. ^ Comics in Education: About Gene Yang. Retrieved April 23, 2012 .
  10. ↑ The Rosary Comic Book: Gene Luen Yang
  11. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Crackers-Gene-Luen-Collection/dp/1593621833/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411599478&sr=8-1&keywords=%22animal+crackers%22+gene+luen+ yang
  12. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Smile-Three-Stories/dp/1596431563/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411601165&sr=1-2&keywords=%22the+eternal+smile%22
  13. ^ "Michael L. Printz Winners and Honor Books" . YALSA. ALA. "The Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature" . YALSA. ALA. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
     
  14. ↑ Comic-Con: 2015 Eisner Award Winners Revealed. In: ign.com. Retrieved July 15, 2015 .
  15. ^ Meet the 2016 MacArthur Fellows , accessed September 22, 2016
  16. ^ Gene Yang: About. Retrieved April 10, 2012 .
  17. ↑ Michael Cavna: SMALL PRESS EXPO: Here are your nominees for the 2014 SPX Ignatz Awards… In: The Washington Post. August 18, 2014, accessed August 18, 2014 .
personal data
SURNAME Yang, Gene Luen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Yang, Gene
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American comic book writer
DATE OF BIRTH August 9, 1973
PLACE OF BIRTH Alameda County , California, USA