April 2014
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Right now on Netflix you have your choice of four “Ip men”: extra fancy, fancy, regular, and plain. Wong Kar Wai’s controversial US version of The Grandmaster would be the extra fancy version of the Ip Man story. In the film, the eternally youthful Tony Leung dons the mantle of Bruce Lee’s real life situ…
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Batman: Arkham Asylum – A Serious House on Serious Earth by Grant Morrison My rating: 4 of 5 stars I associate Dave McKean’s artwork with chaos and motion and the surreal and the absurd which makes him a perfect choice to illustrate a book called Batman Arkham Asylum. I don’t think it is an accident…
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When Curtis Chin (founder of the Asian American Writer’s Workshop) asked me to submit something to an anthology he was putting together about Asian American activism in the 90s, I was very flattered. It had been a while since I’ve attempted to write anything “creatively”. I joke now that the goal was to “sell the…
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Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan My rating: 5 of 5 stars In terms of format, Tales from Outer Suburbia is the complete opposite of The Arrival (the first Shaun Tan book I read). Where The Arrival is wordless and told exclusively through a series of gray, black, and white illustrations, Tales from Outer…
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Justice League, Vol. 2: The Villain’s Journey by Geoff Johns My rating: 4 of 5 stars What made this story interesting were the themes of faith and hubris. The Justice League, still high from the public adoration they received for defeating Darkseid, has become too comfortable in their spandex suits and grown cocky. This is…
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Batgirl, Vol. 1: The Darkest Reflection by Gail Simone My rating: 3 of 5 stars Though nothing really stood out about Gail Simone’s Batgirl, it was a really solid introduction to the issues she may grapple with in future stories. I wanted to read Batgirl because (1) I realized my superhero graphic novel reading was…
Vincent Young 