Three years after the publication of the groundbreaking Asian American comics anthology
Secret Identities
, the same team is back with a new volume—bigger, bolder, and more breathtaking in scope.
While the first collection focused on the conventions of superhero comics, this new book expands its horizon to include edgier genres, from hard-boiled pulp to horror, adventure, fantasy, and science fiction. Using this darker range of hues, it seeks to subvert—to shatter—the hidebound stereotypes that have obscured the Asian image since the earliest days of immigration: the stoic brute, the prodigious brain, the exotic temptress, the inscrutable alien, the devious manipulator. The eclectic and impressive lineup of contributors includes leading Asian American comics creators Bernard Chang (
Supergirl
), Sean Chen (
Iron Man
), Cliff Chiang (
Wonder Woman
), Larry Hama (
G.I. Joe
), Sonny Liew (
Malinky Robot
), Takeshi Miyazawa (
Runaways
), Christine Norrie (
Hopeless Savages
), Greg Pak (
The Hulk
), G.B. Tran (
Vietnamerica
), Gene Yang (
American Born Chinese
), and many others, as well as such film and literary standouts as Tanuj Chopra (
Punching at the Sun
), Michael Kang (
The Motel
), Jamie Ford (
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
), Gary Jackson (
Missing You, Metropolis
), and Bao Phi (
Song I Sing
). Their original graphic short stories cover topics from ethnic kiddie shows, China's AIDS policy, and airline security procedures to the untold backstory of Flash Gordon's nemesis Ming the Merciless and the gritty reality of a day in the life of a young Koreatown gangster.
Shattered
incorporates thrills, chills, and delights while exposing the hidden issues and vital truths of the nation's fastest-growing and most dynamic community.