DC coming out with special issue of AAPI heroes for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

This May, grab your favorite boba, pull a chair up to the dim sum table and celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with "DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration," DC’s newest comic book anthology debuting May 11, 2021.

As someone who grew up with DC comics and then began reading Marvel in my college years (yes -- college!) this is exciting. So excuse me as I geek out.

I spent years looking for a superhero who looked like me. Finding none, I think it kind of set boundaries to my dreams of what I can be. I can only imagine what its like to be an Asian American kid today and find something like this. It is long overdue.

Despite it being Black History Month, DC made this announcement today (Feb. 12) because it is the start of Lunar New Year. 恭喜發財 (Happy Lunar New Year!)

The Comic Book Anthology features an All-Star cast of writers and artists Including: Jim Lee, Gene Luen Yang, Bernard Chang, Ram V, Mariko Tamaki, Minh Lê, Trung Le Nguyen, Jim Cheung, Dustin Nguyen, Gurihiru and many more.

The One-Shot issue hits stores May 11, 2021

The 96-page one-shot issue will commemorate DC’s rich roster of Asian and Asian American characters, presenting new tales by some of the most lauded storytellers in comics. 

Ram V— the current "Catwoman" series writer—will at last unveil the long-seeded mystery behind Shoes in an action-packed tale that follows the character as she becomes Catwoman’s protégé, revealing her real name, secret origin, and who her mother is. 

Eisner Award-winning author Mariko Tamaki will continue her work on the "Batman" mythos and present an original Cassandra Cain story, marking the author’s first time taking on DC’s iconic Asian Batgirl. 

Joining these stories, Minh Lê—the acclaimed writer behind the smash-hit middle grade graphic novel "Green Lantern: Legacy" — will team with artist Trung Le Nguyen (author and artist of "The Magic Fish") for an all-new story featuring Vietnamese American Tai Pham, DC’s newest "Green Lantern" co-created by Lê and "Green Lantern: Legacy" artist Andie Tong. This anthology marks Nguyen’s first work with DC.

For the main event, New York Times bestselling author Gene Luen Yang ("Superman Smashes the Klan") and artist Bernard Chang will collaborate on a very special story fit for this celebratory month. More details coming up soon!

Additional stories and portraits will star iconic DC characters Katana, Lady Shiva, the Atom, and New Super-Man, among others, and will be written and drawn by fan-favorite writers and artists such as Francis Manapul, Greg Pak, Alyssa Wong, Marcio Takara, Sumit Kumar, Amy Chu, Dustin Nguyen, Cliff Chiang, Jen Bartel, Gurihiru and many more.

See below for the official description and full list of collaborators announced today and above for cover art by Jim Lee with Alex Sinclair. DC FESTIVAL OF HEROES: The Asian Superhero Celebration hits stores and online retailers everywhere comics are sold on May 11, 2021.

DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration

• Written by Gene Luen Yang, Mariko Tamaki, Minh Lê, Ram V, Greg Pak, Dustin Nguyen, Amy Chu, Alyssa Wong and friends!
• Drawn by Bernard Chang, Marcio Takara, Dustin Nguyen, Trung Le Nguyen, Francis Manapul, Marcus To, Sean Chen, Sumit Kumar and others!
• Portraits by Chiff Chiang, Jim Cheung, Jae Lee, Jen Bartel, Kevin Wada, Philip Tan, Gurihiru and more!
• Cover by Jim Lee with Alex Sinclair
• Variant Cover by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau

Grab your favorite boba and pull a chair up to the dim sum table as we celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with all your favorite Asian DC characters, old and new! 

It has been a. long time since my comic book phase. I'll admit I'm unfamiliar with some of the heroes and the mythology surrounding them.  But during this time, with the AAPI communities facing a long list of  serious issues, perhaps there's time for a respite -- a mental health break. In these trying times, the one thing comics with AAPI characters does -- is that it offers hope. Good, ultimately triumphs over evil.

EDITOR'S NOTE; A word of caution. This post is news laced with opinion. Readers should consult several  reliable news sources to form their own opinion.

TGIF Friday: Another superhero with Asian American roots

SUPERNATURAL

Canadian Osric Chau will join the DC superheroes as Atom.

Some big news for superhero fans. Uh, small news?

Osric Chau has been cast as DC's Atom and his alter ego Ryan Choi. The DC superhero will help populate the Arrowverse on the CW network.

"This is not my victory, this is another step in a larger movement," tweeted Chau, acknowledging the growing opportunities for Asian actors because of the artistic and financiaal success of  the hit movie Crazy Rich Asians in 2018.

Ryan Choi is described as a physics professor at Ivy Town Universitiy. Atom, besides having the ability to miniaturize himself, or grow larger, he also has some control of atoms so that he can direct them into some sort of power beam.

Unfortunately, Chau won't have his own show. Atom/Ryan Choi will play a pivotal role in the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” Arrowverse crossover begins with Supergirl on Sunday, Dec. 8, followed by Batwoman on Monday, Dec. 9, and The Flash on Tuesday, Dec. 10. The crossover then resumes with part two after the holiday break with Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow on Tuesday, Jan. 14. 

The Vancouver-born Chau is best known for his recurring role on six seasons of the long-running CW fantasy series Supernatural as Kevin Tran, a brilliant, overachieving high school student whose life suddenly changes when he becomes a Prophet of God, according to Entertainment.

Chau is the fifth Asian American/Canadian actor to garner a superhero role. Most recently, fellow Canadian Simu Liu was cast as Marvel martial arts superhero Shang-Chi. 

Earlier, teenager Ella Jay Basco portrays a young Batgirl, a DC character, in the upcoming movie Birds of Prey. Chloe Bennett plays Daisy Johnson and Ming-na Wen plays bad-ass agent Melinda May in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

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