BY JENNIFER M. CONTINOWhen Keith Chow and some of his peers noticed the lack in Asian American characters in comic books, they decided to do something about it! Thus,
Secret Identities was born. Chow described the collection of comics from Asian American creators as mostly a "passion project." Chow told THE PULSE, "The notion of having a 'secret identity' is something that I suspect a lot of people can identify with. You know that mild-mannered guy in the cubicle next to you? Yeah, after work, it turns out he's an underground breakdancer or something. And I think for Asian Americans, the analogy is even more potent. Because for a lot of us, the idea of a shifting identity is an issue that we deal with on a daily basis."
THE PULSE: Some of our readers might be meeting you for the first time in this interview. I know you're a lifelong comic book fan, but how did you turn the tables and go from someone who enjoyed reading comics to someone who is now making comics?
KEITH CHOW: It's true that I've been a fan of comics since I was a kid, but I never actively pursued a career in comics. It just kind of happened. Sure, I always had my own ideas for comic stories (and if and when Bruce Wayne ever returns, I'm still full of ideas for Batman! Are you listening, DC?), but I didn't think I'd actually get the opportunity to see my original work in print.
THE PULSE: So just what is Secret Identities -- aside from something just about every superhero has?
CHOW: Simply put, Secret Identities is a passion project for everyone involved. Basically, a bunch of us observed that there were a lot of Asian American writers and artists in the industry, but there weren't a lot of Asian American characters, especially in superhero comics. So we set out to rectify that.
THE PULSE: That title will bring connotations and ideas to just about every superhero comic book fan of glasses, wigs or other items heroes use to conceal their civilian life. How did you settle on that title and how does it enhance the expectations?
CHOW: The notion of having a "secret identity" is something that I suspect a lot of people can identify with. You know that mild-mannered guy in the cubicle next to you? Yeah, after work, it turns out he's an underground breakdancer or something. And I think for Asian Americans, the analogy is even more potent. Because for a lot of us, the idea of a shifting identity is an issue that we deal with on a daily basis.
THE PULSE: Who came up with the idea to do a project like this?
CHOW: Actually, the book's preface is sort of a "meta-narrative" of how the whole thing came together. Jeff Yang interviewed me for a story he was writing for his "Asian Pop" column on the San Francisco Chronicle's website about Asian Americans in comics. (Link to the original column
here.)
Through the course of our conversation, we started talking about ideas we've had in our heads about the types of heroes we'd like to see. We pretty much left it at that. A few weeks later, though, I ran into Jerry Ma at a comic show and it turned out that he and Jeff kind of knew each other. I told him about our ideas and he wanted to be involved. Jeff eventually brought Parry Shen (the actor best known for his roles in Better Luck Tomorrow and Hatchet) on board, and the rest is history.
THE PULSE: Why do you think the life of an Asian American mirrors that of a superhero's civilian identity?
CHOW: I guess it goes back to the whole notion of having a "shifting identity." For a lot of Asian Americans, for example, we're seen as the perpetual foreigner, the other. I can't count how many times in my life someone has complimented my English. But it's this mask we all wear, wittingly or not. So the idea of deconstructing that idea via the medium of a pop cultural medium like the superhero story was very intriguing.
THE PULSE: When did you first start making a connection like that?
CHOW: Obviously, the Superman story is analogous for a lot of immigrants, so I think you can draw a lot of parallels to the immigrant experiences of a lot of Asian American families (which is a topic we touch upon in the book.) For me though, I see a lot of similarities with the X-Men and Professor X's school. Speaking from personal experience, I grew up in a really small town in which my family was the only Asian one around. So as a young person, I struggled with a lot issues of identity. A lot of "why am I so different?" angst and all that. But when I got older and went to college, I was in a place where there were others like me, and I was able to appreciate my special heritage and take pride in who I was. Plus, college is where I learned to control the optic blasts that shot out of my eyes. Oh wait…
THE PULSE: Why do you think this is the stuff of good comics? Out of everything you could have done, what interested you the most in taking on something like this?
CHOW: Even though Secret Identities is billed as "The Asian American Superhero Anthology," our criterion first and foremost was to tell a good story. Each of us editors was extremely picky about what types of stories would make it into the book. Our other goal was to provide a forum to not only showcase some of the best and brightest comic creators in the industry, both new and established, but to also create a whole universe of complex and interesting superhero characters who happened to be Asian American.
THE PULSE: Who are the heroes in your Secret Identities?
CHOW: The beauty of this book is that it's chock full of creator-owned heroes that will appeal to a wide range of readers. The stories in here are funny, tragic, touching, and action-packed! We also gave free reign to the creators to come up with their own heroes and stories, though we were able to weave an overarching continuity into many of them. And while we gave a little editorial direction to some of the pieces, the end result is wonderfully diverse and multi-faceted—much like the Asian American community itself.
THE PULSE: Who or what influenced you the most as you were editing this volume?
CHOW: There are just too many to name! We're big fans of folks like Greg Pak, Gene Yang, Derek Kirk Kim, Jim Lee, Larry Hama, Dustin Nguyen. The list goes on and on! Kazu Kibuishi's Flight series was also definitely an early inspiration. After our experience on Secret Identities, we can absolutely appreciate the enormous task of getting so many different talents into one book!
THE PULSE: What were the biggest challenges of editing this?
CHOW: The biggest challenge had to be assembling the stories that ultimately ended up in the book. Back in 2006/2007, we did an open call for submissions and there were so many great pitches and ideas that it was definitely tough to whittle them all down.
THE PULSE: This book was supposed to be out in Fall of 2008, what made its release be delayed? Did it have anything to do with the current state of the economy?
CHOW: No, nothing that dramatic. This book had been in the works long before the economy went south. (Well, at least, long before the economic death-spiral we're in right now). The pub date change actually happened very early in the process. The publisher and the other editors just felt that an April release date would be more appropriate given that May is Asian American Heritage Month.
THE PULSE: How can PULSE readers get a copy of this?
CHOW: We'll be in bookstores everywhere this April. Visit our publisher for ordering information.
http://thenewpress.com/index.php?option=com_title&task=view_title&metaproductid=1738 . You can also get Secret Identities from your local comic shop via Diamond item code # JAN094645. If you want to find out more about the book, you can visit
http://www.secretidentites.org . Click on "News" to access sneak peeks and special trailers as well.
THE PULSE: What other projects are you working on?
CHOW: Right now, we're in the planning stages of a multi-city promotional tour, visiting universities and museums across the country. We're also working on a downloadable Teacher's Guide that will contextualize the stories historically and sociologically. And if the book takes off, we'd love to do a second volume!
PULSE readers can learn more about this project at these links:
http://www.secretidentities.org http://secretidentities.org/Site/The_Tour.htmlhttp://secretidentitiesbook.blogspot.com
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