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Ask the Author: Gene Luen Yang

“Ask me a question.” Gene Luen Yang

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Hi Gene, I noticed that you write comics for avatar the last airbender. I used to love that series. I was a diehard zutara fan and wanted to know. Are you Kataang or zutara? Also how did you get the rites to write for them?
Gene Luen Yang I answered this once in an interview and my email box got SLAMMED. Not making that mistake again. 😁
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What is the process of getting a drawing onto a page? Thank you
Gene Luen Yang Lately I’ve been drawing with ProCreate on an iPad. It’s pretty cool.
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Do you plan working for Marvel in the future?
Gene Luen Yang I’m working on Shang-Chi for Marvel right now!
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My son, 6, and my daughter, 8, are huge fans of your secret coder series. However, they are becoming anxious as they realize that the story is continuing on without ending. My son asked me to look you up to find out how old you are to make sure you will live to be able to finish the story. Do you have a sense of the length of this story arc?
Gene Luen Yang The ending is in book 6! Please thank them for reading it!
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Can You Tell Us If You're Making Another Avatar Graphic Novel Series?
Gene Luen Yang I am not planning on it, though I love love love the world of Avatar. Gurihiru (the artists I worked with on Avatar) and I just released Superman Smashes the Klan from DC Comics this week! The Avatar comics are being continued by the amazing Faith Erin Hicks and the awesome Peter Wartman!
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How long did it take you illustrate the book? And how on average, how many hours a day did you work on it? Thank you.
Gene Luen Yang 4-8 hours per page, just about.
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I read that you will be working on the new Superman comics. What can we look forward to? Any cool sidekicks, awesome new powers?
Gene Luen Yang I introduced a character named Condesa who is sort of like Aquaman only she talks to computers instead of fish.
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Would you ever consider doing a Legend of Korra comic series ?
Gene Luen Yang Nope because there's a Korra comic coming out from MIKE DIMARTINO!!!!! (He's one of the writers of the show. It's going to be amazing.)
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My daughter loved your super secret ninja comic in Recess Squad...where else can we find more of these? Thanks, Sharon
Gene Luen Yang Yay! That's great! Super Secret Ninja Club was a warm up project for Secret Coders which is out now!
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American Born Chinese is a book I read in multicultural children's lit., so I was wondering if while you were writing it did you go into the project thinking it would be a big multicultural book?
Gene Luen Yang American Born Chinese began as a minicomic, which means that I drew each issue, photocopied it, and distributed it by hand. I would go to local comic conventions and sell maybe a dozen or so. I wasn't really thinking about the wider world of multicultural books. I just wanted to make my comic.
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I'm a writer & Catholic convert & I really enjoy how you explore catholic themes in a way that non-Catholics can still relate (esp in Boxers&Saints & TheEternalSmile) Any advice on how you pull that off?
Gene Luen Yang My Buddhist creative writing professor at U.C.Berkeley told me to never write about faith directly. Instead, you should live your faith and write your life. I've been trying to follow that advice ever since.
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The books Boxers and Saints are awesome because it truly shows two sides of a story. Do you have one would recommend the reader read first?
Gene Luen Yang When I was working on them, I hoped that they could be read in either order.

Based on reader feedback, I suggest reading Boxers first.
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Do you like bubble tea?
Gene Luen Yang Of course! Who doesn't like bubble tea?
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Do you keep a notebook or digital file to record ideas for stories as they come to you? If not, how do you organize your idea generation and development? Thanks!
Gene Luen Yang Yes! But I always end up losing the digital file! So annoying.
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Seeing as you write for Dark Horse, will there ever be an Avatar: The Last Airbender vs. Alien/Predator/Terminator crossover? (Just kidding, but wouldn't that be awesome?)
Gene Luen Yang Only if we also include Hellboy.
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I really enjoyed Boxers & Saints and The Shadow Hero. Do you think you'll create any more stories that are either historical fiction or in a historical setting?
Gene Luen Yang Right now, I'm exploring nonfiction! At the very beginning of a project...
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How do you work? Do you use paper and ink, pencils, or is it all digital?
Gene Luen Yang Half and half. Every page starts on the drawing board, ends on the computer.
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What books have influenced your work the most?
Gene Luen Yang Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud, One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry, Maus by Art Spiegelman.

For Boxers and Saints, I was heavily influenced by Silence by Shusaku Endo.
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Were you able to collect original copies of "Blazing Comics" to read Chu F. Hing's "The Green Turtle" stories when you were working on "The Shadow Hero"?
Gene Luen Yang Yes! I found all five of them either on eBay or at comic book conventions. You can also find them at the Digital Comics Museum. Because they're public domain, you can read them legally, for free!
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The end of Boxers and Saints: how? Why? What? I just sat and stared at the wall for a good 10 minutes after. You do magical realism like no other. How much planning goes in to including these elements in your writing?
Gene Luen Yang Thank you so much for reading Boxers & Saints! I'm an outliner. I outlined both books to figure out the connection points before doing the scripts and thumbnail sketches.
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