Thor is probably the most prominent mythological character in the Marvel universe, and in the DC universe, Wonder Woman is just surrounded by all these Greek gods. In American culture, for a large variety of historical reasons, we’ve largely been surrounded by European mythology - even in our comics. I’ve always been interested in mythology. He currently has an art exhibit hosted by the Society of Illustrators you can go check out - which made now as good a time as any to catch up with Yang and chat a little bit about the breadth of his work and what he’ll be doing next.Ī lot of your work features mythology - even Superman, which just introduced a fight club for brawlers inspired by different deities. Yang has also recently expanded into more traditional comic books, writing DC Entertainment’s flagship Superman series, as well as official comic-book sequels to the beloved animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender for Dark Horse comics.īut up until last summer, Yang lived a second life as a high-school teacher, primarily in the field of computer science - something he continues to advocate for through graphic novels like Secret Codersand organizing activities for movements like Hour of Code. In his current life, Gene Luen Yang is best known as a writer and cartoonist, crafting award-winning graphic novels like American Born Chinese and the two-volume Boxers & Saints, landmark works that have gone on to be taught in schools and considered for awards normally exclusive to prose fiction. If you’re still turning your nose up at them, you are definitely in the minority.” Graphic Novels have received top literary prizes, including Newbery Honors, Caldecott Honors, and a Pulitzer Prize. I think it’s time to say that comics are legitimate, period. The amazing Ben Katchor and the amazing Alison Bechdel were ahead of me. “I’m the third cartoonist to receive a fellowship. “I eventually made it to Panera, but didn’t get much work done.” He sees his selection as a victory for the comics medium. In a new email interview yesterday, he recalled finding out about the award about three weeks ago: “I got a call from the MacArthur Foundation in the morning, just as I was pulling out of my driveway to go to my local Panera Bread to work on a script,” he said. Comics creator Gene Luen Yang was just selected as one of the recipients of the MacArthur Foundation’s so-called “Genius Grants.” In light of the news, we’re republishing our December 2015 interview with Yang below.

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