Meanwhile, Four-Girl – or ‘Vibiana’, as she is baptised, named after a canonised martyr whose relics have ended up enshrined in Los Angeles Cathedral – finds herself visited by an apparition of a golden young woman who becomes a warrior. While the books both start off in a very naturalistic mode, driven by the apparent simplicity of Luen’s cartooning style and the carefully measured colour palette of Lark Pien, they soon take a surprising sidestep into magic realism.įinding himself mentored by a mountaintop mystic, Master Fat Belly, Little Bao leans to master the power of chi. Before long, he and his comrades can transform themselves into the colourful avatars of ‘gods’, nudging the story – unexpectedly – closer to a dark superhero tale. However, as the blood-dimmed tide rises around her, she must decide on her commitment to her new-found faith. Saints (176 pages) tells the story of one of those ‘secondary devils’ – the put-upon and ill-fated (even from a numerological point of view) Four-Girl, whose motivations for joining the church – initially, at least – are altogether more pragmatic than spiritual. They’re also available as a handsome slipcased set.īoxers, the more substantial of the two volumes (336 pages), records the radicalisation of Little Bao, an imaginative boy in a remote village who becomes embroiled in the bloody campaign against brutal and exploitative foreign interlopers in China, as well as the ‘secondary devils’ – native Chinese who converted to Christianity. It’s probably worth flagging up here the fine job done by the books’ designer, Rob Steen the covers (and spines) fit together, reflecting the way the two volumes and their protagonists interweave, as well as suggesting the yin/yang theme that plays beneath the surface. His latest work, the linked books Boxers and Saints, tells the story of the Boxer Rebellion in China at the turn of the 20th century, from two individual viewpoints. He made his first real impression in 2006, when his graphic novel American Born Chinese (also published by First Second) won not only an Eisner Award but also the American Library Association’s Printz Award (for excellence in young adult fiction), and was the first graphic novel to be nominated for a US National Book Award. Without a lot of heat or noise, Gene Luen Yang has eased himself into the top flight of graphic novelists. Through the lives of two young people in 19th century China, Gene Luen Yang provides a powerful look at the dangers of fanaticism and the difficulties of faith.

Boxers and saints book