Disclaimer: All of the comics reviewed in this column were either comped by the respective creators/companies, or purchased from Dr. Volts Comics in Salt Lake City.
BOXERS & SAINTS (graphic novels, First Second, $18.99 and $15.99, 336 pages and 176 pages)
WHO’S RESPONSIBLE? Gene Luen Yang (writer, artist and letterer); Lark Pien (colorist).
Historical fiction has become a well escape hatch for comics creators feeling constrained by the limitations of super heroics and other comics genre trappings. Their approaches to this form of storytelling have differed greatly – while Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s employed fictional characters and real-life figures in their irreverent “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” tales, graphic journalist Joe Sacco has taken a more scholarly path with his nonfiction novels “Palestine” and “Safe Area Gorazde.”
Fitting neatly somewhere between those is “Boxers & Saints,” a two-part graphic novel from writer-artist Gene Luen Yang, the creator of the acclaimed, award-winning “American-Born Chinese.” Ambitious in scale, and using real-life events as their basis, “Boxers” and “Saints” both re-create parts of the 1899-1900 Boxer Rebellion, a Chinese Civil War that pitted Eastern traditionalists against “foreign devils” trying to bring more Western ways into the country, including organized Christianity.
The lengthier “Boxers” follows Little Bao, a rural Chinese villager who learns kung-fu from a master and eventually becomes one of the rebellion’s main leaders, for the so-called Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fist. While he remains committed to the cause, Little Bao does become conflicted and more than a little distracted when meets two very different women.
Its companion/complementary volume, “Saints,” is told from the perspective of Four-Girl, another rural villager who has become an outcast. Four-Girl’s family blames her for causing the death of her father, so, seeking peace and redemption, she studies Christianity. Eventually, she is re-christened Vibiana and tries to spread the word about her new Catholic faith.
THE GOOD.
As he did in “Chinese-Born American,” Yang employs the supposed “magic realism” to tell these stories. When Little Bao and his brothers … and eventual followers … employ their unique style of kung-fu, they actually turn into incarnations of various Chinese gods and other legendary figures.
And when Four-Girl is questioning whether to join in with the Christian side in the conflict, she receives visitations from a spectral vision that appears to be Joan of Arc.
As fantastical as these developments are, they’re smartly, vividly done, even with some very welcome humor at times. Also, Yang’s art has continued to develop and progress (he’s also honed his craft on Manga versions of “Avatar: The Last Airbender”). His art here is clean and compelling, employing the style of traditional Chinese folk art.
THE BAD.
By giving voice to the Christian side, still side by many as unwelcome in China, Yang has invited some controversy. And make no mistake about it, he does make Four-Girl at least as sympathetic a character as Little Bao. In fact, if anything she’s more relatable to American readers – For one thing, she doesn’t slaughter those who disagree with her (as Little Bao often does).
And obviously, anyone familiar with Chinese history knows these aren’t happy tales. Blood was shed on a large scale, and without spoiling too much, it’s clear that the rebellion isn’t going to end well for at least one of these characters.
THE UGLY.
While it does make the package more economical for some, the decision to split the two volumes into separate graphic novels does give readers the choice to read only one. But these stories deserve to be – need to be – read in tandem. They complement each other, and do shed a light on a period in Chinese (and Western) history in a memorable, compelling fashion.
IN CONCLUSION.
You have to applaud Yang for taking on such a daunting project practically single-handedly (though he is aided by fellow artist Lark Pien, who provides the properly muted colors). Researching the period costuming and architecture had to have taken considerable time, but those efforts were well-worth it. This is a book that looks at least as good as it reads.
Jerk-bot, better known in human form as Jeff Michael Vice, can be heard reviewing films, television programs, comics, books, music and other things as part of The Geek Show Podcast (www.thegeekshowpodcast.com), as well as be seen reviewing films as part of Xfinity’s Big Movie Mouth-Off (www.facebook.com/BigMovieMouthOff).