12.22.09 comment
BOOKS ARE IN!
For real, I saw them...actually I lifted all of them too. Lots of boxes. I finally got to set up ordering through the site so take a look. I created some options for signed copies and copies sent with original art for all you who still appreciate the concept of a one of a kind piece. Take that you digital weirdos!

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12.20.09 comment
DAILY DAYS SHIPPING
Just wanted to quickly say I appreciate everyone's patience with the shipping of Daily Days. Some people ordered it weeks ago when I first put it up for pre-order. I was told last week that a portion of the books were on their way to the Amazon warehouse via UPS Ground and the rest would be coming to me via freight due to arrive today or tomorrow. Nothing today so I'm hoping they will show up tomorrow. If they do I will get them to the post office ASAP and with a little luck they will make it to you via Priority Mail in time for Christmas. Thanks again and keep your fingers crossed! I am!

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12.18.09 comment
SECRET ANGRY ASIAN MAN BOOK SPECIAL
I've partnered up with the amazing blog Angry Asian Man to come up with a juicy book promotion. The first 25 people to purchase a copy of Secret Asian Man: The Daily Days through the promotion you will receive an ORIGINAL PIECE OF DAILY COMIC ART with your order. Now go check it out and find out how! But hurry, orders are already coming in!

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12.3.09 comment
INSIDE THE DAILY DAYS
Here's a sneak peek at some inside pages!

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11.29.09 comment
TWITTERBOMB CNN'S SOLEDAD O'BRIEN!
For those who don't know, CNN does an occasional special report segment headed by Soledad O'Brien where she examines race in America. She's done two "Black in America"s, and a "Latino in America" but no "Asian in America". Here's what I propose. Everyone Twitterbomb Soledad O'brien and let her know, "We want our own show! We want Asian in America!"

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11.26.09 comment
SECRET ASIAN MAN: THE DAILY DAYS NOW AVAILABLE
OK everyone, I've been talking about this for a few weeks now but now it's finally become a reality. Secret Asian Man: The Daily Days is now available for pre-orders at Amazon. This 232 page book collects every strip I did while I was syndicated through United Media. I'm very excited to finally have a collection out there just in time for (the tail end of) Black Friday!

This is a self published book which means I'm paying for the whole print run out of pocket. So if you are a fan of SAM or know someone who might enjoy it please order your copy and help support the strip.

I'll also be making the book available for purchase directly here (credit card orders via PayPal) once I get the physical copies in my hands. Thanks everyone and spread the word!

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11.22.09 comment
SECRET ASIAN MAN BOOK
At long last I will be releasing a collection of SAM strips. I sent off all the pages (232 pages!) last week, waiting for my proofs and then it's off to production. Right now shipping should be available before Christmas, which is great. I'll be setting up the book at Amazon for pre-orders as soon as I get a definite ship date.

I'm really excited about this. The book is called Secret Asian Man: The Daily Days and is a collection of every single daily strip I produced while being distributed by United Features Syndicate. More news to come but thought I'd let the cat out of the bag.

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11.3.09 comment
PUMPKIN CARVING WINNERS
Finally getting to post these photos. Thanks to the hard working carvers. As you can see someone decided to carve two so I only felt it right to award them two prizes. Thanks and lets do it again next year!

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10.27.09 comment
INTERVIEW @ BOSTON COMIC CON
Here's an interview by Dave Yang of AuthenticGamer.com while I was at the Boston Comic Con.

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10.13.09 comment
PACIFIC CITIZEN INTERVIEW
Got a great surprise in the mail. The October 2-15 edition of the Pacific Citizen showed up and the interview I did with them is on the front cover. Woohoo! We talk a bit about my transition from daily to weekly and future projects. Check it out.

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9.27.09 comment
RSS, COMMENTING AND LARGER COMIC STRIP IMAGES
Being a stubborn do it yourselfer, I spent the past week or so trying to figure out the best way to provide an RSS feed, a commenting system and an easily zoomed image for the strips. What I kept coming up with was patchwork of ugly html patches and clumsy solutions. Please understand I am by no means an expert and creating websites. Not even moderately skilled. Then something occurred to me...I should just start an account on a blog site that has all of those functions built in so I can provide readers with those services and put my focus back on what I like to do...draw comic strips.

So for everyone e-mailing about RSS feeds, please go here and subscribe away. For those struggling with the tiny dialog text, click on the strips at the blog for a big old version. And for those who want to let me know what you think of me, comment to your hearts desire.

I'm still going to use this site as a home base and will be updating it with SAM news, event appearances, new merchandise, archives, etc. so stick around!

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9.20.09 comment
HI EVERYONE!
Well, I'm officially off comics.com but United Features has graciously posted a banner at the SAM page to redirect people here. From the feedback already there seems to be a lot of new eyes on the site. Please feel free to have a look around, read some older strips, articles and buy tons of t-shirts. I will start posting my strips on Sundays (I used to do it on Wednesdays) to give readers their Sunday morning fix. I'll also be figuring out how to create an RSS feed so people can have the strip delivered to them as well as a zoom function so you won't have to squint to read the strip.

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9.17.09 comment
BOSTON COMIC CON
After a loooong time not doing comic shows (besides the Asian American Comic Con a couple months back) I'll be at the Boston Comic Con on October 24-25. The folks that throw this show have really stepped up the talent that they bring. The guest list includes: Geoff Darrow, Tim Sale, Bill Sienkiwicz, Herb Trimpe, Khoi Pham, Cliff Chiang and David Mack just to name a few. I may end up spending more time on line meeting some of these artists than at my table!

I'm also going to finally start selling off original SAM strip artwork, dailies and Sundays at the show. If your in the New England area swing by and meet a bunch of high caliber talent. If you live in Boston you have no excuse. If you've never been to a comic show, this a a great one to start with.

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9.14.09 comment
THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT!
Starting Monday I started tagging my daily strips with a note stating that this week will be the final week for SAM dailies and I've been getting a bunch of very nice supportive e-mails from readers. Just wanted to take a minute to say thanks. It means a lot to me.

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9.8.09 comment
HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN INTERVIEW
SAM started running in the Star-Bulletin this past Sunday. They printed an interview for their A+E section to launch the strip! It's only been a few weeks since I've been in touch with them and already they have been amazing to work with. Mahalo Honolulu!

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9.1.09 comment
THE CAMPING STORY LINE
First off, thanks to everyone's encouraging words about the transition. It's giving me even more fuel. Also a lot of people have been asking about the current camping story line. I fell a little behind on filing daily strips so United Features had to reprint some older strips this week. The camping story will indeed continue next Monday.

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8.31.09 comment
THE RETURN OF SECRET ASIAN MAN WEEKLY
After just over three years of daily syndication with United Features, Secret Asian Man will shift gears and return to a weekly format. On Saturday September 19, 2009 papers will run the very last daily strip. It was disappointing that United Features decided to pull the plug but at the same invigorating to think of the freedom. I'm not going to bad mouth United Features at all but it will be liberating to be able to act on SAM related projects without having to clear them...and there are a couple I'm already working on.

So what does this mean for the strip? The characters and continuity will remain but I will produce one larger strip a week (like a Sunday comic format) and will keep running in publications and web sites that choose to continue running it. I even picked up a couple of new papers! The very last daily strip will reveal a major development in SAM's life so stay tuned, see what happens and onward and upward for SAM!

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8.15.09 comment
ASIAN AMERICAN JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION
Just did a book signing and attended a awards gala at the AAJA convention here in Boston. It was pretty cool. I have to admit I didn't know what to expect but I had a really good time. Got to meet Gil Asakawa who I've been in touch with for a long time but never met. Met world famous photographer Corky Lee, got my picture taken with Frances Rivera of WHDH-TV. Funny that our table wa sponsored by Anheuser Busch. We were the only table with a big bucket of beer at it. Sweet!

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7.16.09 comment
OPEN LETTER TO NAACP PRESIDENT/CEO BENJAMIN JEALOUS
My congratulations to the NAACP on its 100 year aniversary. Funny that this year also marks the 100th anniversary of the elementary school that my son attends here in Boston. To think of the progress this country has made in those 100 years fills one with a feeling of pride. On President Obama's speech today, it was Obama at his best. When he's cleared to talk about race he always hits it out of the park. But one glaring thing struck me about his speech as well as the NAACP as an organization. Where's the Asian love? Aren't we Colored People too?

Now I know there are a gazillion smaller chapters and some of them are Asian-centric, but if perception is reality, the NAACP is pretty much a black organization. Listening to a lot of your speeches and media appearances, you almost exclusively talk about the struggles of black Americans. Every now and then there's a Latino mention. Now watch as this gets turned around as a statement against blacks and Latinos. It isn't.

Mr. Jealous, there's been a lot of talk about the relevance of the NAACP and its role in race relations in the future in an America with a black President. I would personally like to see more attention paid to the Asian American community. I would like to see the NAACP truly embrace the idea that they exist for the greater good of all people of color. I would like to see the NAACP make more public statements and bring to light more Asian American issues to the mainstream. If these words seem like a slight against the hard work and achievements the NAACP, nothing could be further from the truth. I write this because I have all the confidence in the world that the NAACP can be an even greater organization in the next 100 years and can do wonders for Asian Americans issues like low voter turnout among Asian immigrants, awareness of violent crimes against AAs, accepted media stereotypes, whitewashed Hollywood casting, affirmative action backlash, etc.

Here's to the next 100 years. May we see more progress, more success and a more colorful National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. All of them. Thank you.

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7.9.09 comment
LAURA LING AND EUNA LEE
So Lisa Ling finally got to speak with her sister Laura who is currently (no pun intended) imprisoned in North Korea with fellow journalist Euna Lee. She's calling for diplomacy. I have a really bad feeling about all this. We're a loooooong ways away from having any sort of diplomatic relationship with North Korea. My pipe dream would be to have this incident become the issue that starts the diplomatic process. But given the shit North Korea has been pulling I get the feeling they could give a crap. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely want those two out of there. I even signed the online petition (which you should too). I'm just feeling like it's going to be a while...

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6.28.09 comment
BILLY MAYS R.I.P.
On the heels of the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, we lose another giant, infomercial pitchman extraordinaire Billy Mays. OK, to most people Billy Mays is nowhere near as influential as MJ or Farrah. He isn't to me either. But I don't think it's any secret that I have a thing for infomercials (if you've been following the Lunchkins story line, you know what I mean). There's something about the over the top cheesiness of infomercials that draws me in and Billy was the current king. Vince from ShamWow is having a go at it but he's got a way to go. Pitchmen co-star Anthony Sullivan is just boring. Before there was Billy there were folks like Ron Popeil of Ronco (you know, "Set it and forget it"), psychic lady Miss Cleo and, perhaps my all time favorite, Tom Vu (just watch). Here's to you, Billy Mays!

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6.23.09 comment
FOOD (sorta) REVIEW!
Every now and then something catches my eye that makes me stop and stare. In this case it also made me want to eat it. In this case, Asian Hamburger Helper from Betty Crocker.

My first thought was that the structure of the title suggests that this product will help Asians in the same way Hamburger Helper helps hamburger. So I went to the supermarket butcher and asked for a pound of ground Asian meat. After security let me go I got home anticipating the savory experience of Asian Helper. What a disappointment.

This didn't taste anything like an Asian! It was way too salty. Everyone knows we're are sweet and buttery! The color of the rice was OK, kind of like my Southeast Asian friends' color. If I had the rate the taste, I'd give it a 4 out of 10.

My biggest problem with this product is the package design. Check out the other Helpers. Everything is named "Fill-in-Whatever-Meat Helper". The Italians get a nice scripty thing going on. Chicken Helper has a Mexican flavor. Can you imagine what would happen if they called it Mexican Helper?! And then there's the Jambalaya, which they decided to call "Classic". They didn't even have the balls to call it Cajun Helper. Or Spanish/French/Creole Helper. There's even a template for labeling things by their ethnicity! Alas, Asian Helper stands alone, singled out in the supermarket's lazy cook aisle. Sigh. They even threw in the obligatory bamboo frame...

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6.8.09 comment
GREATER BOSTON
I did a taping for a local news/talk program called Greater Boston on WGBH-TV today. Here's the link.

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6.4.09 comment
ASIAN AMERICAN COMIC CON
That's right, the first ever Asian American Comic Con! July 11 at the Museum of Chinese in America in NYC. There will be top professionals from Marvel, DC, indie comics and cartooning. There will also be workshops, an artists' alley and a special award presentation. New details are being fleshed out every day so check aacomicon.com often. I'll be on the workshop panel for "Making Comics" talking about the business end of things.

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5.30.09 comment
INTERVIEW
Check out the new interview at Discover Nikkei. It's a site that was established by the International Nikkei Research Project and coordinated by the Japanese American National Museum. There are lots of cool articles, videos and stories on the site so be sure to poke around...after reading mine!

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5.17.09 comment
WIDGET...WIDGET GOOD!
The fine folks at United Features have created widgets to make getting your favorite comics featured on your own blog, home page, social networking page or even your PC desktop a snap. You can set it up with as many of your favorites as you want (although we all know which your REAL favorite is...right?!). All for the whopping price of nothing.

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5.11.09 comment
CHARLIE BREAKS FREE!
A strange thing has happened. Charlie has decided to start blogging about his experience creating Towelbags. If that sentence completely confuses you, do a little catch up on the strip and then head over to Charlie's Bright Ideas blog and see what I'm talking about. Not sure what to do about renegade comic strip characters. Any suggestions?

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5.5.09 comment
AIRBENDER VIDEO PROTEST
By now you probably know all about the various protests against the casting of Avatar: The Last Airbender. After repeated attempts to work with Paramount on their casting choices, MANAA (Media Action Network for Asian Americans) has issued an official press release and the site racebending.com has launched a YouTube channel where outraged fans can voice their opinions. Paramount even shut down racebending's store because it featured products that violates Viacom's intellectual property rights. Join the resistance!

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4.28.09 comment
COMIC BOOK CLUB
Here's a link to the podcast of the Comic Book Club show in NYC.

FREE SAM STICKERS!
Don't forget to e-mail CurrentVine for the SAM vinyl sticker giveaway. Deadline is THIS FRIDAY!

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4.22.09 comment
BACK FROM NYC
Had a great time in NYC as always. Nice to get away every now and then. Had lots of fun on Comic Book Club at the People's Improv Theater. I was a guest along with web comic writers Johnny Zito and Tony Trov. They work on a comic that is available on zudacomics.com called The Black Cherry Bombshells. Cool stuff, check it out and vote for them! Zuda is a web comic site run by DC Comics where you can submit your work and have it contend (if it's accepted) with other comics on the site. It's also a rich community for aspiring and established comic talent. I believe at some point the podcast of the show will be available for your listening pleasure. I'll update when it does.

SECRET IDENTITIES FINALLY AVAILABLE...EVERYWHERE!
Came home to my copy of Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology! Once I get a little sleep I'm going to go right through this book. You've probably seen the book mentioned on the many Asian American sites that have talked about the book as well as some mainstream media. This is an important book that can do a lot of good for the many AA contributors. Help get these talented folks the attention and recognition they deserve. If you don't see it at your local big chain bookstore have them order it. If your local comic shop doesn't carry it, just tell them who's in it! If you live in the middle of nowhere but have an internet connection get it on line! Just do it now!

SAM STICKER GIVEAWAY
The folks at CurrentVine are holding a SAM vinyl sticker giveaway. These suckers are about 8" and die cut, weather proof and bad-ass! All you have to do is drop them a line. But hurry, DEADLINE IS FRIDAY MAY 1!

TED RALL
I was shocked and saddened to hear Ted Rall has been laid off from his position as acquisitions editor at United Features. For those who don't know the back story, Ted signed me on to UFS and gave me lots of support and encouragement, as well as some sound advice dealing with a much different readership than I was used to in weekly papers. Ted, best of luck to you but I know this is only a temporary set back. Those of us who you signed on to UFS will continue to do our best and make you proud.

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4.15.09 comment
COMIC BOOK CLUB
The family and I are headed down to NYC this weekend and while we're down there I'll be a guest on Comic Book Club, a weekly talk show with a live audience where NYC's best comedians talk shop with comic book industry professionals. It all goes down Tuesday April 21 at the People's Improv Theater (the P.I.T.) at 8pm. Only $5! If you're in town come down and support the hard working folks at the P.I.T.

SWARTHMORE COLLEGE
A little while back wrote about having some framed original work hanging at Swarthmore College. The SAO (Swarthmore Asian Organization) is holding a series of events in celebration of Asian/Pacific Islander American month. I finally got the artwork there and they are available for your viewing pleasure for about a month. So if you happen to find yourself about a dozen miles west of Philly in the greater Swarthmore area, please swing by and check out the artwork which is hanging somewhere on campus for an unspecific amount of time.

PLAYING CATCH UP
So I'm a good few weeks behind on my strips and I've been cranking them out. I finally scripted out (and drew half of) a story arc that I've been wanting to put out there. One in which SAM and Charlie part ways in a seedy shroud of mystery, scandal and betrayal...stay tuned!

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4.3.09 comment
channelAPA INTERVIEW
While I was out in San Francisco I got interviewed by channelAPA about Secret Identities. channelAPA is a site that features videos on APAs mainly in entertainment industries. It's a mix of existing content and content original to the site. A lot of cool stuff I hadn't previously seen. Be sure to check it out. Also be sure to listen to the righteous 80's music playing in the background during my interview!

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3.30.09 comment
AVATAR CASTING
There's been a lot of noise about the mostly white cast of the Avatar the Last Airbender live action film. This week's Sunday strip sheds a little light on the situation. There's a decent discussion happening, why not join in? A really good site to get the 411 about the controversy is racebending.com. There have been some concessions from the production company and a couple more roles have been filled by Asian actors but the brouhaha rages on. There's sure to be protests at theaters during opening weekend.

I also got a heads up from a reader who was pointing out the last panel of this week's strip that features SAM sailing the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard through the air. It seems someone thought of this years ago, named it the Gooks of Hazzard and made a video. It was part of a show call The Damn Show. Check it out and make up your own mind.

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3.24.09 comment
INTERVIEWS!
I did an interview the night before I left for San Francisco on APEX Express (KPFA in Berkeley, CA). It's a quickie but we talked a little about the Many Faces of Manga exhibit, the NJAHS award and some other stuff. Listen in. You should listen to the whole thing but my part starts 42:20 into the podcast.

Also did an interview for the web site Death Ray Weekly, a site heavily dedicated to the world of comic books.

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3.22.09 comment
BACK FROM THE WEST
I had a completely amazing time out in San Francisco. Thanks to everyone at the NJAHS and the Nichi Bei Times. I got to meet some very cool people and was humbled by all the hard work and dedication they have for the JA community in San Francisco. Too many stories to tell but here are some quick highlights (and photos!):
- Going to the Cartoon Art Museum for the Stan Sakai exhibit with Nichi Bei Times editor Kenji Taguma and Disney/Hanna Barbera animator Willie Ito. The museum also had a Watchmen exhibit with movie props/costumes and original art from Dave Gibbons!
- Checking out the Many Faces of Manga exhibit at the NJAHS.
- Meeting Grant Imahara from Mythbusters. Delivered a great keynote speech at the awards dinner.
- Hearing all the great stories about Disney Studios, Warner Bros. and Hanna Barbera from Willie Ito. Just an amazing wealth of stories. This guy has worked with EVERYONE!!! He's got new book out called Hello Maggie! It's a kid's book written with the background of a Japanese internment camp. Ito was relocated to an internment camp when he was a child.
- Eating tons of yummy Japanese food.
- Staying at Hotel Tomo. It's one of those boutique hotels that has every room designed by a different artist. Although the staff was a little sketchy. Like the cleaning ladies who cleaned my room. Twice in the same morning. Hmm... And the mysterious wake up calls I didn't request.

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3.17.09 comment
10TH ANNIVERSARY SAM T-SHIRT
To commemorate SAM's 10th year I put together a shirt that is now available at Blacklava. You may recognize the image. I know I may be a little late on the Obamabelia trend but this is something I've been wanting to do for a while and I still support President Obama so it still makes all the sense in the world. Available in unisex and women's styles.

GOOD BYE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
It's official, today the Seattle P-I printed its last edition. The paper began in 1863(!) and succumbed to falling advertising sales and a readership increasingly going to the web for their news. I joked earlier about how I'll be losing a paper the strip is featured in but in all seriousness it's sad to see such an institution come to an end. Thanks, P-I, for running the strip and best wishes to all who worked there.

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3.13.09 comment
NEWSARAMA INTERVIEW
Here's an interview I did from the floor of the New York Comic Con a couple months ago. I'm extremely embarrassed to have spaced on contributor names. Must be all those names that sound the same. But it was good to do an interview with my pal the multi-talented Pete LePage. Pete is a host of Comic Book Club (a weekly comic book talk show featuring the best comedians in NYC talking shop with industry professionals). If you're in NYC on a Tuesday evening, drag your butt to the People's Improv Theater and check out the show. Only $5!

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3.7.09 comment
HOLY CRAP!
I just realized how long it has been since my last posting. I'm sure that sentence is one of the most commonly typed sentences on blogs everywhere. Oh, well. Even forgot to post a new strip. At least I got to go and watch The Watchmen tonight. Pretty sweet. Comic book geeks can dissect that movie all they want and talk about the things that are missing or different but I for one had a great time watching these characters come to life (and yes, I read it back in the 80's). It's clear that A LOT of time and attention was paid to including little details and almost film shot for comic panel directing. Possibly the most disturbing thing about watching the film was watching it with a couple of five year-olds in the theater. Really? You're going to sit your preschooler on your lap to watch The Watchmen? How'd he like all the severed limbs and blue penis shots? Did the R rating confuse you? WTF! Who watches The Watchmen? Five year-old future Rorschachs, that's who.

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2.24.09 comment
SECRET IDENTITIES
I've been a little slow to the draw about spreading the word about what the folks who put together Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology are up to. They're working tirelessly to produce an eight part series of trailers in support of the book. Keep up to date at the official blog site.

The crew is also going to be at the East Coast Asian American Students Union (ECAASU) conference at Rutgers University this Friday to talk about the project. And Phil Yu of angryasianman.com is going to be there too! Sweet! I wish could go.

Contributors to Secret Identities include Jeff Yang (founder of aMagazine, author Asian Pop), Parry Shen (actor Better Luck Tomorrow), Keith Chow (writer, comics in education specialist), Jerry Ma (founder Epic Proportions), Greg Pak (director Robot Stories, writer Hulk, Iron Man), Larry Hama (writer GI Joe), Dustin Nguyen (Batman), Bernard Chang (artist Wonder Woman, X-Men, Deadpool), Cliff Chiang (Transmetropolitan, Grendel, Flinch), Gene Yang (artist/writer American Born Chinese), Billy Tan (Witchblade, Darkness, X-Men), Sonny Liew (artist Faith in Frankie, Re-gifters), Michael Kang (director The Motel, West 32nd), Kelly Hu (actress X-Men 2, CSI: NY, Law & Order), Yul Kwon (winner Survivor: Cook Islands, activist), Kazu Kibuishi (artist Flight, Daisy Kutter), Greg LaRocque (Avengers, Spider-Man, Hulk), Keiko Agena (actress Gilmore Girls), Christine Norrie (artist Breaking Up, Cheats) and dozens more! And me too!

Pre-order your copy now!

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2.19.09 comment
NJAHS AWARDS NIGHT
Exciting and humbling news. I'm being honored by the National Japanese American Historical Society at this year's awards dinner on Saturday, March 21 (6pm reception, 7pm dinner and program). The event will take place at the Kabuki Hotel in San Francisco's J-Town (1625 Post St.) and is open to the public but it is a fundraiser so keep that in mind with the ticket price of $150 a person. If you're in the SF area that weekend I'll be there Friday afternoon through Sunday morning so swing by for the dinner or let's hang afterwards. The Many Faces of Manga exhibit is also open through June 30.

Here's a little background on the NJAHS so you get a better understanding of their mission and what the fundraising is going to support. NJAHS was founded in 1980 as "Go For Broke, Inc.", whose purpose was to promote the history and accomplishments of Japanese American veterans of the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service who distinguished themselves during World War II. As the organization evolved into an institution dedicated to preserving the history of Japanese Americans in general and educating the public about the contributions of Japanese Americans to American Society, it changed its name in 1986 to the National Japanese American Historical Society.

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2.8.09 comment
NEW YORK COMIC CON POST MORTEM
Had a great time at the New York Comic Con. It was A LOT BIGGER than I was expecting. Tons of people, tons of costumes and the body odor was kept at a reasonable level.

Got to meet some of the talent folks who worked on the Secret Identities anthology of Asian American superheroes. There's even a new trailer. Check it out!

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1.25.09 comment
TOWELHEAD
I just watched a movie called Towelhead. Probably one of the most uncomfortable to watch movies I've seen in a while...for so many reasons. This was one of those movies that I was glad I knew nothing about before I watched it. So instead of even hinting at what this movie is about I'll just say that as much as I enjoyed this film I found the commentaries in the special features far more interesting. Pick it up.

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1.23.09 comment
KPFA RADIO
The APEX Express radio show on KPFA in Berkeley,CA had Kenji Taguma (editor, Nichi Bei Times) and Deb Aoki (Honolulu Advertiser's Bento Box) on to talk about The Many Faces of Manga art exhibit going on right now. Tomorrow is the opening so if you're in the area swing in! Listen to the broadcast below. The show starts off with Lisa Wong Macabasco of Hyphen Magazine and AsianWeek and there's a nice discussion about Asian American media, print media in general and the future of ethnic media. The Many Faces of Manga portion is 16 minutes in and goes for about 16 minutes. Then there's another 30 minutes of other great programming so do your duty as an American and listen to the whole thing.

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1.21.09 comment
NEW YORK COMIC CON
Well, looks like I'll be headed down to NYC for the New York Comic Con. I'll be there Saturday afternoon until the end of the show and Sunday morning. I won't be set up at a table or booth but will be walking around hanging with friends and meeting some people I've worked with recently that I haven't had a chance to meet in person. Plus it'll be my first ride on a Bolt Bus!

I'll definitely be attending the panel "Asian Americans and Super Heroes: Secret Identities" in support of the book coming out this spring. That panel is on Saturday at 1:30pm in room 1A18. A ton of people are going to be there so it should be a good time. If you're in NYC Feb 6-8, definitely check it out.

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1.18.09 comment
THE MANY FACES OF MANGA ART EXHIBIT
Starting January 10 and going through June 30, 2009, the National Japanese American Historical Society in conjunction with Nichi Bei Times will be presenting The Many Faces of Manga featuring reproduced and original art from several artists in various disciplines of comic, cartoon and animation arts. Artists include Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy), Willie Ito (Disney, Hanna-Barbera), Stan Sakai (Usagi Yojimbo), Henry Kiyama (The Four Immigrants Manga from 1931), Deb Aoki (Honolulu Advertiser's "Bento Box"), Adrian Tomine (Optic Nerve), Bob Kuwahara (Miki), Lela Lee (Angry Little Girls), Audra Furuichi and Scott Yoshinaga (nemu*nemu), Jon J. Murakami (Honolulu-Star Bulletin), winners from Nichi Bei Times' manga contest...and me!

The opening party will be on Saturday, January 24 at 2pm at the NJAHS (1684 Post St. in San Francisco's Japantown). The opening will be moderated by Deb Aoki and will feature Frederik L. Schodt (translated The Four Immigrants Manga, author "The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution") and Jason Thompson (manga editor and author of "Manga: The Complete Guide"). If you're in the area, please stop by, make a donation and enjoy some cool art that is rarely available for public viewing. For more info call the NJAHS at 415-921-5007 or visit www.njahs.org.

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1.13.09 comment
10TH ANNIVERSARY OF SAM!
The other day I realized that January marks the 10th anniversary of SAM. Holy crap! In some ways it feels like it. In others I feel like I'm just getting started. This year I'd really like to get a collected volume of older SAM strips put together. I know I've said that before but this year seems like of a good time for it. We shall see. So raise a glass, bake a (yellow) cake and celebrate. Happy birthday, you big headed freak!

BUNCHES OF STRIPS
Completed the archives for 2007 and 2008. Over 40 strips! Now comes the arduous task of backfilling beyond that. Yay!

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1.10.09 comment
ASIANWEEK AND SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Boy does this economy suck. AsianWeek sadly announced last week that they will be ending the print run of their publication. They will continue their online presence and be involved in community events. While there are plenty of critics of the paper (especially after the whole Kenneth Eng debacle) no one can take away the fact that the publication has been serving the AA community for 30 years. Damn.

Another paper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (which has been around for 146 years!!!) is up for sale. They are on the block for 60 days. If at the end of the 60 days there are no buyers, the paper will shut down. Even if they do find a buyer, they have no plans to continue producing their paper edition. Very, very sad news.

And if I can be selfish for a moment...BOTH OF THESE PAPERS RUN SECRET ASIAN MAN!!! AAAHHHH!!!

SITE TWEAKS
I was tooling around this site a little (doing my usual annual maintenance) and realized there were a few changes that could be made to make life a little easier. Nothing big but hopefully useful. Most of the changes were in the archives. I decided to break the archive into years like the blog posts. So if you click on STRIPS on the top nav bar, you'll see the current year's strips and options to choose years past. You'll be able to jump to any year from whatever year you are in. I didn't realize how long it was taking to wait for the whole page to load.

I noticed I'm missing a bunch of strips from early 2008 so I'll be uploading those. I'm also thinking of back filling my archives beyond 2006.

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1.7.09 comment
COLBERT NATION
So this Sunday I did a strip featuring Stephen Colbert's Chinese caricature Ching Chong Ding Dong. Check out this clip of Colbert defending Rosie O'Donnell's "ching chong" remarks on The View. I think Colbert hits it on the head. It's not all the chinging and chonging, it's who does it. Jon Stewart can make fun of Jews all day. Dave Chappelle makes fun of blacks all the time. I wanted to do this strip and then somehow get it in front of some Colbert fans and (hopefully) staffers. I posted the strip at Colbert Nation's forums. Got a couple Hat Tips too! Colbert! I'm calling you out!!!

OLD TV INTERVIEW
Finally got motivated and downloaded some video transfer/editing software. I just posted a TV interview from 2005 on YouTube. By the way, if you're on a Mac and are looking to transfer DVDs to Quicktime format, I highly recommend Handbrake. Pretty simple interface and nice results. Lots of cool options for optimizing. Then run it through iMovie and edit away.

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2008 ARCHIVE>>

2007 ARCHIVE>>

2006 ARCHIVE>>