For today's daily strip, please visit www.comics.com.

7.19.08 comment
THE DARK KNIGHT (spoiler alert!)
After a good run of Marvel based movies it's refreshing to see the return of The Dark Knight. As much as I think Christian Bale did a great job again, Heath Ledger's Joker is absolutely amazing. Once I got past the fact that he kept reminding me of Brandon Lee in The Crow, I realized how much life he gave the Joker's character. Where Jack Nicholson's Joker was a pure cartoon character (which I think was the point), Ledger's Joker is a deeply troubled and fearless genius who's chaotic take on crime puts everyone, good and bad guys, at unease.

There were a few clever things that were incorporated into The Dark Knight that I didn't expect. One was the controversy of spying on the public. Bruce Wayne decides to adapt Lucius Fox's (Morgan Freeman) sonar mapping technology to all of the cell phones in Gotham City effectively violating everyone's privacy. When Fox finds out he announces his resignation as long as that technology is in the Wayne Industries building. Wayne talks him into helping just this once to locate the terrorizing Joker. I thought is was pretty slick and raised the question of whether such invasions of privacy are justified, which, using my movie logic, I found myself supporting.

On the Asian front, some people are upset that one of the bad guys had to be Asian (oddly two of the trailers before The Dark Knight were Tropic Thunder with evil Asian jungle soldiers and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor featuring evil Asian undead soldiers). I didn't have too much of a problem with it until it was revealed that he was the underworld accountant and was "good at calculations". That was a cringing moment. But I forgive it since he didn't bust out in some kung-fu silliness.

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7.15.08 comment
TOTORO FOREST PROJECT
Just found out about this AMAZING project. Over 200 artists from around the world were invited to create their versions of Totoro, other forest spirits and the world he lives in. There are illustrations, paintings, plush dolls, sculptures...etc. There is some amazing work on this site. Check out the entire gallery. If you're a fan of Totoro get ready to spend a long time feeling nostalgic for the big furry beast.

As awesome as this already it is, it gets...awsomer! The TFP is a fund raising exhibition/auction to support the National Trust Totoro Forest Foundation established by none other than Hayao Miyazaki. The auction will be held 9.6.08 at Pixar Animation Studio's Campus. There will also be two exhibitions at the San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum. 9.20.08-12.7.08 and 11.7.09-2.20.09. At the Pixar auction there will also be a book available featuring select pieces from the collection. GWAAAAA!!!

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7.8.08 comment
VOTE SAM!
The San Francisco Chronicle is asking readers to vote on some new strips to be included on their comics page. SAN FRAN REPRESENT! If you're in the SF area and want to support SAM in a big way, please take 15 seconds and cast your vote now!

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7.3.08 comment
WATER BABY
Just read a really cool book called Water Baby written/illustrated by Ross Campbell under DC Comics' MINX imprint. The first thing that struck me about this book was the artwork, specifically the personality of it. Any book with a tattooed girl in combat boots and a prosthetic leg will at least get my attention (yes, I judged this book by its cover). When I opened it I was pleasantly surprised by the great pacing and storytelling. A lot of strong "quiet" moments and rich environments. I'm also a sucker for small details (band shirts, magazines, clothing details...etc) and this book has plenty. And it has spooky shark sequences to boot. Perfect summer beach reading!

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6.26.08 comment
TRACES OF THE TRADE: A STORY FROM THE DEEP NORTH
While I was working on some strips yesterday I popped in a DVD that I snagged from work. Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North is a documentary from PBS' POV Summer 2008 Series about descendants of the DeWolf family exploring their roots in the American slave trade with Africa and Cuba. It's a pretty interesting journey as members of the DeWolf family (some of whom have never met) gather at the church in Bristol, Rhode Island that their family has belonged to for 250 years. They then travel together to slave forts in Ghana and sugar plantations in Cuba the whole time expressing feelings of guilt, anger and outrage. Then ultimately they discuss the plans for the future and their efforts to establish reparations.

James DeWolf was a slave trading captain who made his family one of the most wealthy families in the country and the largest slave trading family in U.S. history.

The documentary poses many interesting questions such as: Should there be monetary reparations for descendants of slaves? Or should reparations take the form of a series of longer term programs? Do descendants of slave traders have an obligation to do anything about a past they had nothing to do with? Are white folks aware to what extent blacks are still feeling the effects of slavery today?

This isn't the best documentary and at times the family seemed to be depicted dramatically meek, but it does have a worthy message and provides a point of view on the slave trade that is utterly unique. More info here. Watch the trailer here.

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6.19.08 comment
MIDWEST FLOODS
The flooding going on in the Midwest is absolutely devastating. My heart goes out to everyone affected by it. But I can't stop thinking about those ignorant assholes who were saying that Asia was getting what it deserved with all the earthquakes and cyclones and that some sort of global karma was playing out. Are they saying the same thing about the victims of these floods? I doubt it. It's that kind of thinking that really frustrates me but it's also the exact kind of thinking that keeps me doing what I do.

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6.12.08 comment
GROWING (TOGETHER) PAINS
I've been thinking a lot recently about what it means to support someone or something. Obama's speech on race a little while back illustrated the point about how we can support someone even though we may not support everything they say or do. I've always had similar feelings about people I know: family, friends and the people who live in my TV. Would you go to an anti-violence rally happening in your neighborhood that was reaching across cultural lines to make the streets safer? What if the organizers didn't approve of homosexuality? Does that one blemish devalue everything they are trying to accomplish?

The way I see it, we are all individuals and even in the most homogenized and organized group, there will be differences. To expect a group to meet ALL of your moral and ethical needs is a tall order. There are Catholics who support abortion. There are soldiers who oppose war. There are vegetarians who eat fish. If your true goal is to bring communities together you have to go outside of your personal comfort zone. Many communities aren't closer in the first place because most people aren't willing to do this. But in the end it's up to you. To some, finding out the cute guy they met at the bar hates dogs is a deal breaker. All I have to say is think another minute before deciding you are for or against something. You may find that supporting something you believe 90% of will get you closer to what you want than doing nothing at all.

Now back to the NBA finals. Celtics, you're killing me.
UPDATE 11:51PM EST
HOLY CRAP!!! GO CELTICS!!!

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6.3.08 comment
PHILLY
So I'll be headed to Philadelphia tomorrow for the annual AAN (Association of Alternative Newsweeklies) Convention. Basically people from weekly papers from all over the country get together, swap stories and build a community. I hear a lot of cartoonists come as well to pitch their strips and schmooze with comics editors and publishers. In the meantime...
UPDATE 6.9.08
Despite the 3 hour flight delay due to tornado watches, I had a great time in the city of brotherly love. Hot as hell, but fun. Saw a lot more homeless people than I expected. Got to spend a little time with fellow cartoonists Ted Rall, Keith Knight, Mikhaela Reid and Jen Sorensen. Couldn't help but have my A-dar on. Not a lot of diversity at the convention. Although I saw more Asians than blacks or Latinos.

PUBLIC DISPLAY OF...I'M NOT SURE
Back in the summer of 2001, I went down to NYC to be in a film that a group of friends were putting together called The Hot Tamale. It's the story of a chunky man's quest to become the best bike messenger and the Rastafarian Japanese guy who guides him. Peep the old school SAM t-shirt I'm rocking. I have very fond memories of shooting this film and running (literally) all around NYC to locations like the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, Park Avenue, Tribeca and Central Park at 4AM. It was also my first bubble bath with another grown man. Good times.

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5.29.08 comment
WEEKLY COMICS!
You may have noticed a big ol' comic strip at the top of the home page. Well, after almost a year of not posting new strips on the site I've decided to start posting them again. The strips are the Sunday strips that go through the UFS syndicate. I realized that a lot of people who read the strip in the papers do not see these strips because not all dailies have a Sunday edition. Plus, I just kind of miss having a new strip up top. I'm shooting for every Wednesday.

JERO
A friend of mine passed along a link to this guy. Amazing. But somehow I feel strange being so amazed. Like in a guilty way. Why am I surprised at seeing a young black guy sing classic Japanese enka songs? Japanese guys sing hip hop. Not that all young black guys sing hip hop or for that matter all Japanese guys sing enka. I guess it's because it's so unusual that it's awesome. I saw a program about a white guy from Australia who moved to Hong Kong to become a singer of classic Chinese songs. Or that Asian country singer whose name I can't remember right now. That was pretty cool too. I love when this stuff happens.

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5.28.08 comment
ASIAN ARTIST TRIPLE CROWN
On my visit down to NYC last weekend I got to check out the works of three pretty sweet artists.

TAKASHI MURAKAMI AT BROOKLYN MUSEUM
It's one thing to look at Murakami's work in books and magazines. It's a completely different experience when the originals are two inches away from your face. The flatness of his work is deceptively simple looking. Any new jack digital artist just sees vector style lines with paint bucket fills. But get your nose right up there and try to dissect how Murakami did it. It's nothing short of amazing. It was nice to see different style of his work as well. The life sized anime porn statues were out of hand. People kept awkwardly coming up to them and trying to figure out where they should be looking. The star of the sculptural pieces was the three stage transforming anime girl that turned into a jet fighter. All in all, every room made me gasp with a surprisingly different offering. If you're anywhere near a Murakami exhibition, check it out.

SHIGERU MIZUKI AT KINOKUNIYA BOOK STORE
Got to see another great artist's work at Kinokuniya's new Bryant Park location. Shigeru Mizuki (creator/artist of GeGeGe no Kitaro) was displaying prints from his "Fifty-Three Stations of the Yokaido Road " series. Gegege no Kitaro is based in a world of supernatural Japanese folklore horror monsters (Yokai), but in a cute and funny way. These prints (that I shot before getting yelled at by security) are Mizuki's characters incorporated onto the classic print series by famous Ukiyo-e creator Hiroshige Utagawa's "Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido Road. Get it? Hahaha! He switched "Tokaido" with "Yokaido"! Heh. Nevermind. The art is sick! And check out the anime!

JAMES JEAN AT PRADA
Not really a gallery show or anything but I got to see the 200' long, floor to ceiling mural by James Jean in the Prada store on Broadway. I actually forgot that it was there until I happened to turn and see it. To see Jean's work like that is really cool. It was such a natural fit. Of course I had to take photos from the outside since the surly security guard was giving me the stink eye the whole time.

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5.21.08 comment
HEADED TO NYC
I'll be signing off until next week to go down to NYC and hang with my family. When I get back you'll notice something new at the site. Stay tuned and have a great Memorial Day weekend!

FORTUNE HUNTERS
There's a cool short film that has been making it's way around the film festival circuit by filmmakers Thom Harp and Mike Standish called Fortune Hunters. The film is now also available for download on iTunes. I just wrote a review. Here's the synopsis:

Arthur Yu (Kelvin Yu) has problems. His girlfriend, Megan (Jessica Skerritt), is leaving to study abroad in China for a year, leaving him to waste another college vacation working at his dad's (Gedde Watanabe) fortune cookie factory.

Instead of telling Megan that he'll wait for her, Arthur makes the biggest mistake of his life and dumps the girl of his dreams. As he suffers through another summer at the factory, Arthur's fortunes become more and more depressing: You will die alone. Two words: colon cancer. It doesn't take him long to nearly ruin his father's business.

Finally, at wits end, Arthur decides that the only way to get Megan back is to write her a love letter before she heads overseas. But when his e-mail gets mixed up with his fortunes, suddenly every cookie at every restaurant reveals a piece of Arthur's broken heart.

Do yourself favor and check it out.

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5.15.08 comment
NEW WALLPAPER AND LINK ICONS!
Got another downloadable wallpaper up at comics.com as well as link icons in three different sizes. If you have a site or a blog and want spread the word, please pop one of these suckers on it. You go now!

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5.13.08 comment
PROJECT MICHELLE
Saw this over at Angry Asian Man and it struck a chord with me. Michelle Maykin is in desperate need of a bone marrow donor. The problem is that she is Chinese / Vietnamese and the number of Asians in the donor registry is extremely low. Her chances of finding a donor are 100,000,000 to 1. Please go to projectmichelle.com for full info. Michelle has posted a video here. To register, all you need to do is fill out some quick forms and provide a cotton swab swipe of your mouth. Better yet, organize a drive to help out.

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5.7.08 comment
BU TODAY
When I'm not working on SAM I work as the creative director for Boston's Weekly Dig, a magazine/newspaper focused on "Humor, News + Nightlife". I also graduated from Boston University with a degree in advertising. Add the two together and you get this article. This is actually a slightly reworked version of a feature in BU's College of Communications alumni magazine COMtalk that I did the cover for. A good deal focuses on the other alternative weekly in town, The Boston Phoenix but I kick in about halfway through. Dig it!

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5.2.08 comment
OH YEAH, IT'S ASIAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH
Asia Society has joined up with YouTube (co-founded by Chinese American Steve Chen) to celebrate AA Month by putting together a neat video called "Asians Rock: What's Your Story?" featuring some prominent AAs including Sandra Oh, Kal Penn, Senator Daniel Inouye, George Takei, Lisa Ling...etc). You can even add you own video responses. Definitely worth a looksie.

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5.1.08 comment
TAKASHI MURAKAMI
At the end of May, the family and I are headed down to NYC to visit my parents. While we're down there were going to check out the Murakami exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. I can't wait. I missed his show a couple years back so I'm glad I'll have a chance this time. Check out the set up.

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4.26.08 comment
ROFLCon 2008
On Friday I was at ROFLCon pretty much all day. The organizers describe ROFLCon: "Mix up a bunch of super famous internet memes, some brainy academics, a big audience, dump them in Cambridge, MA and you've got ROFLCon." It was pretty amazing to see the depth and diversity of geekery at ROFLCon, and no less in the heart of nerdville, MIT. I had a great time and met some great people. Check out their Flickr site for oodles of photos.

The strangest people I came across weren't the attendees but the students at MIT that didn't know what was going on. They were such tech-gear heads that they are not even aware of internet culture. Several asked me what was going on and as I tried to explain to them all I got were blank faces. I swear I saw spinning beach ball icons in front of their faces from stalling out. These are people that never go out...even online!

STUFF ASIAN PEOPLE LIKE
Looks like somehow SAM made it to the list at #65 Being Blunt. They posted the comic of SAM getting his hair cut. I think I was going for more sassy than blunt but, hey, what can you do. The list is pretty good and frighteningly accurate. As for Asians being blunt...Go see now. Do it. Do it. Side note, the guy who started Stuff White People Like was at ROFLCon too!

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4.23.08 comment
GREG PAK IN BOSTON!
For all the Secret Asian Bostonians, why not swing down to The Burren in Davis Square, Somerville and meet writer/director Greg Pak. He'll be there as part of the Independent Film Festival Boston on Sunday 4/27 at 2:30pm talking about "Comics to Film/Film to Comics". The event is free and the beers are wicked good.
UPDATE:
Had a great time meeting and hanging out with Greg Pak. Couldn't meet a nicer guy. He gave a cool presentation and gave us peeks at some upcoming project he is working on. My one regret, I forgot to take pictures. Doh!

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4.20.08 comment
PLUSHIE
Ever want to make your very own plush toy but never knew where to begin? I have. Then I stumbled across this and now I really, really want it. Try to get past the Engrish accent. Too bad there's only a demo version available only for Windows. Been thinking of trying my hand out at making something. I'll post it if comes out halfway decent.

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4.18.08 comment
SAM VINYL STICKERS
Quick note for all you guys who wanted to pick up one of those vinyl stickers from the contest, they are available through Blacklava as well. They come in sizes of 3, 5 and 8 inches and in several different colors: red, gold, black, white. These are die cut and pretty bad ass if I do say so myself!

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4.17.08 comment
CONTEST WINNER!

First off, thanks to everyone. After going through the pile of submissions one last time, the winner of the caption contest is: Mike Huang with his caption," That isn't THAT bad, try hailing a taxi." It was fun to see how many people had different takes on similar gags. The most popular themes were: eyebrow to penis correlations, something about SAM's shoes and jokes about using chopsticks! Honorable mention for "Most Wrong Caption" it would have to go to the person named "Spoogra" and their caption, "That thing is goin' in my ass tonight!" I don't even want to think what that award would be shaped like. Check out the complete list of entries. Thanks again for sending in your captions. I'll have to think of another contest in the future.

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4.10.08 comment
AZN RIP
On Wednesday 4/9 the AZN Network (formerly the International Channel) went off the air. Kinda sad. I can't say I was the most avid viewer of the network but I do remember tuning in to some of the original programming they ran. Their home page gives a brief explanation of their going off the air. There's even a classy video featuring spoken word performer Beau Sia.

AZN closing it's doors brings up all sorts of feelings for me. There's a part of me that isn't surprised. When the network launched I was thrilled. I couldn't wait to see what content they would provide. I was excited to see features like Popcorn Zen highlighting short films by Asian Americans and Stir TV, a youth oriented show featuring music, technology and interviews with AA notables. But as time wore on I started to wonder how they would fill al that other time. They started featuring a lot of imported dramas and comedies from Korea, China and Japan. It reminded me of being home with my parents in NYC watching the Fuji Television programs that they would rent from the Japanese video store. I didn't necessarily see the appeal to Asian Americans.

Then my mind drifts to questions like, how come BET can do it? Over the years BET has taken a lot of heat from the African American community and celebrities but think what you want, they are still around. Do advertisers see more value in black entertainment than Asian entertainment? Did the minority advertising budgets for companies get split when AZN came along and take business away from BET or were ad dollars completely different? Was it simply a matter of fewer viewers because there are fewer Asians in America than black folks? I also thought that even if AZN captured 100% of the AA viewing population that would only be, what, 4-5% of the country? Is that even enough to keep a network afloat?

AZN hasn't been the only AA targeted programming that has closed its doors. MTV got into the game with MTV K, MTV Chi and MTV Desi which all went off the air in April of 2007. What the hell? Add to that shows like Margaret Cho's "All American Girl" and Eric Byler's "My Life Disoriented" and it makes me think there isn't a lack of attempts, just a lack of staying power. Curious to see how Margaret Cho's new upcoming show will do. So what's the freaking problem?

The most venerable shows seem to be the totally low buzz local programming like Asian America, syndicated by PBS since 1994. Then there's ImaginAsianTV, which I've never had the opportunity to see. They seem to have a pretty full line-up. Some reminiscent of AZN but more documentaries and variety shows. Definitely curious to see how these guys do it.

So lets pour out a little Sapporo beer for our homiez at AZN and keep our eyes out for what's to come.

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4.10.08 comment
CONTEST UPDATE
Wow. I thought I had a dirty mind, you people are filthy! I love it. Originally the contest was set to end at the end 4/30 but given the avalanche of submissions, I'm pulling the plug next Wednesday 4/16. I'm just afraid of losing track. So if you have the funny, bring it now!

YouTube CHANNEL
Been wanting to do this for a while but finally got off my ass to do it. I set up a YouTube Channel to gather some of my favorite videos. It's a modest start but take a peek. I set up three different playlists:

Heroes and History - this is where I'm assembling videos that spotlight notable people and events. Not all of the people I'll feature may fit your definition of a hero but I think they have contributed in their own way and this is just my nod to them.

Goofy, awesome and random - pretty self-explanatory. Stuff that gets us all through the day.

Your Voice - this is where you get to sound off about your personal experiences with racism, sexism, homophobia, religious oppression...you name it. Browsing YouTube it's easy to find these stories but they are scattered everywhere. My hope is to give these stories a common place where they can be seen along with other similar stories (or completely opposite ones). f you already have a video up please send me a message with the URL and I'll add it.

Here's the featured video up right now: Helen Zia on CNN discussing her carrying the Olympic torch.

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4.4.08 comment
CONTEST!

Doing a daily syndicated strip can sometimes put a cap on the things I can talk about. Thanks goodness for the internet. I'm not above a little bathroom humor so without further ado...I'm a big believer in bartering so here's the plan. From now until the end of the month I'm going to be running a contest. It's simple really. All you have to do is send me what you think the guy next the SAM is thinking. You can just e-mail a caption, print out the strip and write it on the printout and take a picture with you and your caption, or if you're feeling inspired you can draw a picture in the space. Originality will count. This is a weekly strip I did from 2004 and I got some pretty funny submissions back then. Curious to see how well you guys do now. So what do you get? A massive 8" wide die cut vinyl SAM sticker! That's right, 8" baby! Sure to hog up your entire laptop lid. Just e-mail your submissions and be sure to include your address for the goods. Contest will end 4/30. Bring it on!

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3.30.08 comment
ASIAN WEEK
Well lookie who's on the cover of AsianWeek. OK, actually I drew the cover especially for them. I got an e-mail from their art director saying they had decided to run with this story about the three Asian American themed comics that they were running: Secret Asian Man, Ian Liu's Asian Americana and Alex Yu's Droodles. I did some quick research online and whipped up something by the end of the day. Of course now that I read the story I realized I made an embarrassing mistake. When I Googled "Droodles" I came to a site that featured visual puzzles. I was confused for a second but it looked like the kind of thing that a newspaper would run. Kind of like a Jumble or Sudoku. If you look carefully at Shin's (SAM's kid) t-shirt, he's wearing a Droodles shirt with one of those puzzles on it. My apologies to Alex for misrepresenting his comic. At least I got the character from Asian Americana right on Marie's (SAM's wife) coffee mug. Check out the full article.

I do want to thank AsianWeek for years of continued support for the strip. It's mentioned in the article that they have been running the strip since 2002. Hard to believe it's been 6 years! If I could put on my art director hat on for a minute, AsianWeek has done a great job with their redesign since 2002, especially their cover treatments. AsianWeek has been covering topical AA events, people, entertainment, sports and politics since 1979 and successfully navigated through some controversy over a freelance columnist that they ran, the self-proclaimed Asian supremacist Kenneth Eng.

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3.27.08 comment
WHITE GIRLS WITH ASIAN GUYS
Now we're talking! Got a nice e-mail from the folks at this new site called White Girls With Asian Guys that just launched. Pretty straight forward message board site but with topics like "White Reactions to Interracial Unions" and "Jet Li Loves Chocolate". Again it's still pretty new but check it out, register and join the fun.

OH SEXY GIRLFRIEND...
You may have seen this already but NPR featured a comic strip by Adriane Tomine called "The Donger and Me". Very relatable stuff for you Asian guys who were in school when that movie hit. I guess this would qualify as a legit topic on the above WGWAG site.

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3.22.08 comment
SAM IN SAN FRANCISCO CITY STAR
SAM started running daily in the City Star March 11. Yay!

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS ART SHOW
A little far into the future but on October 24, 2008 the exhibit "Out of Sequence: Underrepresented Voices in American Comics" will open at the Krannert Art Museum at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The organizers are still assembling the participating artists but they are looking to gather quite a list of talent. I'll be sure to repost this event as the day approaches.

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3.20.08 comment
BARACK OBAMA
By now you've heard everything you've wanted to hear about Barack Obama's speech about race so if you don't want to hear anymore, quit reading.

A freak stomach bug kept me home that day and to be honest, I didn't even know the speech was happening until I popped the TV on. As I listened to the speech I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was the most refreshing and humanizing thing I've heard a politician say since...I can't remember when. When he started talking about the positive things he learned from Reverend Jeremiah White and the negative things he recalled about his grandmother it provided a depth to the whole issue. People have more than one dimension and often contradict themselves. For once here was someone who was willing to discuss the skeletons in his closet instead of putting up a false front to make himself seem perfect.

Now does all this mean he'll be a great president? Who knows. But what it showed me is a man who has the kind of leadership qualities that I look for. I don't expect one person to know everything about everything. We all know multi-purpose tools usually suck. Nobody every built a house with a Swiss army knife. What I want in a president is the ability to motivate people. I'm a firm believer in making change happen for yourself. If crime in your neighborhood is getting out of control, organize a neighborhood watch. If you see some trash on the ground, pick it up. If Obama can succeed in getting the right people around him and motivating them to do the right thing as well as motivating us citizens to do what we can to make our country the best it can be I'm not sure how much more we can ask for.

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3.16.08 comment
NOTORIOUS MSG SHOWS LOVE
A couple weeks ago I did a comic strip that featured the character Simon sporting a Notorious MSG shirt. The notorious ones wrote me an e-mail and they've posted the strip on their site. These guys take me back to when I was growing up in Chinatown in NYC. Back then it was infested with Chinese gangs. I can clearly remember the day someone tried to recruit me into one of those gangs. I was in junior high school and a kid who I watched beat the crap out of someone the day before for not joining his gang came up to me. Being Japanese probably disqualified me from membership but what kept me from getting my ass kicked regardless was some kid who I had been friends with in elementary school. He was in the gang and when he saw that this recruiter was talking to me he came over, whispered something in his ear and they all walked away. I got lucky.

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3.11.08 comment
STUYVESANT HIGH SCHOOL
I went to Stuyvesant High School in NYC. Stuyvesant is one of those schools you have to test into and every other student is some Westinghouse prize winner or mastermind scammer (or both). Of course there were plenty of slackers like me as well. Unlike these kids in this documentary called FrontRunners that will be showing at SXSW. It's about the race for student body president at Stuy.

But the weirdest thing for me about this film is that it takes place in the newly constructed Stuy High. The Stuy I went to was erected in 1904 and was a really cool looking old building. Stone, wrought iron, wood framed windows. Awesome. Makes me kinda miss high school.

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3.7.08 comment
WALLPAPER
I know that swirly blue factory issue desktop image is pretty but let's face it, it's time for a change. Together we can. Download the SAM wallpaper now available at comics.com.

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3.5.08 comment
ASIAN AMERICAN COMICS
Years ago I had a weird idea to get in touch with all the Asian American comic artists I could think of and form some sort of organization. Guys like Jim Lee, Jae Lee, Whilce Portacio, Stan Sakai, etc. I think I even started gathering contact info but for whatever reason I didn't act on it. Mostly I think it was because I was pretty low on the totem pole and I didn't want to come across as latching on to these very established artists just because I was Asian.

Fast forward to today and enter Asian American Comics, a site created and maintained by writer/director Greg Pak. Widely known for his feature film Robot Stories Pak has more recently been involved with Marvel Comics writing for many different titles including The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Warlock and a bunch more. I'm fairly sure Pak is A LOT more hooked up with those above mentioned artists than I am! Check out the site and see what some really creative folks are up to.

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3.2.08 comment
ADRIAN TOMINE
Got to attend Adrian Tomine's Boston appearance this past Thursday supporting his latest book Shortcomings. Very interesting presentation which included a slide show of his process, influences and location references.

For whatever reason I never followed Tomine's work back in the first years of Optic Nerve. Shortcomings is actually the first book I've ever bought of his work. I definitely knew who he was (met him 10 years ago at Comic-Con International) but at the time I had a lot more aggressive style and the kind of work that appealed to me involved a lot more edgy and urban feel. Tomine's work seemed somewhat meek and overly subtle. Even boring. But suffice it to say I have a deep respect for his work and his artistic abilities.

The best thing I walked away from the presentation (besides a signed copy!) was a better insight into Tomine's views on being Asian American. Artistically he doesn't make it a mission to infuse every story with typical AA issues. Characters may be AA but that does not define them. It may add depth to his characters but beyond that, it's not an issue. He spoke a bit about the expectancies that many AAs had of his work and how he felt pressured to represent the community, like it was his duty.

Shortcomings, as the graphic of a ruler under the book jacket implies, does have some AA themes in it and it seems these themes are increasing. It's like he's going through the opposite experience as me. I started off out of the gate spewing out strips about lack of AA media representation, kung-fu stereotypes and xenophobia. Now I've come to embrace a far wider range of topics which I aim at a broader audience. It'll be interesting to see how Tomine's work progresses in terms of subject matter. All that being said, he has a new fan.

Pick up a copy of Shortcomings or any of Tomine's other works from his publisher Drawn and Quarterly.

UPDATE
I got interviewed while waiting on line for the book signing. Short but sweet.

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2.28.08 comment
ROLLIN' INTO MUNCIE, IN
Staring March 2, SAM will be doing a trial run at The Star Press in Muncie, IN. If you're in the area be sure to drop them a line and let them know SAM and Muncie go together like PB and J!

CHINESE POSTER GALLERY
I'm a sucker for Chinese propaganda style posters, for their meaning and their aesthetics. I stumbled across this sweet collection of posters that breaks down different social/political movements, artists and historical figures. It's interesting to see the change in styles over the years. It's also weird to see posters of chairman Mao in a white bath robe getting ready to swim across the Yangzi River.

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2.23.08 comment
STUFF WHITE PEOPLE LIKE
If you haven't seen it already, you should check this out. It's pretty damn funny and makes a lot of great points. Stuff White People Like is, well, a "blog devoted to stuff that white people like." It's an ever growing list of things like #73 Gentrification, #63 Expensive Sandwiches and #27 Marathons.

GARFIELD MINUS GARFIELD
If you're like most people, you can't stand Garfield either. Somebody took it upon themselves to improve the fat cat's comic strip by removing him all together and leaving his owner Jon Arbuckle alone to explore the depths of his psychoses. Absolutely awesome.

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2.20.08 comment
SAM GOES TO MIT
Well, not really but a little while ago I was interviewed by Lan Xuan Le, a graduate student there, and her professor Henry Jenkins has posted the interview at his blog. Jenkins is the Director of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program.

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2.13.08 comment
ASIAN AMERICAN COMIC ARTISTS
There's nothing more comforting than knowing you're not alone. If you're an AA artist toiling away at your craft, work at it every day, never give up hope and get inspired by other AA artists out there. Here's a great collection of AA artists who are in the comic strip and book fields. It's a little old but take a few minutes to see what your fellow artists are up to.

ASIAN AMERICAN PRESIDENT?
This year's presidential election is a very interesting for many reasons. One of them is the range of diversity between the candidates. An African American, a woman and a Mormon for starters. But ever wonder how an Asian American candidate would fare? About ten years ago the serialized comic Eagle: The Making of an Asian American President hit the shelves. The story revolves around the 2000 election and features fictional presidential candidate Kenneth Yamaoka as well as some characters based on real political figures including vice president Al Gore, president Bill Clinton and Democratic campaign strategist Dick Tuck. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. You can get it for less than $7 and it's over 400 pages of awesome story and art!

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2.12.08 comment
NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY - ASIAN AMERICAN HERITAGE WEEK (FEBRUARY 19-22)
For everyone in the New England area, there's a great sounding event going on at Northeastern University in Boston from February 19-22. They've got a solid line-up on guests and performers including comedians Steve Byrne and Dat Phan. Also author M. Evelina Galang and musical performances by Kevin So and Blue Scholars. They're also going to be featuring a giant blown up Secret Asian Man strip in the lobby of NEU's Asian American Center. I'll be heading down to check out the festivities. See you there!

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2.7.08 comment
VOTING BY RACE
For the people out there who feel like race doesn't matter, this election seems to be proving them wrong. The media is dissecting how different races voted for different candidates. California was the most interesting example. On the Democrats side, Clinton was victorious and many are saying it was the Latino vote that put her over the top. Obama's supporters were mostly white men and black men and women. One would think the obligatory thing for minorities to do would be to vote for the minority candidate but Asians came out and heavily supported Clinton. What does all this mean? Not exactly sure. Jeff Chang had some interesting thoughts on the subject.

I almost wish there was more of a laboratory atmosphere where we had one of everything running and we could see how the different races and sexes would then vote. Would Asians more likely vote for an Asian? Which race would show the strongest racial preference? Which sex would support their own? I'd also love to compare the total population for each category with the number of registered voters who voted and shed a little light on who votes the least. Personally, I think Independent candidate "Mad" Max Riekse will pull this out in the end. President Mad Max would know how to fix the wastelands of the Middle East.

YO GABBA GABBA
I know this show has been out for a while but I've been trying to ignore it. To me it looked like the kind of show that alternative parents dig, buy the Yo Gabba Gabba gear at Kid Robot, slap it on their kids and parade them down by the dog park to show off how cool they are. Well after seeing a couple of episodes I have to concede that it's pretty damn entertaining. I've got this god damn song stuck in my head, though.

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2.3.08 comment
SUPERBOWWHHH...CRAP!
I was born and raised in NYC but have now lived more than half my life in Boston. Any time a NY team and a New England team go at it in a championship game (and there have been quite a few in recent years) I go through an internal struggle. Do I like the Yankees this year? Do I go with the hometown heroes? The Pats just blew their perfect season with a close game against the Giants and while my initial reaction was being bummed, I was kinda happy for the Giants. In the end I always lean toward the underdog. Seeing a perfect record go into a game always makes me want to see it broken. I don't know. Maybe it's the Lennie from Of Mice and Men in me.

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1.31.08 comment
COUGH COUGH WHEEZ
I always forget how much I hate being sick until I get sick. At least I'm not sick like this.

OSCARS
It's Oscar season so I got inspired and watched two amazing Oscar worthy movies: Doom and Resident Evil: Extinction. I don't think either won for anything but maybe if they started a Best Film based on a Video Game they'd have a chance. I think this year is the first time I haven't seen any of the movies up for Best Picture. It's kind of refreshing that there isn't one clear mega-hit. Up for Best Foreign Film is Mongol, a pretty cool looking movie from Kazakhstan. Maybe there's a nude hotel fight scene in that one too.

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1.25.08 comment
SAM CROSSOVER
I shoulda run this yesterday but I got an e-mail from the artist/writer of the comic strip Frog Applause by Teresa Dowlatshahi saying she was running a strip with a SAM mention. Check it out! Fear the brows...

SUBSCRIPTIONS
If SAM isn't running in your local paper why not get it e-mailed to you every day?! You can sign up for a subscription here. There are a few different options including a free one! It's no secret that the state of comic strips have been stale for years but there are a lot of new strips out there that deserve a chance. Show your support by writing your local paper and requesting your favorites or subscribing to them online to show the syndicates that readership for comics is alive and well! Only you can prevent stale comics. Only you.

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1.23.08 comment
HAPAS
Been getting some really good feedback about a recent strip, namely the Sunday strip from 1/20's use of the Hawaiian word "hapa". According to Wikipedia (which also has Hawaiian roots...):

In the Hawaiian language, hapa is strictly defined as: portion, fragment, part, fraction, installment; to be partial, less. It is a loan from the English word half. However, it has an extended meaning of "half-caste" or "of mixed descent". This is the only meaning of the term in Hawaiian Pidgin, the creole spoken by many Hawai'i residents.

Used without qualification, hapa is often taken to mean "part white", and is short hand for hapa haole. The term can be used in conjunction with other Hawaiian racial and ethnic descriptors to specify a particular racial or ethnic mixture.

In the strip, SAM corrects a woman's use of the word "hapa" when she uses it to describe SAM's son, Shin. He says "Hapa means half Hawaiian, half white". Several readers have pointed out to me that "hapa" doesn't necessarily have to mean part Hawaiian. On the other end of the spectrum are people who firmly believe "hapa" to strictly mean part Hawaiian and to use it otherwise is an insult to Hawaiian culture.

I never knew the word growing up and only heard of it a few years ago. I always thought it was an acronym for Half Asian Pacific American which got to me because I'm an East Coast guy so I should be an Asian Atlantic American.

And if you come from the camp that believes "hapa" simply means "part", then black and white mixes can be called hapas, right?

So it seems defining the word "hapa" has become as complex as some hapas themselves. But one thing is for sure, people of mixed race are only going to increase and have the face of the future.

NISSEI COMMEMORATIVE STAMP UPDATE
January 22, 2008 PA#: DOPR01-03
ASSEMBLY ADOPTS RESOLUTION HONORING JAPANESE AMERICAN WORLD WAR II HEROES

Sacramento, CA – Assembly Joint Resolution (AJR) 33, authored by Assemblymember Mike Eng (D- Monterey Park), was adopted by the California State Assembly today on a vote of 73-0. Specifically, AJR 33 urges the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee of the United States Postal Service to approve a commemorative postage stamp honoring the Nisei (Japanese American) veterans who served in the U.S. Army in World War II.

Over 20,000 Japanese Americans enlisted into the United States Army during World War II, despite being sent to internment camps and facing prejudice after the attack at Pearl Harbor in 1941. Among their many battles, Nisei soldiers in Europe fought at Monte Cassino and Anzio and freed and aided Holocaust victims from the Dachau concentration camp. The most famous unit, the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team, also known as the “Go For Broke” regiment, became one of the most decorated and acclaimed units in American history.

On Thursday, January 24, 2008, the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee of the U.S. Postal Service will review all suggestions and recommendations to the Postmaster General on what future stamps will be created. There are currently no stamps honoring Japanese American soldiers who fought in World War II.

“This resolution is very important to those heroes who truly changed American history,” stated Assemblymember Eng. “We need to let America know their stories and their sacrifices before too many pass away.”

The resolution is expected to be heard on the Senate floor this Thursday.

Questions? Contact the campaign at (714) 534-5139 or check out http://www.niseistamp.org/

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1.17.08 comment
DEATH TO VERMIN AND ANALOG TV!
Had to get that off my chest. In a perfect storm of death and technological advancement, the rodent exterminator and the HD digital cable guy are coming today.

SAM IN MORE PAPERS
So I guess I got picked up by The University Times (Cal State University's weekly paper) and is on a trial run at Contra Costa Times. If you live in the Bay Area and want to see more SAM in the CC Times please let them know by dropping them an e-mail. When papers do these trial runs, the power of the letter rises exponentially! Especially when it comes from people in the area. Trial runs are kind of odd in that they get a lot of criticism because they can be easily manipulated. Essentially anyone can e-mail and say they want to see a comic in the paper, even if they live on the other side of the country. Some papers track IP addresses and get the geographic info, but a lot don't. That's when the ballot stuffing happens. That's democracy for you.

YU SUK TSU
Sometimes Asian names result in unfortunate English translations. Take for example our friend above. I remember seeing an art show by a guy named Peter Pan and a video store in my neighborhood called Phuket Video.

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1.9.08 comment
FIVE CHINESE BROTHERS
Last week I did a series of comic strips about the book "The Five Chinese Brothers" written by Claire Huchet Bishop and illustrated by Kurt Wiese. There are some very difference in opinions about this book. One glance at the reader reviews at Amazon.com will reveal the dividing lines. It's interesting that most of the glowing reviews came from people who read the book as a child while many of the offended reviewers read the book with grown-up eyes (like myself). I've received some great letters from readers (like the one to the right). This is definitely not the first children's book to go through this kind of scrutiny (some insist Curious George is a metaphor for slavery) but they are great examples of where stories can take on completely different meaning to different groups of people. But it's only when we have open discussions (not fights) about it that we can get a better understanding of an opinion that we don't share.

OK. Getting way too serious. Check out this gem sent to me by a reader. This Ching Chow was drawn by Stanley Link (1899-1971) but it seems Robert Sidney Smith (1877-1935) was the creator of the comic character. Smith was the first comic strip artist to sign a million dollar contract over 10 years.

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1.3.08 comment
HAPPY BELATED NEW YEAR!
Apologies for the long silence. As much as I love all the holiday stuff, it's also good to have it behind me. Got a chance to catch my breath and recharge the batteries. Kinda. Now I'm just sick along with my kid and trying to get a bunch of new projects off the ground. But there is something about a new year that makes you want to get things off your chest. Like this lady:

The Beijing Olympics is off to a great start. The most shocking thing to me about this video is the fact that security let her go on and on about her husband's infidelity. Sweet, sweet revenge!

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