While there have been numerous books that have applied critical lenses to Black and Latinx comics and graphic novels, characters, and stories, Beyond the Icon: Asian American Graphic Narratives, edited by Eleanor Ty, might be the first such collection to focus on Asian American comics creators and comics about the Asian American experience. That fact alone makes this collection of nine essays an essential volume for both scholars of comics studies and Asian American literature.
Ty's introduction does well to frame the essays in the context of twenty-first-century Asian American literary studies, pointing to how contemporary graphic narratives have become a fertile ground for Asian American creators to not only speak to their experiences but animate pressing issues such as negative media representation, racial prejudice, and inclusivity.
The essays in the book are divided into four thematic sections. The first section, called “Retelling History,” has two essays focused on...
