In the comics boom of the 1940s, a legend was born: the Green Turtle. He solved crimes and fought injustice just like the other comics characters. But this mysterious masked crusader was hiding something more than your run-of-the-mill secret identity… The Green Turtle was the first Asian American super hero.
The comic had a short run before lapsing into obscurity, but the acclaimed author of American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang, with artwork by Sonny Liew, has finally revived this character in a new graphic novel that creates an origin story for the Green Turtle.
The following seven comic strips, originally published in black-and-white in the Shattered comics anthology, are collected here in color for the first time. Thrill to this short adventure of the Green Turtle, which takes place shortly after the events of the graphic novel!
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Lovely
Awww. A mom’s still a mom, superhero son or not.
Have these people ever read any of the original Green Turtle stories?
Apparently not. They seem to have grabbed the name, and absolutely nothing else. I see not a bit of respect for the original.
Anybody interested in the original character search for “Green Turtle” at:
http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php
Not a bit of respect? I’m not sure how you came to that conclusion. The Green Turtle gets more respect HERE than he did by the end of his own meager 6 issues (in an anthology title, of course), where the publishers had the artist hide his face whenver possible. The original comics were RIFE with racist characitures, the kind that seemed totally cool during a war but are now embarassing.
Is this more lighthearted than the breathless early-40s style that the Green Turtle was created in? Sure. But that’s kind of the point, I think. For those who don’t want to register at DCM just to see some pages of the original material, you can go here:
http://fourcolorglasses.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/rise-of-the-green-turtle-blazing-comics-1-june-1944/
Regardless of whether this strip is “respectful to its source” (and the attendent arguments as to exactly what “respectful” means) this is a hilarious piece of writing with beautifully quirky art from the always awesome Gene Yuand and Sonny Liew.
“Ancient Chinese Secret !” was a brilliant panel !