The second volume of Secret Identities is coming out. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. This is where I quietly freak out in my chair as I am writing this article and I am going to tell you why:
When Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology was first released, I remember the sheer joy that I felt as I ran to my bookstore to buy my copy after a friend told me about it. The idea that I could have the same vivid imaginations of worlds beyond while having superheroes who were three dimensional Asian Americans was not just mind-blowing; it gave me the indescribable feeling that I am valid here, and that my dreams and wildest ambitions are possible. I know that I am not alone in feeling this.
I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to comic books and all things science fiction. The idea of being transported to another world, a world vividly created by authors whose imaginations go out in all sorts of crazy places has been a major inspiration for me to reach for my own vast heights. But growing up as an Asian in America, most of my heroes in the comic book and science fiction world were white people. While the stories of Spider Man, Superman, X-Men, and Batman were inspirational to my confused and troubled youth, something was missing. Like many aspects in my childhood, I did not have any superheroes who looked like me or superheroes who I could identify with.
This is why I am so happy that Secret Identities exists. I am ecstatic Keith Chow, Parry Shen, Jeff Yang, and so many others got together to create this anthology that combines our history here in America and the future of what we can become, beyond laser beams, telekinesis, and superhuman strength. With the second volume targeted for a 2012 publication release, the SI Team is now focusing on the super villains of the Secret Identities universe to create stories that exploring the darker side of the good guy/bad guy equation, in order to “to upend, reenvision, reimagine — to shatter — distorted or negative images that have shadowed Asian Americans since the earliest days of our arrival in this country.”
I hope they release the second volume before December 21st, 2012 because if the Mayans are correct, the the world is going to end that day.
