To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, DC will debut an all-new hero within its commemorative anthology comic DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration. Spanning 100 pages, the comic will also spotlight the publisher’s past, present and future Asian superheroes and present new tales from an eclectic mix of storytellers.
The new anthology hits comic book stores and digital platforms on May 11, and with its release comes the first appearance of Monkey Prince. The new hero will appear in an original 12-page story “The Monkey Prince Hates Superheroes” written by Gene Luen Yang (Superman Smashes the Klan, Batman/Superman, New Super-Man) with art by Bernard Chang (Teen Titans, Batman Beyond). The new character is inspired by the Monkey King, a legendary hero of Chinese mythology from the classic 16th century novel Journey to the West.
DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration will feature cover art by DC publisher and chief creative officer Jim Lee and colorist Alex Sinclair plus a variant cover featuring Cassandra Cain by artist Stanley “Artgerm” Lau. The anthology will include an array of writers such as Mariko Tamaki, Minh Lê, Ram V, Greg Pak, Dustin Nguyen, Amy Chu and Alyssa Won as well as artists Marcio Takara, Dustin Nguyen, Trung Le Nguyen, Francis Manapul, Marcus To, Sean Chen, and Sumit Kumar. DC Festival of Heroes also inludes a foreword by activist and CNN and WSJ Online contributor Jeff Yang.
The anthology will feature a variety of shorts including:
– “Special Delivery”, a comic book debut for Master of None writer Aniz Ansari. The brother of comedian Aziz Ansari worked with artist Sami Basri on a story featuring Robin (Damian Wayne) pondering his heritage.
– “Dress Code,” which combines the work of Green Lantern: Legacy writer Minh Lê and The Magic Fish artist Trung LeNguyen. The two offer an all-new story featuring Vietnamese American Tai Pham, DC’s newest Green Lantern.
– “Festival of Heroes,” a story by writer Amy Chu and artist Marcio Takara influenced by recent headlines of anti-Asian violence. Katana, Cyborg and Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) are asked to safeguard an Asian American and Pacific Islander community celebration against potential violence from a white supremacist group.
Other story concepts in the anthology will involve characters like Batgirl, Lady Shiva, New Super-Man, Katana and Lady Shiva.
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