Boxers by Gene Luen Yang, and: Saints by Gene Luen Yang (review)

In this set of companion graphic novels, two teens struggle to discern and fulfill their destinies as foreigners intervene in China’s affairs, and the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 attempts to purify the homeland of alien influence. In the volume Boxers, Little Bao encounters the scowling face of a girl (whom readers will later come to know as Vibiana), and instead of seeing ugliness, he sees the beautiful mask of a god in the operas he loves. Romantic pursuits are not in his immediate future, however, and the first emperor god Ch’in Shih-huang demands that Little Bao wreak vengeance on foreign devils and their Chinese accomplices. The next time he encounters Vibiana is in the heat of the uprising, and he kills her for her adherence to the Catholic faith, shortly before his enemies toss him into a pit of corpses. Vibiana’s story unfolds in Saints as a despised fourth daughter, left unnamed by her family, who finds her identity through the kindness and tutelage of a Christian convert. She, too, has otherworldly guidance, and she becomes convinced that apparitions of Joan of Arc signal her fate to become a female warrior for her faith. Her final encounter with Little Bao, which plays out largely offstage in Boxers, is fully realized here, and in an act of sly but sublime compassion she meets her own death with dignity and restores for Little Bao a second chance at a better life. The interplay of the two stories is meticulously constructed and, despite the sober subject, liberally inflected with visual and verbal humor. Readers familiar with American Born Chinese (BCCB 11/06) will recognize the art’s innocent, childlike character renderings and formally bordered frames. A reader can easily piece together the plot by beginning with either volume, but powerful impact and narrative surprise are only experienced by saving Saints for last. No historical notes are included on the Boxer Rebellion, an omission that is generally a grave annoyance but here seems to serve as a subtle directive to focus on universal themes of principles, compassion, and loyalty. Like all good hero stories, this transcends its historic setting.