Howdy, I’ve got a special exclusive interview for you. I picked it up at San Diego Comic-Con.
I met New York Times best-selling author Gene Luen Yang many moons ago; sometime back when conventions like WonderCon & A.P.E. where in Oakland. Or was it San Francisco? Back in 2014 I gave him a copy of Tiger’s Tale ½ and more recently a copy of A Tiger’s Tale volume 1. Volume 2 was still on its way to my home from the printer.
This all happened during July’s San Diego Comic-Con. I caught him in-between panels to give him that graphic novel. Circumstances would have us crossing paths later that night & it was then I pitched and scheduled a one-on-one interview for later that weekend. That interview is now available Online at KungFuMagaizne.com, and is mostly focused on his martial-arts themed work – American Born Chinese (the Disney+ show) as his latest graphic novel Lunar New Year Love Story.
We also touched on the topic of working on Intellectual Property. Gene made a name for himself on this front when Dark Horse Comicsasked him to write the comics sequel to the excellent Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Air Bender. How that happens makes a great tale if you ever get the chance to ask him about it.
His second major I.P. Project showed up strong in San Diego – The Books of Clash. It’s an eight volume graphic novel adaptation of the mobile game Clash of Clans and Clash Royale. He’s already written three. I know I’ve personally had an eye on a work of I.P. which I think I’m perfectly suited for adapting into a comic; sooo… such success stories certainly make food for my Muse. I saved that segue for subscribers of this MUSEletter– check it out.
PLUGO: So you’ve been doing the Books Of Clash. That’s the second IP that you’re writing for after writing AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER. Did they seek you out?
GLY: It was actually us. It was Mark Siegel, the editor of the books and the founder of FIRST SECOND books, he and I.
PLUGO: What inspired that?
GLY: It was because of our kids. They began playing Clash of Clans, maybe 10 years ago. It was a way our two families bonded, you know. So I live on the West Coast. He lives on the East Coast. Our kids were in a clan together for many years.
PLUGO: I’m still processing this – 10 years?
GLY: Ever since then, Mark and I have been interested in bringing those characters from the game into comics. Finally, during the pandemic, we were able to have a series of meetings with Supercell, the creators of those games, and we got the ball rolling. So it’s been fun. Like we have eight planned books. The first three are already out. It’s been great.
PLUGO: Did Mark and yourself approach them with maybe a pitch package? Did you have one single vision? Like, “this is the only way it could be done.” Or did you have a few different concepts?
GLY: It was pretty collaborative. Okay, yeah, they’re actually a really fun company to work with because they’re so creative, you know, they have so much creative energy.
PLUGO: Inspiring; Thanks Gene.
