Next month Gene Luen Yang, author of Prime Baby and Eternal Smile among other things, has a new graphic novel coming out: Level Up. It’s the story of a young man whose parents have a plan for him: he’ll go to med school to become a gastroenterologist. His father dies and he’s haunted by some cartoony angels who arrive to keep him on the right path — but all he really wants to do is play video games.
Although the story, charmingly illustrated by Thien Pham, has a lot of fantasy in it, at the heart is a very real and familiar story, perhaps especially Asian-Americans or other children of immigrants. Expect a full review of the book soon. (Short review: it’s good. You should read it.)
For now, you can enjoy this excellent cartoon by Yang explaining the “secret origin” of this book. Click on the image to see the entire comic.
