A Timely Comic: ‘The Good Asian #1’ Advance Review

Writer: Pornsak Pichetshote / Artist: Alexandre Tefenkgi / Image During a time where #StopAsianHate is trending due to tragic circumstances, I keep thinking about all of the circumstances that led up to it. A difficult confluence of events that has a long and storied history. Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to read The Good Asian and talk with both the writer and the artist after doing so, but I am only now getting around to reviewing the book and if nothing else, I am thankful for the opportunity to give a spotlight on this comic, slated to come out May 5th (just in time for Asian American and Pacific Islander History Month). The Good Asian is a noir comic set in the 1930’s, in an era where the US had effectively instigated an immigration ban against China, based on the seeds sown in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Edison Hark is the titular “Good Asian,” a Chinese-American raised by white parents who, like many before, thinks the best way to help his community is to become a cop and solve crimes in Chinatown. But of course, it’s never that simple and never that easy, and Hark is embroiled with conflict after conflict in one of the slickest looking comics of 2021.

Tefenkgi’s artwork and Loughridge’s color jump off the page immediately. The opening page is a tour de force, immediately establish the dark tone, the time era, and hustle and bustle of San Francisco. It is striking and iconic and the energy in the visual is carried forth with gusto. Every page ca…