Oh, weekend. You creep up on me and surprise me with a beautiful Friday off to enjoy some light graphic novel reading. Well, let me rephrase that.. Maybe I didn't choose the lightest graphic novel duology that I could think of, but it's been actually rather educational, to say the least.
"Boxers & Saints" volumes 1 & 2 by Gene Luen Yang
Published September 2013
This graphic novel duo tells a fantastical version of China's Boxer Rebellion, the "violent anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising which took place in China ... between 1899-1901" (source: Wikipedia). To be totally honest with you guys, I honestly don't remember much about the Boxer Rebellion from school except the name, so I was actually pretty shocked that I decided to rent these from my local library. But I felt as if they were receiving a lot of good reviews and hype as of late, so I decided, what the heck?
Boxers follows a boy named Little Bao who has grown up in a small Chinese village. One day, a Christian man comes into Little Bao's town and causes absolute chaos. As a result, Little Bao and other member of his village decide that they will not put up with Christians destroying their culture, both in essence and in actual physical objects, and Little Bao begins to grow an army trained in Kung Fu to combat Christians, both foreign and Chinese alike.
Saints is the story of an unwanted fourth daughter who finds comfort and support in Christianity. Before her realization of faith, she is simply called Four-Girl, but she later comes to be known as Vibiana. As the Rebellion that Little Bao is fighting creeps farther throughout China, Vibiana must choose if her faith in Christianity or her country will win her support.
I'm not at all a history buff, but something about Yang's writing style and imagery really has me hooked in the first volume. He really mixes the historical event of the Boxer Rebellion with the fantastical idea of beautifully portrayed Chinese gods and goddesses to pull in the reader. I'm excited to see how these turn out and bring you guys a thorough review later down the line!
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