Boxers

 Bought at Garden Books, Shanghai, China.

Title: Boxers
Date: 2013
Publisher: First Second Books
Writer: Gene Luen Yang
Art: Gene Luen Yang
Colorist: Lark Pien

Tragic and intense story of China's Boxer Rebellion of 1900. Little Bao witnesses the injustices of the foreigners who have been bullying the common folk of China, and he begins the practice of Kung Fu, as the conflicts escalate. Soon, Bao is being led into a crusade against the invaders by the Opera Gods, who inspire Bao and the Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fist. As the violence of the conflict escalates, Bao finds himself caught up in a conflict that he no longer has the power to control.

The working of Chinese mythology into the story provided some beautiful visual elements, but the story and the art do not shy away from the horrors of the conflict, and the mythical elements do not overshadow the human drama of the story.

I look forward to reading the companion volume, Saints, which tells the story from the other side of the conflict.

Rating: 9/10