Marvels and Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in US Comics, 1942-1986 December 18, 2012

Recently donated to the NYU Fales Library & Special Collection, 'Marvels and Monsters' is drawn from what is widely considered the world's largest archive of comic books featuring images of Asians and Asian Americans, painstakingly collected over four turbulent decades (1940s to 1980s) by science fiction author and cultural studies scholar William F. Wu. The compilation offers a unique glimpse into America's evolving racial and cultural sensibilities, as depicted by wartime images of racist propaganda and xenophobic anxiety over Chinese immigration, to lasting archetypes which continue to define America's perception of Asians today. Marvels and Monsters is a selection of the most indelible images from Wu's collection, placed within a historical context and juxtaposed with insights from contemporary Asian American writers and artists Ken Chen, Larry Hama, David Henry Hwang, Vijay Prashad, and Gene Luen Yang.