Once rare, Asian superheroes are popping up all over

Just days after The New York Times focused on efforts by DC Comics and Marvel to diversify their superhero universes, the San Francisco Chronicle zeroes in on the rise in the number of Asian characters: Jubilee, Nico Minoru, Katana, strongwoman Grace -- "maybe the most awesome supername ever!", Jeff Yang writes. And that's just for starters:

Old super-types have been Asianized, too: In 1999, the mask of Batgirl was bestowed upon mute hapa assassin Cassandra Cain; Dr. Light, formerly a white male villain, is now a Japanese female hero; the reinvented Marvel "Ultimates" version of tiny titaness Wasp is Asian American; and, in perhaps the biggest milestone yet, this July the blue-and-red tights of DC's microscopic man hunter The Atom will be passed on to Ryan Choi, "hotshot young professor at Ivy University" who, according to editor Mike Carlin, is "oblivious to his obvious charms amongst the clearly smitten female student body." Extra, extra -- the Atom's Asian and, like, he's a stud! (Minor beef: What's with every superhero with size-reducing powers suddenly becoming Asian? Is shrinking the new martial art?)

Adding more Asian characters isn't a trivial concern, Yang insists: "... diversifying the ranks of superheroes isn't just about pop-cultural social justice -- it's about providing minority kids with a narrative around which to shape their identities and build a sense of self-worth, even if they feel excluded, different or disconnected."

Yang speaks at length with creator Larry Hama -- "comics elder statesman" -- about breaking into comics in the 1980s, and how the industry has changed since then: "Hama's days of holding the Asian American comics fort solo are long gone," he writes. "Over the last decade, a huge number of Asian American creators have come into the industry. Many of them, like Wildstorm founder and Batman auteur Jim Lee, artists Jae Lee (Batman: Jekyll and Hyde), Kevin Lau (Vampi), Whilce Portacio (X-Men, Punisher), Sean Chen (Iron Man), Ron Lim (The Silver Surfer) and Gene Ha (The Authority), are among the biggest names in comics."

He also talks to comics writer and filmmaker Greg Park about introducing new Asian-American characters, such as Janie Chin (Warlock) and Mastermind Excello.

"I had this idea of doing a story about an insanely smart kid, but one who wasn't a reject or dork or geek," Pak said. "It was a way of turning that whole Asian brainiac stereotype on its head. One way to do it is to go against type, to create Asian American characters that are jocks or stoners or thugs or whatever. But another way is to not run away from the stereotype -- to embrace it, but present a character like that as having an incredible level of confidence, having just this verve, this lack of self-consciousness."

Related: The Outsiders: Asian/Asian-American Characters in Comics