Gene Luen Yangs breakout 2006 graphic novel,American Born Chinese, won a lot of accolades for the Oakland, California-based writer, artist and educator, including several that also marked milestones for the medium of sequential art: both the first time a graphic novel was named a finalist for the National Book Award and the first time a graphic novel earned the Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association.

Now, Yang announces his latest graphic novel project,Boxers & Saints,exclusively at Wired.com. Due out this September from First Second Books, the slipcased edition will contain two volumes thatexplore the stories of two peasants during the Boxer Rebellion in China who struggle with issues of identity during a time in Chinese history when many were asked to choose between their country and their faith.WhileBoxerstells the story of a peasant who joins the Rebellion,Saintsfollows the spiritual journey of a Chinese woman who converts to Catholicism.

Yang shared his thoughts on the upcoming release with Wired, along with a 10-page excerpt from Boxers.

Wired: The format of Boxers & Saints is rather unusual, where youre publishing two separate volumes with shared characters and thematic connections. Why approach the stories in that way?

Gene Yang: I first became interested in the Boxer Rebellion in 2000. That year, Pope John Paul II canonized 87 Chinese Catholics. This was the first time the Roman Catholic Church has recognized the Chinese in this way. Im Catholic, and I grew up in a Chinese Catholic community in the Bay Area. My home church was really excited about the canonizations and had all sorts of celebrations.

When I looked into the lives of the Chinese saints, I discovered that many of them had died during the Boxer Rebellion, a war that occurred on Chinese soil in the year 1900. Back then, the Chinese government was incredibly weak. Western powers were able to establish concessions pieces of land that functioned as colonies all across China. The poor, hungry, illiterate teenagers living in the Chinese countryside felt embarrassed by their nations weakness, so they came up with this ritual that they believed would give them mystical powers. Armed with these powers, they marched across their homeland into the major cities, killing European missionaries, merchants, soldiers, and Chinese Christians. Because their martial arts reminded the Europeans of boxing, they became known as the Boxers. John Paul IIs canonized saints were among the Boxers victims.

The more I read about the Boxer Rebellion, the more conflicted I felt. Who were the protagonists here? Who was more deserving of our sympathy? The Boxers or their Chinese Christian victims? When the Vatican announced the canonizations, the Chinese government issued a protest. They believed the Catholic Church was honoring women and men who betrayed their own culture. In many ways, the Boxer Rebellion embodies a conflict that some Asian and Asian American Christians struggle with, a conflict between our Eastern cultural heritage and our Western faithThe two volume structure is meant to reflect this conflict. In one volume, the Boxers are the protagonists. In the other, the Chinese Christians are.

Wired: How necessary are the two stories to each other? Taken separately, both give complete stories, but read together, the connections between the two make both into far deeper and richer experiences. Was there ever any discussion about putting them out as separate books, or dropping one of the stories altogether?

Yang: I tried to give each volume a satisfying beginning, middle, and end so that they could be read separately. I also tried to write them so they could be read in either order. Early on, there was some debate about whether to publish the project as a single volume, but I really wanted it to be two separate volumes to reflect its dual nature. The folks at First Second Books have been incredibly generous and understanding.

Wired: Was there ever any worry about whether or not historical fiction about a Chinese Revolution and spiritual awakeningswould be a hard sell to readers? Did that impact the way you wrote?

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Exclusive: Gene Luen Yang Announces New Boxers and Saints Graphic Novels

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