NYCC’09 gave us a sneak preview of big things to come during one of its panels on Saturday. Although the talk on “Asian Americans and Superheroes: Secret Identities” was not as well advertised as other panels, the audience still packed itself into the room. The overcapacity crowd made their own space by some sitting on the floor, while others trailed into the hallway. The impressive amount of attendees definitely made curious onlookers question the people in line waiting to get inside; I think I had to answer at least eight groups of people asking me what the lecture was on before I actually got into the room!

The panel discussed the graphic novel The Asian American Superhero Anthology, and it is a first of its kind. The fact that this graphic novel won’t be released until April, yet still has the comic world all a’buzz, is really impressive. Teaming up to edit this compendium is New York Times bestselling author Jeff Yang, independent comics creator Jerry Ma, comics education specialist Keith Chow, and actor Parry Shen.

For more information visit www.secretidentities.org