In this post, I look at two of Marvel’s leading Asian American superheroes, Amadeus Cho and Cindy Moon. Both of these characters exist as versions or imitations of famous superheroes, Hulk and Spider-Man.

 

The Amazing Spider-Man and Silk “The Spider(fly) Effect” #1

Written by Robbie Thompson and illustrated by Todd Nauck.

Cindy Moon first appears in The Amazing Spider-Man Vol 3 #1 in 2014 but does not appear as Silk until issue 4 of the same volume. I chose these two sources specifically because of their convenience and availability, so I will be focusing less on her origins than how she interacts with Spider-Man and how she leads her own series.

From what the reader can gather from this comic, Silk has allied herself with a villain for information, thus functioning as a double agent. In this specific volume, Silk and Spider-Man banter, in my opinion, excessively whilst being thrust into a conflict with a Hydra traitor, who accidently transports them all to the past. While the plot of this volume is complicated in the sense that it requires background knowledge, I will focus on how these two heroes interact and how Thompson portrays Cindy Moon.

Thompson writes Cindy Moon as intelligent and tough, which Spider-Man comments on several times in this issue, claiming she has gotten stronger and smarter since they last met. The narrative is focused on their dialogue and their relationship, and in many senses they’re equals. The training that Silk went through seems to have just elevated her to Spider-Man’s level of strength rather than above him. However, since they are staging this fight, we never get a clear idea of their strength levels. 

Overall, each superhero gets equal screen time, and the only moment of concern is when Cindy Moon suddenly is in her underwear. By going back into the past, they slowly lose their superpowers, and since Silk uses her own webs to make her outfit (somehow) when their powers wane, so does her clothing. Thompson does not focus on this moment too much, and her underwear is not particularly “sexy,” though one could argue it’s inappropriate either way. Overall, this Silk seems to be more of a contrast to Spider-Man and since her background is not focused on, the reader can easily forget she’s Asian American. 

Silk Volume 2 #1

Written by Robbie Thompson and illustrated by Stan Lee and Ian Herring.

Since this is Cindy Moon’s own series, we get a better idea of her values and her personality. Overall, she’s a badass with a tragic past, a requirement for most superheroes, but still exists within the influence of Superman and Spider-Man. Apparently she’s been in a bunker for a certain amount of time and escaped to find out her parents went missing; all that remained was her brother who is recovering from drug abuse and has no memory of what happened while Silk was gone. Cindy Moon’s similarities with Superman are with her occupation, where she is a reporter who writes articles on her superhero alter ego, and for Spider-Man, well, she’s sort of a prototype of him. Without Spider-Man as a character in this comic, Silk shines as an independent superhero with her own interesting backstory. 

Silk’s identity as an Asian American retains stronger in this series because of the art. The facial structure of her and her brother In the other series, Cindy Moon does not look distinctly Asian and could be mistaken for Caucasian, especially since her backstory is absent. Visual representation is paramount for better representation of Asian Americans as superheroes exactly because it’s the first thing you see.

Cindy Moon also plays into the concept of secret identity, since she disconnects her “normal” life from her “abnormal life.” Another way to see her split identities is in terms of her status as an Asian American. Marc Singer, from his article, “‘Black Skins’ and White Masks,” in the African American Review, explains that “The idea of the split identity…is also one of the most powerful and omnipresent figures used to illustrate the dilemmas and experiences of minority identity.” In this sense, we can see it as double consciousness, where colored people must have a separate “mask,” or consciousness, to navigate the majority white world.

The Totally Awesome Hulk Vol 1 #1

Written by Grek Pak and illustrated by Frank Cho.

“The Totally Awesome Hulk,” written by Greg Pak, and illustrated by Frank Cho and Sonia Oback, introduces Amadeus Cho as a sort of replacement for Banner, who is implied to have gone berserk by intaking too many gamma rays. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy in 2006, but this series stands as Cho’s real debut, delving more into how this Hulk differs from Banner. Grek Pak presents Cho to us as a funnier, flirtier Hulk variation, with the first page showing him stuffing his face until the last possible moment, apparently to fuel his “monster.” Much of Cho’s relatability is transferred through his habit of flirting with any attractive woman, essentially seeming to judge every woman he sees in terms of their beauty.

In terms of appearance, Frank Cho portrays Cho as childish at times and strong at others, but even when he transforms into the Hulk his racial identity remains through his facial features. Considering the trope of superheroes having a split between their “hero” self and their “real” self, Cho seems rather unconcerned with separating the two, which becomes a minor, though perhaps in future volumes an overarching, conflict. However, Cho is insistent that he differs from Banner in that he has control over his monster, and this paints this debut volume as an attempt to illustrate these differences between the two Hulks, more than just their race.

Connections

Both Amadeus Cho and Cindy Moon exist as prototypes, translations of the foreign into a more recognizable American. Because I bought volume 1 of The Totally Awesome Hulk but volume 2 of Silk, we can’t compare these two equally since Hulk is more concerned with differentiating himself from Banner, while Silk presumably already has. Either way, these two heroes need to justify themselves due to their overwriting of well-established superheroes.

Those famous superheroes can’t truly be translated into the Asian American experience and attempting to translate them loses the meaning for both ends of translation; by dissociating Silk from her Asian heritage in The Amazing Spider-Man and Silk, she loses part of her identity. These characters also explore the concept of Asian being a modifier of American and also consider how to best narrate an “ethnic” narrative. In terms of the archive, the history Asian American characters in comic books, specifically Marvel and DC Comics, is not hard to track since the wikis categorize each character by their race. However, generally, that category is Asian, rather than Asian American, which complicates the label. Generally, we’re considering an Asian perspective of America, but without sufficient backstory, it can be hard to identify older Asian characters as such or as Asian American. With Ah Choo and Chop Chop, their foreignness is comedic to the point that their American-ness is not even considered.

 

Alonso, Axel, Pak, Greg and Cho, Frank. “Cho Time: Part One.” The Totally Awesome Hulk Vol 1 #1. Marvel Comics. February, 2016.

Singer, Marc. “”Black Skins” and White Masks: Comic Books and the Secret of Race”. African American Review 36.1 (2002): 107–119.

Thompson, Robbi, Nauck, Todd, and Gandini, Veronica. “Chapter One.” The Amazing Spider-Man and Silk. Marvel Comics. March, 2016.

Thompson, Robbie, Lee, Stan and Herring, Ian. “Silk.” Silk Vol 2 #1. Marvel Comics. April 2015.