The Shadow Hero engages Asian stereotypes in an effective manner that exploits an underlying xenophobic American society. This is most poignant when Hank, in disguise as the Green Turtle, brings the criminal in place of Ten Grand to Detective Lawful. Moe Bender is literally painted yellow and has the buck teeth, slanted eyes and thin mustache of American’s Asian stereotype. But it’s when Detective Lawful refers to Chinese as “sneaky, slant-eyed bastards” that it becomes clear that this costume of sorts is truly how American society views the Asian community (118). Hank as an Asian superhero is not only challenging Chinese stereotypes but more importantly the American male stereotype as the sole macho, all-around good provider.
Stereotypes as a burden upon foreigners are demonstrated in The Shadow Hero to be obstacles in the way of integration into American society. Hank is attempting to be this superhero—“a good guy”—but it’s not his place as an Asian. This is reminiscent of Reitano’s mentioning of Chinatown as an isolated community as opposed to other culturally amalgamated immigrant hubs like The Five Points, for example. The Chinese community appears exclusive even in Yang’s graphic novel where the position of superhero for Hank is only a vicarious aspiration for his mother and a laughable fate to the rest of the Asian community. Although the text does engage and challenge stereotypes to illustrate Hank’s breach into American society, in a sense, it is important to note that Yang does reveal legitimate Chinese practices like familial piety and values in patriarchy as well.
