Superhero comics, while being well-loved all over the world, is a cultural heritage of a white-centered society in North America. The lack of a well-known Asian superhero comic series or any major hits in the related cinematic genre is extremely disappointing to me as a fan. With the rise of Black Lives Matter and the Black Panther character, the black community is gradually gaining some voice in this universe while the lack of Asian representations remained. 

For the Mighty Pen Student Initiative Fund, Monica created an illustration series featuring an Asian superhero in Toronto. Adopting a western superhero-comic style, the cultural content and cityscape will heavily reference the situations in Toronto during the pandemic. I want to portrait my vision of the superhero genre and the cultural barrier I’ve faced in this country. Dan, term for female roles in Peking Opera, will be the superhero-name of my character and she’ll be hiding her identity under different Dan masks. The masks are what people know her as, but also a representation of the cultural filter Asian individuals are under.