Review by Ian Keogh
On the surface The Good Asian is an excellent detective mystery spread over two volumes, or one if you buy the hardback 1936 edition. However there are addtional reasons for setting the story of a Chinese American cop in 1936. One is treating the character seriously and with respect, so counterbalancing the Charlie Chan films so popular in the 1930s, and another is highlighting the USA’s pernicious immigration policies of the past in a present where the nation drifts ever further toward institutionalised bigotry again.
A story offering several reflections is only the start of something packed with moments to admire, many found in an opening chapter in which Pornsak Pichetshote explains a fair bit about Edison Hark and his world. Hark is possibly the only the only detective of Chinese descent on the San Francisco police force, and while he does the best he can for his community, there’s not much he can do to protect people when a murdered white guy is discovered in Chinatown. That’s not his primary concern, though, which is locating Ivy Chen, a Chinese maid employed by his stepfather, a millionaire businessman of Irish descent.
Alexandre Tefenkgi’s attention to detail caught the eye when drawing Outpost Zero, and his switching from the future to the past is effortless. The scenery is both decorative and utterly convincing, the storytelling disciplined, and the people shine. As this is a detective mystery at heart, Tefenkgi frames the clues Hark observes within little red highlights ensuring readers notice them also, which is a clever device.
Pichetshote’s historical research enriches the background, but The Good Asian will be carried for most people by the mystery of why Ivy disappeared. The more Hark digs, the more he discovers he’s surrounded by people with feet of clay, and being a man with his feet in two worlds yet not entirely trusted by either, makes for a complex character. Everything builds to a terrible cliffhanger ensuring, if there were the slightest doubt, that Volume Two is essential.
