Hungry | South Seattle Emerald

by Andy Panda

This comic book is a story of common misunderstandings between my grandmother, who didn’t speak much English, and my young self, who spoke (not) much Chinese. The dialogue is in both Chinese and English to highlight the misunderstandings, but includes enough of each for you, the reader, to understand what is going on. In the end, food becomes the ultimate communicator. Growing up with an immigrant grandmother when neither of you spoke the same language was difficult at times. My grandmother and I shared a room (that’s a whole different comic) and she babysat me a lot, but we could barely communicate. Like many immigrant families, we just had to get it working. This is a story about one of the times we just got it working. Thanks to PARISOL for the translation help and to Bill Cheung for the word game idea.

Andy Panda is a Sino-American artist living in Seattle who creates Chinese fantasy comics, non-fiction comics, and activist art. Follow Andy’s work on Instagram @elixircomic and @thundergraphicnovel.

📸 Featured image: The first two panels from Andy Panda’s comic “Hungry”.

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AAPI Heritage MonthAAPI Heritage Month 2021Andy PandaArtArtistsChineseChinese-AmericanChinese LanguageComicFeaturedIllustrationImigrationLanguage Barriers