Classic Comic Compendium: Why LUNAR NEW YEAR LOVE STORY was the big winner at this year’s Eisners

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The last of this month’s look at a number of this year’s Eisner Award winning works and creators is one of last year’s most lauded books, one that pulled in three wins total, Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham. Earning itself Best Graphic Album – New and Best Publication for Teens, while Yang nabbed Best Writer. Pham was also nominated for Best Penciller/Inker. It’s the story of a girl who has set herself to the task to try to find true love in the span of a year, lest she give up on love and lock her heart away.

Our reviews editor, Zack Quaintance, also gave us his thoughts on this incredible work earlier this year: check it out for his take on the story.

“True love simply isn’t for you.”

One of the things that most impressed me about the book is how it seamlessly blends together elements of different cultures. It’s there even just in the title merging Eastern and Western holidays. Out point of view character, Valentina, is of Vietnamese descent, but adrift from much of the culture due to her father essentially keeping her, in his mind, protected. He built up walls around her to ostensibly keep her insulated. When she’s taken out of that by a well-meaning grandmother, shattering her conceptions of numerous things, we get to see her experience and investigate parts of that culture in a way that doesn’t feel like explaining. Informing the audience at the same time as the reader. And this goes broadly through Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean traditions. This beautifully illustrated in LeUyen Pham’s art explicitly in the differences between the Chinese and Korean lions.

These permutations of cultural traditions is also explicitly apparent in the appearance of Saint Valentine. Whether real or an imaginary f(r)iend, as Valentina’s understanding of the icon changes, so too do we see a shift in his appearance. From a cute little cherub in a Cupid incarnation to an elder Christian saint, then possibly an evil spirit to a separate ghost of what might have been the real Valentine.

Both cultural and religious elements come together in Valentina’s quest for love. In a way that I’d say influenced by mythology. Not in the sense of pantheons, but of a confluence of stories and lies, of lore, about family that colour her outlook. Of the idea that her family is fated to broken hearts and failed relationships. It leads to the decision to feed St. Valentine her heart if after a year she doesn’t find true love.

“Only suffering is certain.”

Love, of course, isn’t something that can’t be forced. I believe we get that implication between the representation of a few different characters, but it’s not something that’s explicitly stated in the story. As someone a lot older than the lead characters in the book, I think rushing love, rushing in to love, is one of the pitfalls that many of the older family members experience here. It’s not love and relationships that are the problem, it’s perhaps an unhealthy cross-cultural expectation. High school sweethearts might be a romcom ideal, but it’s not something that fits everyone. Although, despite an analogy of people who like brownie edges versus those who like a gooey centre, I’m left feeling like the core of the story still wants to push in one direction.

Still, Lunar New Year Love Story is a masterful work from Yang and Pham. It’s heartfelt and complex, guiding us through Valentina’s journey to discover the truth about her family, new cultural traditions and experiences, and an attempt at finding love. I think ultimately it posits a good message, in that despite the possibility of being hurt, opening yourself up to be vulnerable, to try to find love, is a worthwhile pursuit. And, personally, it doesn’t have to be on a self- or society-imposed timetable.