Pat Lee (right), the artist creating a new series of comics based on Chinese heroes, together with Conroy Chan, the producer of the comics. Edmond Tang / China Daily

Chinese Canadian Pat Lee grew up, literally in the company of heroes like Batman, Superman, the Transformers. Now the comic book illustrator has turned his attention to a project that is distinctively Chinese - introducing legendary heroes of ancient China to Western readers. Phoebe Cheng reports.

Pat Lee spends his days with heroes. He's learned their intimate secrets from his 18 years as an artist working in the comics industry. He's worked with the Transformers, Superman, Batman, the X-men, the Fantastic Four, etc. The Canadian-born Chinese has shifted focus from Western heroes and lately has been drawing a new series of comics based on a Chinese story about a family of women warriors, derived from the household Chinese legend Women Warriors of the Yang Family.

Lee's recent effort was written by Lloyd Chao and Christine To Chi-long, about a group of seemingly vulnerable widows with an iron will to survive.

Lee, who began his career in the comic book industry at 16, was thrilled when he was introduced to the story by his friend Conroy Chan of 852 Films Limited. Chan is also the producer of the comics. The project marked the very first time Lee had worked on a Chinese story. Not just the story excited him, but the character and strength of his protagonists were irresistible.

"It's really exciting," Lee said. "This particular story is very interesting because of the historical aspect and the fact that they're taking women and putting them in a situation where they should not be - going through this kind of turmoil and hardship. This says a lot about Chinese women back in the old days, about the power the Chinese women had during our history. It is also important for people out there to know Chinese history."

Although Lee was born in Canada and grew up there, he always felt an attraction to the history and traditions of China. Lee's parents were born on the mainland and lived in Hong Kong for 30 years. They introduced Lee to stories of Chinese history, which Lee found intriguing and beautiful.

The legend of Women Warriors of the Yang Family was one. The story captures the time when Emperor Song Ren Zhong (1022-1064) ruled. The empire is besieged by barbarians. The men of the Yang family are massacred in an ambush. The widows fail in their petition to persuade the emperor to punish their husbands' killers, so the Yang widows themselves trained warriors, chose to take up the battle against the barbarians to protect their homes and families.

To Lee, it seems people in China in times long past acted out of passion or pure love. It was not only the love for others but the love for what they were doing. They were passionate about life, he believes, and he thinks it is important for people today to learn about that.

"The stories (of Chinese history) are really interesting. For example, some warriors had to undertake long marches to save the kingdoms. The loyalty they had for the king is pretty impressive," Lee said.

It actually seems a little out of place, to see this young man, a Canadian-born-Chinese, a native English speaker, wearing a cap, casual t-shirt and shorts, taking part in the production of this distinctively Chinese project. Yet it was Conroy Chan, one of the owners of 852 Film Ltd, who courted Lee, to bring the story to fruition. Chan who is well versed in the Western and Chinese cultures hopes to communicate these ideas about the Chinese culture to Western countries, through the comics.

"We (852 Films Limited) think the Widows of the Yang Family were the first generation of modern independent women, powerful women," said Chan. More importantly, Chan, working through the comics, would like to wipe out the stereotypes of Chinese women and men that Westerners have seen.

"We want to show the Westerners that Asians are not as they think they are," Chan said. "In the past, many Western people might think that Asian men belonged only to tribal societies and Asian women were only prostitutes. Many of them may still have the stereotypes in their minds - that Asian women are weak while Asian men are useless. We want to show them that Asian women are not weak at all. They are very strong indeed."

The first two volumes of the comic were launched in America in July. The remaining two volumes will follow shortly. The company is now into planning to put the comics on screen.

With years of experiences drawing Western style comics, Lee describes drawing widow warriors as "creatively challenging". He said he took a bit of the North American style and mixed it with Chinese elements. His approach was dark and cinematic, in the fantasy genre of Lord of the Rings, 300, Star Wars and even Harry Potter blended with the comprehensive facial details of the Asians.

Having revitalized so many heroes in his life, Lee thinks the real hero is someone who maintains a low profile and has the courage to speak the truth.

"For me, my hero is a person who is able to speak out even though there is a sense of fear and concern but they have the ability to speak the truth and use that truth to set people free," Lee said. The re-creator of comic heroes has come across many real life heroes. The one he admired most is his mother.

"My mum is definitely my hero," Lee said without a doubt. "She is not a typical mother. She is definitely one of these women (widows of the Yang Family) who has gone through a lot in her life. She's a warrior."

Lee's mother gave him a lot of help in getting started back when he was 15 and just at the gateway to becoming a comic book illustrator. She even flew with Lee to New York, San Francisco, Los Angles and to other places where conventions were held to help him look for jobs. She believed in his work.

Everything his mother has done to him gives him courage and confidence to create all the comic heroes we can see today.

"My mum gave me the freedom to do whatever I wanted to do; she said, 'being happy is the most important thing. I don't care if you are making nothing or you are one of the wealthiest men in the world," he said.

(HK Edition 10/13/2010 page4)