JOAN: Creator Steven Yu Reflects On His Inspiration For The Graphic Action Novel In New Social Media Post
Ultimately, the cost of being the only one publishing on this site most days is slipping when I try to make a note to work on posts. For this, I’m inclined to kick myself as the countdown winds down for author Steven Yu’s latest Kickstarter campaign for Joan.
What’s Joan? A dystopian action adventure with a female protagonist blending spaghetti westerns with the best of Asian films and action cinema the likes of Robert Rodriguez and John Woo, and doped up with martial arts and gunplay as the backdrop for one heroine’s quest to take down all the world’s evils after being resurrected by God. That’s pretty much the basis as far as I know as I’d been covering this project sporadically since 2020 with Yu on my radar dating back to his heyday as a member of The Stunt People.
Speaking of, Yu took to Instagram on Thursday to look back on the novel’s motivations and just who inspired him to get the idea off the ground when he did. In no uncertain terms, that man would be late actor and stunt professional Dennis Ruel who went on at one poing to cast Yu in Ruel’s own feature action comedy, Unlucky Stars.
Joan is on course for its third volume as part of the epic saga from Yu and writer/producer Seth Singleton. Check out Yu’s tribute below and read more about the campaign at Kickstarter where you can donate with perks to match until Friday.
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!
