May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month and this particular month comes at a time when racially motivated violence against individuals of Asian descent in the United States has been horrifically prominent. This makes DC's latest oversized anthology special DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration #1 unmistakably feel like a poignant, timely read as it elevates the Asian and Pacific Islander voices within the DC Universe in a collection of short stories delivered by an all-star roster of comic book creators working at the height of their powers.

There are 11 stories in this anthology in all, with a tale by Mariko Tamaki, Marcus To and Sebastian Cheng focused on Cassandra Cain leading the charge. An all-ages-friendly story following Green Lantern Tai Pham follows this, by co-creator Minh Lê, joined by Trung Le Nguyen, as Tai balances his superhero life with lessons from his grandmother. Greg Pak, Sumit Kumar and Romulo Fajardo, Jr. craft a team-up between Green Arrow Connor Hawke and the Chinese Superman Kong Kenan. Damian Wayne contemplates his own family legacy with a short story by Aniz Adam Ansari, Sami Basri and Sunny Gho while Ram V, Audrey Mok and Jordie Bellaire follow a young woman crossing paths with Catwoman while being pursued by a sinister syndicate.

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The second half of the special has Dustin Nguyen pulling double-duty as writer and artist on a quieter tale starring Cassandra Cain while Alyssa Wong, Sean Chen, Norm Rapmund and Rain Beredo recount a family dinner between Black Lightning and his daughter's girlfriend that goes explosively off the rails. Sarah Kuhn and Victoria Ying deliver the most effervescent story of the bunch as Red Arrow goes on her own surreal daydream while Amy Chu, Marcio Takara and Beredo showcase a literal festival of heroes that has Katana take point. The Good Asian creative team of Pornsak Pichetshote and Alexandre Tefenkgi are joined by Beredo for a tale following the Atom Ryan Choi and Gene Luen Yang, Bernard Chang and Sebastian Cheng introduce the new DCU superhero the Monkey Prince to close out the special.

Tamaki and To's story is probably the strongest of this compilation but that certainly isn't for lack of trying on the other creative team's part, each delivering their own unique take on Asian heroes within the DCU and largely firing on all cylinders creatively. Kuhn and Ying's story is a standout because of how unique it stands against the larger collection, a moon-age daydream of a tale, tonally speaking, in comparison to its contemporaries. Nguyen's Cassandra Cain story is the most quietly contemplative of the bunch while Mok's artwork paired with Ram's scripting gives their Catwoman story a distinctly pulp appeal. And any opportunity for Lê to return to the adventures of Tai Pham is always a delight, with this short story proving no different.

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DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration #1 lives up to its title by joyously celebrating its heroes, especially in slice-of-life tales that don't come off as pandering or hollow. Packed with tales by comic book creators still very much operating at the height of their powers, this anthology special continues DC's excellent line of oversized specials that has quietly formed a more prominent part of its publishing line over the past year. And hopefully, it portends a more diverse future for the DCU as it shines an overdue light on some of its fan-favorite heroes.

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