Posted in: Comics | Tagged: kickstarter, tokyo rose, zero hour

Graphic Novel about Japanese-American Woman Who Became Both a Hero and a Traitor

Published Fri, 23 Nov 2018 17:00:16 -0600

Andre R Frattino, co-creator of the Tokyo Rose: Zero Hour graphic novel currently on Kickstarter, writes to Bleeding Cool:

It was 1941, Tokyo, Japan, and all Iva Toguri wanted was a freakin' cheeseburger.

She had been in her parent's home country for nearly a year at that point and was sick and tired of rice. Her mother sent her there to care for her ailing twin sister, as Iva had been between college and a job and had little else to do at the time. It was meant to be a simple trip…but then Pearl Harbor happened…and Iva's life was changed forever.

Despite looking Japanese, Iva wasn't. She was a true blue American, born on the Fourth of July in Los Angeles, California. She was respectful of her family's history and culture, but it just wasn't familiar to her, and it showed. The Japanese kenpeitai ("Military Police") sought to convert her to the Japanese side, but she refused. It wasn't until she struggled to find a job at Radio Tokyo that her life changed.

At Radio Tokyo, Iva would team up with several Allied POWs to form the "Zero Hour" radio show, aimed at demoralizing American troops in the South Pacific. It went against everything Iva believed in, but it was secretly a ruse, as Iva and the POWs sabotaged the propaganda broadcasts…and Iva became the legendary, Tokyo Rose, beloved by many American troops who saw her as a major motivator for victory!

But in the eyes of the U.S. Government…she was public enemy number 1. A traitor.

Which is why I'm developing my latest graphic novel, TokyoRose: Zero Hour.

When I came across this story years ago, I was instantly drawn in by Iva's struggle to survive. Nearly everything was working against her: her race, her sex, her country. She was a woman who had little good luck, and yet she grinned and bared the consequences of her situation for several decades, and suffered greatly.

Iva was a victim of loving a country that didn't love her…and that to me is very relevant today. We see full-blooded Americans being persecuted and dragged out of the country for nothing more than the color of their skin or the circumstances of their birth. People who love the USA, and are now orphaned by the country. Left to fend for themselves.

So we wanted to educate people about how this modern day situation is deeply rooted in our past through the best way possible….comics.

Teaming up with Kate Kasenow (Form of a Question, BOOM! Studios) and legendary letterer Janice Chiang (Ghost Rider, Marvel) we're launching a Kickstarter aimed at telling Iva's true story in the graphic novel form, not only to entertain, but to share the indomitable spirit of a young woman, the struggle of an American underdog, as she fights for her right to exist against not one, but two warring governments that don't want her.

This is the story of one woman, who in many ways represents all people of diversity, and their daily struggle to be.

The Kickstarter is going til Dec. 7th, the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor Attack. An attack that sealed the fate of America's involvement in the war, and Iva's future of heroism and "treachery".

Stay tuned! Zero Hour is here!

(Find it on Kickstarter here)