Save the fishwrap
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11:04 AM
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All content © Copyright Giant Robot Factory 2007. All rights reserved. PO Box 642053, Los Angeles CA 90064. Site by  |
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Martin Wong is one of the founders of Giant Robot, currently the most popular magazine in the Asian American communities throughout the U.S. He is responsible for over 60% of the content of the magazine, including reporting and interviewing. At the age of 25, he and his friend, Eric Nakamura, published the first issue of Giant Robot, driven not by a carefully laid out plan but their common interests; using only black and white photocopied pages and stapled by hand. From the 200 copies of that first issue to over 60,000 copies of the current issue, they have managed to stay true to the unique style of the magazine, beloved by the fans of Giant Robot.
Wong is the third generation since his grandparents immigrated to the U.S. in the 30’s. He grew up in Anaheim, Orange County, a city with very few Chinese residents. Although he does not speak a word of Chinese, he has a strong interest in Asian cultures. In 1994, fueled by his enthusiasm, he published his writings on many fascinating Asian American stories he has collected in his spare time while working as an editor of high school textbooks.
When asked about his motivations for starting Giant Robot, Wong points to the scarcity of magazine in the market that focuses on Asian American culture. The few that were available at that time were about celebrity figures or were business oriented. Giant Robot was created to introduce an alternate perspective on Asian American culture.
The name “Giant Robot” itself symbolizes the uniqueness of the magazine. According to Wong, robots are often seen as clumsy, stiff and clunky in the west; in contrast, robots in Asia are all lively and articulate. Not only could they shoot missiles out of their finger-tips, some of them can also join together to form even bigger robots. The choice of the name “Giant Robot” reflects its decidedly Asian American perspective.
Wong is always inquisitive and curious when it comes to searching for new and interesting things in Asian and American culture. His writing often reflects the perspective of many young Asian Americans. The tone of his writing resembles an intimate sharing of experience on lesser known stories or events that interested him personally. He thinks that these are some of the factors that set Giant Robot apart from other magazines.
He continued to write for Giant Robot in his spare time until the year 2000, when he decided that the textbook editing job was leading nowhere. At the same time, the magazine started to bring in profits; it was small but it was enough to pay the bills. At this time, Wong decided to write for Giant Robot full time.
He said that even the pay was low; his quality of life didn’t suffer, because he was able to work with his good friend and write about things that interested him. There was never any politics or pressure at work, unlike many other higher paying jobs. He emphasizes that success does not always mean making lots of money. To him, success is to be able to do what you are passionate about, and be able to help others through your work.
“I never thought Giant Robot would become so popular,” Wong said, “I was just reporting on Asian tidbits that fascinated me. Some of my friend predicted Giant Robot would get big, but I was never doing it for money or fame, just passion.”
Wong points out, “The people we interview, and the things we wrote about are not always well-known or famous in any way. We only write about things that captured our curiosity, so a lot of times we cover obscure Asian cinema or actors. We pick our stories based solely on our personal interests.”
Granted that the circulation of Giant Robot has not reach the same volume as many mainstream magazines, Wong explain, “Since we are not a mainstream magazine, we have the luxury of not being bound by commercial constrains, allowing us to write according to our interests, which is what made our magazine unique.” This unique quality is precisely what garnered the loyal support of its fans.
Hi Martin,
that was my first draft translation of your news story. I probably did a poor job. Translating is hard!! You have to think in two languages at the same time.
fmstlr
BTW, there is another AA spotlight story. The subject is Jane Fung, whom I worked with a few years back. We taught at the same school.
http://www.worldjournal.com/wj-la-news.php?nt_seq_id=1521323
Yippee!
fmstlr
Wow, thanks! I was a little worried and wondering what she said about me. I think it's better than most English ones.
-mw
Hey Martin,
Here is a “basic” translation of the second
article about GR. Luckily, I have a very kind Chinese neighbor who agreed to translate
it for me. He is in his late 60’s or early
70’s. Now that he has read your articles,
he is very interested in GR and wants
me to pick up a copy for him!
Sorry if there are some translation mistakes.
If there are, it’s because I understood him incorrectly and also I don’t understand
Chinese at all. One of the key words in
this article is some kind of Chinese food,
like a dimsum type of thing. I couldn’t
understand what my neighbor was
saying and asked him several times,
but alas I didn’t know what he was saying,
also he didn’t have a lot of time.
So I used “Char siew pao”as a substitute
instead. Maybe you or fmstlr will know.
Feel free to make corrections.
Giant Robot magazine was started
by two young Asian men interested in
Asian American culture, Martin Wong
and Eric Nakamura. First starting out with
no budget, Wong and Nakamura enjoyed
writing about the “hot” Asian American
cultural topics. Now they are producing approximately 60,000 issues monthly.
They have 5 specialty stores and
even a small restaurant. They like
introducing “Pop Culture” to the
people through their shops and magazine.
Why is GR so hot? Because it is led by
two Asian American young men that
don’t worry about market trends.
They just focus on their own curiosities
and interests including anything creative,
historical, musical, art related and food,
including junk food. All of these topics
are covered by their own unique point of
view. They like sharing this perspective
with other American Chinese
and other Asian kids. It allows them to
show a whole different side to the Asian
world and all the interesting things about
it. That’s what makes the young Asian
people like the magazine.
“GR magazine’s interview subjects can
range from the small people to famous
hot movies to contemporary
actors. It is all up to Martin and Eric,
what ever they decide. Even if they don’t
interview a very rich or famous person
or cultural phenomenon, they can find
very interesting stories from the simple or
very little people or things. “Also, I am
not very interested in big movie stars,
I’m just not interested in those kinds
of things”, says Wong.
Joking about his magazine, Wong says,
“My magazine is like a lunchbox with
a char siew pao in it. The outside is
pretty plain, but when you take a bite
out of it, it becomes very interesting.
That’s why my white or other classmates
used to look at me funny. They didn’t
understand what a char siew pao was,
but the Asian classmates thought it was so interesting. So if someone read GR
magazine and started to understand the
Asian culture, a non-Asian person might
not think a char siew pao in a lunch box
is so strange. It used to be so unique,
nobody knew what was inside until
they opened it up and saw that there was
meat inside. “
So, introducing Asian American
culture to people is one of the magazine’s
main objectives. Wong also pointed out,
“Helping individual artists and writers in
turn helps GR to continue to survive in
the independent magazine market. Other
things that attracts the young people to GR magazine is the art work inside. They may
be touched by a certain artist covered in
the issue. Also people can go through the magazine and buy things. It can be just a
little thing, it doesn’t have to be something
luxurious or something that would be
bad for a person.
ume
I like how these articles seem to focus on the soulful aspect of GR... Surprising!
-mw
Yes, usually in articles I just see the basic info
and background of you, Eric and GR.
But I think Emily did a much more in depth
article on you all. Not very many people look
past the cool art, toys, etc. And I can completely relate to your reasons for wanting work in a business like this. I grew up in Diamond Bar when there were maybe only 3 Asian families including ours. I’m glad that period of my life is over!
Things have changed a lot though.
Diamond Bar, Rowland Heights,
Hacienda Heights are all Asian now.
My parents still live there and one time
while going to visit them and passing
through Rowland Heights, I saw Korean
signage at one of the McDonald’s.
Now that’s a complete turnaround!
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