From Product Description:

From Amazon.com Review:

Book Description
From two masters of the graphic novel--Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese) and Derek Kirk Kim (Same Difference and Other Stories) come fantastical adventures through the worlds we live in and the worlds we create: the story of a prince who defeats his greatest enemy only to discover that maybe his world is not what it had seemed; the story of a frog who finds that just being a frog might be the way to go; and the story of a woman who receives an email from Prince Henry of Nigeria asking for a loan to help save his family. With vivid artwork and moving writing, Derek Kirk Kim and Gene Luen Yang test the boundaries between fantasy and reality, exploring the ways that the world of the imagination can affect real life.

Three Short Stories from The Eternal Smile
Each pair of panels below belongs to one of the three stories in the book: "Duncan's Kingdom," "Gran'pa Greenbax and the Eternal Smile," and "Urgent Request."
Click on each panel to enlarge [pdf].

Prince Duncan goes on a quest to avenge the king's murder and marry the princess.

Grandpa Greenbax the frog sees what looks like a smile in the sky and hopes it will answer his prayers.

Janet's ho-hum life gets interesting after she receives an email from a Nigerian prince.

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Duncan's kingdom -- Grandpa Greenbax and the eternal smile -- Urgent request.

"Meet Duncan. Charming and brave, he's the Princess's favorite-- and he's on his way to winning the throne. But lately, the walls of reality in Duncan's kingdom are wearing a little thin-- -- Meet Gran'pa Greenbax. Nothing seems to satisfy this greedy old frog's longing for a pool full of gold-- until, one day, a mysterious smile appears in the sky. Has his chance at happiness come at last? -- Meet Janet. Her nine-to-five life takes a turn for the romantic when she learns in an email from a mysterious Nigerian prince that she has been chosen to liberate his family's vast fortune. All he needs is her banking information. In three very different stories, master storytellers Gene Yang and Derek Kirk Kim pit fantasy against reality, for good or for ill" -- cover leaf.

This short read packs in an amazing amount of truth in such a small amount of time. It's cute and funny, without being fluffy. Sweet, but with glimpses at sad realities. I was surprised by how the story lines and artwork were able to say so much in such a short amount of time. A lot of satisfying depth, which is hard to find in short stories.

"The Eternal Smile" contains three short stories by the brilliant Gene Luen Yang of "American Born Chinese" fame and Derek Kirk Kim. The first two are by Yang - one is about a young knight who goes to avenge the King's death by bringing the head of his murderer, the Frog King, to the princess, thus becoming the new King. The second is about a miserly frog (think Scrooge McDuck but amphibian) who exploits a constant smile in the sky by making it the centrepiece of a Christian Evangelical-like religion only to find the true nature of the Eternal Smile and his own life. <br /> <br />I won't give away the twists in both tales but the theme throughout the stories is that of finding your true self amidst the fantasy. Yang's drawing style is lush manga in the first story and disney-like cartooning in the second. Both stories are great little reads. <br /> <br />My favourite though was the third story by Derek Kirk Kim. I've never read anything by him but will look out for him based on this story. A downtrodden and shy office worker gets spam mail from a Nigerian Prince but decides to send money. Given you don't know much about the character you're reading on incredulous that someone could be that stupid. Again I won't give away the ending but the main character, like all the characters in this book, finds happiness through finding themselves and rejecting a fantastical life view for a realistic one. <br /> <br />Great little book filled with great art and excellent storytelling by two amazing artists. If you loved "American Born Chinese" as much as me or comics in general you'll love this book.

A beautiful jewel of a book that will delight and inspire you in equal measures.

As graphic novels continue to grow in popularity and respectability, Gene Yang, author of 2007's award-winning American Born Chinese returns with a collection of three short stories that explore the worlds of fantasy and escapism and the inevitable clash between what is and what we wish to be <br /> <br />Derek Kirk Kim's illustrations are used to great effect in the three stories, as he alternates between a realistic, muted adventure style for the first story, "Duncan's Kingdom." He uses a brightly colored cartoon style for the second story, "Gran'pa Greenbax and the Eternal Smile," and uses a tiny-paneled, minimalist style for the concluding story, "Urgent Request." The graphic novel makes use of its format well, as the first two stories use panels of varying sizes, including full-page panels, to great effect. The final story is printed on cream-colored paper, and its panels are smaller and borderless, arranged on the page in a less rigid and informal layout. <br /> <br />The first story, "Duncan's Kingdom," begins with what seems like a typical knight-in-shining armor story. However, the image of a modern-day woman, seated at a table with a bottle of soda pop, breaks the tale's tone and introduces the first hint of the story's conflict. The second story, "Gran'pa Greenbax and the Eternal Smile," is at first a parody of the Disney character Scrooge McDuck. The very greedy Gran'pa's plans to capitalize from a mysterious smile in the golden sky takes an unexpected turn of events. "Urgent Request," the book's final story, perhaps its most moving, tells about a corporate drone named Janet, whose drab existence and miniscule self-worth is reflected in the beautifully minimal art of illustrator Kim. After being refused a promotion, she receives urgent news, via email, from a Nigerian prince. In her sadness, Janet begins to correspond with the prince, and again the story twists away from its expected ending. <br /> <br />This collection of comic stories is highly recommended for students in grades 7th and above, as there are several scenes that may offend younger readers, such as several cartoon beheadings, the image of a woman in a thong bikini, and the words "porno mag," "pissed" and non-sexual references to "private parts" and "genitals." The stories are not mean spirited, but should probably be kept from younger readers. The graphic novel is suited for libraries where graphic novels already populate existing collections, or a library that is looking to expand its collection to include more literary works of comic art.

The Eternal Smile is a collection of short comics by authors and artists Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese) and Derek Kirk Kim (Same Difference and Other Stories). The comics follow different characters and even have very different drawing and writing styles, but all have the same theme: nothing is really ever how we perceive it and it only takes one event (or one scene, or one word) to change our world view. All three sections had a lovely twist at the end that really solidified the strength of these stories. <br /> <br />Duncan's Kingdom is about a young soldier who is determined to marry his sweetheart, who just happens to be the princess of the land. When her father, the king, is killed by the Frog King, the princess announces that whoever avenges her father's death with the head of the Frog King will earn her hand in marriage. Duncan, with the help of his adopted guardian The Patchwork Man, goes on a journey to avenge the king. Along the way things are out of place and Duncan begins to question the very foundation of his kingdom. The twist at the end of this story was not necessarily unexpected and I liked it, but I think it was the weakest of the three stories. This is not necessarily a fault of the story, but the other two were so strong. <br /> <br />I thought that Gran'pa Greenbax and the Eternal Smile was going to be my least favorite comic. At first I really didn't like it and was going to skip it entirely. I just didn't love the story and thought it was kind of boring and I didn't understand the point. And then I did understand the point and it ended up being my favorite of all. I don't want to give anything away, but if you are reading this and consider giving up the story, don't. I think it's the strongest and most imaginative of the three. <br /> <br />If Gran'pa Greenbax and the Eternal Smile is the most imaginative, then Urgent Request is the most beautiful. I really loved it and the message it sends is a good one. Janet Oh works at a boring, dead-end job and her life is as gray as the color on the pages. However, when a Nigerian prince emails her and asks for her help, her life suddenly turns colorful for more than one reason. I loved the twist at the end of this one. It was much more contemplative than the other two stories and the beautiful watercolors added to that. There is one particular panel of this story that is just gorgeous and I would love to have it on my wall. <br /> <br />Though this collection is not necessarily as strong as American Born Chinese or other graphic novels I've read lately, it certainly deserves a spot on your list of books to be read. It's a quick, enjoyable read and has me really interested in Derek Kirk Kim's other work. Fans of graphic novels will find a lot to love here.