After recently undertaking a journey to walk -- not fly -- across the United States in the "Grounded" storyline and reconnect with the country and everyday Americans, Superman appears to be taking another step that could have major implications for his national identity: in Action Comics #900...
...Superman announces that he is going to give up his U.S. citizenship. Despite very literally being an alien immigrant, Superman has long been seen as a patriotic symbol of "truth, justice, and the American way," from his embrace of traditional American ideals to the iconic red and blue of his costume. What it means to stand for the "American way" is an increasingly complicated thing, however, both in the real world and in superhero comics, whose storylines have increasingly seemed to mirror current events and deal with moral and political complexities rather than simple black and white morality.
From what I saw in the comments section, this idea appears to have very, very few supporters.
Clearly, the problem DC has is not the recession or management or any of that. Their problem is they have too many old Leftists working in the place, bitterly clinging to their no-guns and no-religion schtick.
Enjoy Chapter 11, assholes.
Superman was a Canadian invention.
ReplyDeleteComic books were/are escapist fantasy and, at best, displayed values one could get behind. This politicization serves only to sour that element of enjoyment.
Besides, Wolverine is on OUR side!
Yep, with one tiny quibble. Superman was created by Joe Shuster, a Canadian kid living in America. Like so many talented Canadians, he made his mark in the USA not here.
ReplyDeleteIf he was still alive, he'd be seriously pissed about this I'm sure.