Credit – DC comics
With ‘Superman: The Son of Kal-El’ #1 dropping this week so was dropped Superman and the American Way in the famous catchphrase “Truth, Justice, and the American Way!”. That catchphrase, made famous in the original 1940’s ‘The Adventures of Superman’ serials, was synonymous with what Superman stood for and the American dream. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t know who Superman is and what he represents. He has, and always will be, a symbol for America and American ideals. With the release of Superman: Son of Kal-El #1, written by Tom Taylor with art by John Timms, we have Jonathan Kent getting rid of the famous catchphrase for the “new and improved” “Truth, Justice, and a better world!” He comes to this conclusion through a conversation he is having with Bruce Wayne’s son Damian Wayne aka ‘Robin’. It’s a really awkward conversation that makes the once brooding and ‘take no prisoners’ Damian Wayne start talking about fighting the wrath of climate change, inequality, the erosion of a free press, and the rise of demagogues.
“It’s easy to punch a ninja. A little harder to punch the climate crisis, inequality, the erosion of a free press, and the rise of demagogues.”
DC’s New Direction Will Relate to Millenial and Gen Z Activists
I have read review after review from critics who have praised this new direction that DC is taking the Superman character and how it will relate to the Gen z and millennial activists who blame boomers for not doing more to protect the future and who are having trouble acclimating to the current hostile political climate. What?! From Polygon.com:
“Generational stories are hugely popular in superhero media right now, a reflection of the real world conflicts between Millennial and Gen Z activists furious with Boomers for not doing more to protect the world for the future.”
Comics have become a platform for these writers and artist at DC and Marvel to promote and infuse their personal ideologies and politics into the characters we grew up loving. Many of these creators at DC and Marvel claim to be life long fans of comic books and the characters they are reinventing in the name of social justice. Tom Taylor himself said in an article from the Nerdist that he was a comic book fan but foremost Superman was his hero from day one.
“I am a comic book fan, but in particular, I’m a fan of Superman. He’s been my hero from day one, for as long as I could
Credit – Warner Bros.
possibly remember. The 1978 Superman came out the year I was born. And that was the first time I believed that a man could fly. I grew up with a single mother, and I grew up with him as a pseudo-father figure. So he meant a whole lot to me as a child. So I’m ridiculously honored to be writing Superman today.”
Comic Book Creators Have Diminished Superman’s Relationship with the United States for the Past Decade
I’m not sure if it’s because Tom Taylor is from Australia and not from the United States, but I don’t think Tom Taylor really understands what Superman means to the fans of Superman over here in America. “Truth, Justice, and the American Way!” is an iconic phrase that Americans understand intimately. But then again, these “comic book fans” have been trying to dilute Superman’s attachment to America over the past decade. David Goyer did it in Action Comics #900 when Superman denounced his American citizenship, Perry White said “Truth, Justice, and all that Stuff!” in Superman: Man of Steel, and now this from Tom Taylor and John Timms.
If these creators were true fans, they would truly understand what the original intent of comic books were…escapism from the real world into an alternate world or reality different from their own. Jerry Siegal and Joe Schuster didn’t create Superman so they could promote the social political ills of the day. They created Superman as a way to see the hero “they” wanted to be or imagined to be. It was because of their imagination and fun storytelling that allowed generations of boys to imagine themselves the superhero that saved the day. DC and Marvel seem to be going full bore with destroying what we love about comic books and don’t care what the fans have to say about it. From Captain America denouncing the American Dream in ‘The United States of Captain America’, ‘Fantastic Four: Life Story #2’ where Captain America is accused of siding with the communists during the Vietnam war, to ‘Superman: Son of Kal-El’ and “Truth, Justice, and a Better World!”, we are seeing a blatant attack on American ideals from whiny millennial creators, who need to stop complaining and professing, in our comic books, about a country that allows them the freedom to be so critical of that freedom.
Related: The United States of Captain America
