Notes of a Native Son of Krypton

[samedietc]

For a break from my reading on Sunday I went to a library or bookstore, and there read an Elseworlds from DC Comics (that's their imprint for "what if" or sometimes "what about" books): Red Son asks the question, what if Superman fell on Russia instead of Kansas. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who wants to read it, but the ending does bear

Comments

Re: a disjointed montage about the situation of race in today's comics.

[tragic_ohara]

Oh, lessee. Steel (theoretically imbued with Superman's spirit, or something); the little kid Superman (theoretically a clone); the half-cyborg reanimated Superman (theoretically a half-cyborg reanimated Superman); and the Man of Tomorrow dork-ass sunglasses guy (I forget the theory. Alternate universe? just another Kryptonian sent as a replacement?). I had the issue where they were all introduced, but didn't follow the story to its conclusion, so I still don't really know what happened.

Wait, where did Clark grow up? Out in the bread basket somewhere? As a black child, he'd be bound to run up against some degree of bigotry, wherever in the country it was, and thereby probably be a little angrier at/more frustrated with the human race he's sworn to protect. Might be interesting. He also wouldn't be the iconic/prototypical/everyman superhero he is (and, I suppose, would date much more recently than 1938).

My Francophone African Literature professor said something to the effect that literature of the Congo is necessarily a literature of revolution, and that no one there can write without taking part in that movement. Is a comic book by/about a black character necessarily a comic book about racism? And do superheroes in whatever minority (hey, are there gay superheroes yet? there must be) tend to stand up for their minority rather than their city? I don't read comics much really, so I'm just wondering.

-R.

Re: a disjointed montage about the situation of race in today's comics.

[dr_smith]

The first openly gay mainstream superhero was Northstar of Alpha Flight.

Re: a disjointed montage about the situation of race in today's comics.

[tragic_ohara]

Right, I'd heard that before and forgotten it. I can always count on my friends to renerdulate my useless-knowledge base. When it, uh. Lacks nerdulence.

-R.

Re: a disjointed montage about the situation of race in today's comics.

[dr_smith]

Nerdulated.