Would the Creators of Superman Approve?
This story continues to draw opinion on the internet, and I don’t think many of it is positive. At first, I tossed out a mocking, not-so-serious post about it. It has gotten me to think a little more about the issue.
My question is, what about the creators of Superman?
This has a long and storied history in comicdom, as the two creators, Jerry Siegel, and Simon Shuster, were generally swindled out of credit and profit from their iconic creation. Read a good write-up of it here.
They have both died since, and are honored by all comic book geeks. From most accounts, it doesn’t seem like they would be too thrilled with the idea that this American icon would have been used to toss American ideals overboard.
One of the best parts of the Superman mythos is that he never really was political – he was just a symbol of the best of America. I guess what troubles me is that, like most life-changing events in comics, Superman will probably return back to normal in a few months, after they’ve sold enough comic books, and no one cares anymore. Fine, it’s a sales stunt for a dying artform (one of the few uniquely American ones), in order to keep some interest alive enough to keep peddling comic book character movies, which is the real moneymaker.
But symbols matter.
We’re all educated enough to be mostly materialist and pragmatist, but icons are still important to human beings. It’s sad to see one of the most vibrant and beautiful symbols of America of the last 100 years be politicized in a way to deride what the symbol used to stand for.
For a lot of people, and too many Americans, “the American Way” is “just not enough anymore.”
As an American, I want to say to the publishers of this crap, if America isn’t good enough for Superman, then HE is not good enough FOR ME.
~ ~ ~
If you feel the same, and want to let DC COMICS know how you feel about this ridiculous and insulting storyline, send them a message HERE!!
Or, if you’re a twit, TWEET DC comics, or co-publisher, JIM LEE below:
If you’re too lazy of a gringo to write your own tweets, may I respectfully recommend the following? Just click on it, and if you’re signed it, I’LL WRITE YOUR TWEET FOR YOU! Lazy gringo!