Bad news everyone. Superman is dead. Yes, the Man of Steel, and of Tomorrow, the Last Son of Krypton--Clark Kent--died tragically of a lingering illness after once again saving the world. By his side were Wonder Woman, Supergirl, the guy whose mother was also named Martha, Lois Lane, and a bearded version of himself from an alternate dimension.
I don’t know, it’s the comics. How will DC comics fill this hole in our hearts? After all, they’ve only killed Superman nine or ten times before. Once when He-Man stabbed him in the chest. Well, it turns out there’s no need to worry, because DC Comics has a little something up their sleeve. This guy!
The New Super-Man. You know, something looks a little different. Something that more traditional Superman purists may take issue with. Yes, I’m of course talking about this dash in the middle. The copy editors are going to be upset over this one. Oh, and I don’t think this Superman will be fighting for Truth, Justice, and the American way. Although, does the alignment of the stars on that Chinese flag look a little off to anyone else?
Anway, somehow, the fictional Ministry of Self-Reliance is able to transfer part of the dying Superman’s powers to Kenan Kong (pronounce it Keh-nan, not Kee-nan). Like I said, comics. Oh there’s also a Chinese batman and wonder woman. They’re part of the Justice League of China.
Yeah.
New Super-man is written by Taiwanese-American Gene Luen Yang, who is actually pretty awesome. He’s a former computer science teacher who started writing comic books. Kind of important ones like “American Born Chinese,” one that I highly recommend. The Library of Congress has named him the national ambassador for young people’s literature.
The point is—this guy’s got talent. And with New Super-Man, he’s trying some interesting things to bridge an iconic American property with traditional Chinese culture. For one, the traditional triangular chest emblem has been replaced with an octagon. Here’s what he said about that in an interview with KPCC:
“The octagon is actually a reference to ‘bagua,’ which is a Taoist concept, and it’s fundamental to a Chinese view of the universe. Taoist concepts will play a vital role in this character’s journey.”
He’s also taking a page from one of the Four Classics of Chinese literature—Journey to the West. You see, Kenan Kong starts off as kind of a bully. You know who else starts off as a bully? Sun Wukong, the Monkey King.
“The Monkey King also has a similar story arc. He starts off as a bully and he has this process of enlightenment where he arrives at a more selfless character. So by doing this with Kenan Kong, we are referencing both an American story — the story of Clark Kent — and a very Chinese story.”
So that’s all very cool. And DC Comics has been looking for ways to add more cultural and ethnic diversity.
One thing that’s not clear though, is whether the New Super-Man will ever be released in China. That could be difficult, unless the comics completely ignore the political and human rights situation in China. But supposedly Kenan Kong’s father was a social activist so there could be an interesting story arc there. Here he is talking about the importance of truth, justice, and democracy.
Uh oh. I hope Super-Man’s dad doesn’t get invited to drink tea with the Ministry of Self Reliance. I for one am interested in seeing where this story goes. Since the Chinese regime doesn’t even like individual groups amassing power, somehow I don’t think they'll be too happy about a possibly independent-minded super man.
What do you think about the New Super-Man? Leave your comments below.
