Superman Smashes the Klan

Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru’s Superman Smashes the Klan adapts the 1946 episode “The Clan of the Fiery Cross” from The Adventures of Superman radio show, focusing on the Lee family moving to Metropolis and facing racist attacks from a group of bigots in bedsheets. Yang sets the story in 1946 with the Golden Age Superman, incorporating elements of the character’s changes during the radio show. For instance, this graphic novel introduces Kryptonite as well as showing Superman learn to use more of his alien powers rather than seem like an extension of the circus strongman. Yang uses these changes in Superman’s powers to parallel the Man of Tomorrow’s narrative with the immigrant experience in America. Just as he expands the show more story of the Lee family from the radio drama, Yang brings in other elements from the immediate postwar Superman comics. The result is a great Superman story that gets to the heart of the character’s message while showing the lasting importance of the 1946 radio show nearly 80 years later. show less

Superman Smashes the Klan was a great read. It has an old-school feel to it, while bringing an interesting perspective to the character through his relationships with others and through the POV character, Roberta. I really enjoyed the way Roberta's struggles to feel at home in her new surroundings mirror Superman's fears of standing out too much. The plot was more meaningful and the stakes higher because Superman is holding back and a lot of it was coming from the Lees' points of view as targets of the racist Klan. The combination of the classic storyline and upbeat message mixed with the internal struggles and character growth was a nice combination. It's definitely worth checking out. Also, as always, the art by Gurihiru is excellent. show more

I'd definitely recommend this to Superman fans and fans of comics in general looking for a positive story. show less

The Hero We Need

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley. Obvious trigger warning for racist violence.)

The year is 1946, and the Lee family - mom, dad, Roberta, and Tommy - has just moved from Chinatown to Metropolis, so that Mr. Lee can begin a new job as Chief Bacteriologist of the Health Department. Gregarious and handsome, Tommy fits right in, easily slipping into the spot of star pitcher at the Unity House. An aspiring journalist with a stomach made of jelly,* Roberta - birth name Lan-Shin - is immediately homesick for Chinatown, where she didn't feel like such a "weirdo".

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And then her family is targeted by the local chapter of the Clan of show more the Fiery Red Cross, which lights a cross on the Lee's front lawn and attempts to fire bomb their house. The Allies may have won World War II, and Superman literally just crushed the Nazi supersoldier Atom Man, but racism is still alive and thriving - and firmly entrenched in Metropolis's social institutions.

Luckily, the Lees live right across the street from cub reporter Jimmy Olsen (who is obviously and adorably smitten with Roberta), and Superman and Lois Lane are pursuing the case, each in their own ways.

I've really been enjoying DC's YA imprint, but Superman Smashes The Klan takes things to the next level. Based on a sixteen-part radio show that aired in 1946 called "The Clan of the Fiery Cross"**, the story expertly dovetails Roberta's journey with that of her idol, Superman. At this point in his story, Clark Kent is thirty-something and has only been superheroing for ten years. As a kid growing up in Smallville, his differences were a source of shame: they marked him as different, a freak, nonhuman. Demonic, even. And so he learned to suppress and ignore his powers. It wasn't until a circus tent that he, the Kents, and Lana Lang were sitting under caught fire that Clark used his super strength for good. After that, Mrs. Kent sewed Clark his iconic red cape and Superman was born.

http://www.easyvegan.info/img/superman-smashes-the-klan-04.jpg

Yet, even as Superman, Clark hides pieces of himself: he has super strength and super speed, yes, but he runs along phone lines rather than flying, because defying gravity would give him away as not entirely of this world. And his ruse works, a little too well: the story's big bad, a grand Scorpion of the Klan, proudly claims Superman as the best of what the white race has to offer; irrefutable evidence of white superiority.

An honest-to-goodness alien from another world, created by two first-generation Jewish immigrants, Superman has always functioned as a stand-in for marginalized groups: refugees and immigrants of various races, religions, and ethnicities (depending on which group is currently being scapegoated). Superman is as American as apple pie and AK-47s, and he's a legit alien. Yang masterfully underscores this aspect of Superman's identity by enmeshing his story with Roberta's. Both of these "weirdos" learn to embrace their differences, because it's what makes them - and, indeed, the world - so damn special.

Yang's story is also deeply steeped in history, in ways I wouldn't have fully appreciated without reading his essay "Superman and Me" (it appears in pieces in the single issues, and as a whole in the TP). I especially loved the showdown between the scorpion and grand wizard, as the two clashed over the Clan's true purpose.

http://www.easyvegan.info/img/superman-smashes-the-klan-05.jpg

This piece, in particular, seems especially relevant today.

* Roberta's "gurgly stomach" is a mood.

** "To avoid getting sued by an organization that was legally recognized in several states, the show's writers created a stand-in organization called The Clan of the Fiery Cross," Yang explains in "Superman and Me."

http://www.easyvegan.info/2020/05/19/superman-smashes-the-klan-by-gene-luen-yang... show less

Fun, satisfying, and important

One of my favorite things about this story is that it centers on Roberta Lee, Tommy's sister, who in the original is not even given a name. She struggles with a "gurgly stomach," whoch means she easily gets motion sickness and also sick from anxiety and stress. She feels like she will never belong outside of Chinatown. But, it is Roberta who finds her voice, who never backs down, who does the most sleuthing, and who even helps Superman own up to some of his own mysteries. She yells at bigots and confronts the leaders of the Klan. Roberta is my hero.

I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher (DC Comics) in exchange for an honest review.

This book was SO GOOD! I loved it.

So first off, the artwork is adorable. It worked really well.

I love that the story did not shy away from depicting racism. It shows both the hard core racism of the Klan and the more casual racism of Tommy and Roberta’s friends.

I also liked that the book had an even blend of Tommy and Roberta’s story and Superman’s story. Both storylines were well developed and engaging. They also paralleled each other nicely. What I really loved about Superman’s story was how human he was. Like yes he is a superhero with powers, but at his core he is just like us.

One of my favorite parts of the book show more happens in the beginning after the Klan burns a cross in the Lee’s front yard. 3 African American men come to help but Mr. Lee doesn’t want it. One of the men says, “They don’t want us around, not even when their house is on fire.” The other African American man (who is the police inspector) replies, “They got a burning cross on their lawn, don’t they? For tonight, at least, they are us. Even if they don’t want to admit it” (pg 48). This small part left a big impact on me because it shows a hint of the anti-blackness that is sometimes seen in the Asian American community. But it also shows a solidarity. That even though they are different races, they still face similar struggles. They are not as different as they may think.

At the end of the book, there is an essay by the author, “Superman and Me.” The essay gives the historical background behind the story. I really loved it. It not only explained the history of the KKK and racism in the America, but also the story of Superman and how he came to be.

Overall, I really recommend this graphic novel. Its message is an important one, especially in today’s times. show less

There were so many levels to this comic that a review cannot do it justice. It's a story full of heart, written by a writer who has lived what the characters have experienced, who has heard tales from his parents about the exact same things that the Lees go through in this comic. How do we know this; it's included in one of the after stories. The after material is just as important as the comic itself. It takes the story out of the realm of fiction and plants it firmly back into reality, it forces us to look at it and recognise that this actually happened. That these fictional characters are avatars for so many people who were victims of the KKK and still are because it's not gone, the organisation is still alive.

What this comic also show more does is remind us that Superman, one of the most beloved superheroes of all time, is an alien immigrant. At one point in the story, a KKK member turns to him and asks him why he's standing with the Lees because he's a white American. As you can imagine it's a statement that Superman blanches at because at this point in history he hasn't revealed himself as an alien. He, however, knows the truth.

There are racists out there who love Superman, who don't realise that he was originally created by two Jewish young men to be someone from another world, to be an immigrant in America. I didn't know this, and I learned a lot about Superman and the KKK (I'm British so I knew nothing of its history). It's really important for that message to never be forgotten, especially now when the world just seems to be filling with more hate every single day.

So if you do read this comic please take the time to read the information at the end of the comic. Learn new things because as one of my favourite authors says "All knowledge is worth having". show less

This is a period Superman story set in the 1930s & Supes’ early Golden Age years. It’s also an adaptation of a Superman radio serial from the 1940s. Thirdly, it’s written & packaged for a YA/tween readership.

Despite that (or perhaps because of it), this is the best & most evocative Superman story I’ve read in over 40 years. It’s also the best anti-racism story I’ve read recently & easily accessible for young & old.

Had I the means, I’d buy copies of this for every elementary or middle school library I could think of. It’s that good and that important a story to share with our children.