Krypton Gets Race

3:47 am EST January 8th, 2009 | Comic Books | 10 Comments

jor-el and laraI haven’t purchased the New Krypton story in Superman yet (I’ll probably just buy the trade if DC gets it out in a timely manner) but apparently they’re showing that Krypton wasn’t just for white guys.

For the character’s first 30 years, Superman’s homeworld of Krypton was all-white. It was only in 1971 —33 years after Superman’s debut in 1938 — that the first non-white Kryptonian was seen. A few months later, the idea of non-white Kryptonians was expanded upon.

‘In issue #239, a two-page map showed that Kryptonians of color had an island all to themselves, which is pretty embarrassing,’ says Mark Waid, Boom! Studios Editor-in-Chief, occasional DC Comics writer, and pretty much expert in all things Superman.

What’s interesting is that silver age Superman learned the Kryptonian martial art of Kluklor as a child with his father, so you would think there was some asian influence. And yes, I pull that kluklor line to impress the ladies all the time.

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10 Responses to “Krypton Gets Race”

  1. Gyuss Baaltar says:
    January 8, 2009 at 7:12 am

    Almost as embarrassing as in the 60′s when it was revealed 1000 years in the future all the people of color in DC Earth lived on a separate island, via Adventure Comics and the Legion

  2. SpiderJ says:
    January 8, 2009 at 9:39 am

    OW, not to get overly sensitive about it, but just because something is called a martial art doesn’t mean it’s Asian. It just means it’s a discipline that teaches you to fight.

  3. Parthenon says:
    January 8, 2009 at 9:44 am

    Some day they’ll deconstruct the social standards of the late 20th-early 21st centuries by looking at the comics.

  4. Duros62 says:
    January 8, 2009 at 10:01 am

    And yes, I pull that kluklor line to impress the ladies all the time.

    How’s that work for ya? :)

  5. August J. Pollak says:
    January 8, 2009 at 10:15 am

    Lots of planets have a North!

  6. SaveFarris says:
    January 8, 2009 at 10:52 am

    In related news, Obama’s making a comic book appearance, and it’s not with the Kryptonian. That’s gotta hurt…

  7. Robert says:
    January 8, 2009 at 2:04 pm

    SaveFarris, haven’t you noticed that we never
    see BHO and Superman at the same time?

    Things that make you go hmmmmm. . . .

  8. Jay Tea says:
    January 8, 2009 at 10:19 pm

    That Kryptonians didn’t have the racial diversity that humans have for a long time is no big deal. That black Kryptonians were eventually established, on their own separate island, is again no big deal — it follows the Earth model, where racial groups had distinct geographic origins.

    That the Legion of Super-Heroes introduced their first black member as a native of a black separatist Brigadoon, that he wore a disco outfit and and afro, and his power was shouting in gibberish… that was downright embarrassing. And I say that as a longtime Legion fan who still remembers the first Legion comic I ever bought — S&LSH 235, which came out a year or two after Tyroc made his debut.

    J.

  9. Obama & Spider-Man | Oliver Willis says:
    January 9, 2009 at 12:10 pm

    [...] first noted this awesome yesterday. The president-elect is featured on an upcoming issue of Spiderman, [...]

  10. brian griffin says:
    January 11, 2009 at 8:06 pm

    speaking of race and of dc comics, have you picked up the reintroduction of black lightning this week?