I 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.
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
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.
Some day they’ll deconstruct the social standards of the late 20th-early 21st centuries by looking at the comics.
And yes, I pull that kluklor line to impress the ladies all the time.
How’s that work for ya?
Lots of planets have a North!
In related news, Obama’s making a comic book appearance, and it’s not with the Kryptonian. That’s gotta hurt…
SaveFarris, haven’t you noticed that we never
see BHO and Superman at the same time?
Things that make you go hmmmmm. . . .
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.
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speaking of race and of dc comics, have you picked up the reintroduction of black lightning this week?