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| Gene Luen Yang writes for DC Comics. |
Comics don't get the respect that is often given to other forms of literature. However, contemporary comics are more than just cartoons. They have evolved into illustrated novels with complex characters confronting moral dilemmas and storylines that are relevant to today's readers.
The rise of today's white supremacists, for example.
Today, Wednesday, Feb. 19, DC Comics is releasing another important book by Gene Luen Yang, Superman Smashes the Klan, which is a book inspired by the 1946 radio serial storyline “Clan of the Fiery Cross”.
In the original radio story, Superman steps in to help an Asian-American family deal with a group of racists. You can find a summary of the story here, and listen to the audio here
Here are excerpts of recent interview of Yang by Ron Seoul-Oh, founder and editor of POC Culture.
POC Culture: Switching gears to Superman Smashes the Klan, a really unique and timely project. You mentioned that you were reluctant in terms of taking it on, where did that come from and why did you ultimately decide to do it?
GLY: For this project I put in a proposal for it with DC Comics, but shortly after I did, I did feel kind of freaked out about it. It deals with a lot of subjects that are touchy in modern day America. It’s about racism – the fundamental question behind it is whether or not a multicultural country can work. It was a question that was around after World War II ended, which was when the original story came out, and I think that question has reared its head again in very intense way. And it’s not just in America, the question of multiculturalism has reared its head all over the globe right now. As someone who grew up in the 80s and 90s, it’s really unexpected.
Q: The book is inspired by the Superman radio story Clan of the Fiery Cross, which itself is credited with subverting some of the KKK’s efforts in the 40s. What is the message that you’re hoping to get across?
GLY: I went into the project wanting to learn myself. I wanted to learn about the 40s and what America was like after the end of the war. After doing my research, this is what I came away thinking – before World War II there had always been two streams in America: One stream that was “All human beings are created equal” and then there was another stream that was “These particular people are worth 3/5ths.” And these two streams were competing. Then in World War II, America went across the ocean to fight these Nazis. but really a big core of the Nazi philosophy was centered around Madison Grant, who was an American. He was an advisor to President Theodore Roosevelt. He was a conservationist but also a pretty intense eugenicist and deeply racist. He wrote this book called The Passing of the Great Race and Hitler called this American book his Bible. So in some ways, as an American, you can see World War II as our country going across the ocean to face ourselves, or the worst version of ourselves. And when the war ends and the American troops come back, I think they saw what one of the streams of American history led to – it leads to concentration camps, it leads to genocide – so there was this embrace of the other side, at least in these really big and influential corners of America. It wasn’t 100%. It was an imperfect embrace, it was incomplete, but there was this sense that we saw what that other way of thinking leads to and we don’t want that. I think we’ve forgotten that. Whatever we learned by fighting the worst version of ourselves in Europe, we’ve forgotten.
I think that Superman radio show, it came out a year after the end of the war, in some ways you can see a crystallization of what America learned in World War II.
Q: I’ve heard you say that Superman is a symbol of American tolerance and his story is, at its core, an immigrant story. How much of that do you get to tackle in this book?
GLY: When I first signed on to do Superman, I did 10 issues beginning in 2015, that was my connection point with the character. I had always thought of Superman as this dweeb and kind of a square. That flipped for me when I realized the reason he’s a square is the same reason my parents are square – it’s because they’re immigrants. They know they’re foreigners and they know that there’s a part of them that’s deeply threatening to the people around them. So they gotta hide it under this perfect facade. They have to be the perfect citizens because if they’re not, people will start questioning their citizenship. That same dynamic is there for Superman. So that was my connection point and that’s kind of what I wanted to talk about. Writing mostly superhero comics is really crazy! I had a great time doing it, but at the same time, I felt like I never got to explore that core of the character and that’s what this is. This is me being able to talk about that.
I actually think that’s one of the big differences between Batman and Superman. Batman dresses up to be scary. Batman’s a WASP! [laughing] He fits right in! There’s nothing scary about him. If things had gone the way they were supposed to go, if his parents were never killed, he’d probably be like some kind of politician or something. You know? Everybody would love him. He’d go to these fund raising galas. He’d become the mayor of Gotham. But Superman, deep down inside, is legitimately scary. He’s this foreigner, he’s an immigrant, he’s from this completely different culture. So I think he wears these bright colors so people don’t freak out about him as much.
Q: We’re in a time where Asian representation in media is growing quickly. How have you experienced that and where would you like to see that representation go in the next couple of years?
GLY: It’s been really cool to see. It’s fun to turn on Netflix and have Netflix recommend shows and movies with Asian characters in in. I never would have imagined that when I was in high school – to have mainstream American media feature predominantly Asian casts. I think it’s been great. It’s not prefect of course. Asian-America is diverse. Asian-America is also a diversity fractal, and there are definitely corners of Asian-America that are not well represented now. But the changes that we’re seeing in media now is one of the most hopeful parts of American society to me.
Be sure to go to your favorite comics store to pick up Superman Smashes the Klan today!
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