Superman’s saving of a group of immigrants caused a Fox News radio host to lose his mind over his being a “propaganda tool for the defenders of illegal aliens.”
And I thought it was going to be the reveal of the mysterious Mr. Oz that was going to have people talking in that issue.
In this week’s Action Comics 987, Superman saved a group of minorities from a downtrodden man, wrapped in the flag, who took his frustrations out by trying to shoot them. Since the issue came out, there’s been some… negative reaction to the scene from those who support the deportation of undocumented immigrants.
Todd Starnes spent way too long focusing on this scene, and ended the segment by calling out Action Comics publisher DC Comics out for pushing an agenda which he clearly disagrees with:
“Remember when Superman stood for truth, justice and the American way? … It’s unfortunate that DC Comics is turning its stable of iconic heroes into political pawns – hell-bent on indoctrinating our kids.”
The thrust of the issue was the mysterious Mr.Oz, who had been watching over Clark Kent since the start of Rebirth last May, trying to show Superman that the people of Earth weren’t worth saving. In response, Superman saved EVERYONE – the rich, the poor, Americans and people in other countries. Starnes clearly even missed the part where Superman saved a mansion from being burned down by an anarchist. In the same issue.
Something tells me he never really read the issue. Which is shocking.
Action Comics writer Dan Jurgens chimed in on Twitter:
The fact that a few people object to Superman saving innocent, unarmed people pretty much proves the point of the story, sad to say.
— Dan Jurgens (@thedanjurgens) September 14, 2017
In fact, a lot of the response on Twitter countered Starnes’ rant by pointing out the fact that Superman IS an alien and he would almost certainly be a DREAMer, since he came here as a baby.
Not weird that Superman, a character who would be eligible for DACA and was created by 2nd gen Jewish immigrants, is not anti-immigrant
— Adam Serwer 🍝 (@AdamSerwer) September 15, 2017
https://twitter.com/balduran7/status/908758228418174976
https://twitter.com/attackerman/status/908723749972795394
From the New World Encyclopedia website entry on Superman:
Superman took on the role of social activist, fighting crooked businessmen and politicians and demolishing run-down tenements. This is seen by comics scholar Roger Sabin as a reflection of “the liberal idealism of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal,” with Shuster and Siegel initially portraying Superman as champion to a variety of social causes.
In the 1940s the creators of the Superman radio show used the Man of Steel to help to try and take down the Ku Klux Klan. In 1945, a former Klansman worked with the Anti-Defamation League and the Superman show to work as an undercover operative, and the show would reveal Klan secrets, code words and rituals, ripping away the secrecy of the organization.
While the importance of Superman’s political views waned once the Silver Age made him more and more of superhero, the idea that Superman helped EVERYONE, regardless of who they are, never faltered.
The country has become more divided among idealogical lines, but this is just a ridiculous issue to bring up, because it shows a disturbing lack of preparation, and shows zero sense of history of one of America’s most enduring icons of the 20th Century.