Superman Smashes the Klan Review

I've been meaning to sit down and get this post out for a while, and since I've had nothing but time, I have no excuse other than life has been real weird, lol.  Anyways, I recently finally sat down and read the Superman Smashes the Klan miniseries and I just want to talk about it, because it was phenomenal. 

I'm sure you all know that this is based on a storyline that ran on the 1940s Superman radio show -- and that that radio show storyline actually really undermined the real life KKK.  You can grab this book if you want to read more about that, because it is truly fascinating.  Late last year, DC did a three issue miniseries adapting the radio show into a beautiful comic by Gene Luen Yang with art by Gurihiru.  The thing that impressed me most with this story was how wonderfully deep and complex Clark is written to be.  Clark Kent is my favorite fictional character ever, and I dig any work that bothers to explore his feelings.  Gene gives us a Clark who is scared and insecure but trying his hardest.  We get a Clark who doubts himself and doesn't always know how to express himself, but a Clark who isn't afraid of his emotions and loves with his whole heart.  We get a Clark who is as emotionally strong as he is physically strong and doesn't give up when he's tested.

Clark wasn't the only character who I loved though.  I absolutely fell in love with Roberta, the young Chinese girl whose family faces discrimination.  She and Clark have very similar character arcs in that they both have a lot of fear holding them back, but they push on for the sake of doing what is right and end up realizing that they're capable of more than they ever realized.  Roberta is sweet and brave and lonely and sad and a little weird.  She's a spectacular character, and I know this is a self contained little miniseries but I wouldn't mind seeing more of her if it was somehow possible.  Maybe a Roberta spin off series?  I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd read it.

 

One thing I also liked was how absolutely shocked the well-meaning white characters (including Clark, to some extent) were to see the Lee family face the kind of discrimination they were dealing with.  It's very realistic for people who are sheltered and who are pretty accepting themselves have a hard time wrapping their minds around that kind of hate.  It also shows that you couldn't really understand how it feels to be treated like shit for who you are unless you've experienced.  Clark is an immigrant and grew up feeling like an outsider because he was different -- he gets it, and I think that's why he and Roberta bond so well.  They have a lot in common. 

I think the fact that there are also white characters who aren't outwardly violent and aren't members of the Klan or anything but still support the same racist views was very important.  A lot of racists are quiet about it, but they're bigots just the same.

Each of the three issues has a prose story from the author about his experiences with the character of Superman and his experiences growing up Chinese.  This story takes place in 1946, and Gene obviously grew up much much later -- but not a lot of things have changed.  The piece is even more relevant now than just a few months ago -- especially considering that anti-Asian racism and hate crimes are on the rise right in the wake of the Coronavirus... really proves that many people are still looking for reasons to hate Asian folks, and it's disgraceful.  (Side note, racism is never excusable, no matter what your "justification" is.)

The art is absolutely gorgeous -- these issues have a precious Clark -- and I would love to see more comics in this style.

Over all, I couldn't recommend this series any more highly.  Do yourself a favor and check it.  Even if you're not a Superman fan, I think you could get something out of this.

And if you're an old time radio fan like myself, or if the comic has piqued your interest, you can listen to the entire Clan of the Fiery Cross storyline from the Superman radio show here on youtube!