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!

12 meses 12 libros: December: just... several Christmas themed comic books

Imma keep it real wit you, chief.  I did not complete the assignment.  However I can explain, lol.  December's theme was a book with illustrations, and I actually picked the book I planned to read right around the same time I picked my January read.  I was going to read Tales of Zorro, a short story collection I actually bought back in 2017 when I was working on my Zorro NaNo story.  But since I had so many other Zorro books (ones I bought and ones I checked out of the library) I didn't end up reading everything, and since this particular book has nice illustrations I thought it would be perfect for that category.  However I ended up being really stressed, depressed, and even sort of busy and occupied with other things.  So I read a handful of Christmas themed comic books in the week leading up to Christmas, and that was about all I finished in the month.  However, it added up to a couple hundred pages so... book?  Book.

So a lot of Disney comics and one Betty and Veronica, all Christmas themed.  That's Betty and Veronica Christmas Spectacular #1, Mickey and Donald Christmas Parade #1-4, Dell's Four Color Comic #178, and Uncle Scrooge #9 (from the current IDW series).

Because there were several titles here, I'll have to do this a little differently than I usually do these posts.  I did put brief reviews of some of them on Goodreads, but I read them all pretty quickly and didn't want to bombard all my friends with tons of comic book reviews in a row, lol.  I'll just give my brief thoughts.

The Betty and Veronica comic is super short, just a standard 22 page issue with several shorter stories.  I was thinking it'd be a longer collection, like the ones they have for Halloween in the Pep Digital line.  It was cute, but not worth the $3 comixology asks.

The Mickey and Donald Christmas Parade issues were all really fun. Some were better than others (the second was my favorite), but they're all worth reading, especially if you like comics and Disney.  And Christmas, obvs lol.

Four Color #178 and Uncle Scrooge #9 are an interesting back to back read.  The four color story is Scrooge's first appearance in a story called "Christmas on Bear Mountain."  (Fun fact: Uncle Scrooge was actually created for the comics, not the cartoons!)  Scrooge is more of a curmudgeon than he is later, but it's still a fun story and very historically significant for fans of Disney Duck comics.  I originally read this story in the Carl Barks collection just called Christmas in Bear Mountain, so this was the first time I read the back up story (which wasn't written by Barks, but it was weird and fun -- Mickey and Goofy got jobs at Santa's workshop and had to find a missing reindeer).  Uncle Scrooge #9 is a retelling of that story, sort of a what-if, told from Scrooge's POV.  I enjoyed both of these a lot.

I would recommend these comics for the next holiday season!  Also, since I feel bad about not finishing and reviewing that Zorro book like I planned, I will review it when I finally do finish it.  (I've read two of seventeen stories and will be reading other stuff for reading challenges I'm working on for the new year, so it may not be soon... but I WILL do it, because I am a dumb and determined bitch,  lol.)

Woo-oo!

Lately the thing I'm obsessed with is Ducktales, and the original Duck comics by Carl Barks.  Its funny that Uncle Scrooge is at times kind of a jerk but he's still a likeable character.  Deep down, you know he's a good guy who cares about his family and the people around him, but sometimes he gets blinded by material things.  And that could happen to anyone.  The stories are fun and funny though... I hope to read more of the comics (got a couple volumes requested at the library) and watch even more episodes of the show!