Alternative Superman

[Whitewings]

We all know Superman's origin. But... what if, instead of being a white boy raised on a farm by white folks, Superman had been black? And raised by a black farming family? What differences might this have led to?

 

Please, no flames. I'm not posting this to be racist or offensive, it's just a "What if?" I came up with, and would appreciate some thoughts about.

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: Alternative Superman

 

We all know Superman's origin. But... what if' date=' instead of being a white boy raised on a farm by white folks, Superman had been black? And raised by a black farming family? What differences might this have led to?[/quote']

 

He might have become Icon instead.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icon%28comics%29

 

(seriously though, Icon was a great comic. Written by Dwane McDuffie, who among other things, has had a hand in the JLU animated series.)

[Starfighter]

Re: Alternative Superman

 

Well the concept with a black or any non-white protagonist would have never come about in 1938.

 

We saw a large influx of black, latino and asian superheroes come in during the 70's and 80's, but no real Superman archetypes. And many of the ones that did appear didn’t have a lot of staying power.

 

As far as I'm aware, Icon was the first true black Superman archetype.

 

For me as a bi-racial person what I liked about Icon and why I think it worked is because they managed to avoid the trap that many black superhero books fall into to. That trap is they make the focus of the book about the hero fighting mainly black villains, and only fighting crime or villainy in black-oriented areas and storylines dealing mainly with topical racial issues.

 

Icon avoided that. While it never shied away from racial issues, it was never the one and only focus of the series. To me, it was (and is) the perfect way to handle that type of character.

 

I would love to see a high-profile, super-powerful non-white (Maybe even a bi-racial guy) hero in Marvel or DC. It's too bad Marvel couldn't have done that with the Sentry.

[Ockham's Spoon]

Re: Alternative Superman

 

I agree with Starfighter on how a non-white hero should be handled if the comic isn't going to become preachy or bigoted or some land in some other pitfall.

 

That said, if you were to introduce a black superhero into the 1940's culture, the racial issue would dog him everywhere. Look what happened when black athletes started to appear in national sports. Now we take it for granted, but back then it was a real issue because there were no high profile black people. A powerful black superhero would have that problem ten times over. It isn't that the hero defines himself by race, but everyone else would, and so he would constantly be confronted with the issue.

 

Even today our society does that. What do you think the first line of Colin Powell's obituary will be when he dies? First black secretary of state. Whatever other attributes he has, good or bad, that is how society has defined him first and foremost. Pity.

 

_________________________________________________

No quote here. Just go watch Blazing Saddles again. The best in stereotype bashing.

[sinanju]

Re: Alternative Superman

 

We all know Superman's origin. But... what if, instead of being a white boy raised on a farm by white folks, Superman had been black? And raised by a black farming family? What differences might this have led to?

 

Please, no flames. I'm not posting this to be racist or offensive, it's just a "What if?" I came up with, and would appreciate some thoughts about.

 

[waves pistol around]

I'm hijacking this thread! Anybody wants trouble, just try me!

 

I prefer to consider OTHER sorts of "alternate supermen." For instance:

 

Clark Kennedy -- Young Kal-El's rocketship is discovered by Joe Kennedy, who takes the foundling and raises him to be a true Kennedy. In the mid-70s young Clark Kennedy becomes the second Kennedy elected POTUS. At last, a bulletproof President!

 

Clark Von Strakenberg: Kal-El is discovered and raised by the patriarch of the Van Strakenberg family in the Domination of the Draka. Clark grows up to become supreme overlord of earth, as is clearly his due as a Superman among men.

[David Johnston]

Re: Alternative Superman

 

Assuming that we are talking about a Superman making his debut in 1938, it's very possible that he'd resort to a full face mask and gloves to conceal his skin colour to avoid doing more harm than good by creating public backlash. He'd only reveal his identity once he was well established as a national hero.

 

And of course then the readers would gripe about the retcon.

[keithcurtis]

Re: Alternative Superman

 

Did the Sunshine Superman pre-date Icon? Granted SS was a throwawy character from Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man, but I'm curious about the timing.

 

Keith "and too lazy to look it up" Curtis

[nexus]

Re: Alternative Superman

 

Well, his costume would more than likely be more concealing as stated just to avoid too much public outcry about a black man with that much power. Given that early Superman was a more violent character, I could see him taking a pretty aggressive stance against the racism prevelant in the time, perhaps even a vigilante mentality depending on how it effected him. Its HIGHLY unlikely there would be any caucasian girlfriends, even crushes on his masked idenity. Realistically, his life would have been less that idyllic and the character might be harder and more aggressive for it.

[Kevin B. Madiso]

Re: Alternative Superman

 

I think a more interesting question is, what if he were African?

 

Imagine a black Superman raised in the turmoil of mid to late 20th century Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe or the Congo. What happens when someone with that much power comes from having so little? What happens when an apartheid state is confronted with someone who completely disproves the state's racist ideology (or, if he turns violent, possibly supports it)? What happens to the international system when it suddenly becomes apparent that one of the poorest nations on the planet (using 'nation' in the loosest sense of the word in the Congo's case) suddenly has someone more powerful than all the militaries of the world?

[Squall]

Re: Alternative Superman

 

For me as a bi-racial person what I liked about Icon and why I think it worked is because they managed to avoid the trap that many black superhero books fall into to. That trap is they make the focus of the book about the hero fighting mainly black villains, and only fighting crime or villainy in black-oriented areas and storylines dealing mainly with topical racial issues.

 

Big fat +1. It always bothers me (even today) when Marvel and DC try real hard to be all "edgy" or "modern" by having a black/asian/gay/hispanic character, but then they just beat you over the freakin' head with it, rubbing your nose in it, mentioning it over and over again, having bad guys mention it, other good guys mention it, having the character think about it all the time, blah blah blah.

 

This really hit me while I was rereading some older Authority comics the other day. They're gay, we get it, allright? You don't have to make that the central (and only) defining characteristic of the character -- just like Batman doesn't obsess about being white or Superman whinge on and on about being straight all the time.

 

Someone's race, religion, or sexuality is just one aspect of who they are, comic-book-writer-people! *shakes his fist* Give it a rest, would'ja?

[Arac-4105]

Re: Alternative Superman

 

Someone's race' date=' religion, or sexuality is just [i']one aspect[/i] of who they are, comic-book-writer-people! *shakes his fist* Give it a rest, would'ja?

 

Repped.

 

Now if only more comic book writers read these forums.