I should've seen this one coming.  Of course, I haven't purchased anything with Supes in it since my mom got me one of his comics as a kid, so I never really knew anything about the whole "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" outside of the George Reeves TV series then replaying in syndication.

     But that's the way it is with this hep new generation of writers and editors.  Can't have any mobs going berserk whenever Supes saves an American citizen's life.

Michael wrote: Didn't DC declare at least once that Superman had been granted citizenship in every member of the United Nations? 

**

Yes, it's stated (by Superman) just as you describe, in Superman vs Muhammed Ali.

This is assinine and I'm getting very tired of it. The more they try to insert what they see as relevance into what should be a world of escapist fantasy, the more it starts to look like something bordering on grotesque parody, except that parody is supposed to be funny and this is just sad. Why do we need politics to even be involved in Superman comics? Is there nothing else to do with the character? How about alien invasions, monsters, or...dare I suggest...super-villains?

They've turned what should be a limitless ocean of ideas into a shallow, murky, muddy puddle of sludge. I miss the real DC almost as much as I miss the real Marvel.

Ignoring the politics of this for the moment....This would appear to be InAction Comics, with Ineffectual Man.  He stands by giving Non-Violent support to the Iranian protestors....while they are shot, "disappeared", and beaten?  How does not just a hero but anyone stand by while this happens? 

His year long stroll across America, understanding the everyday problems of its citizens ("Did I remember to mail back my NetFlix?" "How come none of my favorites on American Idol ever win?"), while in the world there are earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados, floods, and nuclear plant disasters that could use, you know, a "Superman" is not just non-heroic but massively self-absorbed. I am guessing Pa Kent would be less than thrilled by Clark's "navel-gazing".

"This is disgraceful in every way. DC Comics should be ashamed".

Right on, Doug!  "American shame", as you have so correctly identified it, is a thoroughly wrong-headed approach to courting the international market through a disingenuous humility.  

I am the first to admit that ours is not a perfect country - our industries, once indisputably the world's finest, have certainly produced more than our share of shoddy products, for which we should be and are rightly ashamed - and we have produced waves of dishonest and unscrupulous politicians who have disgraced us on the global stage, inviting the entirely-deserved mockery and scorn of other countries.

We are still the #1 target country of choice for immigrants from all over the world; our culture is wide-spread, as is the desire to emulate it.  We are still a standard which others aspire to duplicate; others may equal or surpass us for a time, but we swiftly regain our prominence.

I make no apologies for my unwavering love for this country, and will be eternally grateful to my parents for emigrating here.  I am damn proud to be an American, and to have some incompetent hack denigrate it in the hope of generating a few articles for some cheap publicity infuriates me beyond measure.  The editor who approved Superman renouncing his American citizenship should be discharged.

Julius Schwartz must be revolving in his grave.

Why, so you can run and apologize again?