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Evan S. Kurtz
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 July 2022
Location: Canada
Posts: 126
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| Posted: 15 July 2025 at 12:13pm | IP Logged | 1
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I believe there are certainly immigrant kids who read Superman comics, as much as kids of any ilk read comics in 2025. There would be worse things in my mind than a story that explores Superman's "immigrant status" in a way that reinforces some positivity in the lives of the kids reading it - he's supposed to be an inspiration to us, after all.
JB, if your point is that they would somehow botch telling that story, you might have a point. I think it could be ham-fisted if they weren't careful and maybe a little over-the-top by way of virtue signalling, but there would be worse things in the world than writing a positive story about the bravery and strength of immigrants.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 15 July 2025 at 12:42pm | IP Logged | 2
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Speaking as an immigrant, there was no time in my life when I ever felt the need for "positive reinforcement". Indeed, as Superman himself has traditionally been portrayed, I felt proud of my heritage, but saw myself as part of the nation (Canada originally) in which I had come to reside.The notion of Superman as a "stranger in a strange land" is a Julie Schwartz add on, and really was not representative of the character who saw himself as standing for "Truth, Justice and the American Way!"
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Evan S. Kurtz
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 July 2022
Location: Canada
Posts: 126
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| Posted: 15 July 2025 at 2:06pm | IP Logged | 3
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I'm also an immigrant, to Canada from the US. I've been a teacher in Toronto for more than 15 years now. As an aside, because I think it's fascinating, in my entire career, I've never, ever had a student whose family was multi-generational Canadian all the way back. Every kid I've ever taught here is an immigrant, the child of an immigrant, or the grandchild of an immigrant.
It's unfortunate that our world has become so polarizing about immigrants, because our world would be inconceivably different if folks never had moved around, but I could absolutely get behind a story about a successful immigrant who has acclimated to his new place while still honoring the place from which he originally came - and if they told that story about Superman, it would be denigrated for being too "woke." But if Superman is for kids, I feel like there are a lot of kids out there who could use the "positive reinforcement," as you say, because everywhere around them they are getting quite a lot of the opposite of that. Just my two cents.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 15 July 2025 at 2:21pm | IP Logged | 4
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I'm also an immigrant, to Canada from the US. I've been a teacher in Toronto for more than 15 years now. As an aside, because I think it's fascinating, in my entire career, I've never, ever had a student whose family was multi-generational Canadian all the way back. Every kid I've ever taught here is an immigrant, the child of an immigrant, or the grandchild of an immigrant. ••• A high school chum told of filling out forms in grade school, and a home room teacher who would not allow him to identify himself as “Canadian”. He was born there, as was his father and grandfather, but the teacher insisted he go back four generations to identify himself as English. To this day this one bewilders me.
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
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| Posted: 15 July 2025 at 4:57pm | IP Logged | 5
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The "stranger in a strange land" trope is a good one for Superman, but only if it's accurately understand as generally analogous to Moses, who came to Midian as a refugee, initially a stranger, but then found a home, a wife, a family, and his very purpose in life.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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| Posted: 15 July 2025 at 5:31pm | IP Logged | 6
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Moses came as a baby. Not likely with many memories. Superman started as a newborn and over the years grew to a talking toddler, loaded with memories of life on Krypton. Still, as I told Julie, every time Superman proclaimed “Great Rao!” he was spitting in the faces of Jonathan and Martha.
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
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| Posted: 15 July 2025 at 6:41pm | IP Logged | 7
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The analogies between Superman and Moses are loose (and should be) but still variously present, particularly in Jewish tradition, where Moses' biological family, especially his mother, were involved directly in his upbringing and so he knew his origins. Some of the more mythical stories state that baby Moses had a kind of "super" memory even as an infant of his Hebrew background.Nonetheless, Superman stands as his own character (and should). I think it would be fine to have Superman exclaim, as he did earlier than referencing Rao, "Great Scott!" And I'd love the idea that Jonathan & Martha were descendants of Kansans who had supported General Winfield Scott in anti-slavery election campaigns as well as overall always and only free soilers. |
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Brian ONeill
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 July 2024
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| Posted: 16 July 2025 at 5:53am | IP Logged | 8
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Grüß Gott!
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