Superman Renounces U.S. Citizenship

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Time to tweak that catchphrase "truth, justice and the American way"? Superman is renouncing his U.S. citizenship in DC's new "Action Comics #900."

According to Newsarama.com, in the story, Superman is scolded by a member of the president's security staff for appearing at a protest in Iran, with the notion that Superman's actions reflect the positions of U.S. government as a whole.

In-story, this makes sense. Superman's not big on dealing with political consequences - he sees injustice, he fights injustice. Whether it's in America or anywhere else in the world, he's never been concerned with which side of a line on a map he's on. And part of the story does include him realizing that he didn't think about the fallout his actions would cause.

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"Besides being riddled with a blatant lack of patriotism, and respect for our country, Superman's current creators are belittling the United States as a whole. By denouncing his citizenship, Superman becomes an eerie metaphor for the current economic and power status the country holds worldwide," Hollywood publicist and GOP activist Angie Meyer told FOX411's Pop Tarts column.

There is a big difference between denouncing and renouncing - he's not saying being an American is bad. He's saying that as long as he is a citizen of one nation, other nations will see that first and react accordingly.

But of course, it must be a liberal plot to make Superman "weak". I swear, some people will see liberal boogeymen at a lemonade stand.

No kidding.

Spotts1701 wrote:

I swear, some people will see liberal boogeymen at a lemonade stand.

Those dumb kids selling drinks for a nickel, the money stays at one place at the bottom with people who don't know how to manage it. People should buy lemonade from the big companies, the people who know how to use it, and let the growth from the investment trickle down to everyone

Well, he was always kind of a dick.

We were talking about this in the chatbox the other night...

I'm putting my personal guarantee that this story will go nowhere and wind up presenting a confused, probably hypocritical message, purely because it is being written by DC.

I have no confidence whenever DC tries to do anything 'deep' or political. Especially when Superman is involved.

Look at the last time Supes tried to make a statement. Presenting: Superman: Grounded.

But in short: Supes decided to not fly for a year. To 'walk the earth' Cain style.

This is monumentally stupid, but even more stupid is this:

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Yeah...

There's a full write up here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This is what happens when you use Superman to make a political or moral message. It just doesn't work. You simply cannot apply Superman to regular politics, he's an Ubermench, and one who has decided to apply himself to the wellbeing to a species well below him. So whenever he handicaps himself, or limits his focus somewhere, to make a point, it's like an Ant Farmer blindfolding himself while tending to them to try and teach the ants a lesson.

Clark Kent: The Great Tax Evasion Scam.

See I disagree with WD40, this is one politcal message Superman can make, because for one, America is his adopted country just like Earth is his adopted planet.
If being associated with America gets in the way of protecting the whole world, something Superman has always been about then calling himself a free agent, that he is not an american, he is Superman. Especially when when being associant with a specific country is getting the way of his world saving.

Penguin wrote:

Well, he was always kind of a dick.

To use one of Cyberwulf's favorite abbreviations, FTFY.

WD40 wrote:

This is monumentally stupid, but even more stupid is this:
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You know, the frustrating thing about that series is that it repeatedly comes close to having a point. And every time it almost gets that far, it's completely undone by the setting or circumstances they're trying to make the point in.

I don't think Superman is impossible to use for political storytelling, but the thing is, you have to have a very clear idea of what the dude represents. It's been clear that they've wanted to make Superman have more international appeal for awhile, what with "Truth, Justice and the American Way" becoming "Truth, Justice and All That Good Stuff."

That's a cop-out. You've ruined any chance you had of relevant, thoughtful political exploration with Superman.

Somath Cegem wrote:

See I disagree with WD40, this is one politcal message Superman can make, because for one, America is his adopted country just like Earth is his adopted planet.
If being associated with America gets in the way of protecting the whole world, something Superman has always been about then calling himself a free agent, that he is not an american, he is Superman. Especially when when being associant with a specific country is getting the way of his world saving.

It shouldn't matter, he's Superman. Hell, unlike many superheroes, having Superman around doesn't mean that your neighborhood is about to be trashed in an epic battle; he could just be there to stop a plane from falling on your house, or stop wildfires from destroying homes and ranches... Fukushima Daiichi and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill wouldn't even be front-page news if Supes was around. Basically, unless you planned to do something bad to other people and you spotted him, there'd be no reason not to wave with a stupid grin and yell "Hi, Superman!"

And this is why trying to shuck off the American aspect is a big mistake if you want to try to make some sort of political point. Being American is part of Superman's identity. All the best traits of American ideology, hell, identity as a nation are wrapped up in Superman. The slogan "Truth, justice and the American Way" was more than just a tagline. It was everything Superman stood for.

This is where DC drops the ball. Disillusioned Superman is always a self-absorbed, douchebaggy Superman who nevertheless fights for whatever the writers at the time feel is the right cause. They don't meet the character on the character's terms: If Superman became disillusioned with the American Way, the last thing he would be likely to do is go on some sort of hipster, solipsistic, Eat-Pray-Love bullshit journey of self-discovery.

The thing is, wrapped up in the American Way is optimism with a heavy dose of naivete. People often accuse Americans of being arrogant, but naivete is closer to the point. We want to believe that everything can be fixed if someone with the resources to help simply cared enough (and our government is usually That Somebody). It doesn't matter who you are, on some level you believe in this, which is why you will always find someone arguing for some manner of international intervention. Iraq, Darfur, Libya... the list goes on. We are mighty. We are just. We should step in and right those wrongs.

Superman is all of that wrapped up into one man.

The closest to relevant political commentary using Superman was achieved with the Red Son miniseries. Even there I think it kinda dropped the ball on several key points; it kind of assumed that Superman's sense of justice was just something stuck in his DNA, all nature, no nurture. The dude was a favorite of Stalin despite Stalin's rather blatant displays of murderous douchebaggery during his rule. They failed to deliver Superman from a Soviet perspective; they merely gave us American Superman working for the Soviet Union. The only real trait that was different was that he backed aggressive expansion of Soviet ideology all over the world. Hell, under Soviet Superman's idealism, communism actually worked.

It would've worked as parody. If they were trying to satirize a demigod playing favorites with a superpower nation and thus demonstrate the consequences that would have for humanity worldwide, they missed their mark. Superman was still good and just. The only holdouts were villains like Lex Luthor, POTUS.

Superman is so ridiculously powerful that there is an incredible well to be tapped in one area: Subjectivity. A power of his level deals in absolutes. What if his superpowered expression of the American Way hurts innocent people? This is never really touched. Drug dealers are the only collateral damage in Superman's world.

And this is why trying to make him an international entity for justice fails on every level to make him relevant in politics. It reduces Superman to just this guy who punches robbers in the face, and stuff. Everyone can get behind that. But let's see them tackle something like Superman preventing calamitous natural disasters from destroying a loosely US-allied nation like Pakistan. A one-man force of goodwill? Okay, whatever. The physical embodiment of Truth, Justice and the American Way? Noooow things are getting a bit more touchy.

Chris91 wrote:

Penguin wrote:

Well, he was always kind of a dick.

To use one of Cyberwulf's favorite abbreviations, FTFY.

What.

What did you change? You realize that stands for "Fixed That For You," right?

Uh, no, I didn't, actually. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Now I just wonder what you THOUGHT it stood for.

I made the same mistake. I thought it stood for "Fuck This, Fuck You."

Well in THAT case, I back up my original post with documented evidence.

How is he an American citizen in the first place? He came to this country on a rocket from halfway across the galaxy.

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

How is he an American citizen in the first place? He came to this country on a rocket from halfway across the galaxy.

Well, he was adopted as Clark Kent in the 30's by American citizens (and in the 1930's they weren't exactly going to do a deep background on two farmers who show up with an infant they want to adopt), and someone mentioned that in the 1960's that "Superman" was made an American citizen by Executive Order. That's the little part that seems unclear - Superman is renouncing his citizenship, but Clark Kent isn't.

Besides, you think anyone in U.S. Law Enforcement is going to try and arrest Superman?

Spotts1701 wrote:

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

How is he an American citizen in the first place? He came to this country on a rocket from halfway across the galaxy.

Well, he was adopted as Clark Kent in the 30's by American citizens (and in the 1930's they weren't exactly going to do a deep background on two farmers who show up with an infant they want to adopt), and someone mentioned that in the 1960's that "Superman" was made an American citizen by Executive Order. That's the little part that seems unclear - Superman is renouncing his citizenship, but Clark Kent isn't.

Besides, you think anyone in U.S. Law Enforcement is going to try and arrest Superman?

If anyone besides Lex Luthor has the resources to procure some Kryptonite, it's the US government. As far as I'm aware, it'd make arresting him excruciatingly easy.

Spotts1701 wrote:

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

How is he an American citizen in the first place? He came to this country on a rocket from halfway across the galaxy.

Well, he was adopted as Clark Kent in the 30's by American citizens (and in the 1930's they weren't exactly going to do a deep background on two farmers who show up with an infant they want to adopt), and someone mentioned that in the 1960's that "Superman" was made an American citizen by Executive Order. That's the little part that seems unclear - Superman is renouncing his citizenship, but Clark Kent isn't.

Heck, at one point, the lore was that he was actually born on American soil: in the John Byrne Post-Crisis version of Krypton, their society had become a cold, austere super-sciencey one where new children were grown by combining their parents' DNA in artificial wombs; Jor-El and Lara didn't even meet until right before Krypton blew up. Anyway, the gestation pod holding the in-utero Kal-El was what was sent to Earth in the rocket--Clark wasn't actually born until the pod opened up in Kansas right after Johnathan and Martha Kent found it. Even better, Kansas was immediately snowed over and the Kents didn't get to talk to anyone for a few months, so they were able to pass of Clark as their natural child--no adoption or "doctored papers" needed.

They even used this loophole to let Superman get elected President in one of the Armageddon 2001 Annual.

Captain America did it...

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Granted, I'm not very familiar with the Nomad story arch (or Captain America in general) and I'm not sure if he renounces his U.S. citizenship, but I know there was a period when he became disillusioned with America, and this storyline seems very similar.

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Superman not flying comic

"Because I'm not the hero that there deserves. I'm the hero that here wants. Not the hero that will be there for those who want him but here for the one that there wants to deserve. To be here and to want me there so I will be here not there and you can deserve to want me there but I will always be here. Because I'm the hero Metropolis deserves. Because Metropolis is here. Not there."

Reason #482 why BBC doesn't read a lot of comics anymore.

EileenK98 wrote:

I made the same mistake. I thought it stood for "Fuck This, Fuck You."

If you first saw that being used by Cyberwulf, I can completely understand where you got that interpretation from.