James Gunn‘s Superman has been getting praise since it was first released to critics, but that’s not really that surprising. Gunn has so far proven to be one of the best purveyors of superheroes outside of comics, and his work on the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, and Creature Commandos have given fans some of the best superhero adaptations of all time. Gunn is a huge fan of these characters, and has an understanding of them that is unmatched in the pantheon of superhero movie talent. Gunn’s love of Superman has been apparent since he was announced as the head of DC Studios and the writer/director behind the first Superman movie since the fall of the DCEU. Gunn has been under fire since all of this was announced — which was honestly expected from those the Internet calls the “SnyderBros” — but the most recent Superman controversy is the most asinine.
Gunn called Superman’s history an immigrant story, and a certain segment of the population made this into a whole culture war thing. Now, obviously, something of this nature was going to happen at some point — any superhero media that isn’t completely jingoistic is decried by the right for not being true to the character according to the worst fans you know — but this time it’s especially egregious. It’s one thing to think that Captain America represents conservative values, but it’s another to say that Superman isn’t an immigrant. Superman has always been partly about the immigrant experience in America (despite the major post-Crisis reboot of DC changing some of the fundamentals of the character; more on that later,) and the proof is in the pudding. Or in this case, the pages.
Superman’s Story Is That of an Undocumented Immigrant and Always Has Been
Superman was raised in the farmlands of Kansas, taught the values of the United States and the ideals behind them. However, right from the moment that Superman’s origin was presented in the comics, he was obviously an immigrant. He was sent from a far away land to Earth. Ma and Pa Kent forged the documents that he would need, and that’s really all there is to it. Any view of Superman that doesn’t include this idea isn’t correct. One of the most interesting things about the Superman mythos is the way that he did his best to incorporate both sides of his existence in his life. Superman stories of the Silver and Bronze Age featured a very Kryptonian Superman. Sure, he was still the same character who been raised by the Kents in the heartland, but he also embraced his heritage. Seriously, go back and read some of those classic Superman books; you’ll see Superman embracing his heritage as a Kryptonian (to the point he would use the word Rao in the place of God, because Rao was a Kryptonian god.) He was often called Kal, and ended up going back in time to Krypton to meet his parents many times over the years. This was all a normal part of the character Superman. He was all-American, but he was also not. I honestly think that back then, when most families were closer to the homes they had come from, this was a more prevalent attitude. Newly arrived immigrants didn’t completely assimilate, they brought their culture with them and it was incorporated into that of the United States, making everyone better off. Superman’s experience in the Silver and Bronze Age was very much the immigrant experience in the United States, and it helped make Superman comics much better.
This was just a normal part of Superman history, but it was one that went away in the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths DC. For those that don’t know, Crisis did away with the DC Multiverse and brought major changes to the characters of DC, “modernizing” them. Writer/artist John Byrne was given the reins and he completely changed Superman. Instead of being sent to Earth as an infant, he was sent in a Kryptonian birthing matrix and was only born when he got to Earth and Kansas. Byrne was writing a more conservative Superman for the Reagan era. Byrne wanted to more explicitly connect Superman to America, and did away with everything that didn’t support this idea, other than something integral like the Fortress of Solitude. Unlike the Silver and Bronze Age, Superman no longer cared very much for his Kryptonian heritage. There were no more time travel trips to Krypton or “Great Rao!” or being called Kal nearly as much. Byrne’s Krypton was a cold place, and not anywhere that anyone would want to spend any significant time in. It was honestly kind of insulting to the American immigrant experience. Byrne’s Superman discarded these integral parts of the Superman experience, and it honestly never felt right. There are some brilliant modern Superman stories, but Byrne subtracting the immigrant experience took something very important to the character away. Superman’s immigrant heritage is an integral part of the character. The removal of that never sat well with long time Superman fans, and has almost been completely done away with. Superman’s story has always been one of the immigrant, and without it, there is something missing from the character.
Superman’s Immigrant Status Makes Him More American Than the People Criticizing the Character
Superman was created by two Jewish men from Cleveland, who were both the children of immigrants. They understood the immigrant experience intimately, were quite literally molded by it, and made that a part of the character. The United States has long been a country defined by the immigrants who came here, and Superman fit into that. Anyone who has read the comics can see the way Superman’s experience as an undocumented immigrant helped define the character. His Kryptonian heritage makes the character more interesting; there’s something about those old Superman stories and the way he carries himself. He was still an American hero, but he brought his culture with him and it made everything richer. Byrne took away his immigrant status, and it always felt like something was missing from the character, specifically his love and respect for the place and people that gave him a home when he had none.
That’s not to say that the modern Superman stories without the immigrant aspects are bad; some of them are the best Superman stories of all time. However, there was always something missing. I grew up with post-Crisis Superman, so that is definitely one of my favorite versions of the character, but after reading the old pre-Crisis comics, I gained a greater appreciation. If we’re being real, Byrne taking away this aspect of Superman actually made Superman less American, in a lot of ways. American culture isn’t one thing. It is instead a mix of multiple other cultures, so taking away Superman’s Kryptonian heritage as a stranger to a strange land and the way he melded it and his American upbringing together took away what makes him truly American.
On top of that, taking away the classic Krypton and Superman’s relationship to it took away a lot of what made Superman comics so fun to read. Sure, Byrne kept the Fortress of Solitude, but compare Byrne’s Fortress to that of the pre-Crisis stories; Byrne’s Fortress was large and empty, while the pre-Crisis one and the current one is better. However, the readers already knew about American culture; discovering the particulars of Krypton was fun for readers and gave creators a chance to flex their creative muscles. Superman being the only Kryptonian was fun for a bit, but the loss of the other Kryptonians, characters who could help Superman connect with the other side of him, was a blow. The Last Son of Krypton was given no reason to actually embrace his culture, and this was a problem for the character. Suddenly some of the most important parts of Superman were gone. I think one of the strengths of Absolute Superman is that it’s explicit in the idea that Superman is an immigrant. It uses Superman’s experience as an immigrant to also connect the character to one of the best Golden Age Superman ideas — the champion of the oppressed. It doesn’t have a problem reconnecting Superman to these classic ideas, and it’s one of the reasons those book is so beloved; it feels more like a Superman book than literal decades of post-Crisis Superman.
James Gunn talking about Superman as an immigrant is exactly what I want a creator talking about when they talk about Superman. This is the heart of the character, and knowing that Gunn respects this aspect of the comics is definitely heartening. Gunn grew up with the late Silver Age/Bronze Age Superman comics, so it makes sense for him to embrace this aspect of the character. The United States is in a bad place when it comes to ideas about immigrants and immigration, and Gunn using Superman to talk about the strengths of immigration — yes even for those who come here undocumented, like Superman — is what creators have been doing in the comics for decades. Anyone who tries to decry this reality knows nothing about the comics. Superman is an immigrant. He always has been, and it’s an indispensable part of the character’s DNA.
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