Superman Smashes the Klan Review
Greetings friends,
Superman Smashes the Klan written by Gene Luen Yang and drawn by Gurihiru is a timely addition to the Superman catalogue. The art style is superb and reminiscent of manga. The story holds your attention throughout. The story is full of growth and acceptance which is in stark contrast to the beliefs of the antagonists that go by the name of The Klan of the Fiery Cross (KOTFC) which are based on the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). I love how the story depicts the acceptance of identity of the protagonist and Superman.
Due to the timely nature of the content I wanted to take the time for a more in-depth review than normal. Suffice to say, a spoiler alert will be in effect from here on out.
[image error]
The story opens with Superman taking a Nazi to task. Although the KKK and Nazi’s are two separate groups, they do share some similar ideologies and both empathize furthering their idea of bigotry.
The heart of the story revolves around the lives of a Chinese family that moves to Metropolis and is targeted by the KOTFC. It is up to the family, their friends, and Superman to thwart the attempts to scare the family into fleeing Metropolis. The acts of hatred are led by a Grand Scorpion that happens to be the uncle of a kid who is the same age as the kids from the Chinese family that moves into town. The Grand Scorpion states the KOTFC’s label of being hateful bigots is just lies perpetuated by the media. It makes me think of the fake news label that is perpetuated today.
The main protagonist is the daughter of the Chinese family, Roberta Lee. She stands up to the Klansmen and has to navigate through the unfortunate presence of systemic racism. The story focuses on Roberta’s coming of age in a world that is unsafe and highlights her struggle to accept her identity in a world where it is not accepted freely. Roberta calls the Klansmen bigots in bedsheets which is a criticism that I love. Superman calls them the same thing and adds goons to the mix.
Superman tosses one of the Klansmen up into a tree, a move that I felt was symbolic of taking out the trash.
One of my favorite scenes in the comic is where the Klansmen believe that together they can take down Superman. Superman responds with a simple, “Doubt it.” Much like Roberta, Superman struggles with accepting his identity as an outsider. Still he believes in his abilities enough to know that he can handle dealing with the KOTFC. Superman stands tall as a symbol of hope against the symbol of hate.
Once Superman has comes to terms with accepting his identity he shows up for the final confrontation with the Grand Scorpion with some new abilities. Superman had been holding back in order to try to fit in better with society. The actions of the KOTFC push Superman to the point of not holding back in order to overthrow their hatred.
I live in Central Indiana where the KKK has been active as recently as 2019. The Klan is not as prominent as they once were but it was still disappointing to find out that they are still around at all.
Twitter friendly video from when we chased the KKK the fuck out of Madison, Indiana today.
cc: @4th_march @AntiFashGordon @MW_Unrest @IGD_News @antifa_ne pic.twitter.com/P6HDtCJhjl
— Gamms for NY27
