The Four Color Media Monitor

The AP Wire/Times of Israel wrote about the religious undertones in Superman for the 87th year since the Man of Steel was originally created:

Superman was born Kryptonian, raised Methodist and sketched into existence by two Jewish teens in 1930s Cleveland. Faith and morality are his DNA.

There are no overt religious references in Superman comics. But over eight decades, he’s been viewed as a divine entity, a savior figure — his sacrifice Christ-like, his will to lead as strong as Moses parting the Red Sea, and his compassion akin to a bodhisattva, an enlightened being who guides Buddhists on the spiritual path.

While scholars, comic book writers and fans alike are struck by the religious undertones in Superman comics, they say what separates Superman from the ever-growing pack of superheroes is his singular ability to bring hope in a hopeless world.

But what about the real life writers and artists? There's only so many since the mid-2000s who haven't. You could also make a case that the endless stream of company wide crossovers DC's published since are another problem that's made it impossible to bring hope and appreciation to the world. Why, what about that storyline around the time of Infinite Crisis where Wonder Woman was written breaking out-of-character Max Lord's neck to stop him from mind-controlling Superman into violence, and instead of thanking her for possibly saving him from being forced to commit really deadly mayhem, Superman condemns WW? If nobody considered how shoddy a tale like that was back then, they should now.

As fans celebrate Superman Day on Friday, marking the 87th anniversary of the original superhero’s birth, they are also eagerly anticipating James Gunn’s film “Superman” set for release on July 11.

On this, it's hard to celebrate when the comics have long been ruined, right down to the dreadful Tom Taylor's recent forced retcon to the recently created son of Superman being changed to homosexual? Or the recent lecture to Batman - and readers by extension - over "privilege" when it comes to wealth? Even Supergirl's not immune to these PC humiliations. How can you celebrate Superman's anniversary with stuff like this embarrassing the legacy?

This version starring David Corenswet, the first Jewish actor to play Superman in a major film, promises a return to a version of a vulnerable Man of Steel who is rooted in values espoused by most faiths — goodness, compassion and hope.

The film has sparked a conversation about the place of Superman in the world and his personal code of ethics after several recent depictions of superheroes as anti-heroes.

Corenswet said in a recent interview to Fandango that what captivates him about Superman is how he chooses to see good in people and not dwell on the negative.

The problem here is, what if this rendition ends up making the Man of Steel look so naive as to not judge by personality? That can be a mistake, one which more recent writers might've made at times with WW too. While with Batman by contrast, there were instances where he was made to look absurdly suspicious of everyone, and there too, not judge properly by character. I do find it interesting that a Jewish actor was chosen, and it will decidedly remain to be seen if Corenswet gets the same kind of hostile reception from antisemitic movements as Gal Gadot did. Yet at the same time, Corenswet's ethnic background alone doesn't make the movie worth seeing.

It was precisely this benevolent, hopeful version of Superman that inspired Robert Revington, who teaches at the Vancouver School of Theology at the University of British Columbia, to go skydiving in a Superman costume on his 28th birthday.

And yet Revington, a Christian, balks at Christ-like portrayals of his favorite superhero.

“I like Superman and I like Jesus,” he said. “I don’t necessarily want to conflate the two. To me, the best depiction of Superman is as a symbol of hope.”

Revington also sees Superman’s relevance today as “an example of positive masculinity.”

“He’s this version of strong, but compassionate masculinity, which several prominent figures don’t necessarily embody,” he said.

Revington and many others’ beloved iteration of Superman appeared in “All-Star Superman,” a 12-issue series published by DC Comics between 2005 and 2008. The superhero saves a young person who is about to take their own life with the endearing message: “You are stronger than you think you are.”

Grant Morrison, who wrote those comics, has said his view of Superman was shaped by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s “Oration On The Dignity of Man,” which argues that humans ought to be more virtuous than angels.

When somebody like Morrison comes up, it only makes clear something's wrong with the picture despite claims to the contrary. How does this excuse the leftist visions he applied to some of his comics in the past, like "New" X-Men? And then Morrison had the chutzpah to even want to change Hal Jordan for woke's sake. Depending how he depicts Superman in his writings, it's clearly for virtue-signaling points, and doesn't excuse the negatives in his resume.

Humans, Morrison said in a 2008 interview, become what they imitate, which is why he made Superman an inspirational character.

“We live in the stories we tell ourselves,” he told Newsarama, a comic book website, and can choose to be “the astronaut or the gangster. The superhero or the super villain. The angel or the devil. It’s entirely up to us.”

In that case, why is he celebrating poor forms of culture? He too has, in a manner of speaking, been living in his own stories, which have their traces of leftism.

Superman’s character is also shaped by his upbringing as a Kansas farm boy, raised by kindly parents — Jonathan and Martha Kent. They are portrayed as Methodists in the comics.

Personally, I can't recall reading any where the Kents were portrayed noticeably as Christian (so if there's "no overt religious references", it's strange they claim they're portrayed as Christian adherents), and assume it's something that came up in more recent times, but in the past decade, it's possible they wouldn't give Christianity a positive portrayal, seeing where leftism went since.

Superheroes, in recent decades, have received less-than-flattering treatment. In “The Boys,” a comic book turned Amazon Prime series, the Superman-like character, Homelander, is a government-sponsored hero whose smiling exterior conceals the heart of a sadist.

At least they have the honesty to acknowledge - albeit not well enough - that the superhero genre of recent was portrayed badly, but won't admit it had partly to do with modern leftist beliefs that selfless heroism is "bad", to the point they'd villify masculinity as inherently "toxic".

Gene Luen Yang, who has written several Superman comics, is best known for his 2020 graphic novel “Superman Smashes the Klan,” a story about a Chinese American family moving to Metropolis in 1946 and facing discrimination from the Klan. The story follows the Lee family as they confront the white supremacist group with Superman’s help.

Yang sees his own experience as a Chinese American mirrored in Superman’s story.

“The idea that you have to hide who you are or that you’re caught in between cultures,” he said. “Superman has two names — Kal-El, his Kryptonian name and Clark Kent, his American name. I had a Chinese name at home and an American name in school. So even though I’m a practicing Catholic, I was more drawn to his Jewish roots because that’s where I could relate more.”

Yang sees Superman as the original superhero who inspired almost religious fervor in the geekdom, featuring cosplayers who reenact scenes as a Christian might reenact biblical episodes around Christmas or Easter. A trip to a comic convention is like a pilgrimage where followers collect original art and “all kinds of relics.”

[...] While his Catholic faith is an important facet of his life, Yang said he never forced religion into his Superman comics.

“I write more about my life and my lived experience of faith, with the doubts and the ragged edges,” he said.

For somebody who allegedly cares so much about Judeo-Christianity, funny he refuses to tackle serious modern issues like Islamic jihadism, which is enemy to both, and also hostile to Buddhism and Hinduism. I'm sorry, but you can't take on issues like the KKK and Nazism if you're not willing to take on issues like Islamofascism. All Yang's doing is hollowing out his stories by focusing solely on the safe targets, unless he's willing to tackle said issues after all. But, since we're on the subject:

Characters like Superman, while not themselves religious, provide a portal to the sacred through the profane, said A. David Lewis, a Boston-based graphic novelist and comic book writer.

“I love that people take something from popular culture and find some level of spirituality or find a greater connection to some divine source through it,” he said. “But I would never say Superman is just of the Jewish or Christian people. Like some of the best narratives out there, Superman gives us access to something transcendent.”

Lewis, I once learned, is a Muslim convert himself, and I'm sure it was no accident that goes unmentioned in the puff piece. He also attacked Frank Miller several years back for so much as daring to create Holy Terror, a story Miller reportedly no longer stands behind because of PC attitudes, and again, that's a terrible shame, and made me lose respect for Miller more than I wanted to. It wouldn't be shocking if Lewis is trying to demand that Superman "represent" the Religion of Peace, regardless of what it's built upon. People of Lewis' narrow standards have no business lecturing us on whom any comics characters "belong to".

Despite the religious undertones, Superman’s appeal to those growing religiously unaffiliated remains strong, said Dan Clanton, professor of religious studies at Doane University in Nebraska. He says it’s because Superman’s story “truly encapsulates American civil religion.”

Unfortunately, the current echelons at DC aren't doing anything to prove they respect sane values that Siegel and Shuster could've represented, and all we have here is yet another year where the Man of Steel can't truly be celebrated when scripting management continues to be very bad, and dominated by leftism. And that's a terrible shame.

Labels: dc comics, golden calf of LGBT, history, islam and jihad, msm propaganda, politics, Supergirl, Superman, Wonder Woman