Never mind the weakened dollar, the ballooning deficit, the sluggish economy or the ever-growing welfare state. If you want proof of the nation's decline, you need look no further than the latest issue of Action Comics, in which Superman tells a government agent he intends to renounce his American citizenship.
At the United Nations, no less.
Whatever happened to his bold promise to “fight a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way?” Has the Man of Steel become just another blame-America-first leftist?
At least that's what I thought before shelling out $6 for the 900th issue of the magazine that sold for 10 cents 73 years ago when Superman's rocket left the dying planet Krypton and landed on Earth in issue No. 1.
The truth is that things have become just a bit more complicated since then, and Superman – whose flag-like red-and-blue uniform once reflected few shades of gray – is a cartoon character at long last ensnared by real-world subtleties.
As a child of the 1950s who grew up watching George Reeves standing in front of the proudly waving Stars and Stripes during the opening of the long-running Superman TV show, I don't like the fact that yet another of our once-dependable national institutions has evolved in ways that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
But as a former comic-book collector who stopped cold turkey in the early 1980s when maturity finally made the simplistic tales of dependably evil villains and equally predictable heroes boring, I can't help but admire the nine-page story entitled simply “The Incident.”
Superman has just spent 24 hours in Tehran with thousands of others in protest against the brutal Iranian regime. He didn't move or speak, but hoped his presence would prevent the government from killing more of its own people, which it did. Afterward, however, the Iranian government had accused him of simply enforcing American foreign policy, undermining the good he had done.
“Truth, justice and the American way – it's not enough anymore,” Superman tells an angry National Security Advisor during a clandestine meeting at Camp David. “The world's too small. Too connected.”
Would a jihadist dictator be more welcoming of interference in domestic affairs by a superhero representing the U.N.? Of course not, but the point is worth pondering nevertheless: Is America's ability to change the world for the better hindered by negative perceptions of its motives and actions, however unjustified? And if that's true, shouldn't we try to do something about it?
During World War II, of course, such questions never occurred to Superman or anybody else in his adopted country. He unapologetically fought the Nazis and Japanese for years, and proudly waved the red, white and blue in movies made in the 1980s.
But Tracy Scott, who has owned the Books, Comics and Things store on Maplecrest Road for 29 years, cautions against accusing Superman of treason.
In theatrical cartoons produced in the 1940s, he said, Superman fought for “truth and justice” only. The “American way” wasn't added until the TV show first aired in 1951 – about the time critics began to suggest juvenile delinquency was caused by reading comic books.
Because Action 900 went on sale just four days ago, Scott has received little reader reaction pro or con. And that reaction may determine where the story goes from here, just as slumping sales in the '80s and '90s forced Superman's publisher to add some depth, drama, nuance and multi-issue plots to a character often derided as one-dimensional.
And why not? Scott's average customer is a male between 20 and 45. The kids who used to buy comics have grown older, more skeptical of authority and, just maybe, a little wiser – even though telling the good guys from the bad sometimes seems harder than ever.
Superman hasn't renounced American ideals, after all: He was in Tehran to fight tyranny and defend the helpless, but has come to realize that the brute force that saved the world from Hitler, natural disasters and bug-eyed extraterrestrials can't necessarily overcome the impulse to deny happiness, prosperity or freedom to others.
“I'll have to see where the story goes before I make up my mind about it. But this will split people,” predicted Scott.
“The American way” always will, I suppose – even when it's called something else.
This column is the commentary of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The News-Sentinel. Email Kevin Leininger at kleininger@news-sentinel.com, or call him at 461-8355.
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