Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang & Gurihiru
The graphic novel based on the 1940s radio play “Clan of the Fiery Cross”! It’s already gotten scores of accolades and with good reason. I confess I’m a big fan of Gurihiru’s -- their style is so appealing, anime-cute, but so simple and clean and affecting. This was also a worthy, beautiful entry to their portfolio.
The story is also great -- the story follows a Chinese family, the Lees, who move to a predominantly white neighborhood in the 40s while the Metropolis chapter of a KKK expy starts growing in prominence. There was a great parallel between the daughter Roberta Lee’s (our POV character) and Superman’s sense of alienation and “outsider” feelings: Roberta’s struggle to fit in with her white counterparts and Superman’s struggle with his alien identity that makes it impossible for him to embrace the full extent of his powers, but what was especially striking to me was how incredibly nuance the message was. At best, the Lees are a novelty, with the well meaning “positive” discrimination from friendly people (”You Chinese are so brave!”) to casual microagressions (”Sorry, it’s not dog” [when referring to food]) to of course the more blatant racial slurs. And it’s also perpetuated by the Lees themselves, from Tommy blatantly leaning into racial stereotypes (calling himself a “wonton,” bringing up Confucius) to the father’s racist reaction to the black policemen and even Superman himself.
It was an extremely timely story with great art, and I can’t recommend it enough for Superman fans.
