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I’ll give this to the Powers That Be at DC Comics: They’re intent on shaking things up with the Superman mythos. In just one week they announced that Superman’s son is bisexual (a clever twist, I feel) and that the rallying cry for the most famous Kryptonian to fly the friendly Metropolis skies is now effectively null and void. This calls to mind the famous quote from the 1931 Edward G. Robinson flick Little Caesar – “Mother of mercy, is this the end of Rico?”
According to our high-flying Golden Age Kal-L fans over at The Hollywood Reporter, DC has officially announced that Superman’s nigh legendary oath of fighting for “truth, justice and the American way” is considered too trite and narrow of vision for our enlightened 21st Century minds. The new Coke 2-like oath now proclaims that Krypton’s favorite son fights for “truth, justice and a better tomorrow.”
DC Big Wheel Jim Lee made the word salad official this past Saturday at the company’s FanDome event. In a statement he proclaimed that “To better reflect the storylines that we are telling across DC and to honor Superman’s incredible legacy of over 80 years of building a better world, Superman’s motto is evolving. Superman has long been a symbol of hope who inspires people, and it is that optimism and hope that powers him forward with this new mission statement.”
Ironically, Superman’s famous mantra began life not in the four colored world of Action Comics or Superman, but came about through the 1940 devices of the popular Adventures of Superman radio series. The saying stuck and was quickly picked up by the comic version of the character and there it has remained…until yesterday. For Superman, who in the world of comic books was raised in a small town in Kansas and whose costume’s colors reflects that of the American flag (don’t mention this to any of the Higher-Ups at DC, please), the phrase felt right and never interfered with the character championing for people all over the globe; out with the old though, in with the new, as they say.
For this longtime fan of the world of funny books, I question the precise logic of this change; it feels already dated and of this time, lacking the timelessness of the old slogan. Only time will tell if this change will stick or if it’ll go the way of other best-forgotten comic book fads like DC’s The New 52 and hologram comic covers.
