DC’s new Chinese Super-Man faces off against a 1930s Yellow Peril caricature in storyline written by Chinese-American artist

Ching Lung first appeared in 1937, a product of the fear some Americans felt for China and the East. Now he’s been revived by writer Gene Yang, in part to show how far the comic world has progressed since that time

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The Chinese Super-Man, Kong Kenan. Photo: DC Comics

Published: 3:00pm, 8 Feb 2017Updated: 3:00pm, 8 Feb 2017

When originally offered the chance to write a new, Chinese Superman for DC Comics, writer and MacArthur “genius grant” recipient Gene Yang turned down the opportunity because he felt the series could be a “cultural and political landmine”.

After changing his mind and becoming the writer on New Super-Man, Yang is now set to reintroduce one of DC Comics’ oldest bad guys, who some might say is the embodiment of political incorrectness.

Ching Lung, whose appearance on the cover of the very first issue of Detective Comics back in 1937 precedes the first appearance of Superman in 1938, appears on the final pages of New Super-Man No 8, released today in print and digitally.

Ching Lung will go up against Chinese Super-Man Kong Kenan and the Justice League of China, a group of young teen superheroes that also includes the Batman and Wonder Woman of China. The Chinese heroes were introduced to the series last year.

Ching Lung on the cover of the first issue of Detective Comics in 1937.

Ching Lung is considered now to be a “Yellow Peril villain,” a product of the fear some Americans felt about China and the East in the 1930s. . So he may be a surprising choice to bring into a series that has embraced diversity, taking famous superhero mantles and placing them on new characters of varying ethnicities – even if he’s coming in as an antagonist.

But Yang, who is Chinese-American, felt the character fits into DC’s Rebirth era, which has re-energised DC’s fanbase by going back to the characters’ basics, after the polarising “New 52” era of constant reinvention. Yang said the reset approach shouldn’t only apply to the publisher’s good aspects.