Chinese Superman revealed ... and he’s a Shanghai teenager with attitude
After widespread criticism of Batman V Superman, fans will see a Superman with a bit of an edge
A sassy Chinese Superman based in modern-day Shanghai has been unveiled by DC Comics.
Kenji Kong will be the titular character of New Super-man, a Shanghai teenager who suddenly inherits the powers of Superman.
Gene Luen Yang will write the monthly comic series with artist Victor Bodganovich, DC announced at Wonder Con last week.
“We wanted to tell a story that was about the Superman ideal, but tell it in a different culture,” said Yang. “Regardless of where you grow up, you know what he stands for.”
The award-winning writer previously penned American Born Chinese, Boxers & Saints and The Shadow Hero. Yang has also been part of the DC Universe for most of last year, writing the last 10 issues of Superman.
No stranger to dealing with the stereotyping and the identity struggle of Asian Americans, Yang described writing Superman as an opportunity to use the immigrant experience – his parents are Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants.
New Super-man will be set in China, a break from DC’s tradition of using fictional cities such as Clark Kent’s Metropolis or Batman’s Gotham.
Yang added that Shanghai “is kind of like a real-world Metropolis”.
While keeping tight-lipped on how Kenji Kong gained his powers, Yang admitted the new Chinese Superman “starts off as a jerk”. However his character matured as his new-found superpowers not only affected him physically but also “affect his heart”.
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After the criticisms of Batman V Superman, fans will likely be happy to see a Superman with a bit of an edge.
Kenji Kong joins a growing list of comic book superheroes of colour, albeit to a quiet fandom: Marvel’s current Hulk is Korean-American Amadeus Cho; African-American Sam Wilson is one of two Captain Americas; Miles Morales is an Afro-Latino Spider-Man; and the teenage Pakistani-American Kamala Khan is the current Ms Marvel.
New Super-Man #1 will be released on July 13.
