Superman: Son of Kal-El
Detail from a variant cover to #5 by Inhyuk Lee
DC Comics (2021)
Let me say at the outset, if DC Comics are happy with writer Tom Taylor's decision to transform Superman into a cocksucking social justice warrior, then I have no problem with that.
In other words, I really don't care if John Kent, the Son of Kal-El, enters into a same-sex
relationship with his pink-haired boyfriend Jay Nakamura; he can even be bi
now and gay later, it's all fine by me.
However, what is troubling is the argument made by Taylor that everyone deserves to see themselves reflected in their fictional heroes and be able to say: Wow! They're just like me! And if that means the queering (and/or racially transforming) of a previously straight white cis male character, then so be it.
The concern I have is this: doesn't this narcissistic need to self-seek and identify even with those from other worlds ironically erase the difference and diversity that is supposedly being celebrated? How do you learn to imaginatively engage with otherness if you insist that everyone is supposed to walk, talk, look and act like you, sharing your desires and your values?
Ultimately, if you are only ever going to look for yourself in love and seeketh your own glory in art, then you are inevitably going to spend your life masturbating before a full-length mirror in solipsistic isolation.
See: Superman: Son of Kal-El, #5, (DC Comics) written by Tom Taylor, illustrated by John Timms. Available in all good comic book stores on 9 November, 2021.
Although I think being able to identify with iconic figures is a good thing, I think you are right to question our growing inability to embrace otherness. For me, this is a problem perpetuated by technology. When every experience can be personalised we become intolerant of anything that doesn't fit neatly into our world view. It's only going to get worse. But the real reason for changing the identity of the latest Superman is down to genre and the need for repetition versus difference or as Adorno nearly put it - Same shit, different smell.
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