- How are you doing, you wonderful nerds?
You know, I guess I can't even go visit my family
without there being some big comic book controversy.
I know we just did a whole huge video about
Superman fighting the KKK, and you're probably
really sick of me talking about the Man of Steel
being a tool of propaganda, but the internet has
forced my hand.
In case you missed it, in Action Comics #987,
there were a few pages dedicated to Superman
swooping in to save presumably undocumented
immigrant workers from a gun-toting, American-
flag-bandana-wearing disgruntled ex-employee who
lost his job to those immigrants.
The man fired upon them only to have Superman
block the bullets at the last second and
essentially tell the shooter that he is a scumbag
in a far more eloquent way than I just did.
Now believe it or not, these few panels made a couple
media outlets a little upset raising questions
yet again about Superman as a political
tool with one particular idea being
tossed about and debated: Of course Superman
would save undocumented immigrants.
He is a literal illegal alien!
But how true is this?
Would the Man of Steel actually be considered an
undocumented illegal immigrant?
Now, I know a ton of you guys are immediately gonna bring
up that Superman became a citizen of the world in
Action Comics #900 after renouncing his US citizenship.
That's all fine and good, but I want to know how
he even got his US citizenship.
In most continuities, Superman is given honorary
or special citizenship, like in
New Adventures of Superboy #12.
As he told reporter Perry White about his
Kryptonian roots, Perry remarks,
"This may strike you as funny, but have you registered
"as a resident alien?".
Supes responds, "President Eisenhower assured me
"I had nothing to worry about when I confided in him.
"After all, where could I be deported since
"Krypton no longer exists?"
And that already raises questions about terminology.
Is Superman an immigrant, or is he more of a refugee?
Superman didn't move to America by choice, but
out of necessity as his own planet exploded.
In fact, in some origins it might be more
appropriate to label baby Kal-El as a Dreamer,
aka a child who has been brought to the United States,
has grown up in America, and considers
themself to be American, but lacks the proper documentation.
But I know I can't get too far into this episode
without people screaming that I bring up one of
the most comprehensive retellings of Superman's
origin: The Man of Steel mini-series from 1986.
This story made a small but vital change in the
story of baby Kal-El.
Instead of being an infant sent to Earth from
Krypton in a small rocket ship, Superman's
parents, Jor-El and Lara, send their child to
Earth before he's even born.
On Krypton, babies grow in gestation chambers.
As the planet was tearing itself apart and doomed
to explode, Jor-El modified the matrix orb that
housed the fetus that would one day grow up to be
Superman into a spaceship.
Just as Krypton detonated, Kal-El was sent
soaring off to a distant planet called Earth
where he was discovered by kindly Kansas couple, the Kents.
As the Jonathan and Martha approached his pod,
the gestation chamber opened up revealing the
infant Kryptonian.
Superman was born and technically in America.
As he thinks to himself, "I may have been
"conceived out there in the endless depths of
"space, but I was born when the rocket opened on
"Earth, in America."
But is he documented?
How do you get the proper paperwork for an
intergalactic alien?
In the story, the Kents lied and said Martha gave
birth to Clark during a blizzard that was so
hazardous that it kept them isolated from the
rest of society for 5 months.
The weird timeline and circumstances mixed with
the fact that the Kents had two miscarriages and
a stillbirth meant that their friends didn't ask
too many questions.
They were just happy Martha and Jonathan finally
had the child they always wanted in their young Clark.
Disguising it as a home birth means the Kents
could and probably did register a birth certificate
and social security number for little Clark later.
So in that version of his origin story, Superman
isn't technically neither undocumented nor an immigrant.
This, of course, was published during an era when
DC Comics wanted to separate the Man of Steel's
Kryptonian heritage and make him more American to
fit with the cultural values of the time.
"Krypton bred me, but it was Earth that gave me
"all that I am.
"All that matters."
In other words, Superman's an American and don't you
dare say otherwise!
But what bothers me about this story other than
the obvious American propaganda is the fact that
the Kents lied about him being biologically theirs.
That doesn't strike me 100% legal.
Why not just come clean say that they found an
abandoned infant and decided to take care of it?
Would baby Superman have any legal protection in
that circumstance?
Y'know, the honest circumstance?
Thankfully, at least one version of Martha Kent
is with me on this one.
All the way back in Superman #53, Right after the
Kents find baby Supes, she tells Jonathan,
"We'll say we found an abandoned baby, which is true!"
Then in one single panel, we get the explanation
that the Kents brought the infant to a
"home for foundlings" where they properly adopted him as
Clark Kent.
Heck there was even one version of the story
where they simply left baby Kal-El on the
doorstep to an orphanage and picked him up later
as if "Oh no, we've definitely never seen this baby before."
But going back a bit, foundling is an important
term here as it invokes a tiny little statute
found in the Nationality Act of 1940.
This act revised a ton of laws regarding American
citizenship, but all we care about is a small
section of chapter two.
It stated that children are nationals and
citizens of the United States at birth if they
are "a child of unknown parentage found in the
"United States, until shown not to have been born
in the United States."
And boy, if that doesn't sound exactly like
the circumstances surrounding Superman's landing on Earth!
However, you may have noticed that last bit of
this so-called Foundling Statute.
The part about how Superman would be considered
an American national "until shown not to have
"been born in the United States."
And that presents a bit of a problem.
In every major continuity, Superman eventually
learns he's not from America, but from a place
a little bit further away.
The good news is that as the Nationality Act of 1940
was replaced and modified over many decades,
the Foundling Statute was given two important
age restrictions.
Firstly, it only applies to children who have
been found before the age of five, which is not
a problem for the infant Superman.
The second age tied into the statute means that
Clark Kent might not be considered a US citizen
if his true origin was revealed before he was 21.
And that certainly sounds like an issue in the
case for Superman's citizenship.
As we said, in most continuities, Clark learns
of his Kryptonian heritage before he's 21.
So does this mean that Superman would take his
place as the ultimate immigrant once more?
Probably not.
As the fantastic blog Law and the Multiverse
explains, "a court could decide that 'shown'
"means 'legally proven.'
"So long as Superman's immigration status were
"not an issue before he turned 21, which seems
"likely, he may indeed be considered a US citizen."
With all that said, it looks like in most
continuities Superman and Clark Kent would be
considered totally legal US citizens and in some
cases wouldn't even technically be immigrants.
But I think it's important that we look at the
original intent of Superman's creators.
When the Man of Steel premiered in Action Comics #1
from 1938, the Foundling Statute didn't exist.
There was simply no way that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
had this legal loophole in mind when they
were creating Superman.
And the two certainly didn't intend to have
Superman born in America as his pod opened.
Siegel and Shuster were children of immigrants.
They created Superman to be an intergalactic Moses.
They instilled in the character a complex duality.
I go back to the quote from author Rick Bowers
who wrote about Superman, "Coming from a distant
"planet, he was the ultimate foreigner.
"Raised in the midwestern heartland, he was the
"quintessential American."
And I think this is a big reason why Action Comics #987
ruffled as many feathers as it did.
The Man of Steel is caught between embodiments of
his immigrant identity and his American identity,
and he chose a side.
Where the 1980s version regarded his Kryptonian
roots as nothing more than "curious mementos of a
"life that might have been," the modern Superman
has been pulling away from the American way
he's championed since the days of his radio show,
returning further to how he was originally created.
Initially, the Man of Tomorrow fought only for
truth and justice; that's it.
And I for one think that's more than enough.
But I want to know what you guys think.
Is Superman an illegal alien, an undocumented
immigrant, American citizen, or any combination?
More importantly, how much does Superman's
citizenship and immigrant heritage matter to you
or to the character?
Let me know your thoughs in the comments below,
and I'll respond to some of them in Monday's
Tales From the Comments video!
Also, if you want my own personal thoughts on
Action Comics #987, I uploaded a video to our
second channel NerdSync Sidekick that's a little
more specific about that issue.
There will be a link in the description and at
the end of this video.
But first, huge thanks to our Patrons Christoffer Lange,
Keaten Lampert, Mike Harvill, Elizabeth Moncel,
and the rest of the wonderful nerds who
help us keep this show going over at Patreon.com/NerdSync.
If you want more NerdSync, click or tap right
here to watch our latest video or right down here
for the video on the Sidekick channel I was talking about.
Thank you for watching.
My name is Scott reminding you to read between
the panels and grow smarter through comics.
See ya!