Tony Black reviews New Super-Man #1…
“MADE IN CHINA” Chapter One: An impulsive act of heroism thrusts an arrogant young man into the limelight of Shanghai as China begins to form its own Justice League of powerful heroes. Rising from the ashes of The Final Days of Superman, award-winning writer Gene Luen Yang and on-the-rise art star Viktor Bogdanovic introduce readers to Kong Kenan—the New Super-Man! When the world needed a new hero, China made him!
SEE ALSO: Check out a preview of New Super-Man #1
Now here’s a curiosity. Much like Hollywood studios are now developing major tentpole franchises with one eye on the Chinese market as a massively lucrative area, DC Comics in their continued Rebirth have decided to get in on that particular piece of pie with New Super-Man, from writer Gene Luen Yang, which introduces a brand new Man of Steel (or more appropriately Boy of Steel) in Kong Kenan (pronounced ‘keh-nahn), a Chinese variant on Clark Kent in Shanghai who by the end of this first issue becomes China’s first Super-Man (the hyphen intentional), only don’t expect a complete re-tread here of the original Superman mythos from Yang and artist Victor Bogdanovic – this is an all new approach which may well factor into the wider DC story.
To begin with, let’s get one thing out of the way, Kenan is for the most part a complete asshole. Don’t worry, this is clearly intentional, not just to distinguish him from the mild-mannered Mr Kent but equally to tee up his own development from cocky bully who picks on fat kids for their lunch, to national hero who understands responsibility. His backstory is also defiantly different from Clark’s; his mother dead in a plane crash, his father a bitter mechanic chasing conspiracy theory.
Yet certain elements retain the same story beats as Superman itself – almost immediately Kenan meets hotshot young reporter Laney Lan (yep, she really is called that!) who takes an interest in him standing up to supervillain Blue Condor, and he takes a shine to her for other reasons. Kenan ultimately ends up gaining his powers thanks to the mysterious, nefarious agents connected not just to his father, but perhaps even to the mystery within the Superman & Action Comics run of exactly what is going on with the real Man of Steel right now. If you can stomach how much of an asshat Kenan is, and see the potential for his arc, this is actually quite enjoyable.
Even for what one presumes is something of a gimmick, and honestly there’s as much chance you’ll groan as cheer at the last page, New Super-Man nonetheless establishes a brand new potential legion of copycat Chinese heroes & villains who may not just riff off the main DC heroes we know and love, but could well tie convectively into the bigger, overarching storylines. We just have to get past the fact it’s not the most beautiful comic out there and the lead character is an utter douche. Time will tell, but it’s worth giving a few chances.
Rating: 7/10
Tony Black is a freelance film/TV writer & podcaster & would love you to follow him on Twitter.
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Originally published July 15, 2016. Updated November 14, 2019.
