As has already been pointed out, “Truth, Justice, and the American way” was a late addition to the character, and the idea that the red and blue in his costume is meant to be patriotic seems unlikely, since the traditional colors associated with the US are red, white and blue, and Supe’s costume is red, yellow, and blue.
Any other evidence that Superman was designed to be a patriotic symbol?
And *baby *blue at that!
I think that big assed bulge down low was definitely symbolic 
And wasnt it “oh baby” blue?
Hmmm. No particular allegiance to his own country…a focus on conflicts abroad… :eek:
Beware the nefarious schemes of the International Superhero!
So, it’s racist if he renounces his American citizenship while a black president is in office, but it’s not racist if he does it while a white president is in office. Hold on a second, my irony meter just blew a fuse. That’s a ridiculous sentiment.
I haven’t seen the issue in question, but if he actually renounces his citizenship rather than just mentioning that he was never really a citizen in the first place, it is a little bit more political than I’d like. Ideally, IMO, he was never really a citizen in the first place.
I’m curious to know how you think Superman could defeat racism, [del]an almost universal[/del] a widespread human failing. This is akin to saying Superman could defeat fear of heights or poor reading for comprehension.
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It was before my time, but from what I’ve heard Superman in the olden days would just have used his Super Anti-Racism Power to do it. Which would have never been mentioned before that issue, and probably wouldn’t ever be mentioned again either.
Thought this might be a good place to share this link:
Ah, cool. The events in question happened shortly after I returned to collecting after an extended hiatus, so I wasn’t aware of those agreements.
It’s not a late addition. How about 1942?
It was dropped in 1944, but revived for the 1952 tv show.
The article gives other examples of variations over the years.
“Designed” to be, no, but the cover of Superman #14 didn’t pull any punches on the patriotism. (Of course this was the first issue after Pearl Harbor, so the over-the-top nationalism is not surprising.)
Even before that, I believe there was a one-pager on how Superman would solve the problems in Europe. (Basically by smacking around Hitler and Stalin. This would have been shortly after the fall of Poland.) Seems like Superman was the stand-in for America in that story.
He was already fighting Nazis even before Pearl Harbor and the US entry into the War. Here’s Superman #13. Sure seems like a patriotic symbol there…an idealized American response to Nazis.
One more: Superman #12, also before Pearl Harbor.
So, the slogan was added six years after the character debuting, and in an entirely different medium. Did either Siegal or Shuster write for the radio program? Some brief Googling on the question was inconclusive.
Yeah, I don’t really see that as evidence that he was created as an American icon. Particularly if neither of the creators was writing for the radio program at the time.
That was a two-page special for a February 1940 issue of Look Magazine.
Thank you for this. You made me giggle. It’s like his “super-weaving powers” or rebuild-wall vision.
In fact, even earlier than that, there was a run in the original comic strips in which Superman stops war between two very thinly-disguised Hitler and Stalin-a-likes in Europe by smacking them around.
However - this was in the period where Superman was very much a social justice kind of guy. Forcing slum lords to mend their ways, and so on, as well as the usual defeating bank robbers. The way the story is written very much comes off as a victory for “the average man”, who Superman is representing, rather than America; the troopers who appear in the story aren’t harmed by Superman, but treated with respect. It’s only those in power he has a problem with.
Darn right, Superman as originally conceived could have been called SuperComrade with his frequent slappings of business bosses and heavy handed interventions in the free market game.
Well, that and uncovering the truth behind the murder of Jack Kennedy.
Neither of the creators was writing for the comic book at the time, either. Siegel spent too much time complaining about the money he wasn’t being paid, and his crude early conception didn’t match the marketing force that Superman the idol had become. By 1942, Superman was appearing in three comic books, and had a syndicated comic strip to go with the successful radio show. Not to mention the Fleischer series of cartoons starting in 1941. And The Adventures of Superman, a novel by George Lowther that appeared in 1942 and set up many of the conventions we follow today. And the merchandising in toys and endorsements. National was a corporation and treated Superman as a brand. Far more people knew Superman from every other type of media than they did from the comic books. The writers were cogs who pandered to whatever was current.
We in the future take the comic books as the only canon. But in 1942, the comic books were stupid things for kids and illiterates. The other media counted far more.
Bingo! I’m gonna get it too 
I usually don’t buy into the whole “Person X did something slightly critical of the President or foreign policy therefore he/she is a traitor” meme that seems to come up a lot, but in this situation, I’m having a hard time seeing this as anything but a giant slap in the face to the United States.
The character just as easily could have said, “As an American, I don’t always agree with everything we do. We can make mistakes sometimes.” Or “Even though I am an American, I look after the interests of all of the world’s citizens.”
But to come out and renounce your citizenship is one of the most unpatriotic and unAmerican things a person could do. I understand the outrage here.
