Comic Recap/Thoughts: New Super-Man Vol. 1: Made in China, Part 1

When I started this journey, I knew that there would be some comics that did not resonate with me. I am however determined to give everything that is considered canon at least a chance. This week I am covering New Super-Man Vol. 1: Made in China, which includes issues #1-6. Today I am going to cover issues #1-3. This is going to feel like a little bit of a back track because some of what happens is shortly after the Death of the New 52 Superman. I will admit that I did not like this volume very much. I had to read an article interviewing the author, Gene Luen Yang, about why he made this Super-Man so unlikable. He stated that he was referencing early 1930 Superman comics where Clark was kind of a bully and a jerk. I am not sure I get the appeal. For now I will try to keep my mind open and see where this story goes.

Made in China, Part One: Our story starts in Shanghai, China, where a poor kid is being bullied. There is a really arrogant narrator telling us how great he is and in the next few pages we see that the bully is the narrator and he sure likes himself. The kid being bullied suddenly gets grabbed by a known super-villain (Blue Condor). Seems there are a bunch of Chinese super-villains modeled after American style heroes. In a surprising moment of caring, our bully, whose name is Kenan Kong saves the kid he was literally just stealing from and then still takes the kids money as thanks (hard eye roll). Intrepid reporter Laney Lan (yep, that is her name), who just happened to witness the heroics, catches up with Kenan and asks for an interview. (Honestly all of these kids' narrations are super annoying.) A woman watching the interview elsewhere decides this kid (Kenan) is the one. (One what? We do not know yet.) Later at home, Kenan is still feeling pretty proud of himself, but his dad is unimpressed, mostly because he knows his son is kind of a jerk, it is harsh, but also I kind of get the dad's reaction. 

Kenan goes for a walk thinking he is going to meet Lan again, feeling bummed, but then he meets a mysterious woman (the one we saw before). Her name is Dr. Omen and she works for The Ministry of Self-Reliance. She takes Kenan back to her headquarters at the Oriental Pearl Tower and just sticks him in a camber and hits him with a ray that sends him into a dream state where he is Superman and is trying to save his mom from dying in a plane crash. They are not super concerned about whether Kenan lives, but lucky for Kenan he does and flies out the camber revealing he is now super strong and can fly, he also accidentally shoots off some heat vision. Thinking that Kenan is a bad guy, in rushes the Bat-Man and Wonder-Woman of China. (Sorry I know this is long but it is literally Kenan's Origin story in one issue)

Made in China, Part Two: Kenan, who is bad at making friends, insults Bat-Man, who then proceeds to easily take Kenan down. Dr. Omen decides to let the fight happen. Kenan can't seem to fly anymore but is still strong. Wonder-Woman is strong too and does have a weapon that kind of looks like a lasso. Kenan declares himself new Super-Man and Dr. Omen does confirm this but they keep fighting for some reason. Bat-Man shocks Kenan again and this time he stays down, waking up later in a bed. He calls his dad, who didn't even notice that his son didn't come home but Dr. Omen takes his phone and explains that Kenan is now part of The Justice League of China and needs to get to training. Kenan wants to just bounce, but now he doesn't have his super strength anymore. Dr. Omen tricks Kenan into wearing a visor, that he can't take off, just in case his powers randomly reemerge and also so he can study the American Justice League. 

Elsewhere Kenan's dad is up to some shady looking stuff. The rest of the JLC (Justice League of China) are getting a debrief about a rich lady that is getting kidnapped (or killed, it is unclear) by a different super-villain (Sunbeam). Kenan interrupts to be annoying. A fun thing Dr. Omen can do with the visor is shock Kenan. The team leaves, reluctantly taking Kenan with them, to maybe save the rich lady. Bat-Man and Wonder-Woman make Kenan stay in the car while they go to fight Sunbeam. They rescue the young daughter and leave her with Kenan so they can get back to fighting. The upset child gives Kenan flashbacks of being sad about his mom dying so he decides to get in the fight even if he doesn't have powers. Sunbeam goes to kill him but he is in fact pretty invulnerable. Kenan then wins the fight, removes the visor that Dr. Omen put on him and Laney Lan shows up, because of course she does. Kenan decides to just announce to the world that he, Kong Kenan, is the New Super-Man! (Look! There is a fuck ton of dialog and exposition in this comic. I am trying to keep it short.)

Made in China, Part Three: After Kenan reveals that he is the New Super-Man and that he leads The Justice League of China, Bat-Man and Wonder-Woman drag him off before he can reveal who they are too, Many people see the broadcast, including Lex Luthor, The Justice League, and The Great Ten (another Chinese based hero group). Bat-Man, aka Baixi and Wonder-Woman, aka Deilan are not happy and neither is Dr. Omen. Two important facts, the first is that Dr. Omen has a secret prison called the Crab Shell and the second is Kenan's dad is much more than just a mechanic. The team drops Sunbeam off at the Crab Shell and we see some other villains, notably Starro, an evil looking Superman, and a guy who recognizes Kenan because he knows his dad. 

Back at the Oriental Pearl, Dr. Omen is getting chewed out by the leader of The Great Ten, August General in Iron (I think that is his full name). She basically tells him to f-off and then goes about being super pissed at Kenan, going so far as to shoot him with what I think is a Kryptonite ray. Even Deilan feels sorry for him and later she brings him a soda where Kenan admits he mostly gave up his secret identity to try and impress his father. Baixi joins them and shares that he has figured out a pattern to the recent attack. They were going after the children of some rich people that are part of some ultra-private investment group (who invests in their organization, The Ministry of Self-Reliance) and there is only one other member who hasn't been attacked yet. They get to the guy's house only to be attacked by a giant, many-headed snake because the guy thinks they are bad guys. The real bad guys show up and kidnap the guy while the JLC is fighting the giant snake monster. We end the issue learning that the bad guy group is called The Freedom Fighters of China and the leader's name is Flying Dragon General. 

Thoughts: As I stated at the beginning of this post, I was just not feeling this comic. I think in part because I have read a lot of Superman and this kid was frustratingly not Superman. I cannot help but think that I might be being culturally insensitive, that maybe I do not understand the youth or culture of China so it is not up to me to say if something fits or makes sense in the Superman universe. I just found the way that Kenan interacted with everyone to be really annoying. Kenan constantly calling Baixi fat or tubby and the way he objectified all the female characters made him extremely unlikable. Even after reading the article explaining the author's logic behind the cocky and arrogant attitude, it was a struggle to read at times.

The author Gene Luen Yang is mostly known for his work on the Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novel. He is currently writing Monkey Prince for DC and Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings for Marvel. He is a busy guy and while I might not have loved this character, I do enjoy his writing. I plan to finish up my recap of this volume but admit that I might not cover anymore of this run unless it is a crossover type situation.

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