>Gene Luen Yang is trading in the Man of Steel for a new Superman – from China. In July, DC will debut New Superman by the former Superman writer along with artist Viktor Bogdanovic. The monthly series will be centered on a young Chinese man named Kenji Kong who gets infused with Superman’s powers. According to Yang, who was recently named the U.S. Library of Congress’s ambassador for young people’s literature, it’s a project that originated with DC co-publisher/artist Jim Lee.
>“Jim developed a little bit before [New Superman] came into my hands,” Yang told Newsarama at WonderCon. “What we wanted to do is to take the universality of Superman – he represents these ideals that really cross cultures – we want to take what Superman represents and explore it in Chinese culture.”
>Yang is a first-generation Chinese-American, while Lee was born in South Korea. Longtime Superman writer Dan Jurgens, who is taking over Action Comics for Rebirth, points at New Superman as an example of “how big” Superman is as a character and a concept to incorporate other ideas.
>“In our story this young 17-year-old boy named Kenji Kong gets some of Superman’s powers,” said Yang. “For why that happens, you have to read the book, but he comes into Superman’s powers, and that changes him physically, and it also changes who he is inside.”
>When asked about how this new Superman fits within the DCU, Yang says Kong adopting that mantle is something he is keen on exploring.
>“Within the DC Universe, just like in the real world, everybody knows who Superman is. Everybody recognizes that ‘S,’ and that’ll be true in this case as well,” said the writer. “So people are aware of who Superman is. Whether or not this new Superman who arises within their own culture is accepted by them is a whole different story. That’s what we’ll be exploring.”
>Although Kenji Kong will be the first Chinese Superman in the mainstream DCU, there have been numerous heroes and villains hailing from the Asian country including the super-team Big Ten. Yang said they will factor into the series, but he isn’t restricting the guest appearances to just characters associated with Asia.
>“The Great Ten will have a minor part in New Superman, and we’ll also see some other familiar faces as well, not necessarily from that part of the world.”
>With the two main Superman – pre-"New 52" and “New 52” – scheduled to meet in June’s Action Comics #957, the next obvious question is if or when the New Superman star will meet his namesake.
>“It makes sense that it would happen at some point right?” Yang admits. “But really what this is about is a kid who’s trying to find his place in the world, and how Superman helps you find your place in the world. I grew up reading superhero comics, and Superman really is the root of the entire genre. I learned so much about what it means to be a human being from reading superheroes. I learned so much about what it means to never give up, and to choose others ahead of yourself. So that’ll be something this kid learns. It’s kind of modeled after the typical hero’s journey.”
>>81410109
So what's your idea for a Superman story?
>He has a different ethnicity.
Well good luck with that.
>chinese guy with Superman's powers
Real exciting stuff yang.
>>81410158
He isn't just Asian American. He lives in China.
>>81410109
>>81410138
Sounds nice, I'm looking forward to it.
I hope he meets Clark at some point and I hope they become friends.
I think Clark would be supportive of people (who are capable) being "Superman", of people wanting to do good.
>>81410223
Oh wow, so I get so see Metropolis with Chinese signs on the buildings?
>China's airsoace so polluted that he can't even use his X-ray vision.
>>81410356
they compared Shanghai to Metropolis so yeah probably
Boy they really want to tap into the Chinese market don't they?
>>81410582
well there are a lot of them
Anybody else looking forward to this? Smug Asian Superman in a non-US setting sounds pretty rad to me
In case anyone's wondering what the art's like, the artist is basically not-Greg Capullo.
>>81410658
Do my eyes deceive me or is New 52 Amanda Waller starting to put on weight?
>>81410658
I was about to ask when Capullo drew Deadshot before reading your comment
Is this from the current Deadshot/Katana series? Any good?
>>81410658
it kinda looks like not-Capullo met not-Kuder
I like it
>>81410729
It's been a while but I specifically remember her saying something about ordering barbecue instead of a salad in an issue of the shitty Suicide Squad run a few years ago. It'd be weird if characters could get fatter but still didn't age.
>>81410138
>two main Superman – pre-"New 52" and “New 52” – scheduled to meet in June’s Action Comics #957
Glad we can debunk that whole "new 52 Superman is dying in Rebirth" meme
And this sounds kind of cool. More interested in it than Superwoman at least.
>>81410781
Aging and getting fat are different though. You can get fat over a few weeks or months and there wouldn't be visible aging differences. Even a couple of years isn't usually that significant unless you're the US President.
>>81410818
I'm kinda interested in Superwoman because of the art team.
Will probably lose interest when they actually announce who the main character is.
>>81410863
Fair enough. I'd still like to see Waller get fatter as well as older.
>>81410866
It's like Trinity where I know it will look good, but I haven't bought in on the actual writing portion of things.
>>81410138
Man, all of those suits are trash besides the last one.
Anyway, I hope the plot is better than it sounds.
To Be Cancelled after 12 or 18 issues? Place your bets here, laddios
>>81412931
18 because it has superman in the title
>>81410619
Yeah I'm looking forward to it. Especially after the the Wondercon presentation.
