Gene Luen Yang Reveals "New Super-Man's" Name

[twincast]

Thank god that he changed that name! Seriously, I winced when I heard the name "Kenji" because it looks like a Japanese name and people would confuse it as Japanese. Still, I personally feel that Gene has to separate "Kenan" a bit more. The pronunciation is not "Ken an," but rather "Ke Nan." "Ke" is actually pronounced like "cur" like in the phrase "That dastardly cur!"

I might be wrong, but I'm fairly sure PRC nationals would consistently render it "Kong Ke-Nan" internationally, no? (I'm somewhat less certain about Taiwanese, Singaporeans and Chinese minorities throughout East Asia.)

[Tien Long]

Thanks for your insight. I know nothing about speaking Chinese, but whenever I hear (maybe a certain dialect) I hear that sound made often. Good to know what the deal is with that, and how it's represented.

This was extremely helpful. Thank you!

No problem everyone! Glad to be of help!

I might be wrong, but I'm fairly sure PRC nationals would consistently render it "Kong Ke-Nan" internationally, no? (I'm somewhat less certain about Taiwanese, Singaporeans and Chinese minorities throughout East Asia.)

Regardless of the community, whether mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, or overseas, Chinese will always amongst themselves and speaking in a Chinese dialect place their family name first. As for when the name is rendered internationally, I think it depends on the person. I've seen various Chinese from various parts of the world keep the family name first. And other times they will render it in the Western way. I've seen Zhang Ziyi change her name to Ziyi Zhang when on press tours. People here in Hong Kong, like Chief Executive Chun-ying Leung (C.Y. Yeung), or Run Run Shaw kept their family names at the back as well. Ultimately, I say it just depends on the person.

[Magnus101]

So Clark Kent is becoming Kenan Kong? Is this just in a Chinese comic book? All versions of the books?

[SuperCrab]

So Clark Kent is becoming Kenan Kong? Is this just in a Chinese comic book? All versions of the books?

It's just one book that'll do one issue per month, taking a 17 year old Chinese guy named Kenan Kong and giving him the powers of Superman and having him defend Shanghai.

The other books will have a more traditional Superman who was once Clark Kent flying over Metropolis (USA), raised in Kansas, last Son of Krypton, adopted by the Kents as an infant after the destruction of his planet, most of the usual stuff. Of course, those books have their own changes, like it's the Clark Kent from another universe, married to Lois, with a 10 year old superhero kid who'll be a big focus of storylines and, at least initially, he's not going to work at the Daily Planet, and they'll just be some mysterious guy there at the paper named Clark Kent who's not Superman. The Clark Kent/Superman in this universe of the last five years looks like he's going to be killed off by June and replaced with this other American Superman and his wife and son from another universe. It's all kind of weird.

But the direct answer to your question is that the Chinese Super-Man is it's own thing. He's not going to be the Superman in most books, just one (And maybe a crossover or guest appearance type thing elsewhere).

[SuperCrab]

I welcome a Chinese Superman as a side book. I think it offers a lot of opportunities to see into both a culture and an artistic landscape (Both in terms of literally illustrations or drawings of scenery we usually don't see in American entertainment, and in the sense of story as art) that we don't often get to see. Done right, it could be a beautiful book. And no one is saying this guy *is* literally Superman as in the total heir to the legacy, he's just a guy picking up the legacy and reinterpreting it. My real problem is with the books where a different universe's Clark Kent steps in and with son in tow and implicitly claims to be the Superman we all know and love, taking the deceased former Clark Kent's place in Metropolis, the Justice League, his actual comic book titles, etc. over and promoting his child super-hero son I don't want to read about. Yang's Super-Man book is different because it's not supposed to be the same character, it's just a re-imaging of some of the core elements of the Superman mythos with a different person from a different culture- and he will not be taking Superman's spot in any way, he's just a value added thing. Ultimately, I could see this character just going by his given name, if his secret identity is revealed, to avoid confusion, if the book looks like it'll last.

I'm not sure if it'll be good reading or not, but, to be honest, other than Justice League (Who's new writer coming in July I like), this book is the one I consider myself most likely to subscribe to among anything vaguely Superman related post-Rebirth. Most likely, I'll take a break from it all, but I don't like this criticism of the Chinese culture in the quoted post (Some of which I didn't even want to quote, because I found it troubling. No offense intended to the person who posted it, who I'll give the benefit of a doubt about him being well-intentioned.). The Chinese culture has contributed a lot of great things to the world. It has it's problems, but all cultures do, including our own.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

When New Super-Man was announced, I never thought it would be the nail in the coffin for the "I'm not racist...but" crowd that insisted that they wouldn't have a problem with minority heroes if they didn't replace existing heroes.

[vasir12]

When New Super-Man was announced, I never thought it would be the nail in the coffin for the "I'm not racist...but" crowd that insisted that they wouldn't have a problem with minority heroes if they didn't replace existing heroes.

Makes me want to pre-order multiple copies. You know, I think I'll do that.

[t hedge coke]

Good grief, kind of a convoluted and long winded explanation of how he came up with the name. And how many Supermen are they going to have anyway?

You chose to read an article about the name. What did you think he would talk about, except the name, how they came up with it, why, etc? It's not like they're going to info-dump it in the middle of a comic. It's an article about the name.

[SuperCrab]

Makes me want to pre-order multiple copies. You know, I think I'll do that.

Yeah, I think I might buy a copy of the first issue for the same reason. I don't want to be too harsh on the fellow who's post was deleted (And which mine was originally a reply to). Sometimes people have bad experiences that they generalize as a wider failing with a given people. Being a stranger in a strange land, whether the land is America, France, China, or anywhere, really can be tough for some people. Maybe you meet people who are racist against you, and it makes you racist against them. I'm not trying to judge. It sounds like he had a rough time in China, and I don't want to diminish his pain, which I am sure is very real. I had a rough time as a white American guy living in an American city with mostly other white people for some years, and even then it took me a while before I could stop feeling really negative to people from there. Deep in my heart, though, I think I always knew that even in a non-major city, the folks who were causing problems for me were not representative of 100% of the population.

When I see somebody trash the whole Chinese culture like I saw (Even trying to give the guy the benefit of a doubt that maybe he was mistreated and is speaking out of pain rather than out of a deep seated racism or something), it makes me want to subscribe to the book even though I'm pretty upset with DC editorial right now, just because I really feel strongly about multiculturalism being a good thing. Every culture is made up of people, so it has its good things and bad things, and it has good people and it has its bad people.

We have all this entertainment that centers on space aliens (Clark Kent is from Kansas by way of Krypton, just as an example), mutant superheroes, and all these fantastical magical people who are way more different from us than any two humans cultures could be. And we embrace all that, because it's interesting and it's cool. Sometimes we forget that it can also be cool to see a bit of the real life cultures we have right here on earth in real life, too.

These people and these places can have a lot to add to our own understanding. A place and it's people shouldn't be reduced to the worst examples we can think of things that have happened there, either in a historical sense or a personal experience sense. As an American, I wouldn't want to be reduced to a stereotype based on some of the worst aspects of things people here do or have done. There is I think a lot of beauty in the Chinese people. Obviously, when all is said and done and his story arc of growing into himself is over, I think it's safe to assume that Kennan Kong will embody some of the best of that, as Clark Kent does of America.

I also suspect that maybe Kong will eventually challenge certain things that happen in his country as not living up to the best of their ideals, as occasionally Kent has challenged some things here in the US.


By the way, Superman movies have done really well in China. So, many there love this character who embodies the best of us. That's a positive sign. I am kind of interested in learning more about what it's like to live in this city of Shanghai, which has been talked about in the hype for the book as a City of Tomorrow, like Metropolis, and to see the beautiful countryside and mountain peaks of the rural areas illustrated, and everything else. Maybe Kong will have A Fortress of Solitude on a Tibetan mountaintop somewhere with monks he befriends and ancient wisdom he receives, which by itself could be looked at as a subtle way of honoring the various cultures within the modern borders of China as well, and not just whichever particular group Kong is a part of ethnically and culturally. Many people forget that even aside from the clearly separate groups like Tibetans and the Muslims who live in certain parts of China, even people who would have broadly thought of themselves as Chinese for hundreds or thousands of years are not necessarily Madrian speaking Han Chinese. There are a ton of different languages and subcultures within China, some very ancient. It's a big place. And it's an important place for the world, now more than ever.

[kochtgr]

It seems that I lost some episodes here! What is this chinese guy and where is the real Superman? What in heaven's name is going on with DC?

[vasir12]

It seems that I lost some episodes here! What is this chinese guy and where is the real Superman? What in heaven's name is going on with DC?

He is Kenan Kong, he'll star in New Super-man. If you want the American Superman, read Superman or Actions comics, or Justice League, or Trinity.

[Lokimaru]

Seems like China can make a knock-off out of anything even Aliens.

[j9ac9k]

We have all this entertainment that centers on space aliens (Clark Kent is from Kansas by way of Krypton, just as an example), mutant superheroes, and all these fantastical magical people who are way more different from us than any two humans cultures could be. And we embrace all that, because it's interesting and it's cool. Sometimes we forget that it can also be cool to see a bit of the real life cultures we have right here on earth in real life, too.

Maybe you're too close to see it, but Superman has always been about "real life american culture" even if they don't say "The American Way" anymore. Despite what else the books have been about, Superman has always had an implied message of american exceptionalism.