DC Comics is dumping the patriotic portion of Superman’s long-used motto to fight for “truth, justice and the American way” for a “mission statement” to champion “truth, justice and a better tomorrow.”
Jim Lee, chief creative officer and publisher of DC, announced the swap Saturday during a virtual fan event, asserting the Man of Steel’s motto will be “evolving,” Variety reported.
In a statement, the company said the decision is meant “to better reflect the storylines that we are telling across DC and to honor Superman’s incredible legacy of over 80 years of building a better world.”
Variety noted Superman has juggled several mantras over the decades, and that “truth, justice and the American way” wasn’t in the first comic books by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Rather, the motto came from a “Superman” radio serial in the early 1940s during World War II and was then revived for the “Adventures of Superman” TV series that aired at the start of the Cold War and height of McCarthyism, Variety reported.
By the 1960s, the motto shifted to “truth, justice and freedom” on the cartoon series, “The New Adventures of Superman," Variety reported.
The 1978 feature film starring Christopher Reeve revived the “American way” credo.
It didn’t last long.
Variety reported on the 1993 live-action series “Lois & Clark,” Superman fought for just “truth and justice” — and in the 2006 movie “Superman Returns,” Daily Planet editor-in-chief Perry White asks if Superman still fights for “truth, justice, all that stuff.”
An issue eight months ago of DC Comics’ “Batman/Superman #16” presented Superman’s mantra as “Truth, Tolerance and Justice,” which writer Gene Luen Yang tweeted was meant to honor the mission Clark Kent’s father gives him in a 1948 “Superman” film serial.
The decision comes in the wake of the Oct. 11 announcement that Superman's son Jon Kent would come out as bisexual.
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Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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