Meet the new Superman from China
A new Superman is flying into town.
As part of a massive shake-up of its stable of superheroes under its Rebirth story arc, DC Comics is poised to introduce an Asian Superman who hails from China.
Written by American-Chinese scribe Gene Luen Yang, DC's New Super-Man title will focus on Kenan Kong (or 孔克南), a Shanghai teen who somehow receives a share of Superman's powers.
In a blog post on DC's official website, Yang revealed how he arrived at the name, which was chosen to sound as close to Clark Kent as possible using hanyu pinyin.
While he initially chose Kenji Kong, he opted to change it after realising it looked more like a Japanese name instead.
He eventually settled on Kenan using the character ke, which means to overcome. Nan, which means south, is a nod to his Shanghai roots as people in Beijing often refer to them as Southerners.
Although it looks like the end of the DC universe's main Superman is nigh, the Clark Kent identity will still carry on through the older original Superman - there are two Clark Kents in the current DC universe, apparently - from the Superman: Lois & Clark books, which will be re-titled to Action Comics next month.
The first issue of Yang's New Super-Man, which will feature artwork by Viktor Bogdanovic, will be released in July.
Most fans were pleased to see someone of a different ethnicity take on the mantle of Supes.
One fan was so stoked, he couldn't help but put his pencil to work for some fan art:
Some fans weren't impressed.
A few felt his surname made him sound a little too similar to King Kong:
And finally, one guy saw an opportunity for instant fame:
Source: DC Comics
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