Why doesn’t Superman celebrate America’s 250th?

He may be faster than a speeding bullet, but even Superman can’t stop globalization.

Back in the summer of 1976, one of my treasures was a comic book special, “Superman Salutes the Bicentennial.” Reprinting the famous cover from the 1940s, with the bald eagle perched on Superman’s arm and the stars and stripes shield behind him, the publication contained six historical issues of the Revolution and the Spirit of ’76.

Today, a search on the DC Comics website shows nothing to celebrate America’s Semiquincentennial, with Superman or any other superhero.

One would have thought that 1976 would be the worst time for comics to remember America. Hundreds of thousands of boys who had studied Superman in the 1950s and 1960s were sent to Vietnam, where 58,000 of them died. Watergate and Richard Nixon’s resignation had destroyed faith in the political system, while the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy, followed by devastating riots, made the “American Way” a mockery.

Yet DC Comics, along with tens of millions of Americans, celebrated the country. Although its values ​​were sorely tested, Bicentennial America had also seen the greatest growth of the middle class and national wealth in human history, and a final push to guarantee the civil rights of all citizens, fulfilling the “promise,” as Dr. King put it, in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

That most famous American fictional hero – a symbol of the country around the world – would celebrate, too, it seemed natural, and inspired new readers like me.

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This example of patriotism continued. Thirteen years later, in September 1987, DC released a special film with the New York Daily News to commemorate a hundred years of the Constitution. Returning, Superman, along with three young Americans, foils Lex Luthor’s plot to hijack the Constitutional Convention and install himself as dictator of the United States.

In the middle of the act, Superman delivers a little civics lesson, explaining that while the Constitution didn’t prohibit slavery or give women the vote, the Framers had the foresight to allow it to be amended to fit the times.

Next to “Schoolhouse Rock,” Superman probably provided more civics education to young students than most elementary classes could ever hope to do.

Times have definitely changed. In 2011, DC used Action Comics’ 900th issue as a platform to have Superman renounce his American citizenship, perhaps believing that he feels more comfortable in Davos than Dubuque.

Ten years later, DC officially changed Superman’s motto to “truth, justice and a better future,” an adventure series and soap opera.

Given such changes, it’s no surprise that DC seems intent on ignoring the American 250.

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That says more about DC than its most famous character. It seems that the editors at DC no longer understand that there is a reason that Superman was created in America, not France or China. (DC Comics did not respond to a request for comment.)

The original Superman of the 1930s was a product of American soil. Dreaming in Depression-era Cleveland of two Jewish youths who were the children of immigrants, Superman represents a patriotic faith in American values, not least because he himself is a great immigrant.

The sole survivor of the destroyed planet Krypton, Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster’s Man of Steel represents the essence of the American story, from the colonists onwards, who want to make a more perfect world.

However, today’s comics have turned their backs on the country in which they were born. Even in the 1970s, they faced social problems such as drug addiction and racism, but without losing faith in America.

In 1976, banners announcing “DC Comics Salutes the Bicentennial” adorned not only Superman, but other titles.

Now, Superman has no roots: in America, but not in it, by DC standards.

The editors of DC no longer seem to realize that Superman still inspires people around the world precisely because he represents unique American values ​​that transcend our borders, such as “all men are created equal,” regardless of race, religion or planetary origin.

Back in 1976, DC Comics president Sol Harrison “got it.” Superman “has become the great ambassador of the United States overseas,” Harrison wrote in that special Bicentennial magazine, and “from Arabia to Zambia, millions have formed their opinion of the American Way” through his travels.

Superman remains unique in America. In a time of domestic strife, he is a necessary reminder to young Americans of the enduring values ​​that have allowed us to mend ourselves and continue to strive to build a perfect Union. After all, he still represents a beautiful land of opportunity that continues to draw millions to our shores.

Let Superman celebrate America on our 250th – it will inspire others to do so, too.

Michael Auslin is the author of A National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America. He is the Payson J. Treat Distinguished Lecturer at Stanford’s Hoover Institution.