History ComicBook / SupermanSmashesTheKlan

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: The Klan of the Fiery Kross are violent white supremicists who want to drive out any non-white people from America, and are also antisemites. Henderson at one point saves a Klansman whose robe caught on fire, and he responds by attacking him with a torch out of anger that an African American "contaminated" him. [[spoiler: The Grand Imperial Mogul is a different form of one, feeling one human isn't made superior to another thanks to race, but by power, and that his status makes him superior to Matt Riggs.]]

''Superman Smashes the Klan'' is a bi-monthly miniseries published by DC Comics between October 2019 and February 2020. Written by award-winning writer Creator/GeneLuenYang and drawn by Creator/{{Gurihiru}} (who had previously worked together on the ''ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' comics), it is a loose adaptation of one of the most famous episodes of ''Radio/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'' radio show: "Clan of the Fiery Cross."

* {{Animesque}}: The art, done by Gurihiru, has a manga-like feel given the duo's work on comics like ''ComicBook/PowerPack'' and ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. In particular, [[spoiler:Matt Riggs']] hair and facial expressions during the climax are full-on "shonen manga villain", which is HypocriticalHumor subtext given his white supremacist motivations.

* PlayingUpTheStereotype: Tommy makes up quotes from Confucius, calls himself a wonton, and acts along other Chinese stereotypes while trying to fit in after he and his family move to downtown Metropolis. His sister Roberta calls him out on this, but he retorts that she's so stuck up about not playing into stereotypes that everyone keeps her at arm's length.

* PlayingUpTheStereotype: Tommy makes up quotes from Confucius, calls himself a wonton, and acts along other Chinese stereotypes while trying to fit in after he and his family move to downtown Metropolis. His sister Roberta calls him out on this, but he retorts that she's so stuck up about not being that everyone keeps her at arm's length.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Superman mentions his costume isn't indestructible like he is, so among other things, he has spare capes.
** Chuck sees that Matt wants to blow up the Unity House and gets the kids out. As Roberta points later, he was so hasty that he forgot about the adults.

* YellowPeril: A [[ShowWithinAShow movie in the theatre]] called "Captain Desmo Vs Ghengis Ahkim The Intergalactic Conqueror" uses this trope with its villain, who has facial hair of the archetype and yellow skin.

* MotiveRant The head of the Klan gives a speech (itself an AdaptationExpansion of a similar, if shorter moment from the serial the comic is adapting) is actually a blunt but accurate summation of an often overlooked and especially insidious aspect of systemic racism. [[spoiler:He freely admits that he's OnlyInItForTheMoney, doesn't buy into any of his own racist rhetoric, and that exploiting the racism of dumber, poorer recruits is how he and men like him maintain power and privilege, and is [[EqualOpportunityEvil happy to employ the service of "lesser" races]] as long as they further his agenda and position.]]

** The old white cop who refuses to help Roberta when Tommy is kidnapped is not given a name either.

* RaceLift: Henderson, at the time of his creation for the radio show, was most likely a white man. Here, he is black.

* SpellMyNameWithAThe: Defied. Atom Man refers to Superman as "the Superman", but Supes continuously quips that it just sounds incredibly pretentious.

** [[spoiler:When Superman reveals his Kryptonian heritage at the baseball game, the adults in the crowd react with horror and disgust, even begging Matt Riggs to save them from the "alien". The kids call them out for this, citing the many times Superman has saved Metropolis.

* AdaptationalExpansion: Quite a lot of the story is expanded upon from the original radio show to the point of almost reaching InNameOnly levels. Characters only mentioned or having small roles have much bigger parts in the story along with never before had characterization.

* RedHerring: William Jennings, Dr. Lee's coworker at the Health Department makes blatantly racist remarks towards the Lees, leading Roberta to suspect that he's a Klansman. [[spoiler:It's actually Dr. Wilson, who [[BitchInSheepsClothing seemed like a lovely guy]], though admittedly he doesn't actually believe in the white supremacist rhetoric and is just using hatred as a way to get rich.]]

At the same time, a Chinese-American family called the Lees are moving from Chinatown to downtown Metropolis after the patriarch gets a job there. The main focus is primarily on young Roberta Lee, and her elder brother Tommy. Away from her friends and the community she grew up in, she struggles to find her place in a town that isn't as welcoming as she might have hoped, though she does find a friend in Daily Planet reporter Jimmy Olsen, and probably develops a crush on him.

* WillfullyWeak: As pointed out, Superman seems to be unconsciously holding back his true potential because of [[IJustWantToBeNormal his fear of acceptance]]. [[spoiler:It takes Roberta pointing this out for him and a projection of his parents detailing his heritage to break through those mental barriers and explore his full power set]].

** [[spoiler: The Grand Imperial Mogul was a villain in the original radio show who admitted the Klan only existed to help him make money. In addition to that however, this storyline writes him as a SmugSnake who feels having power [[AGodIAm makes him a god]] while normal people are ants in comparison.]]

** Mr. Lee shows a bit of his own racism when instead of thanking a trio of black men helping him put out a fire he tells them to leave. [[spoiler: Then we find out he was knowingly working on a secret project to kill Superman.]] In the original show he was nothing but a kind man looking out for his family.

* BroughtToYouByTheLetterS: Invoked by Martha Kent. When Clark first decides to go out and use his powers in costume to help others, she sows the House of El's crest onto the front of his uniform. Although he's concerned that people will recognize the strange shield on his chest as something alien, she points out that it looks like an "S" and tells him to let the people think of it as such. It carries over when Roberta's mother makes Superman's cape that he gave to the girl into a jacket, which still has the rear yellow "S" symbol on it.

** Mr. Lee is also this. While he adheres to PositiveDiscrimination and shows clear distrust for three African-American men even when they're trying to put out a fire on his property, it's clear that he doesn't mean real harm and he loves his family.

* PositiveDiscrimination:
** Alexandra, one of the girls at the Unity House, engages in this saying that Chinese are "Hardworking and Brave." She doesn't seem to know how to react when Roberta says they're just people.
** Dr. Lee also invokes this, reminding Roberta to use impeccable manners and constantly trying to appease his bosses and co-workers rather than speaking to them as equals. [[spoiler:This makes him easy for Dr. Wilson to manipulate into helping him make weapons to use against Superman.]]
** Tommy also uses this while speaking to the kids at the Unity House, adhering to stereotypes like (falsely) quoting Confucius and calling himself a "wonton". Roberta calls him out for this, but he fires back by saying that he's trying to fit in any way he can compared to Roberta's holier-than-thou attitude.

** [[spoiler:In a sick way, Matt Riggs, who -- after being captured and disarmed by Superman -- declares he doesn't want to live in a racially integrated world, then stabs him with a kryptonite dagger, intending to [[TakingYouWithMe fall to his death and poison Superman in one final act of spite]]. It's only a glancing blow, and Clark manages to recover in time to save his life.]]

* DefiantToTheEnd: What White, Lane and Henderson are when they mock their kidnappers and their $2.79 sword, even though they are likely to be killed for that insult. Fortunately, Superman arrives to rescue them.

** Atom Man is actually the name of a opponent from a old film serial "Atom Man vs Superman". There it was an disguise for Lex Luthor as opposed to a [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi]] SuperSoldier. The helmets are even similar.