The controversy surrounding the 1943 Superman comic series, Sneer Strikes, shows that both the Japanese American community and the United States Government were aware of the power of comics to influence public opinion.



Japanese American internees across the country responded to the Superman series in the camp newspapers they created. These groups did not passively accept the racist imagery being used to villainize their community.

"From now on, Superman can give the evacuees and the relocation camps good or bad publicity as the case may be."
– Tule Lake Internment Camp, Daily Tulean Dispatch, June 30, 1943 

"We wonder why Superman cannot be put to use in fighting race discrimination rather than inciting it as the trend of his present activities will undoubtedly do?"
– Gila River Internment Camp, Gila News-Courier, July 1, 1943

"The creators, Siegel and Shuster... are using real live people to victimize for their incredibly fantastic plots. Anyone who has been inside a [relocation] center would know that evacuees are too busy with their personal and family problems to even dream about ‘escaping’ with ‘concealed guns.’ Guns? We are not even allowed to own a camera."
– Tule Lake Internment Camp, Daily Tulean Dispatch, July 1, 1943

Their outcries were supported by some Black-owned newspapers and a handful of local newspapers, including the Des Moines Register, which published an article titled "Unfavorable Comment Voiced on Superman." It read: "I fear that [Superman's] present adventure in the Japanese relocation camp cannot help but create misunderstanding and unfounded prejudice among readers." 

Discontent among the Japanese American community was so strong that the U.S. Government's WRA (War Relocation Authority - the agency established to handle the Japanese American Incarceration) had to get involved. They responded to complaints and even went so far as to assure the Gila River Incarceration Camp that they will be allowed to provide new material for the Superman comics to use.
 

"We have been asked to supply material which may be used in other cartoon strips controlled by the [McClure] syndicate, presenting examples of loyalty on the part of Japanese Americans, and were are preparing this material for submission at this present time."
– Gila River Incarceration Camp, Gila New-Courier, July 31, 1943

It might seem strange that the WRA (War Relocation Authority) would support the Japanese American community's critique of the Superman series, but it served their own interests as well. The representation of Japanese saboteurs plotting in camp in the Superman comic made the entire incarceration program look like a failure - like the government had not done a good job of protecting the American public from "disloyal" Japanese Americans.
 

The very images that the government used to justify the incarceration of Japanese Americans now made their own program look like a failure.

To gain back the good-will of the government, the Superman creators added an additional panel to the end of the series. This panel, which does not match the rest of the story-line, says "It should be remembered that most Japanese-Americans are loyal citizens... According to government statements, not one act of sabotage was perpetrated in Hawaii or territorial U.S. by a Japanese-American."

Most of the incarceration camps saw this final panel as a positive step towards changing the representation of Japanese Americans in popular culture, while some, including those at the Gila River and Manzanar Incarceration camps continued to be suspicious of the "entertainment world" and the power of images to villainize whole communities.

"Although comic books tell about Superman and other mighty men, some of the cartoonists who contribute for it must be weak minded individuals. All of the filth and lies that are found within the pages of some comic books that are erroneously related about Japanese-American does much to poison the minds of the coming generation. The next time we come across a book of that sort, let’s not buy it."
– Manzanar Incarceration Camp, Manzanar Free Press, October 14, 1944

Let's Talk About It!

1. What part of this controversy surprised you the most? Why?
2. What does this controversy tell us about the role of comics in determining a community's representation?
3. What does this controversy tell us about Japanese American resistance?