The Fall of Superman

Transmission from special reporter C’therax, the Martian Muckraker. For immediate publication in the Milky Way Gazette

“I didn’t realize how attached I was to Earthling comics until I read it,” says F’delty, a multiterrestial who ingeniously hides himself and his family in a comic book shop. “I always told myself that this business of mine was just a hideout; the one place where you could look a tad otherworldy and not seem suspicious. But when I read that Superman had been cancelled and that most Earthlings were enthusiastic about the decision, I felt…hurt…wounded even…One of the last positive popular images of extraplanetary life is now gone.”

Like many multiterrestrials after the rise of Earth’s Great Barricade, F’delty, his family and several close friends were forced into hiding.

“We were lucky to have access to many resources to make Earthling disguises,” F’delty recalls. “But we knew with our distinctive features-genetics was not subtle with us-it would only be a matter of time before we were caught.”

F’delty’s unusual solution was to start a comic book shop and dress each day as a different comic book character. That way any perceived peculiarities of his anatomy would be chalked up to makeup and prosthetics.

“I am probably the most photographed underground multiterrestial,” F’delty laughs. Paradoxically, it’s precisely that level of high exposure that he credits for his cover not being blown.

“We never leave the comic shop if we don’t have to, so most of our entertainment has come in the form of Earthling comics. We always loved Superman because we hoped that maybe, just maybe, he would be able to pave the way for the acceptance of multiterrestrials.”

However DC Comics, bowing to pressure from so-called “Humanity First” government leaders, discontinued the comic recently and gave a statement saying that they were sorry “for giving the impression that we were not loyal to the Human Cause.” The seemingly small act-canceling a comic book-has had major ramifications for F’delty’s multiterrestrial community. Many see the cancellation as proof that anti-“alien” hysteria has been firmly entrenched.

“The group is divided now,” F’delty says. “Half of us want to flee this part of the planet and look to join a larger clan of multiterrestials. I am afraid that if we do that, the Earthling bounty hunters will catch us and gut us like zana’veres. My son has recently told me that he is determined to go with or without the rest of us. All we can do is stand firm in the Immutable and hope that the Immutable’s Light will manifest soon in the hearts of the Earthlings. For now, we face the real possibility that our family will be split.”

(emiliefarrisphotos Pixabay)