Kal-El, an Immigrant’s Story

NY Dispatch Day 137: An infant is saved from certain death by his parents, who send him far from home. The boy is raised by a foster family. He grows up to become a reporter, but repays his adopted home by fighting crime with his special powers. While we tend to think of Superman as an American hero, his is an immigrant’s story. Michael Chabon fictionalized this interpretation in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, in which a young Jewish artist escapes Nazi-invaded Prague and brings his ...