The coverage of the iconic 1978, 72-page-long DC Comics Muhammad Ali vs Superman has been great. However, just like some journalists would posit that the The People’s Champ was a universal figure that transcended his blackness, there is an element that’s missing around the conversation about this special issue. The cultural importance of putting Ali in the book as a superior fighter to DC’s flagship alien white-presenting hope is beyond significant, especially during the time it was published.
There’s something that many people forget to mention about our representation in comic books in the ’70s – it was extra problematic.
Just a few years prior to Muhammad Ali vs Superman, DC Comics was publishing stuff like this:
And then this:
There’s tons more where that came from, but you get the point. 1978 in comics as a whole was not much better, making this portrayal of a black man a huge outlier in the typical depiction of our people in a genre of entertainment that many of us hold dear.
Muhammad Ali was a real life superhero:
When I talked to my pop about this comic, he told me, “Superman needed to get knocked out,” and this comes from a guy who grew up on Kal-El. What Ali represented for my dad and our people during his lifetime is priceless and cannot be erased. He was always unapologetically confident and strong throughout his life and career. The strength he displayed in his political choices and religious beliefs equal —and maybe even surpass — his God-given talent (plus hard work) in the ring. That inspiration still exists today for so many.
1978’s Muhammad Ali vs Superman, just like the man himself, was beautiful, rare and as black as can be.
As we remember this true black superhero in his passing, I hope to see the embodiment of his character reflected in the depiction of our black heroes to come in the future, as well as each and every one of us that were touched by his presence on earth. If there’s anything we need more of, it’s the celebration of who we are.
Muhammad Ali didn’t just fight Superman. He fought racial inequality. He fought religious discrimination. He fought his whole life to become worthy a title most often reserved for people who did not look like him – The Greatest. And he knocked them all out.
