Many fans were distraught when it was announced that DC would be changing Superman’s iconic motto. For many decades, Superman was recognized by his simple motto – “Truth, justice, and the American way.” But, in order to promote inclusivity and keep the character modernized, DC changed this motto. His new motto has since become “Truth, justice, and a better tomorrow.” Now one artist has actually quit DC, claiming that the recent change to Superman’s motto was the final straw.
The artist, named Gabe Eltaeb, actually explained his thoughts quite vividly while appearing with Ethan Van Sciver on a YouTube livestream. He claimed that DC didn’t just ruin Superman with this motto change, but that he was tired with the way many of their characters were being changed.
Quotes taken from a live stream:
“I’m finishing out my contract with DC. I’m tired of this sh-t, I’m tired of them ruining these characters; they don’t have a right to do this.”
He further elaborated:
“What really pissed me off was saying truth, justice, and a better world. F–k that it was Truth, Justice, and the American way.”
Gabe Eltaeb explained that it was a disrespectful move to those that died during American wars.
“My Grandpa almost died in World War II; we don’t have a right to destroy sh-t that people died for to give us,” he continued. “It’s a bunch of f-cking nonsense.”
Furthermore, he claimed that leftists were “bigots”:
“They call us bigots and racist and sh-t, I would ask them, find me in the f–king mainstream, not on the fringes, one f–king book, one f–king t-shirt, one movie that says that leftism is bad, and conservatism is good, find it for me, they f–king won’t they’re not letting people have a voice, they’re the f–king bigots.”
“Sorry,” he stated, “that’s been bottled up for five years.”
“And that’s the reality,” he continued. “You cannot come out and be a conservative and criticize the company that you work for in this way. You have to be completely supportive of the corporate agenda, whatever it is.”
“You have to keep your negative or critical opinions to yourself, and it’s so liberating to be able to not work for DC comics and be able to say exactly what you think,” he concluded. “And I think that’s what Gabe is going through here.”
It’s definitely interesting hearing someone who was once an official DC artist give his opinion on changing Superman’s motto. There’s certainly always going to be backlash when an iconic character is changed, even if it’s only slightly. Nevertheless, it looks like Superman’s new motto is going to be here to stay for the time being.