Conservatives irked by Superman issue

LONDON, April 29 (UPI) -- Conservative U.S. commentators are criticizing the latest "Action Comics" issue for a storyline involving Superman threatening to renounce his U.S. citizenship.

Superman, the DC Comics superhero who has long declared his commitment to "truth, justice and the American way," declared in Wednesday's issue of "Action Comics" he would be willing to renounce his citizenship before the United Nations after intervening in a protest against the Iranian government, Britain's Guardian reported Friday.

"I'm tired of having my actions construed as instruments of U.S. policy," the Man of Steel says in the issue.

The story ends with Superman not going through with the plan, but U.S. conservative commentators including Jonathan Last, a senior writer for The Weekly Standard, have objected to the story.

"Does he believe in British interventionism or Swiss neutrality?" Last wrote in a blog post. "You see where I'm going with this: If Superman doesn't believe in America, then he doesn't believe in anything."

Posters in online comic book forums have branded the commentators opposed to the storyline "Earthers," a pun on the "birthers" label for conservatives who believe President Barack Obama may not be a U.S. citizen.