CBS’ new series ‘Supergirl’ flies right

While browsing the aisles of a comic book store a few years ago, I came to the terrible and humbling realization that I’m older than Superman.

How did this happen? The Last Son of Krypton rocketed to newsstands nearly four decades before I was born. And yet Supes has somehow remained a vibrant, healthy man of steel, while I have slowly transformed into a balding, graying man of steel-cut oatmeal.

My Kryptonite? Readily available snack foods loaded with high-fructose corn syrup. And forget Lex Luthor, Brainiac and Mr. Mxyzptlk. My greatest enemies are time, age and the loss of muscle mass.

At this point in my life, if a terrifying Kryptonian criminal escaped the Phantom Zone and ordered me to “Kneel before Zod!” my final words would be, “On these knees? You cannot be serious.”

So, yes, it’s happened. On the highway of life, I’ve zoomed past that billboard that reads, “Your childhood heroes don’t look anything like you.”

Judging by the reactions of people on TV and social media, I might be handling our current pop cultural shifts a little better than others. Television commentators are outraged that an African-American guy is slinging Captain America’s shield in the comic book world. And folks on the Internet seem overly concerned about the genders and ethnicities of the cast of the coming “Star Wars” sequel.

Actually, these changes are just we what need.

Monday night marks the premiere of “Supergirl” on CBS. Though many may roll their eyes at the thought of yet another superhero TV show or movie — especially one featuring Superman’s Kryptonian cousin — “Supergirl” is better than it has any right to be.

Fangirls and fanboys generally are going to be pleased with the show, at least the pilot. It’s smart, and it’s funny. It works around its TV-series special effects budget with off-screen action, blurry scenes, sound effects, quick cuts and close-ups. Former Superman Dean Cain and former Supergirl Helen Slater even cameo as our hero’s adoptive parents.

And the pilot episode follows the spirit — if not the letter — of the well-established continuity of the comic book multiverse.

But among the changes is Jimmy Olsen. In the comics, Superman’s pal is a short, goofy, red-headed, freckle-faced white kid. In “Supergirl,” he’s played by Mehcad Brooks, a tall, handsome African-American man.

Traditionalists, mossbacks and flat-Earthers have blurted all kinds of bigoted nonsense about the casting, much as they did when Michael B. Jordan was cast as Johnny Storm in “Fantastic Four” and Laurence Fishburne was cast as Perry White in “Man of Steel.”

That sort of bellyaching reached a new low last week when Disney released the trailer for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Under the social media hashtag #boycottstarwars, people complained there were few white characters in the new film, which is due in U.S. theaters Dec. 18. The movement may have been an elaborate joke by Internet trolls, but it didn’t stop people from talking about it.

Meanwhile, Fox News personalities were grousing about the new Captain America comic book series.

“Sam Wilson: Captain America” has the African-American hero formerly known as the Falcon picking up Cap’s shield and using his newfound status to talk about the problems in this country, racism chief among them. His enemy in the first issue: a group of gun-totin’ anti-immigrant good ol’ boys called the Sons of the Serpent.

In response, Fox News posted commentary from a writer for “The Right Scoop”: “This is obviously a response to Donald Trump making illegal immigration a huge issue in this election campaign. … Geez, it’s getting harder and harder to give anything Marvel Comics does the time of day.”

Obviously, many who complain about their heroes haven’t been paying attention to geek culture, which has tackled issues of the day for decades.

In the original “Star Wars,” when Obi-Wan and Luke walk into that wretched hive of scum and villainy, the Mos Eisley cantina, they’re told the droids have to stay outside.

“We don’t serve their kind,” the barkeep bellows, in a reference to the days of segregation.

In the comic books of the 1970s, Green Arrow and Green Lantern traveled the country, confronting issues of race and poverty. Spider-Man tackled drug abuse. In 1975, Marvel rejuvenated the foundering X-Men comics by replacing five white mutants with heroes of many races, ethnicities and nationalities. Storm was from Africa, Colossus was from the then-Soviet Union, Wolverine was Canadian.

The writers gave readers a new sense of the world outside the U.S. borders. They peppered the characters’ dialogue with foreign languages. They showed that, despite cultural differences, people could come together to save the world, and occasionally, the universe.

To many, this moment in our culture feels pivotal. A lot of regular people are trying to right cultural wrongs and engage in uncomfortable conversations. Part of that discomfort will stem from the changing faces of our cultural heroes.

But here’s the thing: When sidekick photographer Jimmy Olsen becomes art director James Olsen, that’s growth. Necessary growth.

The very first image of Captain America showed him punching Nazis; today’s Captain America continues to fight against Nazism. Our parents’ black-and-white “The Adventures of Superman” becomes our children’s “Supergirl.” And Luke Skywalker gives way to a young woman named Rey.

This is a necessary and important evolution of our culture. Heroes have to change. If they don’t, they become mere icons.

Midway through the “Supergirl” pilot, a waitress at a diner says to a customer, “Can you believe it? A female hero! It’s nice for my daughter to have someone to look up to.”

It’s not just “nice.” It’s super.

This story was originally published October 25, 2015 at 3:07 PM with the headline "CBS’ new series ‘Supergirl’ flies right."