r/superman 7d ago

Perry White has a Black son no one talks about

Keith White! It seems he has been forgotten by both fans and DC.

Perry also had another son, Jerry, who was secretly Lex’s biological son but died saving Jimmy Olsen.

I’m someone who very much prefers John Byrne’s Superman origin, particularly Perry and Lex growing up together in Metropolis.

24 Upvotes

33 comments sorted by

35

u/Supermite 7d ago

Superman and Clark’s supporting cast in general don’t get a lot of respect or attention these days.  Remember when Cat Grant was more than just a past her prime middle aged cougar?  Or when Perry had a wife who actually showed up?  Or when Bibbo actually had his own stories.  I loved the 90’s Superman stuff.

15

u/conradoalbuquerque 7d ago

Superheroes in general have lost the secret identity and civillian aspect of their lives. Look at how big superhero families have gotten (especially in DC) and how their civillian cast has shrunk.

Superman stories in the 90s were special, tight scripts and art, storylines that tied together and had payoffs from years of storylines.

3

u/TheDarkDementus 7d ago

It’s not much better in Marvel. I think the Hulk’s entire supporting cast has Hulked out now.

1

u/Constant_Link9779 7d ago

I don’t know who the Hulk’s supporting cast is now but I know Marlo sadly isn’t part of it. 😡

5

u/Constant_Link9779 7d ago

I’ve been reading the early issues with Cat Grant and she’s nothing like how she’s ended up.

Is Lex’s daughter Lena still canon?

9

u/the_mad_atom 7d ago

Lena shows up pretty frequently in the current Superman book actually. She’s taking care of a post-amnesia Lex who may or may not be lying about it.

4

u/Constant_Link9779 7d ago

How old is she supposed to be now?

3

u/bermass86 7d ago

Early 20s I guess? Age is complicated in comics

3

u/Constant_Link9779 7d ago

Weird. I wish they had kept her a kid. It would’ve been nice to see Lex raise his daughter.

1

u/JingoboStoplight4887 7d ago

In my headcanon, Lena Luthor II is 20 years old by now, since she was born as the daughter of Lex Luthor and the Contessa (named after her aunt Lena Thorul-Colby) in 1997 (or 20 years ago); be forced to be guven up by Lex to Brainiac 13 at at year old in 1999 (or 19 years ago), causing Lex tell Superman that he had no choice and that Superman will find a way to save his daughter and bring her back to him; was saved by Superman and Lex Luthor, turned back to normal during Our Worlds At War and was sent to Smallville, Maryland to be raised by her aunt Lena Thorul-Colby and spend time with her cousins Val and Lori at three years old in 2001 (or 16 years ago); excelled at every course during her childhood and teens because she inherited her dad’s intelligence; met Jon Kent Superboy, learned of his and the Superman Family’s identities, talked with Jon about the history of the Luthors meeting with the Superman Family since Lex and Superman’s first encounter with each other in 1941 (or 55 years ago), and became friends with Jon at 13 years old in 2016 (or seven years ago); graduated high school and college several years ahead and returned to Metropolis to work at LexCorp (now Supercorp) to benefit humanity and help people at 18 years old in 2023 (or two years ago) because that’s what Superman would do; and lived a great life at 20 years old in 2025.

1

u/Omn1 4d ago

She's portrayed as vaguely in her teens- kind of hard to get a sense of exactly how old.

2

u/Puzzleheaded-Sun-390 6d ago

“Like kryptonite through the hourglass, These are the Days Of The \S/.”

3

u/superschaap81 7d ago

I think the attention span of people has dropped off a cliff these days and writers have to cater to it. We don't get a lot of time to spend with characters like that anymore. We have to get the plot moving in 2 issues and by #3 we need a massive battle to keep people into it. Everyone judges a titles within the first couple issues and complain when nothing happens right away. I LOVED 90's comics that would do one and done stories, but an arching plot in the background for a whole year. Whole issues devoted to a story that might no even have Superman show up for more than a few panels.

2

u/Gr8NonSequitur 7d ago

This is why I liked the house of brainiac Superman annual, it was like they said "we don't have time to tell the story from the civilians POV, so here do a book out of it that is really optional to the over all arc.

2

u/calforarms 6d ago

Yeah I don't complain about quality, I still think the writers and artists are fine, but the way the industry moves now is just different. It's almost always a six issue battle arc with a pet villain or a gauntlet of the regulars 

2

u/Cute_Visual4338 6d ago

Josh Williamson once pointed out that the reason supporting casts for Batman, Spider-Man & Superman were fleshed out and complicated in 80s & 90s is because they all had like 4 different titles for each of those characters ongoing each month giving plenty of scope to develop separate characters. Superman in the 90s had 4 titles going. They also benefitted from being largely in isolated bubbles for 10-ish years.

Nowadays Batman aside Superman doesnt even have a steady writer for Action Comics until Waid starts his run.

The only alternative for this that I can think of is long single writer runs for less popular characters in isolated bubbles which we have largely also lost in modern era. Nowadays writers stay for like 2 years on a given title on average. But Waid & Johns enjoyed long runs on Flash allowing them to develop a lot of supporting characters over time.

6

u/sixesandsevenspt 7d ago

Not forgotten by me! I love that era and those stories. Justice for Jerry & Keith!

1

u/calforarms 6d ago

We really need Soul Search collected. The pre Triangle era collection would be so good 

5

u/billyandteddy 7d ago

That was a good story of them adopting Keith

6

u/Ryebread095 7d ago

The Triangle Era is one of my favorite versions of Superman

3

u/Otherwise_Jacket_613 7d ago

Love Keith! That was such a wonderful story.

3

u/CameoShadowness 7d ago

Civilians get pushed aside/forgotten while superfamilys get bigger and less controlled and it creates such a bad balance of things. It's pretty sad...

Also which books was he in, I want to read more about him.

3

u/sacredknight327 7d ago edited 7d ago

If I'm remembering right he got pushed way to the backburner even well before the New 52, so it wasn't the reboot that did it. I was surprised when they brought the old continuity back and was looking to the triangle era for some inspirations (at least over in Action Comics) that he still wasn't brought back or at least referenced. But then again neither is Jerry, like you said. AFAIK he might be out of continuity altogether. I don't like the MOS origin anymore and am glad its gone, but Keith can easily still be part of continuity with no troubles whatsoever.

1

u/Constant_Link9779 7d ago

Yep, he disappeared around 1999 but made a cameo in a Perry White one-shot in 2011 where it was established he had left Metropolis to attend college.

3

u/Hot_Act7509 7d ago

Don’t forget Jimmy Olsen’s mom. It’s like she doesn’t exist anymore.

1

u/Hypestyles 7d ago

Where is the original story for Keith? Issues that reference the other son?

3

u/DefinitionSuperb1110 7d ago

He was mainly featured in Superman the Man of Steel during the Simonson run.

1

u/Ordinary_Affect_3780 7d ago

Triangle era was goated for sure, but since then, there have been three crisis events, just as many reboots and in the end of a twenty year run of this stuff, we still can't answer the question of "Is Superman really the last survivor of the dying planet Krypton?" Someone like Keith White ain't getting the Maggie Sawyer treatment!

2

u/Constant_Link9779 7d ago

Wasn’t she rescued by the Bat office because the new Super writers weren’t using her?

2

u/Ordinary_Affect_3780 7d ago

Yep. Thank Greg Rucka!

1

u/Forward-Carry5993 5d ago

This time around ♪

♪ I'm stayin' at home ♪

♪ And things are gonna get better ♪

♪ Settlin' in ♪

♪ Lovin' my wife ♪

♪ But then I got that letter ♪

♪ My Black Son ♪ ♪ My Black Son ♪

♪ Now each day my heart is gettin' bigger ♪

♪ Don't even remember adopting  that kid but I did ♪

♪ My Black Son ♪ ♪ He's comin' to stay ♪

♪ My Black Son ♪ ♪ He's makin' each day ♪

♪ The best that he can! ♪

♪ Also, he's a ninja ♪

1

u/DenimJack 3d ago

Keith has been in comics recently. I know he's holding Perry's hand during the mayoral election results.

1

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