'You're a refugee, are you not?' 'Extraordinary bodies', monstrous outsiders and US refugee policies in superhero comics.

This article examines the representation of Vietnamese refugees in 1980s mainstream American superhero comics, focusing on Marvel’s Karma and DC’s Thunder and Lightning, to explore how these characters reflect U.S. political rhetoric and public discourse surrounding the Southeast Asian refugee crisis. Karma is portrayed as a sympathetic "good refugee" victimized by communism and rescued by the United States, embodying narratives of American benevolence and rehabilitation. In contrast, Thunder and Lightning are depicted as antagonistic Amerasian twins whose search for their American father highlights issues of paternity, citizenship, and the U.S. government's reluctance to acknowledge its military and moral responsibilities. These portrayals reveal broader tensions in U.S. refugee policy and racialized national identity during the post-Vietnam War era, illustrating how comics served as cultural texts that both mirrored and shaped public perceptions of refugees and American global power.