SUPERMAN SUPER-REVIEW SPECIAL!

(Be nice to me, mods. I tried to be efficient!)

Hahaha, okay so I just caught up on all the things, and you crack me up, DC. I shoulda asked Santa for a Pokéball set. Hope you all had a merry Christmas, New Years, post-Year’s, beginning-the-year’s, somewhat-into-the-year’s, with lots of winning, unreliable memories to gloat about.

Anyway, I’ve collected my brains into the semblance of coherent opinions, so now you’re gonna get it! And I’m going to start off this Superman review by reviewing people who aren’t Superman!

CAPTAIN MARVEL!

I’ve been giving this dude a lot of thought, but here’s a take:

Marvel as a full-on Last Air-bender dude. Cpt. Marvel is Avatar mode, with absolute invulnerability-or-magic-phantom-or-something and Zeus-type / TLA globe-breaking awesomesauce powers with an emphasis on broad Captain Planet world-protecting magic against unfathomable mojo-foes.

I feel like this preserves the character Cpt. Marvel is kinda supposed to be (besides Superclone), as a chosen magical ultimate champion/defender of Earth/whatever, without actually making him a straight Superman copy or really impinging on his theme/role. It’s an interesting idea anyway, yeah?

You can still have opportunity for that Marvel / Supes clash if you like that, and they still inhabit their entirely different tiers and realms the rest of the time. I think it’s a pretty brillstick place to start with.

The rest of the time he could be doing, I dunno, an Aladdin flying on carpet Last Airbender thing with all his (school) friends along, as he treks across the world doing quests or whatever his magical unicorn journey entails.

WONDER WOMAN:

Just some passing observations. Nothing to do with my opinion on the relationship.

Good moment. (One might even say… incredible. >.>)

I’m of the opinion that WW should ideally be the kind of gal that could get what she wants with (most) men by punching them repeatedly, or various violences and things, but she still likes getting it through natural feminine wileyness instead, because that’s what makes a gal happy.

[Wolverine immortality opinion unopinioned. Gotta think about it more.]

The blades were neat. This is the first time the costume has worked to any extent for me.

And if you guys are trying to figure out some kind of compromise between combat-effective body protection and looking good at the beach, just put (the equivalent of) a magic button on her bracelets to conjure up her armour or something. Easy excuse to tinker with the costume, too.

I mean, she’s a Goddess of War (yep, way better). Conjuring up armaments seems like a reasonable perk in general beyond just wrist-swords. Maybe they’re ‘linked’ to Hephaestus’ armoury. Heck, maybe being GOW gives her all kinds of stuff like changing the battlefield terrain, environment, weather, battle-inspiration (angry bird attack!) and what-not, just overall AOE RTS-effective abilities. War being somewhat broader scale than just melees and duels.

Just some random notions, anywhiz.

CLARK KENT / SUPERMAN DUALITY

This one seems to be baked in controversy, since I think the dynamic of this got blanded out in Post, which I don't know enough about. And honestly, the logic of it is pure comics gorged on meta. So I’m gonna take an unsolicited whack at it, for anyone getting their neurons in a knot about it.

It’s a dual identity. Clark Kent and Superman are two habitually distinct egos of a single dudeson. It’s basically the exact same thing as Billy Batson shouting “Shazam!” or Stanley Ipkiss putting on the Mask. It’s an alter ego, but based on acting performance rather than transformation.

There’s a single identity which is the no-pretense Clark Kent / Superman; and Clark Kent, Mild-Mannered Reporter is the performance.

That’s probably the more original vibe.

So you could probably look at it this way:

• Clark Kent / Kal-El –Overego of that one same beautiful person.
• Mild-mannered Reporter – Clark Kent’s completely silly, wimpy put-on, to protect people, secret ID, etc.
• Superman – Clark/Kal-El being a superhero, using his powers for good.

Dunno if that’s a perfect delineation, it’s probably something you either get or you just play it by ear. Or you could just read Action Comics #1 if you really want to take all the fun out of it.

Mild-Mannered Clarkie’s persona was characterised back in the day pretty much like Milo from Atlantis: TLE, full caricature wimp. (I mean Superman the Movie is a perfectly good example too.) A whole barrel of silliness of the superest champ on the planet acting like a complete wimpy dork, for reasons that range from necessary diversion to just trolling.

You could say that his mild-mannered persona is basically just like a regular guy “keeping his head down” at work, but for completely different reasons.

Just to rebut what’s-his-face from what’s-that-movie [Kill Bill Vol. 2 Speech]. Mild-mannered Reporter Clark Kent isn’t Superman pretending to be a human, it’s Clark Kent pretending to be a wimp.

That's my best impression of the Pre-Crisis dynamic, anyhow.

SUPERMAN CHARACTER:

MUFASA! At least 2/2 friends and enemies agree that Superman is ‘lion-like’.

I think Superman needs more of that somewhat-silly macho over-posed you-really-shouldn’t-have-messed-with-me-dude buzz. He’s Superman, if anyone should be all confident and self-awarely suavely swagger when the adrenalin’s pumping, it’s him (“healthy ego”, not “prat”). He’s supposed to be a wish-fulfilment contrast to wimpy Clark Kent (being the tongue-in-cheek vehicle for office cubicle losers everywhere).

And I honestly love that vaguely self-aware humour, though. Less “what the hells” and more eyebrow-quirky “What The Dickens...” And I would not object at all to a peering-intently-into-horizon “great Scott!” more-than-once in less than a life-time. Because if Superman of all people can’t get away with undies-over and superhero catch-phrases, what is he even doing this for?

I mean, you don’t have to (yes, you do), but my brains would almost definitely roll out all over the floor in decomposed happiness, and I think that’s something we’d all like to see.

Superman should be powerful and strong enough as a character (at least under normal circumstances) that he doesn’t have to be a hard-ass too (not that he can’t be, just that he doesn’t really need to).

And idiosyncrasies makes a comic-book personality.

But in fact, a dude just put up a useful interview over on CBR which I’m going to steal (suck it, guy), so you can just take the Siegels’ word for it, instead:

I had a little essay here, but I actually realised it's completely redundant. I'm loving the fortitude Supes is displaying in AC 48.

I am also going to take this opportunity to say, Mr. Yang, that I have been enjoying stuff you’re putting in there. You’re being inventive, writing Superman with more ingenuity and energy, and tacos are pretty awesome.

Also, you’re a fantastic artist, Porter, and don’t think I didn’t notice. *sunglasses*

SUPPORTING CAST:

I was thinking that if Superman was ever to do anything like ‘training side-kicks’ or a ‘We Are Robin’ dealio, he would generally actually be educating/training the world’s next generation of genius’ in science, not specifically super-powered dudes or anything (unless he’s scout-leading super-powered boy-scouts too? That’d be tres cool.). Kind of fits into his whole motif. Man of Tomorrow and all that, and actually kind of a significant step of progress towards the ambient goal floated around the guy. Plenty of story potential too.

Also, just as conjecture I also love the idea of Lois doing the whole TV presenter/reporter (again), chasing Superman in the field etc.

And maybe Clark should be hired for his exceptional “research” or somesuch, which could take him anywhere, get info from anyone (like “his buddy” Superman) and avers him writing newspaper articles on himself or expressing personal charm, doesn’t make Daily Planet depend on the business of Print, and things like that. Superman/Clark taking the job of research assistant to disseminate information only he could get, or put together, to the right place – and with secret ID presumably because inviting dangers and things.

I just feel like the amount of time he seems to spend on justifying his difficulties (which really might be the problem) just writing an article rather than doing super-brain info-collation or something, is a massive under-utilisation of his actually useful contributions.

It feels like it would actually be the most productive kind of work for him, within the context of media, fighting for truth etc. (Also, about “Truth and secret ID”, if it bothers you philosophically, you could just think of it like undercover journalists and cops (and superheroes), or hiding sources, people wouldn’t necessarily like it, but it’s line of duty stuff.)

Pure random speculations I had, not a hard theory.

It would probably be just as easy to make him just work on really difficult media-busts with those same abilities. "I don't know how you do it, Kent!"

INSPIRATION:

Time for round two!

THE MASK and FREAKAZOID, are actually two Superman fantasies/expies dialled up to 11 in zaniness. I didn’t include them before because I think they're a bit too OTT in general, but they represent an important element of Superman, and honestly, you could probably do worse than to start writing Superman as a hyper-amplitude Freakazoid SuperMask. I bet he'd boom in popularity if done right. (Being the qualifying word.)

Freakazoid and Mask are shiny examples of Superman frustrating-villainry antics. He’s a power fantasy and he knows it, just try to stop him villains! Make his day!

It’s kind of the thing I have about Lex Luthor. The whole point is not that Luthor is someone who’s so smart and dangerous and savvy that he’s pushed Superman to the edge countless times despite Superman’s overwhelming advantages. The point is that Superman is such an unstoppable badass he just keeps frustrating his ultra-level world-dominating mega-Bond villainy time and time again, no matter how much is thrown at him, so that Luthor just hates the crap out of him even more for being so damn awesome.

And yep, I ain’t gonna deny it - my ideal Superman would be almost like a Good Guy Gaston, if Disney had made him out as a roguish hero rather than villain. Or I should say, that he would represent another strong element of Superman.

Bold! Dramatic! Heroic!

FEEL-GOOD SUPERHERO ACTION:

And just because why not:

INDESTRUCTIBLE:

Veni, vidi, didn’t like. Okay, so feel free to disregard my opinion, but after considering it, I do think concussion and prettifying scuffs works better in this context. Besides, they were hitting her with fists, not knives – if it makes a difference.

Injustice is doing it nice as ties.

Besides, I don’t really want to see Supergirl getting wrecked. As far as I'm concerned, she should just be 100% Silver Age MC Hammer. Honestly, you guys were doing brilliant already. Invulnerable guardian, not scrappy super-fighter.

(I mean it's up to you guys, obviously - I have no idea what's in the works for the story - it's just my reaction to it.)

Also, just to note, I’m not really into the idea of Superman building cosmic anti-Imperiex Iron Man suits and wielding infinity swords on any kind of consistent basis. I like that when it comes to a fight, Superman basically rolls his own with his fists, muscles and invulnerability because he’s a natural pimp.

If he did wear armour at any point maybe it’d be like a Hercules sci-fi-medieval cuirass type deal? (Oh, I'm thinking of Thor aren't I?)

Maybe he could make cosmic-armour shielded in anti-matter. Anti-matter things! How about an anti-matter light-saber?! (You guys are totally sensing a theme here, right?) Or a giant anti-matter indestructible mega-sword could be cool, if very anime.

INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US

And haha, Buccellato/artist-dude, you rock. The fight sequence in issue #2 was pitch-perfect. I actually felt those hits, far better than the usual boring punching bag fest (that it returns to afterwards). Every punch felt like it mattered, and that the stakes were just going up and up.I loved it.

But man, doing a suplex-chuck into orbit or something in issue #3 would have been awesome. Bane was an anti-climax.

But I ain’t fussin’, dude. You have got me reinvested. It was pretty awesome.

DESTRUCTIVE:

This is continuation on from a previous theory: Anti-matter!

Basically two types of Destructive attacks:

- Anti-matter (physical)

- Magic / Abstract / Realistic (e.g. Omega Beams, Hell-fire Missiles, Anti-Existential Anti-bodies, Chaotic Sphere of Upset Kittens, etc.)

Anti-matter charged weapons can directly attack through Superman's indestructibility/invulnerability and hurt him organically, and they are weapons that would vaporise someone without indestructibility (I mean, just in the way it normally does). So Superman can wrestle with anti-matter demons to save some pretty Lantern ladies (while being all manly and on fire), while they stand back and blast with rings. Basically, Superman's (limited) level of invulnerability/indestructibility has "damage resistance" against it.

So anti-matter is the “conventional” Destructive weapon that can hurt kryptonians, ultimate specimens of the matter universe. It’s special, has an almost mythical quality of annihilating properties, makes him look cool to tank it, a difficult resource to obtain but nonetheless can be as bountiful as actual matter. It’s pretty good, innit it? It just works on so many levels.

So any time you want something to hurt Superman, make it out of anti-matter.

Anti-realistic weapons or enemies (reality wiping his existence) probably works pretty much exactly the same way.

Superman vs an Anti-Matter [Supes]. Total potential. They could actually viscerally hurt each other with their punches or grappling.Or! Or! What if Superman fell down an anti-matter black hole!

You could just create (or use) a whole literal frackling universe for Superman to go light himself on fire with! A whole massive universe full of things that he has to go Conan on, and that he can go crusade in at any point you want to make Superman burn, because you’re an evil, evil writer who wants to see him suffer.

I just love this idea so much, it’s totally like a switch/flip Red Sun set-up thing, but cooler, and it makes so much sense that he would be constantly foraying into the vast and general threat of the anti-matter universe. In fact, this would probably be an excellent opportunity if you wanted Superman to throw around some unusual (for him) weapons and armour. The anti-matter universe could totally be a biggity ol’ knightly proving ground for him.

So a classic anti-Superman foe might be something like an indestructible super-strong being with anti-matter radiating fists. Anti-Monitor for example. That’d give him a run for his money.

And Superman doesn't literally have to steal Anti-Monitor, if he’s a Green Lantern foe or something, he's just a convenient example. The dramatic potential is huge. Champion of the Matter Universe Superman riding into the abyss of the Anti-matter Universe - it just has poetry to it. Superman doesn’t just stare the Abyss in the eye, he walks in there and gives it a good solid thrashing ‘til it larns itself some manners.

BONUS ROUND!

Okay, asides from just being generally fantastic, I gotta make mention here, because if I don’t, it’s just going to kill me forever until I die to death, and honestly? That’s just no way to live.

LOIS & CLARK

Jurgens/Lee, I’m not much of a Post-Crisis guy, but you guys give me a laugh, and that’s worth a stocking all by itself. The dreaded Blanque! Haven’t seen this guy since Asimov. And you’re making Lee draw it - that’s cold, man. And I was totally kidding about that thing, J/Lee, but you’re totally a boss for actually doing it.

So! Your comic is positively gorgeous and full of things I’m loving – BUT - I’ve got a funny kind of general critique to make you’ll hate me as a friend for, and it boils down to this:

Action! One problem I got from a lot of Superman comics and their pacing is that it felt very sloooow and methodical, which is so frustrating for a zany-type character like Supes.

Could be a decompression thing biting me in the attention span again. Seriously, it needs to die. Ask yourself why webcomics are so popular (besides being free). Low mental demand for good entertainment yield – that’s the ticket. Our brains are fragile fluffy little sheep that want to be babed through the woods. Your pages are so beautiful and stately – it’s basically too ball-room graceful. You’ve got it on a slow-dance, make it more jazzy, man! You’ve got it back-loaded and sagging down the tires, front-load it and strap it on the bonnet! Throw some trom-bones and fluffy can-can dancers in there.

I’m just saying, I love energy. Madden that cappin, captain. I feel like you could compress everything into half the space, if you really wanted to. >:

So: All the majesty and rugged power and all that (I love a Supes with a ridiculous chest – don’t stop now - make the guy seven feet tall if you want to, just go for gold, mate!), but jump him and his plot up on some energiser bunny batteries, and I think the guy will really zing. He’s a vigorous and vital man, by Dicken’s beard!

Give him more things to do, all at once, all the time! Psychics, earthquakes, invisible robo-aliens, four hundred super-powered babies falling from space, Supes can handle it, I swear!

(I mean, feel free to ignore me, since I'm probably not even the target market - but it's just my spare two cents.)

But I will not fail to mention that you are an immense talent and superb artist Lee. Your lay-outs and the scenes at the Fortress are stupendemendous.

DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE

Hahaha, I totally tripped on the Abominable Snowman. I haven’t figured them all out yet, but I’m gonna! So far I think I’ve got: Invulnerable Snowman, pretty sure that’s that damn Orange Sun Space Bee (for the life of me I can’t find that issue), Superman’s Baby Toy of Traumatism, Kandor (obvs), uh - dinosaur (presumably of the time-travelled variety), I’m honestly not certain if that mace thingy tickles a memory or not (Ares’ war club? No? No.), and is that the Limitless Speed Rocket? Damn, I need to go on a full research expedition. To the Google!

Also WW looks pretty great. Even with her clothes all the way on. It’s funny how you guys managed to make me both like and dislike Lara. You mind your Wonder Mum, you little bastard.

And I did have feels reading the issues, don’t think I didn’t. I’m for certes very much looking forward to whatever's coming next. I’m just going to cheer-lead from the side-lines.

NEAL ADAMS

And Neal Adams, I'm getting more excited every day. Seriously, there is basically nothing else I can add to that. I’ve been popping over the art and it just looks and sounds fantastic. That “diamond” crush is just the greatest thing EVER. (And between you and Miller, I’m kind of having a laugh. Muslims! Popular topic, innit?)

Speaking of which, if we’re taking votes – I’ve got a soft spot for the Lois with the space-maiden hair and that bonny little hat. Women and hats, I don’t know what it is. (She does look great, though.)

CONCLUSION:

Just a quick overlook:

I enjoyed the hell out of Superman Annual #3 and Action Comics #48 - have I mentioned how much I love the idea of Evil Nazi Starships? Because I do. And Injustice 1/2 + Annual was just fan-frappintastic. For ALL the reasons. (It was greatness.)

It was entertaining comics, man, and I am happy as heck to see what the future brings down the terminator highway.

After catching up on all the things, and what's coming out, you know what I am right now? Incredibly optimistic for the FUTUREEEE!

So in conclusion, I'm excited - you guys are fantastic - and DC should defs pay you all oodles of money. And I’m not just saying that so you’ll smother Superman in mad props. (But if you feel you must…)

And you guys thought I didn’t care. Shame on you.

Wow.

Can't believe I agree with you lol.

@supermudz:

When asked to describe Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman, normally I'd go over the edge. Simply went too far a gave to much information.

But ever since I saw this scene my explanation has become quite short.

And although I do not agree with everything said in this scene, truth be told, to me it's what comes closer to my view.

To me Kal-El/Superman is the real person. Almost every weakness I see in Superman comes from his Clark Kent persona.

Even Clark Kent has his alter ego irritates me sometimes. Mostly because I believe Kal-El could use his alter ego to achieve better goals.

That while Superman helps to save the world through might and raw power, Clark should help change the world with his intelligence. And being a mild-mannered reporter (which he hasn't been for some time now) never served him well. In fact all I saw was wasted potential.

I could go on, but this pretty much covers what I wanted to say about the duality of personalities.

God I have such a burning hatred of that Kill Bill Vol 2 scene, it's a great movie but it's responsible for perpetuating a false dichotomy of the Clark Kent/Superman dual identity personas. Especially since the modern Post Crisis era updated Clark Kent so he wasn't a wimpy 'critique on humanity' but the real identity and character ahead of the Superman persona. Not to mention it holds connotations that the mild mannered reporter has no purpose for either Superman or Clark Kent and that he'd be better off pursuing another profession, which I have fundamental disagreements upon. There's no need to make Superman a rip off of Bruce Wayne, Ray Palmer or insert other DC character. The whole appeal of the character is a godlike being acting like a regular human, he wouldn't want to be someone in the spotlight pioneering technology or science or whatever, it would put public presence on his secret identity not to mention it would just be derivative and take away from Superman's character setup. Spider-Man's lost his way in comics by becoming Peter Starker essentially and the same is bound to happen to Superman. The reason Superman has lost his way is because the changes have moved away from what made the character work so entertainingly well to people and fans. Tweaks and changes within the journalistic profession such as Clark being a foreign correspondent again like he was in the 2000s should allow for growth and development but it's a bad idea to take Superman and Clark Kent out of the newspaper room, I just know bad things would only follow from that.

I'll give some full feedback on this piece tomorrow, there's some interesting but also unclear and possibly unsuitable approaches that are worth discussing.

@stephens2177

Ha, jeez! What are you trying to say, man?

@heavenlydarkdragon:

That's was exactly the person and the movie I was thinking of.

@lvenger:

I'll give some full feedback on this piece tomorrow, there's some interesting but also unclear and possibly unsuitable approaches that are worth discussing.

Sweet, dude, I'll check back later. I'm cleaning up my post and formatting now, anyways.

Look I get it. You're all about old school. About maintaining the status quo and whatever else makes you feel good about a certain character.

And although that scene from Kill Bill v.2 doesn't do much justice to the duality between the two identities Clark and Kal-El. It certaintly isn't that far off. Especially when David Carradine says "Not a great comic book. Not particularly well drawn." because ever since the Ulysses arc began, if Superman comics were on a slippery slope before, after that arc, it was all down hill after that.

And I 100% disagree with you on Peter Parker. I haven't had this much fun reading Spider-Man comics in years. Peter as he's right now, is what he should've become years ago.

And I do give credit to Spider-Man stories for one important thing, at least with Peter we got to see him evolve. He went from the Daily Buggle to being a teacher, to almost becoming a father before the One More Day trainwreck. Now he's putting his genious mind to good use. He's not a show off like Tony, nor does he go breaking into other dimensions or luring cosmic threats like Reed Richards did so often.

He's trying to be all he can be. Do all he can do. Something that Clark never does. Nor Superman by the way.

Now Peter is in a position where he can really help people not just by being Spider-Man, but more so by being Peter Parker. His new suit is also something that should've been done a long time ago. With his genious he fixed the problem with changing clothes, his suit basically incorporates all the best stuff from his previous suits, even the web options are way better and give the writers more room to work with.

Now lets take a look at Clark. What does Clark really do? He publishes some articles, about corruption, about social problems, about conflicts worldwide. But what real affect does it has on the world? At people's lives? The answer is quite simple, just like comics are art imitating life, in a way, so in real life we get our answer. When I read a newspaper piece on corruption or any other issue or subject, I'm getting informed but I don't really waste time thinking about it. What really affects our lives is what's at our disposal and at what price.

If you have a medical condition, where you have to take meds, or go to the hospital more often than you'd like, then you'd want that someone discovered a cure for your problem.

If you had an accident and lost a limb, then you'd like that someone could either create more efficient prosthetics or that it was possible to regrow that limb.

I'm sure you'd like cleaner air, more efficient fuel sources, overall more efficient technology to help your life become easier, healthier, efficient. All the things that Clark can do and offer, but he doesn't. And in a way I get why he doesn't do it. Because there's a thin line between helping people and making them dependent on someone.

But still Clark could do so much more than be a reporter, and writting about stuff, when he should and could help lighten the burden. In previous past comics this subject has been brought up. And the excuse was always the same "The world can't depend on me to fix all their problems". And that to me always seemed hypocrite from him to say that.

It was like in Camelot Falls. When Arion explained to Superman, that he either stopped and let humanity fix its own problems or the darkness growing stronger and stronger, by his actions and that of other outsiders, would one day cause humanity extinction. And Superman didn't quit. The writers gave some excuse about him never stop trying, never stop fighting, but to me the truth was, that Superman by doing that he was putting his own interests and beliefs above those of the common good. When he had other options, just like Lana pointed out during that arc. She said, that he could help develop new transuranium elements, help to develop humanity space program, world hunger. That he could still help, only not by being humanity body guard, but instead a sort of guide.

Once we got a scene were Lex was in the jungle walking and thinking about all the ways he could bring Superman down. And he said that humanity needed to learn to stand on its own. And that once he had dealt with Superman once and for all, that he'd devote his full attention to curing deceases, fix world hunger, and all its other problems. But not while Superman devided his attention.

When I saw that scene I thought to myself "That would be Superman biggest victory over Lex. If instead of simply reacting to threats, he actually became proactive, and used those powers of his to help fix at least the most concerning problems. Not all of them, or humanity would never learn anything. But show the world he wasn't just the bouncer keeping the bad guys from wreaking the club called Earth."

I thought that then, and still think that now. Both Clark and Superman have been living short of their potential.

I mean, how many times can we see Supes beat the same old villain, until it all gets old.

The old days are hopefully gone for good. That doesn't mean we can't extract good lessons from it. But Superman needs to move forward. Needs to evolve. To become more proactive. More aware of not just what is, but also what might be.

Just my 5cents on the matter.

@heavenlydarkdragon: Well, now we know which side of the debate you're on in the "Reed Richards Is Useless" scenario.

Personally, I'd steer away from the whole "cure world hunger", "cure cancer", "fix everything" proposal. I'll be just happy enough with a much more competent crime-fighting Superman. Maybe make him a teacher or something. That's a lot more useful than a news reporter, and could allow for some nice Dead Poet's Society vibes if you wanted it to.

As for Peter Parker, I'd argue his comics haven't ever been this boring, but I suspect a heavy part of that is because of Slott's writing. That being said, the concept's not too hot either, and will probably do more damage than good in the long run.

Once we got a scene were Lex was in the jungle walking and thinking about all the ways he could bring Superman down. And he said that humanity needed to learn to stand on its own. And that once he had dealt with Superman once and for all, that he'd devote his full attention to curing deceases, fix world hunger, and all its other problems. But not while Superman devided his attention.

When I saw that scene I thought to myself "That would be Superman biggest victory over Lex. If instead of simply reacting to threats, he actually became proactive, and used those powers of his to help fix at least the most concerning problems. Not all of them, or humanity would never learn anything. But show the world he wasn't just the bouncer keeping the bad guys from wreaking the club called Earth."

Actually, that would just be proving Luthor's point. Superman fixes everything, so people become complacent. Hardly a victory. Granted, Lex doesn't actually believe his own BS, that's just his justification for being an asshole, but Superman doesn't need to hand him ammo.

Or maybe he does, and not give a damn anyway, but that's a whole other can of worms...

The Clark Kent from the Daily Planet is just a disguise he came up with to fool people. That is it. There is no other reason. The Kill Bill monologue was just the guy coming up with something clever to say so he could get his point across. Superman doesn't view the Human Race as cowardly and weak because 1.) He was raised by Humans and 2.) He is married to a human (Or in a relationship with a half-human character, or Superhuman or whatever continuity you look at)

For gods sake, Superman grew up believing he was human for a long time in most continuities, and even when he knew he was an alien he still went to school with humans and had a human girlfriend.

It's one of the biggest traits of the character. He believes in truth, Justice, Life, Liberty, Freedom and in the pursuit of happiness. He believes that ALL men are equal. Superman is basically Atticus Finch, from the To Kill a Mockingbird movie, with superpowers.

@orangebat: @heavenlydarkdragon:

There are a few good ways I think you can address this:

1. Solutions are temporary if people don’tmaintain it themselves, because the solutions are for those people. No freedom from responsibility of self.
2. Solving something today, doesn’t mean it won’t be a problem again tomorrow.
3. Superman is needed across the entire cosmos, not just the Earth – he can’t be everywhere at once. While he’s gone, his fixes get unfixed by Shit Happens, bad guys and general failure of enlightened self-interest.
4. You can't fix hearts by punching them. Unless, you know, it's stopped or something.
5. It’s not the mechanical ability or lack thereof that’s necessarily the problem. There’s no physical reason that people have to murder, but they do. Superman could solve world hunger, and the next day a criminal food empire could have burned all his good work to the ground.
6. It’s Luthor’s fault! Everything good Superman does, Luthor ruins because he’s bald!
7. Superman could get killed on any given day (even if we assume extraordinary life-span). Long term solutions are preferable to short-term stopgaps.
8. Superman says “okay, I’ll go be [planet]’s superhero, instead – where it’s somehow okay to fix their problems”.
9. Just create Superman level problems that forestall him fixing real world level problems.

Luthor has even less excuse. It's actually been canon before that he was capable of curing all disease practically overnight, which Superman was not capable of - and Luthor has no superhero responsibilities to distract him. And why would it be okay for Luthor to do it, but not for Superman to do it?

Alternatively, yeah, don’t put Superman in this kind of self-validating situation when you’ve deliberately predestined him to fail against all reason and good judgment.

If you wanted it to, his reporter job could be significant, if he did it in a way that toppled entire governments, kept following ones honest, and exposed global crime networks with extraordinary super-effectiveness that eliminated massive amounts of organised and unorganised crime, and turned ghettoes and wastelands into glistening utopias by sheer political influence.

But I generally agree to just not fuss about it. At the end of the day, Superman exists for the sake of Clark Kent, not the other way around.

@lvenger

Hey, did you still have an argument in mind? If I deleted it, I bet I could throw it back down.

Has I see it the best answer was given by Clark himself, in some point I can't really remember now when.

He said. That being Clark helped him never lose focus of both big and small issues. Working on the Daily Planet, keeps him grounded, and helps him to better understand humans and where his powers are mostly needed.

Sure. In my mind he could do all that and much more, but as long as he's Clark for the right reasons I can live with it.

Actually you just presented the main problem about Kal-El being Superman. Even allowing the world to call him that.

Everytime Superman faces off a alien invasion, stops meta-humans and normal humans from destroying the planet, even when he saves people from natural catastrophes, he's in some way making the world addicted to him, people rely on him too much.

This even takes me back to pre-Flashpoint right after the destruction of New Krypton and before Grounded. He was exiting a congressional hearing, the reporters were storming him with questions and out of nowhere comes a woman, that slaps Superman on the face (how she didn't break every bone in her hand was a major oversight from the writer). Her problem was that her husband had a brain tumor, and she tried to contact Supes so like she herself said, he could've used his powers to save her husband by destroying the tumor.

Kal had just suffered a enormous loss. He was again a member of a nearly extinct race, he'd lost family and friends. And did that woman thought about that!? No. All she could do, was blame Superman for not being there, to fix her problems.

Just like now in Truth, people turned on Superman in the blink of an eye. It didn't matter all the times he'd saved their pathetic lives, the moment Superman became less than what he was, and a simple secret was revealed, people started to judge, accuse and even create ridiculous conspiracy theories about why he had a human identity to begin with.

The problems with Superman to me are these.

First there's no middle ground. People either love him or hate him. They either recognize he does a lot, or blame him for not doing nearly enough.

And second he reacts too much to problems, instead of anticipating them. Also he focus most of his attention to the same place. Maybe if he operated all around the globe or took some time to travel the cosmos, he would indirectly show people that he's where he wants to be, not because he ows anyone anything. In this part I 100% agree with Diane Lane when she says in Batman V Superman "You don't owe this world a thing."

@supermudz: Yes, I'll get that analysis up tomorrow and then I'll probably feel obliged to answer HDD's post.

@heavenlydarkdragon: Everytime Superman faces off a alien invasion, stops meta-humans and normal humans from destroying the planet, even when he saves people from natural catastrophes, he's in some way making the world addicted to him, people rely on him too much.

Sure. In the same way the world relies on police, the army, safety buckles, responsible governance, a non-exploding planet, stable physics, and parents with an interest in their children's welfare. Anyone who wears clothes, or eats food, receives education or utilises technology they didn't personally create, is entirely relying on the existence of other people to do so.

If Superman died, then people would just re-adapt to a Supermanless world and carry on... assuming they don't get obliterated by invaders or something.

The issues were entirely created by writers. There's no reason for him to be treated that way unless they decide to write it, especially in a completely fictional superhero universe populated with vast numbers of other super-powered people; he certainly didn't used to be (well, actually, I think those stories exist, but just as one-offs that didn't define the tone). Superman's not the only superhero around, he's just the biggest one. Superman fixing all the problems of the world and settling down (finally solving his Lois/Lana problem) was a happy ending Oh-If-Only wish-fulfillment fairy-tale, once upon a time.

But honestly, I think things are moving forward now, so I'm actually feeling pretty chuffed.