Let’s face it: Superman is boring. He even said so himself. Well, not in these precise words, but the message is clear. And there’s a reason why he’s so boring. Not because “he is an out-dated concept” or because he is too much of a boyscout. It’s because he is neither. But first, let’s talk about Justin Bieber, because most of us are more familiar with Superman than with Justin Bieber.
The same can be said for Superman. Or most of the other heroes out there right now. But for this, we’ll run with Superman because he’s been around the most and one of the theoretically most well-defined. So Superman stands for “Truth, Justice and the American Way”. The problem is, those concepts are not defined. They’re whatever you want them to be. Even in a historical context, he doesn’t stand for anything. Let’s go for the American Way first. Once upon a time, it was considered to be the American Way to “slap a Jap”. It was once okay to force black people to sit in the back of the bus because the front was whites-only. It was once considered to be the American Way to have slaves. And as much as people want to deny it, that’s what history tells us. Superman, in theory, stood for all that. Thus, the American Way is a very, very flexible concept that is ever-changing. The only thing that American History since the second World War is war. Now, we all know it sucks, but the one thing that’s been a constant in the American Way is waging war. Not a good thing. And since Superman is kind of like a sentinel of peace and liberty and all that, he can’t be a war-waging superhuman. Because modesty is part of the American Way these days, among other things.
Truth. This one is simple, no? It’s either true or it’s false. The very basics of computers and seemingly simple. However, this only works in logical systems. Two plus two will never equal seventy. If you have a gallon of beer and you drink a gallon of beer, you will never have three gallons all of a sudden. However, when you add the human element, truth becomes flexible. What’s truth is not always right. Superman himself has abolished the clear black/white thing during his recent walk, where he was going to throw a guy who pollutes the environment in jail, but then didn’t because it would have put an entire village out of work.
Justice. This one’s simple and I can use the most debated and over-talked issue of all to make my point. The death penalty. A guy ends someone’s life and then has his life ended by justice. In both cases, the same thing happens, but it won’t bring the victim back and it is basically the same thing. Logically speaking, the initial murder and the death penalty are the same thing if you look at the outcome: A life is ended. And in one case, it’s justice and in the other case it’s a crime. Sure, if you add the human element, it somehow adds up to a rather warped concept of justice where up can be down and all that.
But other than that, we’ll get more Superman issues. And a lot of them will suck. And people will complain. And Superman will never be allowed to die.
*Yes, I do realize that the Magog book was basically dead on arrival because the story was such crap, but I do find him as a character more interesting than most new characters there are.
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