It's Not An S!

Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Superman a.k.a the Man of Steel, the Man of Tomorrow, Last Son of Krypton or as he is widely regarded, a bit of a c***. Ok that last one is non-cannon. But hear me out for a second.

After being an avid comic book fan for many years, I've read a lot of graphic novels, watched a lot of films and tv series aswell as animated series, so I've seen many versions of Superman. Though I admit I didn't sit through ten seasons of Smallville and thank god! But there's always been something about the man of steel that always seemed off to me. Something about him that never appealed to me like other characters, so I've decided to dive deep and take a look at WHY I DON'T LIKE SUPERMAN.

There's no denying that Superman is a classic golden age superhero. First appearing in Action Comics issue 1 in 1938, Superman would prove to be a massive hit for many readers for nearly 80 years. A true representation of an all-time classic hero with one of the most famous emblems (which kind of looks like an S) in superhero lore, Superman was the embodiment of truth and justice.

The man of steel has come a long way from rescuing cats from trees with his well-established rogues gallery of villains. Determined to threaten not only Superman's adopted city of Metropolis, but also the Earth itself, it is thanks to Superman's powers that he proves triumphant.

Let's start and look at Superman's abilities.

Super strength, heat vision, freeze breath, super speed to name a few. All these abilities are the result of him being under Earth's yellow sun. Taking away the science behind this (because he is a superhero after all), it's never explained in detail how he has these powers. It's as though we just have to accept that he can do all these things, simply because he's Superman.

Having these powers is one thing, but on top of these extraordinary abilities, Superman seems very sure of himself and that makes him come across as arrogant in his stories. It's all well and good if you can fly at supersonic speeds and lock up the bad guys, but what's the point if your persona makes you come off as a bit of a d*** to your readers.

The generic flight, super speed and super strength is probably something I could go with, maybe it could be argued that as Earth's atmospherics differ from Krypton's this could be justified. But x-ray vision? Heat vision? That just sounds like overkill especially as these powers only seem to apply on Earth, atleast as far as we know.

This brings me on to Superman's weaknesses. With all his abilities, god knows this alien needs vulnerability and plus weaknesses and flaws contribute to the character. It seems to me though, that Superman's weakness come off as so obscure. He's invulnerable to most things, he can withstand a nuclear blast, bullets and all kinds, but kryptonite? Oh yes, a remnant of his home planet, which also happened to land on Earth, proves deadly to the alien as a form of radiation.

Thankfully though it's rarely used in comic books, after all, it's an alien entity that's probably very difficult for his villains to obtain...

Now on to his second weakness. His inability to see through lead. Now given he has x-ray vision it seems logical that lead would block his vision and this has proven to be used against him time and time again. But the whole idea that he has x-ray vision is foreign in itself. How does his being on Earth grant him this handy and somewhat convenient ability?

Admittedly, not all of Superman's weaknesses are that bad. Case in point, infra red light. According to the comic books, Superman loses all his extraordinary powers when under the gaze of infra red. Being that the planet Krypton contained a red sun in it's solar system, it would make sense how infra red simulates the effect and in essence, normalises Superman and removing his powers. Let's not forget, it's Earth's atmospherics that give Superman his powers. Without them, he's just an alien.

Despite the modernisation of the character, one of the most recognisable quirks of the character is his secret identity. Infamously donning a pair of thick rim glasses, restyling his hair and acting as the mild mannered reporter we all know (golly Lois), the identity of Clark Kent is equally as classic as the Man of Steel himself. Famously being able to get changed in a phonebox may have worked in early 1940s, but in the modern era it doesn't really fit. The disguise and transformation are very outdated traits of the character and this is why if DC want to keep their classic, golden era superhero as pure as possible, then maybe they should keep him in a 1940s universe. Either that or rewrite the character and his world.

Having read Superman Earth One (volumes 1 and 2) it's most certainly possible to bring Superman into the modern day era. In actual fact, the Earth One version is one of my favourite comic book interpretations. Hopefully when Frank Miller releases Superman Year One, I can enjoy his vision too. But aside Earth One, I truly believe Superman works better as a villain. He has all the villainous traits already written for him and being that this side has been explored several times, particularly with the Injustice video games, it's clearly been very successful. Even if you read Superman Red Son (spoiler free) his character in that is more villainous than heroic when you look at it.

So, to wrap this up, I don't think a golden age hero like Superman works in a modern day setting because of his iconic backstory. He's great for nostalgia but there's no reason why DC comics can't create a golden age, 1940s world.

Second to that, they could also keep him in the modern day but modernise the character and make him more relatable. Whenever I've read Superman stories, I've never felt any connection to the character.

Thirdly, I think DC could make Superman a full-blown villain. All his abilities and the fact that he's come to Earth, could easily be spun as him invading the Earth to conquer it with his superior powers. I know we've seen this with other characters. Just imagine if they did a story where he and Zod came to the Earth to conquer it? I know that's totally different to what we know in his brief origin, but it could definitely work.

I want to finish by saying, as things stand, I think Superman is overpowered and non-relatable and that is WHY I DON'T LIKE SUPERMAN.

Thanks for reading.