The worst aspect of the Superman mythos is...

[Hush Little Batman]

Of all the things in the Superman Mythos, be it a character (Krypto), a plot device (Kryptonite weaking him), a trait (Clark being a Vegetarian), etc., which do you think is the worst of all and why?

[TheTen-EyedMan]

The fact that even though he's the most powerful person on the planet, he's still portrayed as a whiney, emo, ineffectual wuss.

[Jack Zodiac]

Him being the last of his kind. It doesn't do anything monumental to his character, except when it compliments him being just an Earth man despite his heritage.

[Solario]

Soul Vision. And I even liked Birthright.

Also some writers have a tendency to write him as having such an arrogance towards man, that it makes me actually cheer for Luthor.

[J. Robb]

I'm not sure about worst, but I think the most limiting aspect of the Superman mythos is the fact that he shares his world with hundreds of other super-heroes, and Superman has to remain fairly ineffective to give them all a chance to shine.

[Kid Quick Foots]

the fact that he is portrayed as a punch first, ask questions kinda guy, when in fact, given his powers and the fact that he is basically an "enhanced" human, he should be one of the smartest characters in ALL of comics. also, he should use his powers in conjunction with one another more often, instead of using one, then the other, i think people refer to it as "speed blitzing" or something.

[Jack Zodiac]

Yeah, I enjoy his stories more when he doesn't automatically solve every problem by hitting it, which is why Kurt Busiek's run on Action Comics kicked so much ass.

[Sean Whitmore]

The fact that even though he's the most powerful person on the planet, he's still portrayed as a whiney, emo, ineffectual wuss.

the fact that he is portrayed as a punch first, ask questions kinda guy

No offense meant, but neither of these traits are particularly accurate. Generally speaking, I mean. Of course there are isolated examples of each.


SEAN

[megladon8]

Yeah, I enjoy his stories more when he doesn't automatically solve every problem by hitting it, which is why Kurt Busiek's run on Action Comics kicked so much ass.

Kurt Busiek's run on anything is bound to kick ass. He's my favorite writer working today.


I'd say the most limiting thing about Superman isn't even in his character, it's in the way so many people interpret him. Ask almost any casual fan or person who doesn't read comics, and they'll probably tell you they don't like Superman because he's "too strong...basically a God"...which is one of the most inaccurate assumptions ever made about any character.


And for the guy who just called Superman emo...wtf?

[Kilgore Trout]

The fact that even though he's the most powerful person on the planet, he's still portrayed as a whiney, emo, ineffectual wuss.

Yeah....

That and the marriage...

And that Clark is the character and Superman is a spandex suit...

And that Superman and Clark are virtually indistinguishable...

And that he isn't the first Superhero...

And for all the difference it would make, he might as well have gotten his powers from a magic genie bottle...

I think those are among the worst aspects of the Superman mythos...

[Hush Little Batman]

Ask almost any casual fan or person who doesn't read comics, and they'll probably tell you they don't like Superman because he's "too strong...basically a God"...which is one of the most inaccurate assumptions ever made about any character.

The whole "Superman is like a God" has come about from a combination of many things. For one, the silver age Supes was damn near omnipotent with all the crazy new powers he seemed to get every month or adventure. It's also the fault of many of his past writers who portrayed him as the "God" of the DCU instead of just being very powerful. Then when most people think of all the things Superman can do, he does come off God-like, especially in comparison to "normal" heroes like Batman and Spiderman. Bruce is basically a detective dressed up like a bat and while Peter has some powers, he doesn't have "super" anything, so casual fans relate to them better.

[JulianPerez]

The absolute worst aspect of the Superman Mythos has to be all the nonsense with the secret identity, where Superman has to struggle to protect it from being revealed, or preventing a snoopy Lois from discovering it, and so forth.

Don't get me wrong, the double identity is the thing that keeps Superman relatable, but the thing is, for Superman, ultimately it's all just a game and it's never in real danger of being discovered, so "how can he protect his identity" drama is a waste of time. How many times has Superman hypnotized Lois into forgetting, or exposed Lana to Amnesium?

Compare this to Spider-Man, for whom keeping the secret identity is a matter of life and death.

This is why I found Cary Bates's take on the Superman Robots in his "the Secret Defender of Smallville" story so interesting. Bates explored the idea of a Superboy robot that survived the mass destruction of the 'boy robots, and was left abandoned, confused, and baffled about his purpose and became angry when the "real" Superman showed up. There was an issue of Moore's SUPREME that is quite obviously inspired by this Cary Bates's story.

Anyway, it was absolutely fascinating to see the Superman Robots do something other than cover Superman's ass when Lana goes snooping. Such a potentially interesting element of the Super-Mythos, and the best thing they can do with it is use it in another "keep the identity secret" story?

[JulianPerez]

Maybe I should clarify a bit: while I think the idea of stories centered around protecting the identity are vapid and boring, this does not necessarily mean the idea to let others know the secret identity is a good one.

Lois Lane shouldn't know it. Otherwise, there isn't any humor or irony with their relationship. Seriously, it thoroughly undercuts their entire relationship; Grant Morrison was right to want to wipe her memory of it in his SUPERMAN 2000 proposal.

Lana Lang shouldn't know it. Now, I don't agree with the characterization that Martin Pasko wrote in his SUPERBOY story, where Lana only wants to know Superboy's secret so she can be the center of attention and feel special...but if Lois doesn't know it, Lana shouldn't either.

Let me go out on a limb and say that Jimmy Olsen knowing it may not be a bad idea. The reason is that Jimmy, unlike Lois and Lana, doesn't take his special relationship with Superman for granted. This can characterize the two as friends and also partners very well.

Kobra should definitely not know it. I absolutely cannot believe Pasko's SUPERMAN #326 (1978) had Kobra learn Clark Kent is Superman. Kobra is such a nonentity in the Superman Mythos that it's very strange he knows maybe the biggest secret on Earth-1. To be fair, Kobra was written as a very extraordinarily fearsome villain in this story, however, I think there are other ways that Kobra could have been made to effect Superman than by teleporting Ma and Pa Kent to the future in order to alter the past.

Now that I think about it, Pesky Pasko revealed the identity of Superman quite a bit - first to the world in that Superboy story where the Kents become invincible, and then to - of all people - Kobra! Strange that the only being that would most likely find something like this out, Mr. Mxyzptlk, is the one person that Pasko didn't have learn the identity. The first clue that the gender-switched universe was created by Mxyzptlk was that "Clara Kent" and "Superwoman" were different people (since Mxy doesn't know the two are one and the same).

I don't know...does it indicate sublimated homosexual desire if I think the female Superman was pretty foxy? :D The female Clark Kent looked like Tina Fey...my SNL loving pal Eddie Michigan would say Big Blue was born the wrong gender.

(Incidentally, didn't Jeph Loeb decide to re-use the Pasko gender-switch universe idea recently? I hope Marty got some props for that!)

A few ideas I DO like:

I do like Krypto. In his Weisenger incarnation he was a cute, loyal pet, but he skyrocketed to greatness when Elliot Maggin brought him back in the seventies and characterized him with the heroic elements of "hero" dogs like White Fang and Buck.

Plus, the plush doll is so cute!

I do like the idea of Superman being a vegetarian. The writers were not constant on the idea of where Superman's respect for life starts and stops and it's great to get a definite answer finally. Actually, I like the idea that it bothers a lot of people...now that homosexuality is no longer as okay to bash as it used to be, there's a whole subgroup of "macho" men that view vegetarianism as an insult to traditional masculinity, and it's fun fun fun to watch them squirm about!

This is not to say that Vegetarians can't be annoying and self-righteous. But that anybody that takes pride in not being politically correct, is essentially making it everybody else's fault they're an asshole.

I don't like Green Kryptonite being everywhere, but to be honest, that was never a problem that Superman had in his own comic; there was a gigantic decade-long period where all Kryptonite was turned to iron and that was at the HEIGHT of Superman's powers. Rather, it was in team-ups and in comics like the Gardner Fox JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA that Kryptonite became annoying, not in Superman's own book.

[TROUBLEZ]

Him being married if that's considered part of the mythos. I hardly considered Superman before to be a swinging bachelor, but by having him married, it makes him seem so domestic.

IF not...many things from the silver age would I consider worst. City of Kandor, a whole city of Kryptonians shrunken down, Superman can shrink down with them and gain his normal size back but not them? His friend the Atom can do it...work on a way to fix them. Anyways, Kandor is still a bad idea because of the whole "last of his kind," thing.

[MythicBrawn]

There are a couple of things for me. He's supposed to be the last of his kind, yet others keep popping up. The multitude of powers he has is kind of ridiculous. But, the most ridiculous is the glasses as a disguise. I don't care if he does change his mannerisms, slouch and wear his hair a different way. It's not enough to establish another identity. Maybe, for people that don't know one or the other. But, anyone that knows both of them should figure out that Clark and Superman are one and the same. Lois, who is so often portrayed as a super-investigative reporter, should have figured it out instantly.