Superman Deserves More Respect

 Superman Deserves More Respect

Words by Dirk Calloway

Superman has all the power in the world, but he's rarely done right. Often, in an attempt to test his powers out, he's given outlandish foes to fight. Or, worse, he's pitted against Lex Luthor and a hunk of kryptonite for the millionth time. Last month I read two books that restored my faith in the character though. They were Kingdom Come and Superman: Secret Identity. Both showed totally different sides of the character, but both understood what it is that makes a Superman story great. Here's a brief list:

 

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1) If he has to love someone, give him a reason to

Whether it's Lois Lane or Wonder Woman, make Supes truly want companionship. I mean, put it this way, he can go to any galaxy, and can live forever, right? He's also the most powerful man on Earth. So, there better be a damn good reason if he's going to settle down. He has to need and want that woman more than anything else. If he can fly anywhere at a moment's notice, convince us why he should return to one place at the end of every day. In Secret Identity it's suggested that Lois is a confidante, a muse, and a conspirator; she inspires him to do what he loves. In Kingdom Come, Wonder Woman is a revolutionary, an unhinged and furious rebel. She dares to disobey Superman's assumed authority, forcing him to realise he lives in a modern world with new and violent problems. Both women force Superman to think differently about the world, to think in more human terms. Awesome stuff.

2) Give him a problem he can't solve alone

Many of Superman Returns' problems were because he had to do so much himself. He was always zipping around the place, doing stuff as quickly as possible, but the over-riding message was that "one guy can't be everywhere at once." Yawn. Much better to just ask for help, I've found. Especially if your friends are, you know, Batman. Call in the cavalry. Get The Green Arrow to help you out, or The Flash. They're pretty useful pals, so get them to do their thing while Superman handles the diplomacy. He's basically an aristocrat within the comic world, so he might as well be treated like one. Treat him like a nuclear deterrent, instead of a frontline soldier.

3) Threaten the American Way of life

Make Superman feel like his country is under attack from within itself. Nothing makes a God angrier, right? And that's one problem Supes can't solve with his fists, so that brings up all sorts of interesting dilemmas for him. In Secret Identity he's forced to use well-timed pranks to reprimand a malevolent government. Turns out, when you and everyone you know have superpowers, doing the most human of things can still be fascinating.

4) Reward Superman for his Boy Scout mentality, but make him doubt it

 In other words, no-one likes a lecturing superhero. Make him wonder if he really does need to act the way he does, then make him decide "my way or the highway." Way too many Superman comics waste space on the character rescuing cats and crap like that. He needs serious moral questions posed to him, real conundrums, that are scaled-up versions of normal problems. If he's not given issues to grapple with, the character risks becoming a Self Help Guru or some sort of a superhero evangelist. It's much better to see him grapple with issues he doesn't understand. It gives normal folk something to relate to, see.

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Simple as that really. I wish more Superman books were as good as Kingdom Come or Secret Identity. My advice will make all the difference, honest!