Superman Food For Thought

Super-Food For Thought with the 13th Doctor

What are the key elements to a good Superman story?

In my opinion, the best Superman stories are the ones that focus on the man, not the super. Action Comics #775 and Hitman #34, are great examples. They explore what morals and ethics make Clark Kent special, not necessarily what powers. Anytime he is in Smallville, especially when Jon Kent is around, it tends to do just that. His powers are cool, and they make for great fight scenes, but he can only fight Darkseid and Brainiac so many times before it gets stale. Stories that place Clark in a moral quandary, giving him a problem he cannot just punch at to solve, have always been the stories that most attracted me. I may be in the minority, but I think Superman should be a character to inspire hope both in what he can do, and in what he values and chooses to do.

Who are the best and worst Superman imposters in comics (ex. The Sentry)?

I never liked the Sentry. I do not think a Superman character works as well in the Marvel Universe. I like Alan Moore’s Supreme, and even Grant Morrison’s Flex Mentallo is not bad, but in both instances it is because I appreciate the insight they give to the Superman mythos. Mark Waid’s Irredeemable was interesting because he gives plenty of examples as to why Superman should not work, but my problem with it was how long it took to tell the story.

Superman and ________ make a great tandem? Why? Someone other than Bruce Wayne, please!

If DC Comics Presents, and the early issues of John Byrne’s Action Comics run, has shown us anything it is that Superman works well with anyone and, I would argue, that the reason is because Superman is so recognizable and iconic, readers learn more about the other characters through how they interact with him. You may never have read an Adam Strange story, but you will understand who the character is by how he and Superman get along. In one issue [possibly featuring Doom Patrol], after the team-up, Superman basically says, “Just because I helped you, doesn’t mean I have to like you,” telling readers that these characters may be more like anti-heroes than good or bad guys.

Jimmy Olsen still works because…

In short, because Jimmy is the everyman of the Superman mythos. The Robin to Superman’s Batman. He not only looks at Superman in awe and amazement, but gets to be his best friend. He gets to live a life of action and adventure because his friend is Superman. Hell, he has a watch that places Superman at his beck and call. Why does Jimmy work, because as a reader I know that I will never be an alien rocketed to Earth where I have powers far beyond mortal men, but I sure as hell could be Jimmy. I could be friends with Superman, and that idea brings me closer to the material. That’s why Jimmy works.

 

Lois and Clark should still be married or is it better that they are not?

Married. Whether I like it or not, Lois Lane will always be Clark’s love interest. It is ingrained in 75 years of history, and when they are not married, like in the New 52, I always know in the back of my mind that at some point, they will end up together. And why not? Lois has grown from the helpless damsel in distress, to an independent, strong willed role woman, who can hold her own in conversation when Clark brings the JLA over for dinner. More than that, Lana Lang represents the innocence of youth, and Clark’s roots in Smallville. He could never end up with her because she would anchor him to Smallville and never share him with the world like Lois. In “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow”, Clark chooses Lois over Lana, symbolically illustrating that he has matured from Superboy of Smallville, to Superman the Man of Tomorrow.

Best non-comic version of Superman of all time?

Christopher Reeve’s Superman will forever be my vision of Superman. While I like Tom Welling, Smallville was great for me because of Jonathan Kent, not necessarily because of Clark. At no real fault to Welling, because the show never knew when it was ending, the story kept taking one step forward and one step back. It had incredible moments, but they were sandwiched between the “CW” moments (i.e., the cheesy love triangles or conversations held in a coffee shop). With Reeves, I truly believed a man could fly. I left inspired and hopeful, infatuated with the idea that someone could be so genuine and caring. When he catches Lois and the helicopter, he gave a sense of safety and security that I think is necessary for the character. Even the simple kindness of sending a portion of his check to help his mother, is a form of selflessness that doesn’t exist in modern comics.

Which iteration of Lex Luthor works best against Superman?

Lex is best when he is a vain, narcissist, who masks his insecurities by using his wealth to convince others he is powerful. One of my favorite iterations is Brian Azzarello’s Lex Luthor Man of Steel. What I think he did so well, was to show Lex being incredibly nice and generous to his janitor, using his influence to get the man’s son into a very prestigious school. Of course, this comes at the expense of another, but because Lex doesn’t know them, he doesn’t care that they are being put out. He will step on anyone if it means making himself look better. The beauty of Lex, and I think this is what Smallville was really trying for, was that he can be your best friend or your worst enemy, and it all depends on how he feels that day. There are hundreds of examples of stories that show just that. For example, in one, he grants one resident of Metropolis a wish every day. This of course causes large masses to form in adoration, with the hope that they might be the lucky one, however it of course means that everyone else, literally every other citizen is denied the good fortune of Lex Luthor’s “generosity”. Superman says it in All-Star Superman, that Lex could have always been the greatest hero the world had ever known if he spent his time helping humanity and not trying to prove that Superman is the bad guy.

What power level of Superman are you most comfortable with?

Flight, invulnerability, super strength, x-ray and heat vision, and arctic breath are what I consider the classics, and admittedly I don’t know that I will ever recognize his “super flare” or “energy vision” as true powers. As I have said though, his powers are not what makes him special, it is his humanity. The altruistic selflessness and courage of a man who take a bullet for a stranger regardless of whether or not it would bounce off his chest.

(Earth-2M screams from the cheap seats “If he couldn’t do it in a Fleischer cartoon he shouldn’t be able to do it now.”)

Most people are aware of the effects on Kryptonite on Superman, but other than comic fans a lot of people are unaware of weakness to magic… which one is a bigger hindrance?

Earth-2 Mike: I think that “magic” is a term that is not used properly today. Once upon a time it meant “whatever the writer did not want to take time to explain” and thus Superman, the unbeatable man, could be beaten. Today it means a wide variety of things but, mostly, it means “energy and technology not readily understood” by its users. That is it. Superman should not immediately be weakened to magic unless that magic is explained. Comic fans are smarter today than they have ever been and they should be challenged accordingly.

13th Doctor: While I agree that magic has always been the easy answer to putting him in jeopardy, his weakness to Kryptonite is beautifully symbolic. He is the last of his kind, and his own home is what kills him. He can never truly embrace his heritage as it would kill him.

Many times people prefer a hero because of his villains (think Spidey, Flash, Batman) Superman has a not so spectacular villain corps. Why is that? If you don’t agree prove me wrong!

Superman definitely has a rogues gallery, with Luthor, Brainiac, Darkseid, Mxyplitilic, and Bizarro to name a few, I think the reason his rogues gallery is not more impressive is because Superman is not defined by his villains, but by the moral quandaries he faces. It is also difficult for him to have a rogues gallery as impressive as Batman or Flash’s, because there can only be so many universe shattering villains like Darkseid to challenge him. If more villains were of equal or more strength as Superman, the DC comic Universe, would be just as decimated as the DC movie Universe.

A lot of the great Superman stories are either set out of continuity or set with disregard to it. Is this just how Superman stories should be told. Does he work in the weekly mold of the 80s and 90s where all the titles interlocked like a soap opera OR is he just so mythic he shouldn’t be restrained by continuity?

The beauty of Superman is that he works in any format, because of the archetypal character that he is. Everyone understands who he is, and therefore, anyone situation in any format you throw at him becomes instantly recognizable. With any character, my personal opinion is less is more. I would rather have fewer quality stories, than an abundance of subpar work, which sadly seems to be the route DC is taking currently with their insistence of 52 titles a month. As someone who buys every Superman title, my bank account would certainly prefer to have fewer titles a month.

If you could remove something from Superman’s legacy it would be…

Earth-2M: The fact that Clark Kent and Superman look exactly alike. We live in an age of facial recognition software that Siegel & Shuster could not have envisioned.

13th Doctor: Gone are the days when baggy clothes, a slumped back, and a passive personality, hidden behind a pair of glasses, are enough to disguise the world’s most iconic character. Sadly, the charm of hiding a secret identity is gone along with the rest of the Silver Age.

Why does Metropolis work for Superman and not a real actual city?

Earth-2M: Metropolis is a real city or rather it is every real city. Metropolis is everything to be proud of in 20/21st century urban living. The skyscrapers, the mixing of cultures. It is the literal otherside of the coin to Gotham, which represents the darkness and corruption of all cities. Superman inspires, Batman terrifies. As Grant Morrison said in “Supergods” the first ‘flame’ (in Superman) casts the first ‘shadow’ (in Batman).