Superman Sucks

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Permalink Reply by Iffy on November 29, 2008 at 12:49am

I agree Clark Kent should leave the Daily Planet, but not because it's Peter Parker's domain (and he's a freelance photographer btw), but to reflect the modern era in news media. We're dominated by the Internet, and You Tube and the Blogosphere have replaced the print. I'm not suggesting Clark becomes a blogger for a website, but maybe give one last editorial and leave.

I would also recommend putting to the task of a proven writer making a new set of supporting characters once he leaves the Daily Planet. And of course, more villains that challenge the Man of Steel. Have him face moral dilemmas that people like Green Arrow or Batman face, and maybe even consider doing something about his relationship with Lois Lane, even though I like that character, something dramatic.

And yes, I too agree that he need not be "darker." Superman III was bad for that reason.

Permalink Reply by Draco on November 28, 2008 at 12:55pm

Meh. Dragonball Z has some defining characteristics that will always be shared by anime, another level of ascension, characters will repeatedly get stronger and stronger, while expectations will get shallower and shallower. I agree not alot of better villains, such as Brainiac and Bizarro or Doomsday (which will never be introduced in a movie cause he kills the tilte character) are placed in the film and Luthor is overused, but an aspect of Superman is his alienation from the humans, he's not one of us and it affects him negatively. Now WB will reboot the Superman Franchise and the next Superman movie is going to be darker and action emphasised, so stop complaing and see were they (WB) take this pivotal character.

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Permalink Reply by spyro republic commando on November 28, 2008 at 4:48pm

Oh thank the lord

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Permalink Reply by BladeRunner007 on November 28, 2008 at 5:42pm

I agree. !&2 were great, 3 was okay. 4 sucked hard. Returns was bad but not near as bad as The Quest For Peace!

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Permalink Reply by MDS on November 29, 2008 at 1:21am

Mike,

Sorry, had a busy day and took awhile to get back to you.

Superman/Dragonball.... Well, that's an odd combo but here's my take.

While Dragonball presented a character that NEEDED to get stronger to defeat it's villains, Superman did not.

Because of the fact that Superman's strength was a constant, that meant that his level of restraint he placed on himself VARIED with each bad guy he faced off against. Example, against Bizzaro (During those crazy stories) Superman was free of holding back ON the bad guy, but had to control the fight as much as possible to avoid unwanted destruction and death to the people (Human mortals) running around when the fight broke out. Due to the dangers to those in the area, Superman's power came NOT on a physical battle against someone, but against the "Beast" that was the villain to LEAVE an area. If Bizzaro was actually smart, he'd stay in one spot, fight Supes in the middle of town and defeat him because Bizzaro didn't HAVE TO be concerned with everyone around him.

And against such characters as Lex, the restraint is even MORE noticable because he DIDN'T lower his own moral views to do something like you suggested (Just burning him where he stands) It take a large amount of control to just BARELY hit someone hard enough to knock them out without killing them. (The one thing Superman could not bring himself to do). If you don't believe me look at the number of brain damage, lost vision, ruined ears, and deaths associated with a "Controlled Sport" of Boxing.

While Goku's storyline presented a never ending string of bad guys, and forcing Goku to "upgrade" to the next stage, the character began to feel stale and boring. Superman's never ending string of bad guys forced Superman to alter his approach PER villain AND per setting. While it gets sort of silly to place 1 powerful being in that type of constant flux, it DOES create a hero you can feel sympathy for, and see character growth.

Now onto other subjects....
First, the whole Clark/Superman stuff..... .I would have done without that aspect, and over the years it became even LESS necessary.

Second, the Lex/Superman conflict..... I would have kept it ALWAYS Brains Vs Brawn, but would have used Lex LESS than he has been used over the years. (Maybe 1 or 2 stories a year tops)

Third, the "Love story" of Lois/Superman...... I wouldn't have ever done that concept, because it's NOT a natural flowing storyline. Lois should ALWAYS be the ONE thing that Superman CAN NOT have, no matter how powerful, how good, or how moralistic he is. That's the "Holy Grail" for Superman, and shouldn't have been turned into just another character soap opera.


While I DO agree that Superman has become LESS of a character over the years, I still can't agree that he sucks. I will say he's been "Neglected" by both fans and writers.

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Permalink Reply by Derrick D on November 29, 2008 at 2:16am

Superman books now are better than they've been in a long time. All Star Superman won like 2 Eisner awards.

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Permalink Reply by MDS on November 29, 2008 at 2:36am

I know. It's good to see Superman on the Upswing again, but for a couple of years he was on a downward slope that couldn't be ignored.

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Permalink Reply by Mike on November 29, 2008 at 10:46am

I agree with those points, and those are exactly what i don't like about it. So I don't think you need to justify your opinions to me though I do appreciate it. We think the same thing but your conclusion is that you like it despite those flaws and mine is that I can't look past them and choose to conclude that I dislike it. This is exactly like our Sin City conversation yesterday. Except the reverse.

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Permalink Reply by MDS on November 29, 2008 at 11:00am

odd how that always seems to happen. lol

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Permalink Reply by Mike on November 29, 2008 at 12:42pm

2 such problems I suppose are that, It doesn't seem realistic if he runs into problems when his villains aren't as strong as he is and people are also too accepting of Superman. So to add on to your modifications, for starters, if he truly is benevolent then people like Lex Luthor shouldn't pose a threat and shouldn't even be featured. I think Superman would be more interesting if he was more like Dr. Manhattan, by being thrown into a more realistic world and viewed as a surreal god like figure. I think the way people react to his existence is more rational in Watchmen, and I think once readers have accepted Superman as such, it'd be easier to accept real super villains as well. Braniac is cool, Darkseid, I also remember a guy called Lobo or something? Who came in on a galactic motorcycle, or something, Metallo...that's all I remember honestly besides bizzarro whom i found rediculous when i was like 5 years old...anyway yea I think we all agree there is potential in a reinvention.

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Permalink Reply by DLaughingMan on January 16, 2009 at 1:09am

Alright, I have to defend Dragon Ball. The series was supposed to end after the Freeza Saga. At that point the person responsible for the destruction of Goku's planet was defeated and he became a super sayan to do it, something legendary that was not supposed to exist. That ending resolved everything with the storyline, but the toy companies wanted more money. At that point I'm sure the series creator didn't care anymore. So if there was a rinse and repeat feeling to DBZ after Freeza Saga, It shouldn't count towards the series as a whole.

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Permalink Reply by spyro republic commando on June 21, 2009 at 5:12pm

Okay SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT DRAGONBALL Z !!!

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