Why Superman doesn't necessarily suck

[rscott]

A point-by-point refutation of this article.The arguments posed in the above article are all ones I've heard before, but this is as good a time as any to stand up in defense of the boy in blue. The general thread of attacks leveled against him have always been basically that he is simply too powerful to be interesting. I counter with the argument

Comments

[maastrictian]

Your number 5 is right on target I think. Batman stories tend to be more bad ass, cause the stuff Bruce does is just so impressive given his power level. But a good Superman story is at least as interesting, and gets at a completely different set of questions.

So, being interested in further reading on this topic (and having read your thesis) what are some Superman stories you would recomend that directly refute what this guy is saying?

--Chris

[rscott]

I was pondering this question. Sometimes I wonder if the Superman story that exists in my head is really the only really great one that exists. However: I mention JLA: Superpower as being one of my favorites, and it is. Also, Alan Moore's "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" is absolutely terrific, although you need at least some familiarity with the golden-age Superman to appreciate it. I think John Byrne's Man of Steel reboot is rightly considered to be very solid. And of course, I am a big fan personally of the Superman & JLA Animated series, which in my opinion may be the best writing that exists on the characters.

To gather more evidence, however, I've just purchased "The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told" so we'll see how well the collection holds up to the title.

[immaculatepizza]

Wow. I knew you would write a handsome response to this, I just for some reason didn't expect it to be so enthralling.

I wish my life was so interesting.

*sigh*

[chaiya]

Re point 4, I started reading Ex Machina, in the hopes that this might be a guy who sort-of chose to gain powers and then took options to accumulate more power via unethical means, and maybe in the end he will be a more interesting character for being damned. But then, I didn't get far into the series before my comic book budget was cut, so I don't know whether my hopes will be ill-founded or not.