- Location
- The Pleroma
Unfortunately, I doubt he'd want to write the same comics for years and years. Maybe if he had some sycophants or whatever...
The Misunderstanding Of Superman
- Thread starter Winged Knight
- Start date
- Comics
Unfortunately, I doubt he'd want to write the same comics for years and years. Maybe if he had some sycophants or whatever...
He has before- JLA, New X-men, and such. But it'd have to be something he's interested in.
He writes fairly tight arcs though that are planned from start to finish. Which is really how most good comic writing is done. Even when given carte blanche such as with Animal Man he ended it after two years or so because he worried he was getting preachy and not doing good comics.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I don't think there is or should be a one true definitive 'canon' Superman. What's the fun in that?
Mithrandir
Endurance and victory!
- Location
- Lighting the Blue Beacons.
Part of the problem is that he doesn't have interesting villains (Luthor aside, and I'm not counting Darkseid). Each hero's villains follow a pattern. Batman fights low-power high-skill/brutality crazies. Wonder Woman fights gods and magic-users. The Flash fights an eclectic bunch that mostly uses gadgets, as well as other speedsters.
Superman just has a very narrow grouping of true foes. He fights people like the Toymaker, sure, but the only real threats seem to use Kyptonite, or strength.
Kryptonite and strength. That's it.
And it's grown boring.
Superman just has a very narrow grouping of true foes. He fights people like the Toymaker, sure, but the only real threats seem to use Kyptonite, or strength.
Kryptonite and strength. That's it.
And it's grown boring.
- Location
- The Pleroma
Superman's villains are generally reflections of himself. You have Lex Luthor, another superman, who devotes his life to evil instead of good. You have Brainiac, an entity from another world that sees other beings as toys or tools. You have Mongul, who is a conqueror from space rather than an amoral scientist. You have Bizarro and General Zod, who are more obvious reflections. You have Mr. Mxyzptlk, who takes the Superman-as-God-metaphor to the level of being actually godlike. You have the Parasite, who absorbs the energy of others where Superman survives on photosynthesis.
I mean, you've also got Metallo, Toyman, the Prankster and so on. But nobody has all winners. Batman has Hush, Spider-Man has Morlun...
I recall a Chris Sims article on the subject of the lameness of Superman's rogue's gallery: Ask Chris #102: Superman's Terrible Villains
Reveen
Castro-Trudeauist
The problem with Superman's villains is him being so much more overtly a power fantasy, and that makes it harder for his villains to really get an edge on him to get the back and forth relationship with their hero that you see with more iconic supervillains and Spiderman. Lex Luthor is the most effective, but come on, he's never going to "hit" Superman as bad as the Joker can hit Batman or Green Goblin can hit Spider-Man.
He's kind of like the Punisher in a way. The Punisher doesn't work with recurring nemeses because his entire premise is that he kills his enemies. Superman's nemeses are less striking because his entire premise is that he can't be challenged, physically or morally.
Superman works best when what he's fighting against is something bigger than just some villain, like a meteor about to crash into the Earth, or a horde of space bugs, or world hunger. And often something that happens as a result of the villain's actions rather than the villain themselves.
He's kind of like the Punisher in a way. The Punisher doesn't work with recurring nemeses because his entire premise is that he kills his enemies. Superman's nemeses are less striking because his entire premise is that he can't be challenged, physically or morally.
Superman works best when what he's fighting against is something bigger than just some villain, like a meteor about to crash into the Earth, or a horde of space bugs, or world hunger. And often something that happens as a result of the villain's actions rather than the villain themselves.
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