Nightwing83

April 10, 2012 6:46 pm The biggest problem in that regard was this: up until 1983 or so, Superman and Batman were always portrayed as "best friends." That changed when certain people at DC started to think, "gee, I like Batman so much better," and wondered how--especially with the first movie in the works--the two could be differentiated more. This lead to the whole, "Batman = Dark, Superman = light," which was such a great idea. This way, Superman could lecture Batman about manhandling criminals much the same way he did a few issues/episodes earlier. This way, they could say, "okay, you know how Batman is the most popular superhero out there right now with big blockbuster movies and a dark attitude? Well, Superman is the opposite of him!" Of course, Batman isn't as much of an anti-hero as a lot of other superheroes, and it's not like Superman is afraid to get his hands dirty or something; but I honestly think that if they hadn't put out the death & return saga--as much as history is being rewritten to make it seem like a failure--he wouldn't have quite the cult-like following he has today.

April 10, 2012 6:27 pm They CHOOSE not to. Think about it: if Superman wasn't "too perfect," what would make Spider-Man so special? Or any Marvel hero. As for all this "social commentary stuff," well I'm not about to weep too hard. When that happens, it's the writer making his/her own points and they're usually not too subtle about which side they're on and they often seem reluctant to give the other side a fair portrayal. Again: I think the Perez/ Moreno issues gave me what I wanted after so long: Superman being Superman. It doesn't mean there can't be any stories where they touch upon issues like what they did in Action Comics; but it's also kind-of important to remind people who spout the old, "derr, he's too powerful so you can't challenge him," crowd that, "oh yeah, like most superheroes, he tends to fight villains with similar powers." In between those fights, it's fun to see some wife-beater or drug lord get comeuppance, but you can do that with any superhero, really.

April 10, 2012 6:10 pm I'm sorry, I can't quite agree with this article. I mean, after, what? A year-long story where he returned to Krypton and the main character of the series actually called Superman was Mon-El; and then a year-long story where he's apparently quit his day job and just started walking across the country helping people with regular problems, capped off with the idiotic, "I renounce my patriotism" stunt; the reboot is a breath of fresh air. I mean, I'm glad they made him single again. The angle of him pining for Lois was something I could relate to a lot more (what? You can relate to a character who's an alien? SORCERY!!!) than them simply being married. I mean, the current Superman series isn't perfect by any means, but I'm just having more FUN reading it than a lot of other stuff I've been reading lately.

April 10, 2012 6:03 pm Gosh, Jimski. You managed to regurgitate every idiotic anti-Superman line we fans have ever heard. You probably think we'd be challenged by these arguments or something. 1) He's from another planet, so you can't relate to him. I mean, even though he acts like a regular guy--if a bit nicer--and was raised as a human. And even though there's a film series called Star Wars where EVERYONE is an alien but you're supposed to identify with the character of Luke. 2) He's so powerful, you can't hurt him except with Kryptonite. Or magic. Or sonic attacks (cuz of his super hearing). Or a robot, alien or monster who's also super strong (like the villains he fights 90% of the time). Or by threatening someone close to him. Or by mental attacks. Yeah. 3) You're never in doubt that he'll win. Kinda like Batman. Or James Bond. Or, like, 90% of protagonists in the history of fiction. 4) The thing where he's perfect and has no flaws. Except that's not who he is. Never was, in fact. Nope, cuz there's a lot of stories dealing with how he's naive. Or careless. Or overly attached to people. Or kinda careless like in the movies. Add to that the fact that he came first and the reason we have superheroes is due to him means you really don't know much about those books they call comics, do you?