Worst versions of Superman?

[ironman2978]

Injustice Superman

[Kuwagaton]

"sexually violates Lois"??? That wasn't in any of the cuts I've seen.

He does everything he can to charm her into sleeping with him, and then erases her memory of it. They could have at least tried to explain that this is some miracle combination of all the events that transpired, but didn't. We're left with the clear understanding that Superman can and does have sex with people and erase their memory of it at his convenience.

I just can't hand wave that away by saying something like, "people didn't know any better then."

Consequently, this ruins two scenes in later movies: in Superman III, she feels as though she missed on a good thing when Lana comes to the DP and clearly likes Clark for Clark, not Superman. But the guy Lois looks at with longing and regret is one who charmed her by baring his soul and "sacrificing" his life as Superman, then slept with her, without her present knowledge.

And then for all the trouble of Superman returns, Lois was really pregnant from an encounter she didn't remember. That is grounds for a rape conviction and probably a child support case.

Some people think posing as a regular human is dishonest, but revealing the truth to people and just erasing their memory of it when it gets problematic has to be infinitely worse.

[sunofdarkchild]

I've always loved the King of the World storyline from 1999 in part because it's a story in which Superman crosses the line, but without becoming evil or a villain like in Injustice. The change is much more subtle, and he never attempts to take over the world (though Dominus did in Superman's name) or become a dictator, even as his actions became more extreme to the point where the JLA decided they had to take him down. I still think it's the best 'Superman goes bad' stories.

[Kuwagaton]

Agreed. It uses almost all the tropes, but doesn't make Superman less of a hero because of all the reality warping extenuating circumstances. That whole mega arc from Superman Forever to KotW (resolving completely with the end of 1999 issues) is really my all time favorite.

I was reading Man of Steel #100 yesterday, and the Schultz Mahnke team was clutch. And good on whoever did the credit box for also shouting out Weezy and Bog, who more or less did the whole 86 issues before them.

[Jokerz79]

He does everything he can to charm her into sleeping with him, and then erases her memory of it. They could have at least tried to explain that this is some miracle combination of all the events that transpired, but didn't. We're left with the clear understanding that Superman can and does have sex with people and erase their memory of it at his convenience.

I just can't hand wave that away by saying something like, "people didn't know any better then."

Consequently, this ruins two scenes in later movies: in Superman III, she feels as though she missed on a good thing when Lana comes to the DP and clearly likes Clark for Clark, not Superman. But the guy Lois looks at with longing and regret is one who charmed her by baring his soul and "sacrificing" his life as Superman, then slept with her, without her present knowledge.

And then for all the trouble of Superman returns, Lois was really pregnant from an encounter she didn't remember. That is grounds for a rape conviction and probably a child support case.

Some people think posing as a regular human is dishonest, but revealing the truth to people and just erasing their memory of it when it gets problematic has to be infinitely worse.

Lois knew he was Superman when they slept together so she had full knowledge when giving consent for sexual relations and afterwards he erased her memory for her. She said she couldn't handle watching risk himself for the world and she realized how selfish that was to want him all to herself it was tearing her apart he did it out of love sacrificing what they had to give her peace. From giving up his powers to eventually erasing her memory was all for her I don't get the idea he was taking advantage of her at all.

[Sacred Knight]

It was a pretty bad idea all-around. I get he was just trying to keep her from missing him and lamenting not being able to be with him by removing the memory of it altogether. But the optics of it are bad. Not even just from the POV that he slept with her and made her forget, but just the very fact he made her forget anything at all. A violation of the mind should be a lot more sensitive a subject and treaded carefully.

[manofsteel1979]

Chris Reeve's Superman is the best live action portrayle ever. The movies he was in were problematic for various reasons discussed here. They haven't dates well. I still love them for the warm nostalgic feels but subjectively they aren't great films.

Ironically, the least problematic film is III. The plot is cheese and more of a Richard Pryor vehicle, but it's probably the only one where he doesn't do something​ questionable ( unless you count his evil deeds whilst under the influence of the sythetic Kryptonite that is.) Plus, Annette O'toole's Lana is awesome.

[Kuwagaton]

O' Toole was so sweet in that movie. That's like one of the only movies I've seen where a single mother is treated like a legitimate love interest. Of course I also did like the Websters and Lorelei.

Lois knew he was Superman when they slept together so she had full knowledge when giving consent for sexual relations and afterwards he erased her memory for her. She said she couldn't handle watching risk himself for the world and she realized how selfish that was to want him all to herself it was tearing her apart he did it out of love sacrificing what they had to give her peace. From giving up his powers to eventually erasing her memory was all for her I don't get the idea he was taking advantage of her at all.

It's not that he didn't have consent when it happened, it's that he took her memory of the entire thing. If there was a scene where she actually asked for her memory to be erased, I don't remember it. If neither of them remembered it'd be one thing, but he had experienced intimate parts of her person without her present knowledge and logically wouldn't opt for disclosure any time soon. I can promise that anyone who discovers that they had (or in the case of Superman II without counting Returns, possible have) the child of someone they can't recall sleeping with is not going to be pleased.

[NicoElFreako]

Least favorite = Most OP version
Most favorite = Least OP version

Y'all can enlighten me as to which is which.

[NicoElFreako]

Because I need to learn more about him, and would like to start on a comic in which I don't get frustrated at his overall OP-ness. Which comic should I go to?

[_Feely_]

Chris Reeve's Superman is the best live action portrayle ever. The movies he was in were problematic for various reasons discussed here. They haven't dates well. I still love them for the warm nostalgic feels but subjectively they aren't great films.

Dunno 'bout that.

Literally watched the first one again this morning.

Frakin' phenomenal movie.

[Soubhagya]

Because I need to learn more about him, and would like to start on a comic in which I don't get frustrated at his overall OP-ness. Which comic should I go to?

If you want a good issue where he is pretty less powered, i would recommend Superman #1. It is freely available at Comixology. (I got it there.) It collects Action Comics #1. His first appearance and a few more issues.

If you are interested check out Action Comics run of Grant Morrison. I have read two issues by now. I have heard a lot of good things about it. Action Comics #1-18. New 52 run. I prefer him more powerful and i became a reader after Rebirth last year. (Thus, i have not read that run in full. Definitely plan to read it though.)

But overall i don't know what you feel is OP. His standard powers are strength, invulnerability, flight, x-ray vision, laser blasts from eyes. If you consider this OP then i won't be able to help much. The character is named Superman. He is definitely 'Super'.

And i would definitely recommend Man Of Steel miniseries. Written by John Bryne during the 1986 relaunch it is a great origin story. I don't think you will find him OP there. I say give it a try. You can allow some feats of strength. Like say lifting a ship. Strength is his superpower after all. I love this story.

Plus, you may check out American Alien. I think you would definitely like it. He is young and inexperienced. And a pretty great origin story.

So, my recommendations in order is this:
1. Superman #1 (The first one. Not to be confused with later number ones.)
2. American Alien
3. Man Of Steel
4. Action Comics Grant Morrison run

Oh and if you don't have time for all these you can't do wrong with 'Superman: Birthright'. I did not put it in the list because pretty much all of the books are origin stories. Birthright is also another origin. (Don't ask me how a guy can have so many origins. Just go with it. The guy is being continuously published for almost 80 years).

I don't buy that he is OP. But its okay if you feel so. Read some good stories mentioned here and you can see how awesome he is.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

Interesting to see that there has been something of a reappraisal of Superman III - which I agree with. It's tons of fun and I do believe it to largely be a better film than Superman II.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

Least favorite = Most OP version
Most favorite = Least OP version

Y'all can enlighten me as to which is which.

Because I need to learn more about him, and would like to start on a comic in which I don't get frustrated at his overall OP-ness. Which comic should I go to?

I don't buy this reasoning at all, personally. I hate the idea of Superman as just a dumb brawler so the more over-powered version actually requires more creative writing.

Not to say that there aren't good less-powerful Superman stories. The Golden Age version was much less powerful but if you're anything like me, Golden Age comics are almost always a total chore to read. Eisner's the Spirit excepted, of course - though even then you do have to deal with the racist norms of the time. For Superman stories that you might like, the "triangle era" had loads of fun stories with a much less powerful and very much stripped down Superman - see Superman in Exile, Panic in the Sky, the Death and Return saga. Superman Adventures had some top drawer stuff from guys like Scott McCloud and Mark Millar. Also, for an Elseworlds-type story, Superman: Secret Identity is sensational.

[Lightning Rider]

I don't understand the first point. It's not like the world asked for Superman in the first place. Despite what Mark Waid thinks, Superman doesn't actually need public support in order to operate. He fights to make the world a better place, he doesn't write up a proposal, take a poll and wait for official sanctions before doing it. He always tries to remake the world in his own image to a greater or lesser extent, just by being himself.

As to the second point, it just bothers me. It's true that Diana went to Kal and told him to wake the hell up, but Wonder Woman is no more a "take over the world" type person than Superman is. Even less so, I reckon. Yet given your interpretation, both Kingdom Come and Injustice 2 can be read as saying that when Wonder Woman and Superman get romantically involved, it involves taking over the world. I couldn't care less about the 'ship, but the idea that either of them would take over the world, together or separately, goes totally against their characters. They each work to subtly transform the world into their own image, but they'd never use force to do so.

Superman being controversial is one thing. He handles that often and keeps on being himself. The world completely rejecting the premise that heroes have to have moral boundaries and vocally rejecting his example? That's a different story. Combined with losing Lois, the world telling Superman they don't need him anymore makes sense as a reason for exile. Superman in that story was actively being told that his example was being rejected.

I wasn't at all implying Wonder Woman told Clark to take over the world. But force is always involved in superheroics. They're vigilantes who use superhuman strength to subdue criminals and other perpetrators of injustice. Superman wasn't trying to take over the world, just bring order to a decaying violent society with reckless superhumans running about. This created a dramatic tension in the story, but he didn't become despotic.