Originally Posted by
DochaDocha
I feel like his strength level is mostly irrelevant toward how often writers incorporate his intelligence or his fighting abilities. Take a show like STAS, which is pretty much the weakest Superman since the Golden Age. With the handicapped abilities, did they really play up his wits? I don't feel they did.
I like to think Superman is not classically trained in martial arts. While that might seem like a bit of a disadvantage for Superman, I think in some sense the instincts he develops from traditional martial arts would actually set back Superman as a complete fighter. Think about how a normal bloke is supposed to create leverage and power for something like a punch or a hip throw. The martial arts training is going to teach you how to work with gravity and your own body, but gravity and body mechanics are completely different for Superman. Superman's not stupid, so he's going to craft a unique fighting style that works for him, even if it means just turn yourself into a self-guided projectile with a first attached in front.
Also, I must ask: how are you supposed to tell a compelling EVIL SUPERMAN! tale if he's not the strongest hero out there? Who cares if, say, the fourth most powerful hero is on a rampage when you can just ask the real big guns to take him down?