Do you believe "Superman was never cool" ?

[The World]

It was one of those things that was repeated ad nauseam in the N52 days as far as I can tell a rebuff to the more golden age angle they were going for back then. Which I always find funny given that Post-Crisis went out of it's way to ditch the loser Kent schtick and gave him the Mr.Popularity angle.

Imo while it's very clear there's nothing cool about modern Superman at the very least Golden Age Superman had elements that people found admirable and still try to emulate.

[manwhohaseverything]

Superman was damn cool and he was damn badass as well.

Look at this stuff.The first time he became faster than a speeding bullet.

[DochaDocha]

You don't sell as many comics as Superman without being "cool" at some point. Likewise, you don't get radio shows, TV shows, cartoons, and the most expensive movie (for its time, essentially twice) made if people think the character is lame.

[Vordan]

That is the worst pro-Superman argument there is. “He’s supposed to be retro” is the second worst. Neither of them are true, and both are idiotic and don’t hold up at all. If he wasn’t cool, he would’ve died with the JSA. Supes, Bats, and WW carried forward into the Silver Age because they were cool. That Supes is no longer regarded as such has to do with the frankly terrible handling he’s gotten. He’s also not supposed to be retro, that was an angle the Donner films went with that I regard as a mistake. It puts a limit to what he can meaningfully deal with, because he’s not literally from the past like Captain America is, and frankly the retro takes like Johns are far inferior to the modern takes Morrison and Waid brought to the table.

[Ascended]

He's not cool in that trendy, "I listen to the newest music and know the latest hashtag" kind of way. He's not cool in a obvious, "trying too hard" kind of way >coughbatmancough<

But Superman has always been cool. He's cool in that truly alpha, "I don't need to prove sh*t to anyone" kind of way. He doesn't give a damn if you think he's cool or not, he just goes out there and does the job. And there's nothing cooler than that.

[Vordan]

Is this not cool?

Or this?

Also this was awesome I don’t care what the haters say:

[Kuwagaton]

I don't think that stuff really impresses people who aren't already into the character very often.

He's not cool in that trendy, "I listen to the newest music and know the latest hashtag" kind of way. He's not cool in a obvious, "trying too hard" kind of way >coughbatmancough<

But Superman has always been cool. He's cool in that truly alpha, "I don't need to prove sh*t to anyone" kind of way. He doesn't give a damn if you think he's cool or not, he just goes out there and does the job. And there's nothing cooler than that.

That's more along the lines of what I would say, too. Superman doesn't have to be edgy to work, and in that sense he's very cool.

But if we're saying "cool" like we say it when talking about leather jackets or motorcycles (ROFL) then I think we're talking about something from the early 40s. And sorry, but that kind of cool isn't there now. "cool" doesn't last 80 years.

[Robanker]

He's not cool in that trendy, "I listen to the newest music and know the latest hashtag" kind of way. He's not cool in a obvious, "trying too hard" kind of way >coughbatmancough<

But Superman has always been cool. He's cool in that truly alpha, "I don't need to prove sh*t to anyone" kind of way. He doesn't give a damn if you think he's cool or not, he just goes out there and does the job. And there's nothing cooler than that.

Co-signed in full.

[Cyberstrike]

He's not cool in that trendy, "I listen to the newest music and know the latest hashtag" kind of way. He's not cool in a obvious, "trying too hard" kind of way >coughbatmancough<

But Superman has always been cool. He's cool in that truly alpha, "I don't need to prove sh*t to anyone" kind of way. He doesn't give a damn if you think he's cool or not, he just goes out there and does the job. And there's nothing cooler than that.

^This 1000%

The coolest Superman story IMHO was a 16 page PSA book called Superman: For the Animals where he has 4 pages (or 3 if you don't count the cover) the story of a young boy new in small town falls in with some kids whose "leader" is killing animals at one point the little brat throws a kitten or a puppy off an overpass and Superman flies in and saves the day the new kid finally stands up to leader and punches him and he falls on a suitcase filled with collars of animals that he killed and the kid writes a letter to Superman and as he's walking out of a store Superman stranding next to the building just tells him "You are my hero." and flies away as the kid turns around and then goes "It couldn't be." Then runs off to be his friends.

[SiegePerilous02]

That is the worst pro-Superman argument there is. “He’s supposed to be retro” is the second worst. Neither of them are true, and both are idiotic and don’t hold up at all. If he wasn’t cool, he would’ve died with the JSA. Supes, Bats, and WW carried forward into the Silver Age because they were cool. That Supes is no longer regarded as such has to do with the frankly terrible handling he’s gotten. He’s also not supposed to be retro, that was an angle the Donner films went with that I regard as a mistake. It puts a limit to what he can meaningfully deal with, because he’s not literally from the past like Captain America is, and frankly the retro takes like Johns are far inferior to the modern takes Morrison and Waid brought to the table.

"He's not suppossed to be relatable like the Marvel heroes" is another bad one.

Anyway, I don't think he would have kickstarted the entire genre, become one of America's largest pop culture icons and been the most poplar superhero for a good 50 years or so, and still be considered one of the biggest even after losing that title, without being considered "cool" for some points. I think him being considered less cool after a point was always inevitable considering trends are always changing. Grim, flawed anti-heroes being big in the 80s and Batman being easier to be turned into something like that is the main reason he started to overtake Superman in the popularity department. It was always going to happen and there's always a possibility things will shift again. But I do think some decisions DC and WB have made since the 80s have done damage to the "cool" reputation that otherwise may not have been as damaged as it was

[The True Detective]

You don't sell as many comics as Superman without being "cool" at some point. Likewise, you don't get radio shows, TV shows, cartoons, and the most expensive movie (for its time, essentially twice) made if people think the character is lame.

I don't think "cool" and popular are the same thing though, Mickey Mouse is incredibly popular but I don't know if anyone thinks of him as cool. Same thing for characters like Captain America, Elmo, Archie from Archie comics, Kermit the Frog, Mr. Bean, SpongeBob Squarepants, etc. I'd say not being "cool" is actually apart of the appeal of some characters.

In the stereotypical Fonzie from Happy Days definition of the word Superman may not be seen as cool but it doesn't matter because he's extremely popular anyway.

Batman, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, Black Panther and Deadpool are the comic book heroes who are usually considered cool in that kind of way.

[Will Evans]

It was one of those things that was repeated ad nauseam in the N52 days as far as I can tell a rebuff to the more golden age angle they were going for back then. Which I always find funny given that Post-Crisis went out of it's way to ditch the loser Kent schtick and gave him the Mr.Popularity angle.

Imo while it's very clear there's nothing cool about modern Superman at the very least Golden Age Superman had elements that people found admirable and still try to emulate.

Modern Superman bagged Wonder Woman. End of story.

[Vakanai]

Superman was definitely cool in the first several decades at the very least, and still has some pretty cool moments even now. Heck, read Superman Smashes the Klan, he's got some cool moments in there, like when he's got two Klansmen and he throws one of them in a tree because he only needs one to spoilers:

find the bomb they planted.

end of spoilers That was pretty great.

[Jim Kelly]

I know that "cool" being used as an adjective to mean impressive has been around for a very long time, but when I was a kid (as far as I recall) this meaning didn't come into my consciousness until after I had discovered Superman. I think I was probably ten or eleven before this kind of usage was something that I could employ. And even then, I wasn't sure if it was going to last, because there were adjectives like "groovy," "hip," "far out" that had a short shelf life and expired. I find it remarkable that "cool" is still cool.

I think that cool is a very temporary condition. Because something that's cool at a certain time is cool because it's in fashion. Which means as soon as the fashion changes that thing has become uncool. So for Superman to keep being cool, he keeps having to change to be what is cool now. And whenever we look back on the past trends, we must have very intimate knowledge of history to tell what was cool and what wasn't cool at a specific point in time.

Superman was racist toward the Japanese circa 1942-45, but that was cool with people at the time. So being cool can be a trap. If people try too hard to be cool, they end up following trends that in hindsight were very bad. "It's a fool who plays it cool by making his world a little colder."

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I think Superman is always the coolest guy in the room because he isn't ever trying to be. I don't like cool Clark because I think it defeats the entire purpose of the character. It doesn't mean Clark has to be a doormat, but I am a strong believer in dork Clark.