The Secret To Superman Stories

[Agent Z]

The Mary Sue has on article on what makes a good Superman story. It addresses a lot of stuff regarding the character's morality, what he stands for, power levels etc.

Good isn’t perfect, but it’s still good. Superman is a good man and a powerful one. In these days where privilege and power are so often discussed and debated, how wonderful to see that Clark Kent recognizes the privilege his powers and life have provided, and says to the world “Let’s help each other.” He’s not just our hero. We’re his. He loves us. Not unconditionally, but he does love us. If he didn’t, he could just leave Earth and find another planet. After all, he’s Superman.

http://www.themarysue.com/the-secret...erman-stories/

What do you guys think?

[DochaDocha]

Parts I like from the article:

- "the bigger trick is to not be embarrassed by the character"

- "This lack of an Achilles’ Heel didn’t keep Superman from being a top seller, however, and it wasn’t just kids who read him."

- "This should’ve been too much, right? This should’ve made everyone turn away and say “nope, too powerful.” Instead, Superman was reinvigorated and soared into new popularity, bringing with him new story elements and characters such as his cousin Supergirl, Krypto the Superdog, the Bottle City of Kandor (full of miniature Kryptonians), the Fortress of Solitude."

- "[Silver Age] stories were ridiculous, yes, and some were poor. But they also let you know that anything could happen in a Superman comic. It was unapologetic imagination wrapped up in a red cape of science fantasy."

- "Superman doesn’t enjoy flying? No. Sorry, that doesn’t work. That’s his most visual and arguably coolest power. Don’t make him or us embarrassed by it."

- "But when that becomes the main focus, you are really missing what makes the story and overcompensating when you don’t have to. Because guess what? A lot of superheroes are more powerful than many of the people they encounter in their lives."

- "You shouldn’t turn Superman into Batman with powers or a more invincible Spider-Man. Celebrate their differences and don’t focus on the powers so much; that’s just the surface level."

- "Greg Pak [has been doing a great job] with Superman recently, tackling moral and political issues in exciting ways.

- "Readers were enthralled by the impossibility of it and by the fact that this man used his powers to combat evils they themselves feared, trash-talking enemies with a smile like fellow space cowboy Captain Kirk as he did so."

- "In All-Star Superman, Grant Morrison made Clark more powerful than he’d been since the 1960s and not only did the story not suffer, it’s often hailed as arguable the best Superman story done."

Parts I disagree with:

- "Scott Snyder [had done a great job] with Superman recently, tackling moral and political issues in exciting ways."


Overall, I think it's a solid piece that I would recommend to people on the fence about Superman. And by "on the fence," I mean people who really are open to these interpretations of Superman the author praised, and not someone who asks you rhetorical questions pretending to be open-minded about it, just to tell you why the reasons you give are wrong.

[Francisco]

We could drop the kryptonite weakness, the magic vulnerability and the sun radiation hinder and we could still have incredible well made Superman adventures.
As the article says: Don't be embarrassed by the character

[Lord of Narrative]

Anything praising the Silver Ass...um......age stories is automatically ass itself

[Johnny Thunders!]

Seriously, lets get rid of Braniac, Kandor, the Legion, the JLA, the Parasite, and all those other silver age ideas.

I think the key to Superman is that he is us, if we could face the infinite and impossible on a daily basis. I've never found all powerful, infallible Superman to be unrelatable. He brings Smallville wherever he goes. Supermans our guy when he's up against the cosmos.

[Lord of Narrative]

Seriously, lets get rid of Braniac, Kandor, the Legion, the JLA, the Parasite, and all those other silver age ideas.

None of those ideas were done well in the Silver Age. That's like saying that the answer to a crappy modern car is to go back to a Model T.

[Johnny Thunders!]

No, that's like saying walk instead of complaining about the Lexus you're drivng. A Lexus somebody else built and handed to you.

[Lord of Narrative]

No, that's like saying walk instead of complaining about the Lexus you're drivng. A Lexus somebody else built and handed to you.

NO, it's like saying the goofy looking Smart Car that you were given is better than the GTR you traded it in for.

[Johnny Thunders!]

You know what, let's get rid of all those silver age Marvel characters too.

[Blacksun]

well I agree with snyder part, but not so much on the Pak part.

new power is good for a gimmick, but people want more from a superman comic

[ekrolo2]

"In All-Star Superman, Grant Morrison made Clark more powerful than he’d been since the 1960s and not only did the story not suffer, it’s often hailed as arguably the best Superman story done. Because he loves Superman and showed us why."

Hahahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahaha, no. Morrison made Superman about as interesting as a 30 hour documentary about bricks where the entire thing is nothing but the camera starring at, you guessed it, a brick wall. If there is one version of Superman that perfectly fits into the whole "Oh he's boring, bland and uninteresting" category, it is 100% Morrison's and there ain't a gun threatening enough or bag of cash big enough to make me think otherwise.

[DochaDocha]

"In All-Star Superman, Grant Morrison made Clark more powerful than he’d been since the 1960s and not only did the story not suffer, it’s often hailed as arguably the best Superman story done. Because he loves Superman and showed us why."

Hahahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahaha, no. Morrison made Superman about as interesting as a 30 hour documentary about bricks where the entire thing is nothing but the camera starring at, you guessed it, a brick wall. If there is one version of Superman that perfectly fits into the whole "Oh he's boring, bland and uninteresting" category, it is 100% Morrison's and there ain't a gun threatening enough or bag of cash big enough to make me think otherwise.

Would it have been better if the writer said, "In Justice League season 2, Superman received a power boost over season 1 to bring him closer to his comic book counterpart, and not only did the story not suffer, the show's quality, not coincidentally, inarguably improved"?

[Deniz Camp]

There is no secret, nor any secret or formula, to writing Superman. Superman can be nearly omnipotent and Superman can be damaged by bursting bomb shells. He can be angry, brash, and youthful and he can be serene, tempered and sagacious. He can wear kryptonian armors, baby blankets stronger than steel, tights sewed together by his mom, or wrinkled suits of wool. He can date mermaids, demi-gods, girl reporters or boy photographers.

He can do all these things - be all these things - because none of these things define Superman. This is all surface, all spectacle, all aesthetic.

It's irrelevant, and should be adjusted to the taste of the writer(s) in question. I suspect - just suspect - that we'll see one of the more grounded interpretations of the character in Yang's upcoming run. If that's the case that will be fine, because that's Yang's vision.

The 'secret' to writing Superman is understanding the ideals and idealism that form the foundation of the character and having a specific, personal emotional connection to one or more of those ideals and being able to communicate that to others.

That's the only formula. That's the only secret. That's how Morrison has made it work time and time again, that's how Pak is making it work, that's how all the best Superman stories have been made, whether he's ripping stars from their moorings or struggling with hydraulic robots.

[WillieMorgan]

The 'secret' to writing Superman is understanding the ideals and idealism that form the foundation of the character and having a specific, personal emotional connection to one or more of those ideals and being able to communicate that to others.

That's just brilliant Deniz. Best comment I've read on here for a while.

Although, I know a bloke down the comic-book store that swears it's all about those underpants. He must be right surely

[ekrolo2]

Most definitely yes.