What's the most terrifying threat ever presented to Superman?

[Dispenser Of Truth]

Threat to him, threat to his loved ones, threat to the world, whatever. What stands above the rest as the most chilling to you?

For me it's an easy answer, both for the stakes of the situation on every level (two enemies far more powerful than him, one cosmically so, the one other surviving member of his people in their clutches, all of reality collapsing through the black hole of Darkseid's fall into the maw of a screaming mad god of armageddon) and the primal, personal nature of how it's framed:

Your Father Failed.jpg



"Your father failed to save his world. Now it's your turn." That honest-to-god gets me every time. It's the most pointed threat imaginable to present to him.

[Adekis]

I think it's an easy question to answer.

The scariest thing Superman ever has to fight is a version of him whose gone too far. Not Ultraman, you understand. Ultraman is too different. There's not enough of Superman there. Ultraman has always been a criminal, and can never be redeemed, the sole exception being in Smallville, where Clark does manage to reach him- but that's a bizarre exception. In most cases, Ultraman is irredeemable. But the Superman from A Better World, from Brave New Metropolis, were each a terrifyingly short jump from the DCAU's Superman. The Injustice Superman is even scarier, because when he snapped, he broke so much harder than Superman believes possible for himself- so how much weaker of a person might he be than how he imagines? In reality, the Injustice Superman snapped so easily because of poor writing, but Earth 0's Superman, the real Superman, can never know that, so from the outside it makes him look like he's one bad day (and a couple comic series worth of retcons leading to a foregone conclusion) from becoming a tyrannical, childish, paranoid, child-murdering psychopath.

Red Son and Mastermen are also stories where a recognizable Superman (much more so than Injustice, in fact) goes too far and takes over the world, and ultimately hurts the world because of it. There's a lot of stories like this- too many, I think- but it's not hard to see where it catches people's attention. It's scary to everyone, because Evil Superman is a scary concept- but its scarier to nobody than it is to Superman himself.

[Ascended]

Hard to argue with Mandrakk, really. I cant think of a story that ever went higher than him, as far as threats go. Out entire multiverse (or rather, Superman's) and everything within it, including Darkseid, wasn't much bigger than the bottle city of Kandor to Mandrakk.

[Crawford Crow]

Gold Kryptonite :-)

[MajorHoy]

The box office results for Superman Returns (2006)?

[Prime]

Frank Miller? DC editorial?

[Prime]

I think it's an easy question to answer.

The scariest thing Superman ever has to fight is a version of him whose gone too far. Not Ultraman, you understand. Ultraman is too different. There's not enough of Superman there. Ultraman has always been a criminal, and can never be redeemed, the sole exception being in Smallville, where Clark does manage to reach him- but that's a bizarre exception. In most cases, Ultraman is irredeemable. But the Superman from A Better World, from Brave New Metropolis, were each a terrifyingly short jump from the DCAU's Superman. The Injustice Superman is even scarier, because when he snapped, he broke so much harder than Superman believes possible for himself- so how much weaker of a person might he be than how he imagines? In reality, the Injustice Superman snapped so easily because of poor writing, but Earth 0's Superman, the real Superman, can never know that, so from the outside it makes him look like he's one bad day (and a couple comic series worth of retcons leading to a foregone conclusion) from becoming a tyrannical, childish, paranoid, child-murdering psychopath.

Red Son and Mastermen are also stories where a recognizable Superman (much more so than Injustice, in fact) goes too far and takes over the world, and ultimately hurts the world because of it. There's a lot of stories like this- too many, I think- but it's not hard to see where it catches people's attention. It's scary to everyone, because Evil Superman is a scary concept- but its scarier to nobody than it is to Superman himself.

You forgot the worst of them all. Superboy-Prime

[Adekis]

You forgot the worst of them all. Superboy-Prime

Ah, that's right! How could I forget him? Poor sad monstrous Superboy Prime. He's got all the childish paranoid crap of the Injustice Superman with the added justification of being an emotionally inept teenager, instead of just being arbitrarily written as an emotionally inept teenager.

I keep hoping he can come back, someday, for a redemption arc, because he started out as a pretty okay character before he became a villain. It would have been cool to see him in Ultra Comics, for example.

[Prime]

Ah, that's right! How could I forget him? Poor sad monstrous Superboy Prime. He's got all the childish paranoid crap of the Injustice Superman with the added justification of being an emotionally inept teenager, instead of just being arbitrarily written as an emotionally inept teenager.

I keep hoping he can come back, someday, for a redemption arc, because he started out as a pretty okay character before he became a villain. It would have been cool to see him in Ultra Comics, for example.

What's funny is that Injustice Superman pretty much turns into Superboy-Prime in the later half of the game.

[Slaughter]

How about more intimidate threats?
I'm going with Conduit and Manchester Black. Both menaces to loved ones.
Conduit is very current in those days of "NSA is watching over you". Except the NSA also has kryptonite super-powers. And nuclear warheads. And a army of hi-tech terrorists.
The Death of Clark Kent was a great story about a villain tearing down Superman's life and why Clark Kent is necessary. The way Conduit watches over everybody with his Pipeline and orders hits, pulls Clark's buttons, his insane and petty motivations, how Superman barely gets a break from trying to save people, etc.

Manchester Black is similar, but employs a different MO. More power, more psychological torment as he throws Superman's ideals in his face. Uses immense telepathic powers to sic badguys on everybody Clark Kent ever shook hands with. We also find Clark is more ready than last time. Then, at the end - we find out Black's not so bad, even if he was still a sick f**k.

[Carabas]

The box office results for Superman Returns (2006)?

More than Batman Begins: $391,081,192

Fairly respectable, and if WB hadn't had that odd bookkeeping tic where they add the cost of the previous 3-4 uncompleted Superman projects to this one's budget, or would have had realistic expectation for the film, it'd have been a moderate hit.

[Jim Kelly]

The story involving Kal-El that scared me the most was in SUPERBOY No. 150 (September '68). A story by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Jack Abel, with a Neal Adams cover. It had an eerie TWILIGHT ZONE/OUTER LIMITS kind of feeling. Or like some of Ray Bradbury's horror stories--such as those in SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES (which I was reading around that time).

Of course, I was a kid, so I was more easily frightened by comic books back then.

Had I read "Mordru the Merciless"/"The Devil's Jury" when that originally came out in ADVENTURE COMICS No. 369/370 (June '68/July '68), I would have probably been just as scared by that Jim Shooter, Curt Swan and Jack Abel horror adventure. But I didn't get to read this story until it was reprinted in a tabloid edition, when I was a teen-ager and therefore hardened to horror's effects.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

Blanque, apparently.

[Vinsanity]

Two.

1. Pat Boone

2.

[MajorHoy]

Two.

1. Pat Boone

And why not throw in:



Don Rickles?



Jerry Lewis?