So, what is *your* take on Superman?

[Vinsanity]

A brash hero that tries to do the right thing but it is more optimistic in realism. Social crusader and fighter for freedom for all around the world. He is like a god. I dig the Lee's remake of the costume (first new 52 one). No mullet.

Keep his homely beginnings, Pete, Lara (his first girlfriend) then goes to college in Kansas, works his way up into the Daily Planet where he meets Jimmy, Lois, Perry, Cat and so on. He grows disillusioned on how news is reported like tabloid stuff, clickbait and all that jazz, so he quits and with Cat Grant and Jimmy they create a blog that tries to compete against the power of the DP. Him and Lois used to date but they both felt it wasn't working out since they both didn't have time. Lois got promoted to one of the top news companies (think CNN or BBC) and goes around the world like bigger DC or you can make DP one of the biggest in the world and widen their reporting.

He's one of the founding members with the JL, he trusts everyone in the league, ever hero. His best friend isn't Bruce or Diana but John Stewart, I think they would have a lot in common and also add Guy Gardner and Vixen. Kara goes to college in LA and she checks in time to time and vice versa. Superboy lives in the midwest where he's raised by Lana and he's still a clone. Superboy is in the TT on and off and isn't linked romantically to anyone. Lana and Jimmy are the only one who knows that Clark is Superman. Steel and Lana dating, so we can have adventures with Supes, Lana and Steel.

Romantically he had previous relationships with Lana, Lori (college), Lois, Diana (until that didn't work), a fling with Maxima, he dates Zatanna or Cat Grant (a little newsroom necking). He is a mentor to Shazam, The Super characters, Stargirl, Blue Beetle and so on. I felt he would be a better mentor than Bruce, Hal and Diana.

Have zany cosmic adventures as well. I love those because it's different.

Villains are pretty consistent, I'm going leave those as they are.

[Jon Clark]

I'd use a variation on Elliot Maggin's Krypton. The place was hostile to humanoid life and Kryptonians had to adapt numerous defenses to survive there. Vision expanded to encompass more of the electromagnetic spectrum to compensate for the dim red sun. The scarcity of vegetation led to cells designed to take in energy from other sources. The intense gravity led to muscles designed to move bodies that weighed as much as elephants and bodies able to resist being torn apart by impact or the force of those muscles.

In short, everthing about Superman is designed to work under conditions that would kill almost every other race in the universe. And that is before we factor in just how his systems react to the rays of our sun. So while he is less-powerful if cut off from the sun- he still is super compared to us even under those conditions. While kryptonite can kill him, it doesn't make him vulnerable to knives, clubs and small arms fire.

Krypton's destruction would be something of a massive volcanic effect. The planet wouldn't explode like a bomb, but instead the Kryptonian race would die from a combination of factors. A series of "earthquakes" would tear apart large portions of the surface. At the same time a cloud of soot would block out what little energy came from the red sun. And finally that soot would contain Kryptonite which would weaken further those not killed in the original planetary upheaval.

Jor-El would be in a unique position that allowed him to see the disaster coming and have the resources to save his children, 10 year old Kara and infant Kal.

Their ship would crash to Earth in an isolated area in the past. the children would remain buried and in statsis until the dawning of the 21st century.

Jake Kent and his wife Doctor Sarah Kent would find infant Kal-El (and his rocket) while performing missionary work in a remote area. Due to the fact they were out of contact for a prolonged period they were able to pass the child off as their own. When their tour ends they return to Jake's home town of Smallville, NY where Jake has inherited a farm from his uncle Jonathan. Sarah opens a private practice as a general practitioner to the town. With the help of a few friends (Archeology professor Lewis Lang, Lewis' brother-in-law Phineas Potter, and local sheriff Douglas Parker) the Kents raise young Clark and cope with his unusual abilities.

In his early teens Clark takes it upon himself to use his powers to help others. Although his parents initially disapprove, Clark manages to convince them that he can keep anyone from connecting Clark Kent to the mysterious Superboy. These initial adventures mostly involve Clark assisting with disasters (fighting wildfires, rescuing people in floods, etc. During this time Superboy meets Lex Luthor, a student at nearby Midvale University, who becomes Superboy's behind-the-scenes technological ace-in-the hole. And Clark meets some fellow high-school students who are really time-travelers come back to study Superman's early career.

A year or so in Clark sees Lex turn against him after a lab accident. He also meet another teen with similar powers (Superboy II aka Lar Gand of Daxam). The two boys share the Superboy identity for several months (at the urging of the Kents) until it is discovered that lar's powers are unstable and potentially fatal to him. And Clark encounters yet a third Superboy. an artificial clone that was created in the same lab accident that injured Lex. Eventually this clone will deteriorate into Bizarro.

At age 18, Clark retires as a hero after Lex manages to connect Superboy to Smallville and passes the information on to a criminal organization that attacks the town. Although the attack is thwarted in a way that makes it seem Lex was wrong, Clark feels that continuing his Superboy career will only risk a repeat of this. It doesn't help that his father Jake Kent dies of a stroke shortly after Clark's high-school graduation.

Over the next few years Clark travels the globe and even the stars between college semesters. He also meets pre-Batman Bruce Wayne who tutors Clark in both detection and undercover work. At age 23 he settles in Metropolis and re-emerges as Superman.

[GodofBoredom]

1). Superman/Clark Kent

I've always disliked the idea of Superman actually being a farmboy who happens to have godlike powers. That simply doesn't work for any incarnation with the exception of Byrne, maybe, whose super abilities emerged when he was an adult. And the Byrne reboot also happens to be my least favorite version of the character, and the one who irreversibly damaged the character.

Point being: when you're 8 years old and you're already able to lift your father's tractor, run faster than his car, are able to see your school from your house's porch while it's miles away, see through walls and hear people's problems, fears and joys from miles away involuntarily, you CAN'T simplify the characters as a farmboy. The perspective on life is COMPLETELY different. If YOU received your powers right now, it would completely change the way you view things. Now, imagine growing up with them, your whole life being different, more immersed, more all-encompassing.

In that sense, I'd have three "personalities":
a). Superman. He's the symbol, the inspiration, the one who will tackle all the odds, who will always hold the frontline. The one people will rally behind, the one they will trust to always do the right thing.
b). Clark Kent. He's the 'undercover' Superman. Not the bumbling idiot, but not the confident godlike being. He fights for truth, for justice AS ONE OF US. While many of us have the fantasy of what we'd do if we were Superman, well, Clark Kent represents Superman's projection of what he'd do if he were human. He'd fight for what's right with OUR OWN MEANS. Investigate. Expose. Push back against corruption.
c). Kal-El. This is what I'd call the "purest" it can be to his true personality. He's the one people who TRULY know him see. His parents. Bruce. Diana. He's Superman without being in the public eyes, without the pressure. When he wants space, he goes on the moon. On the bottom of the ocean's floor (I always LOVED this about Kurt Busiek's run). He's the one who displays all of the arrays of emotion - love, loneliness, hope, joy (more on these later).

2). Powers

I'd have him as the most powerful hero, and by far. I'd have it an editorial edict that characters simply can't be put up on Superman's expense. Too many times is everybody "I'm as powerful as Superman" or "I just took down Superman"; check out Cyborg's series to see him bragging about being able to liquefy his brain in 5 seconds flat with a frequency. Remember the times when Superman could race Flash to a standstill and it wouldn't be demeaning to NEITHER? Now, if Flash doesn't outclass him, it's simply bad writing according to many. His powers are virtually limitless. Able to move planets, able to run faster than light, able to travel galaxies, the whole pack.

Keeping with the Sci-fi aspect, Superman is a genius. He is the son of the smartest man on krypton, he has one of the most advanced technology at his disposal (Fortress of Solitude), he has some of the smartest villains in creation in his rogue gallary (Lex, Brainiac) - it's a no brainer.

3). Villains

Now, you may ask yourself, how will you challenge him when he's that powerful? Simple. Make the main powerhouse villains at least as impressive.
With that in mind, we have a few categories.

a). Villains who will take it to him physically. These are villains who are able to match him in a physical fight, and are more or less peers.
examples: Darkseid, Mongul, Doomsday, Ultraman, Zod

b). Villains who will take it to him intelectually. These are villains that operate on his level, putting him in great problems due to their ruthlessness
examples: Lex, Brainiac

c). Villains who straight up overpower him. These are characters that operate on a level that Superman can't simply overpower them
examples: Mxy

d). Tricky villains. These are villains that while not as physically imposing, or as intelectually formidable, would nevertheless be a thorn in his side.
examples: Toyman, Prankster, Parasite, Metallo

I'll continue to expand on the supporting cast, krypton/kryptonians etc. a bit later

[superduperman]

I'd give him a slightly different origin. Change how Krypton was destroyed. Jor-El is a geologist who discovers some strange radiation at the planets core and when he probes deeper, he discovers there's a bomb left over from the Kandorian war at the center. He goes to the governing council to tell them what he's found but they dismiss him by saying a bomb that old couldn't still be active. Later he finds out the council knew about the bomb all along and built a ship to save themselves. The reason he detected the radiation is because it's about to blow. Knowing there is no way to deactivate the bomb or save the rest of the planet, he decides to steal the ship along with his brother Zor and their families. The ships system is already programmed for Earth because the council planned to go there and make themselves gods by killing off or enslaving humanity.

Just as the ship takes off, the governing council finds out and orders it shot out of the sky. Just as the ship leaves the atmosphere, Krypton's "world cannons" hit the star drive damaging it and causing it to blow up. Jor-El, in a panic, puts his son in an escape pod and sends it off, already pre-programmed for Earth. Along with records of his journals and a complete history of Krypton. Zor does the same for his daughter. Just as the parents get into their escape pods, the ship blows up. And then the planet not long after. Killing the council and everyone else.

Kal's ship crashes on Earth in the middle of the night, causing an electrical disruption knocking out all of Smallville's electricity. The Kents go into town the next day and on the way back, Martha sees smoke coming from the north forty. Jonathon runs out and finds the ship. Because the council wanted to take over Earth quickly, there are solar collectors inside the ship. A month later, Jonathon has buried the ship and Martha goes upstairs to wake little Clark from a nap when she finds him floating above his crib. She panics and runs and gets Jonathon. The official story they told everyone was that they literally found him on their doorstep. A couple years later, a two year old Clark lifts up a dresser to recover a lost toy car. As the years go by, Clark has to learn to control his "gifts". It takes most of his childhood to master flight. The vision powers don't come along until puberty. By the time he is eight, he can lift the tractor over his head. His parents are reluctant to let him go to school with other kids and almost take him out altogether when he gets into a fight in kindergarten and breaks a kid's arm.

Then, when Clark is seventeen, he is helping his father fix a tractor when he hears a little girl crying on the railroad tracks. Her leg is stuck. Clark sees a train coming and runs to help her. Getting there just as the train does, he shields her with his body, wrecking the train. Clark wants to know why he can do these things. The "found you on the doorstep" excuse isn't cutting it anymore. So Jonathon finally decides to show Clark the ship. That is when he finds his fathers journals and history and learns the truth of his identity. Clark goes off to college and travels the world reporting on various events. Often getting involved in dangerous situations and getting "lucky" to get out of them alive. But he's getting tired keeping his abilities a secret. Finally, after he gets a job at the Planet, he goes to report on a fire and notices that some people are trapped on a top floor and the department can't reach them. This is when he decides he must use his powers. So he flies up and rescues them. But because the fire burned off most of his clothes, no one recognized him. And he got out as quickly as he could.

The media wants to know who this mysterious man was that saved those people. Lois publishes a story calling him a "Super-Man". It is after that that Clark goes home and decides he can't hide anymore. That is when Martha decides to make him the suit. And the Superman is born! Luthor initially has no opinion of Superman until he stops one of his arms deals to a terrorist group (yes, in this universe, Luthor is largely a weapons manufacturer). Meanwhile, an alien presence that "collects" rare species sees the reports about the Superman on Earth and recognizes him instantly as a Kryptonian. So it comes to Earth to collect him. The creature, the last survivor of Culo, is a brain-like creature that collects cities and species from dying cultures. It tries to take Superman but he defeats it's probes so instead, it decides to take the entire city with him in it instead. Superman defeats the creature, saves the city, and finds the last survivors of Kandor in a globe. In an act of forgiveness for the destruction of his planet, Superman saves the Kandorians from the Coluan.

Throw in references to a proto-Batman Bruce Wayne watching the news about this new "Superman" in Metropolis, Someone finding a green glowing rock in Smallville, and Superman burying the ship in a cave in the arctic, and that would be my origin for Superman.

[Francisco]

A brash hero that tries to do the right thing but it is more optimistic in realism. Social crusader and fighter for freedom for all around the world. He is like a god. I dig the Lee's remake of the costume (first new 52 one). No mullet.

Keep his homely beginnings, Pete, Lara (his first girlfriend) then goes to college in Kansas, works his way up into the Daily Planet where he meets Jimmy, Lois, Perry, Cat and so on. He grows disillusioned on how news is reported like tabloid stuff, clickbait and all that jazz, so he quits and with Cat Grant and Jimmy they create a blog that tries to compete against the power of the DP. Him and Lois used to date but they both felt it wasn't working out since they both didn't have time. Lois got promoted to one of the top news companies (think CNN or BBC) and goes around the world like bigger DC or you can make DP one of the biggest in the world and widen their reporting.

He's one of the founding members with the JL, he trusts everyone in the league, ever hero. His best friend isn't Bruce or Diana but John Stewart, I think they would have a lot in common and also add Guy Gardner and Vixen. Kara goes to college in LA and she checks in time to time and vice versa. Superboy lives in the midwest where he's raised by Lana and he's still a clone. Superboy is in the TT on and off and isn't linked romantically to anyone. Lana and Jimmy are the only one who knows that Clark is Superman. Steel and Lana dating, so we can have adventures with Supes, Lana and Steel.

Romantically he had previous relationships with Lana, Lori (college), Lois, Diana (until that didn't work), a fling with Maxima, he dates Zatanna or Cat Grant (a little newsroom necking). He is a mentor to Shazam, The Super characters, Stargirl, Blue Beetle and so on. I felt he would be a better mentor than Bruce, Hal and Diana.

Have zany cosmic adventures as well. I love those because it's different.

Villains are pretty consistent, I'm going leave those as they are.

By Rao. I can get behind this!!

[dangleo61288]

Ok, first up is that Supes exists in his own world. No shared Universe period. No Batman, Wonder Woman, etc. Only other heroes are those that are a part of his mythology. Also Clark is the only living Krptionian. Kara, Zod are reimagined differently.

The Clark's life in Smallville is the same. Kents find him he befriends Lana, Pete and a young Lex. Calrk ends up working at a social media/News agency called the the planet.com as a cyber security person. He can work either from home or at theplanet's hq. Where ever he wants to. Lois works for it a host for a web news show The Fast Lane with Lois Lane. It is similar to the Daily Show but more focused on real journalism. She is Clark's neighbor, realizes he is Superman and starts dating him early. They eventually get married.

Lois's father is a scientist and the CEO of Lanecorp a tech firm. Lex is his protege and kills Sam and takes over Lanecorp. The other villains are the Enchantress who is controls a large portion of Metropolis, Brainaic who is an AI from Krypton. Also some new villains. Kara is still Supergirl but belongs to another alien race. Zod is Krypton's version of the Devil. A supernatural force of evil.

Clark is part of a prophecy that Krpyton would destroyed and would reborn on another world. It stated that the Last child if Krpton would have a child who destroy Zod and be the mother of New Krypton. Clark and Lois have that child. Her name is Laura Kent.

[DieHard200904]

Ok, first up is that Supes exists in his own world. No shared Universe period. No Batman, Wonder Woman, etc. Only other heroes are those that are a part of his mythology. Also Clark is the only living Krptionian. Kara, Zod are reimagined differently.

The Clark's life in Smallville is the same. Kents find him he befriends Lana, Pete and a young Lex. Calrk ends up working at a social media/News agency called the the planet.com as a cyber security person. He can work either from home or at theplanet's hq. Where ever he wants to. Lois works for it a host for a web news show The Fast Lane with Lois Lane. It is similar to the Daily Show but more focused on real journalism. She is Clark's neighbor, realizes he is Superman and starts dating him early. They eventually get married.

Lois's father is a scientist and the CEO of Lanecorp a tech firm. Lex is his protege and kills Sam and takes over Lanecorp. The other villains are the Enchantress who is controls a large portion of Metropolis, Brainaic who is an AI from Krypton. Also some new villains. Kara is still Supergirl but belongs to another alien race. Zod is Krypton's version of the Devil. A supernatural force of evil.

Clark is part of a prophecy that Krpyton would destroyed and would reborn on another world. It stated that the Last child if Krpton would have a child who destroy Zod and be the mother of New Krypton. Clark and Lois have that child. Her name is Laura Kent.

Sounds like an excellent Elseworlds idea to me. If you ever write a fanfic, that would be cool!

[Kuwagaton]

OK people, what if we do this once again? I believe I started a similar thread years ago, but it was deleted.

Depending on the direction of the convo, maybe it got moved to a fanfic section.

So, how would you write him?

Humorously. There's something that's so funny about old fashioned Superman, the first superhero. I'd probably be most influenced by Siegel, Maggin, Bates, Casey, and Schultz.

Would you change anything from his origin?

The animated series got it right. Post crisis but featuring the Legion.

Relationships?

Between DP, outer Metropolis, Smallville, Supergirl, and the Justice League, Superman should have a ton of friends.

Settings?

Everywhere.

Enemies?

What blew my mind is Blackrock came back recently. Superman has dozens and dozens of enemies. I like seeing them updated and having their ideas strengthened. Just no more toymen.

Powers?

Game breaking is okay... until they run out of ideas with it. Simple Kryptonian powers, high intelligence. Flying to the moon shouldn't be effortless.

Fortress?

Just the one, I guess. Setting doesn't matter even if the arctic one is classic.

Would you change anything from Krypton?

Morrison's New 52 version is solid.

Would he still work at The Planet?

I see nothing wrong with foreign correspondent.

[superduperman]

I would mix up the villains a little bit too. Toyman is now an international terrorist who uses things like remote control cars and planes to kill his targets. Attach some C-4 to a small plane and send it into a building. Prankster would be like Superman's version of the Joker. Some psycho just out to get Superman's attention for the sake of getting his attention. And if he has to kill people to do it, so be it. Terra Man would be a xenophobic terrorist who hates all aliens and wants to drive Superman off Earth. He also has a militia. I kind of like the idea that someone suggested a while back that Parasite is more of a victim who kills for survival than a psychopath. A reluctant vampire would be a good description of him. Maxima would be Maxima. Superman is her ideal mate and she threatens to destroy the Earth if he doesn't agree to marry her. Metallo would be a government operative sent by Amanda Waller and Argus to "test" ways to kill Superman but he fuses to his suit and removing him would kill him.

His relationship with Batman would be adversarial at first. Superman sees him as a violent vigilante who puts petty street criminals in the hospital with, in some cases. permanent damage, and tried to arrest him. Batman uses things like sonic devices and flash bombs to distract Superman but of course this only slows him down temporarily. When one of the Batman's villains attacks Metropolis (probably Joker), he has to let Batman help him and they grudgingly accept each others methods. Eventually, as time goes on and they get to know each other a little better, they become friends. Pete and Lana were the only people in Smallville who know Clark's secret. Both of whom have known him since kindergarten.

Zod was a secessionist who didn't like the fact that the Kryptonian government wasn't willing to hunt down and kill all the Kandorians after the war. His army left with him. When he finds out that Kal has the last living Kandorians, he demands that Kal turn them over so he can kill them. Kal refuses. He threatens to kill all life on Earth if he doesn't. Basically forcing him to make a choice between the Kandorians or the humans. Supergirl is only slightly older than he was when she left Krypton. He was about one and she was about three. Her ship crashed a few years after Kal did in the town of Midvale, not far from Smallvile. She was adopted by the Danvers who named her Linda. So her full name is Linda Lee Danvers. Unlike Clark, she didn't grow up knowing about her powers. But she was an exceptional athlete in school and the best at everything. Until her x-ray vision kicked in. When Superman first appeared, that was when she first suspected there was a connection between them. He helps train her in the use of her powers.

Lois is so adversarial to Clark, she is almost unlikable at first. She is also a frequent target of criminals who don't like her investigations. She learns Clark's secret when he is forced to save her from a car bomb. After this, she helps cover for him. Eventually falling in love. Wonder Woman is distrustful of "man's world" but she respects Superman more than anyone else because he is as honest as he appears. The only man she ever met who is. The rest of the super-hero community sees him as the top dog. He's the first and most powerful. The government doesn't trust him and wants to find a way to control him. Superman is reluctant to work with them for this very reason. Kryptonite is rare but it is scattered all over the midwest. You can find it if you go looking for it but you have to really put in an effort. Most chunks are only about the size of a dime. The biggest they get is the size of a fist.

The Legion isn't really part of his history but he is a part of theirs. The entire team was formed because of him. He teamed up with them maybe once at about sixteen but had his memory wiped afterward. They left him a ring as a memento but he doesn't really remember where he got it. Things like Dark Knight and Kingdom Come are considered potential futures for this universe. The Justice League would consist of him, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Vixen. With a "floating" roster of reserve members as needed.

[Francisco]

If I had my way: Superman would truly be the last son of Krypton.
He would be naturally stronger, faster, tougher, with greater stamina and higher intelligence than any human or humanoid in the galaxy (or in the universe)
All due to genetic manipulation and eons of evolutive adaptations to survive in the harsh environment which was Krypton. He would be naturally invulnerable and when injured would heal quicker. stuff like that. Even if no yellow solar is present. But when in the presence of yellow/white/blue solar stars the last son of Krypton would become a god in human form. He would be able to travel interstellar distances under his own power. Because my Superman is a cosmic adventurer. He won't be bound to planet Earth. When needed he would reach beyond the limits of the known universe to face the unknown and battle the darkest evils. Kryptonite would be the only sure way to kill him. Magic unless extremely powerful would be useless against him.

My Superman is a scientist and an inventor. His Fortress Of Solitude would be a mixture of lab, workshop and museum where he will expend his free time expanding his understanding of the universe, inventing and creating new things and sciences.
In time he will be responsible for the creation of Supergirl, Powergirl and Superboy. They will be humans whom he will bestow powers similar to his.

My Superman would live a civilian life as Clark Kent in the United States and he will have his regular cast of characters: Lois, Jimmy, Perry, Cat, Lana and Pete (childhood friends) The Kents would be already dead but he will interact with them via flashbacks. Steel John Henry Irons will be his partner and science collaborator. Interaction with Batman would be minimal. I'm convinced that Superman has nothing to win and a lot to lose by hanging out with Batman.

My Superman would also have other civilian identities around the world and civilian friends around the world as well. He would be like a man with a million faces. Intervening subtlety to save lives in places where he can't act openly.
My Superman will have a voice at the United Nations. World governments would respect and fear his power. A few would try to conspire against him and undermine his mission but not a single one would dare to challenge him openly. So there's not government sponsored mass murder or ethnic cleansing in the DC universe Earth after awhile of course, cause I want to tell a few stories of Superman dealing with that sort of thing and using his intelligence to find a solution to that. I want him to be the harbinger of a new utopia on Earth. He will suffer setbacks and from time to time make a few mistakes but he should never give up and/or adopt a passive attitude regarding world's affairs.

Action Comics: Cosmic stuff, fighting Darkseid and the new gods/the Antimonitor/Alien invasions/Interstellar wars/Space opera type events/team ups

Man Of Steel: International matters, political intrigue, social commentary, real world stuff with a twist. Superman, Clark Kent and The man with the million faces turning the world into an utopia.

Superman: The main man interacting more closely with his cast: Lois, Jimmy, Lana, Perry, Smallville folks, doing mundane stuff with a sci-fi twist

[Lightning Rider]

I don't know. I like him equal parts farmboy and alien god. Clark should only partway be a disguise IMO.

I'd rather have his parents alive than dead, or at least Martha.

[Francisco]

I don't know. I like him equal parts farmboy and alien god. Clark should only partway be a disguise IMO.

I'd rather have his parents alive than dead, or at least Martha.

I like him part journalist part scientist space god. I think he works better without the Kents when he is an adult. It adds to his mystic. imo To have them in his memories. From time to time have him remembering something that happened at the farm. some important lesson learned from them and tied up to a current situation.


I completely forgot about Lex and the rogue's gallery. Lex as other have said; should be a mixture of (secretly crooked) businessman Lex, mad scientist Lex and xenophobic Lex. My Lex would be the smartest human and also the most egocentric. He should represent the best and worst aspects of humanity and perhaps the greatest challenge to Superman's mission on Earth. It would be great if from time to time they were forced to work together for the greater good. I'd also leave open the possibility for Lex to be redeemed. I will make it so that he is so smart that he doesn't actually has to kill people to get what he wants. Make it so that the only person he wants to kill (or remove) is Superman.

[Jim Kelly]

Respectfully, I have to disagree on the alien god angle.

For sure, the alien bit is how they explain him having those super-powers--but I see that as being a lot like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's creations for Marvel. I never take their characters as serious examples of science fiction (contrasted with some of what Gardner Fox and John Broome created). Lee and Kirby just took any old science fiction trope to explain how a hero could have such powers--whether it was radioactive arachnids or gamma rays.

Neither did Siegel and Shuster waste too much time on explaining how Superman could have his fantastic powers (and the explanation changed a couple of times)--they used Krypton as the all-purpose excuse for those powers. They were creating a Man not an alien. He's supposed to be the Man of Tomorrow--essentially what we could all be in the future.

Now it happens that Krypton is a fabulous bit of fantasy and it allows for some wonderful little Tales about its past. That's all great. But again, Krypton works best as a metaphor. It's not supposed to be so alien that we can't relate to it. It has to be enough like our own planet and Kryptonians have to be enough like Earth humans that we get something from the analogy. There needs to be meaning in Krypton's history and its fate that relates to our experience here on this planet.

As far as being a god goes, while I like Superman to have some really impressive powers, as a character I see him akin to the tragic heroes I learned about in high school and in university. In the Greek and Shakespearean tragedies, the heroes are trapped between the world of men and the world of gods. That's their tragic condition. They can't be at home in either world and all their struggles come from that.

Not that Superman should be so tragic. But to the degree that he needs some dramatic tension in his life, then I think this is what his situation boils down to.

He can never settle down and be happy like regular human beings (so marriage is out for him), but neither can he abandon the Earth and live a life somewhere else where everyone is the same as him (such as on New Genesis). The human nurtured by his adoptive parents Clark Kent is attached to this world; yet, he never feels fully accepted into our society. Which is why he has to dress up as Clark to get comfortable with regular folks. And when his alien nature needs some alone time, Kal-El goes off to his Fortress of Solitude to indulge that aspect of his character.

[Johnny Thunders!]

I like the idea that Superman has evolved past weakness, moral and physical. His morality, he created himself by adopting the best bits of all of us. I like stressing the Kents but someone mentioned, that's too narrow. So yeah, from Saturn Girl to Ma Kent. Superman has learned how to be good. (I do like those epic morality stories, so fatal flaws have to play out.) Power, speed, and wits that's Superman to me. I like the idea that Superman doesn't suffer from the vanity that Gods struggle with. I really love the idea that at his most extreme, he can process his universe like Dr. Manhattan, but since he's Superman, he doesn't go mad. He likes people.

[Francisco]

To me alien god is a figure of speech... To normal humans he would look like a god and by all purpose he may well be a god but there are limits to his powers. Tragedy will touch him as easily as it touches all beings in the creation. (That among other reasons is why I think he needs to experience the loss of both Kents)