Controversial Superman Opinions

[Adekis]

I think Gary Frank's art is ugly and kind of creepy, even in the books I like from him (Brainiac or Superman & the Legion, for example).

The fact that I agree that Secret Origin is a waste of time reminded me of this more actually controversial opinion, haha!

[Vordan]

I think Gary Frank's art is ugly and kind of creepy, even in the books I like from him (Brainiac or Superman & the Legion, for example).

The fact that I agree that Secret Origin is a waste of time reminded me of this more actually controversial opinion, haha!

His faces can dip into the uncanny valley, I’ll agree with that much, but otherwise he’s one of my favorite artists period.

[Robanker]

His faces can dip into the uncanny valley, I’ll agree with that much, but otherwise he’s one of my favorite artists period.

Maguire is the same because... Well, faces aren't always pretty. Both of them are unafraid to capture an expression that conveys the moment great even if it's not going in any modeling portfolio.

I know what you're talking about, but I actually appreciate that both of them go there.

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

I think Gary Frank's art is ugly and kind of creepy, even in the books I like from him (Brainiac or Superman & the Legion, for example).

The fact that I agree that Secret Origin is a waste of time reminded me of this more actually controversial opinion, haha!

when he drew Clark to look like Chris Reeve, yeah totally looked creepy and uncanny valley. But for me anyway, that was exclusively a problem for his Chris Reeve Superman. Never had a problem with his other characters. Plus he toned it down considerably for Doomsday Clock and Superman looked great in that.

Anyway, I don't mind Secret Origin, it's fine. Though I never really get sick of Superman's origin, I like seeing different writer's interpreptation and what they bring to it. I can't really think of one I particularly dislike (haven't read Year One, but it's not really on my to-do list. I can't stand JRJR)

[fan_of_the_messiah]

Hello again, I too like that idea of Metallo as being an "anti-Superman" and the military aspect. Many years ago I wrote my own Superman trilogy, for myself. It remained as true to the source material as I could make it and apologies if what I'm about to say offends anyone but my approach was to treat the story like a modern religious parable taking notes not just from Abrahamic religions but, also Hinduism (which is my cultural background even though I am an atheist), Sikhism as well as classical Greek and Roman gods (which bears striking resemblance to Hindu mythologies).

My approach was this: what would it be like to tell a modern day story of a messenger from "God" coming to Earth to “save us” from the same fate as Krypton. I treated Jor-El as an allegory for God since he is Krypton’s greatest scientist (hence to us his understanding of the various sciences would make him omniscient), his Kryptonian physiology would make him “omnipotent” to us and his AI sent with Kal-El residing in the fortress of solitude makes sort of omnipresent thus satisfying a classical interpretation of what “God” is.

The first part of my trilogy followed the classical source material of Kal-El being sent to Earth intentionally, being raised by the Kents (with special focus on Jonathan raising him to be a decent, hardworking, kind and caring man that is always wiling to help others in need). Clark then travels the world after Jonathan’s heart attack death, he wears Jonathan glasses as a means to remind himself of the values that Jonathan brought him up to have and he secretly saves lives from country to country travelling as a nomad, writing stories and acquiring occasional work in different countries as a newspaper journalist. He discovers his true mission on Earth from Jor-El’s AI after a centuries old Kryptonian ship in the Arctic circle is activated (stolen from the Man of Steel film plot &#128522. He ultimately reveals himself to the world as a “messiah” when a Tsunami strikes the Pacific and he has to reveal himself to save lives. The villain in the end of my story is the Brain Interactive Construct (I envisioned him as being Krypton’s left over advanced artificial intelligence) with Kryptonian putrid beliefs in engineering a perfect society by wiping out vast “crops of people” that are “unnecessary” by introducing a worldwide pathogen. The Pathogen is stopped, and Brainiac is destroyed by Superman, ultimately showing how humanity and Superman have developed a loving bond.

The second part of my trilogy story I wanted showcased Lex Luthor’s rise to become supreme leader of the Human race and answer the question: why is Lex Luthor Superman’s archnemesis and how does he devastate the Human race with his belief that “not all human lives are worth the same”? I wanted to show how he uses his incredible academic abilities, inexhaustible wealth and political influence to stealthily become an “anti-Christ” figure to us, a false prophet if you will whose ultimate goal is to manipulate us into installing population control: to get us to wipe out people who have nothing useful and productive to contribute to the human civilisation. The story takes off several years after the Brainiac’s plague, where unknown to anyone, Lex has engineered a worldwide financial recession and the world is facing an environmental catastrophe. Lex is able to manipulate US agencies (law enforcement and others) in the US to work for him, manipulate the American people (through severe unemployment in the US) to get elected to the Oval office to become President, turn nation’s against each other (such as manipulating Israel and Palestine, India and Pakistan, to enter all-out conflicts so that they near annihilate each other and manipulate the break-up of Europe, in order for his business empire to swoop in and practically control these nations e.g. overseeing the all-out conflict between Israel and Palestine would allow his real-estate wing to take Jerusalem; providing employment to and controlling the remaining people there to make him some form pseudo “false prophet” to the people.

In the second part of the story I included General Zod and John Corben as a secondary villains. I tried to keep to the source material. Corben’s a US army veteran, who lost his family from Brainiac’s “plague virus” whom Superman was not able to save in time. As a consequence, he develops a loathing of Superman and a xenophobia of these Kryptonian “aliens”. He falls into a life of crime and is imprisoned only to be accidentally found by Lex Luthor who offers him a chance to get “revenge” on losing his family. Lex, who holds a degree in medicine himself as well as numerous doctoral degrees in science and engineering from Universities such as: Harvard, Cambridge and MIT, performs the mutilating surgery on Corben himself. Lex’s intention: to get Corben to kill Superman (who he views as the false prophet) and so that no-one can stand in his way to ruling all the countries in the world. I also wrote a fight scene between General Zod, Superman and Metallo.

[superduperman]

I think Gary Frank's art is ugly and kind of creepy, even in the books I like from him (Brainiac or Superman & the Legion, for example).

The fact that I agree that Secret Origin is a waste of time reminded me of this more actually controversial opinion, haha!

That's not controversial. People were saying that at the time the books came out.

[The_Last_Czarnian]

Gary Frank's art can be distracting, for me - the same way that Steve Dillon's could. If that makes sense.

[marhawkman]

I wanted the New Krypton story to go to the Zone and not oblivion. Having Zod and his lackeys interact with all the new Krypton characters would have been fun.

[Vordan]

I wanted the New Krypton story to go to the Zone and not oblivion. Having Zod and his lackeys interact with all the new Krypton characters would have been fun.

I don’t think anyone was happy with the way New Krypton ended. I’m still curious to know what the original endgame was.

[Adekis]

There's way too many DC stories that just get torpedo'd and we never get the arc as intended. It's a hot mess when you realize how bloody often that happens.

[manofsteel1979]

There's way too many DC stories that just get torpedo'd and we never get the arc as intended. It's a hot mess when you realize how bloody often that happens.

It's sad really seeing how it was obvious that whole saga was supposed to do for Superman's part of the DCU the same thing the emotional spectrum thing did for Green Lantern. I.E. add some new toys in to the toy box and tell some new stories. It was great for a little while and showed promise and then literally within a couple issues it just fell apart. That along with the bungling of Superman's continuity around 2003-2006 are two things that the character and franchise lost a decade to try and overcome,and in some ways it still hasn't .

[Vampire Savior]

I think Gary Frank's art is ugly and kind of creepy, even in the books I like from him (Brainiac or Superman & the Legion, for example)

I see what you're talking about. There is an uncanny valley aspect to Frank's faces at times.

As for me, I'm really not a big fan of All-Star Superman. Part of the issue is Frank Quitely's artwork. I'm not a fan of his Superman that resembles a somewhat pudgy Elvis. And I'm just not a big fan of his style in general.

For what it's worth, I've also never been a fan of John Romita Jr. The first John Romita is one of the best, though.

[Flash Gordon]

This upcoming CW joint is going to do more to harm Superman's overall popularity than anything. It's almost a signaling of defeat on WB's side.

[rpmaluki]

The CW might be bad for Superman (a matter of opinion really) but I don't think it will ever compare to the levels of what WB have actually done to the character since Superman Returns. It's like with each installment the IP dies just a little. They've stopped short to openly admitting that they have no clue what to do with the big guy, which is a crying shame. At this stage they are afraid of even trying to put out a good product, let alone any product headlining Superman. I want better for the character but I've now accepted that it will never happen whatever format they put out.

[Vordan]

This upcoming CW joint is going to do more to harm Superman's overall popularity than anything. It's almost a signaling of defeat on WB's side.

I don’t see how. What’s the audience for these CW shows, 2 million at the max? Compare that with hundreds of millions who witness the implosion of the DC Film Franchise on the big screen or played Injustice where he melts Shazam’s brain for saying they shouldn’t slaughter cities. At the worst the CW show will just be corny, but the average person already thinks Supes is corny.

That said WB has given up on him for the moment on the big screen, at least for the moment. There was a whole article about how they have no clue what to do with him.