Controversial Superman Opinions

[marhawkman]

I personally think Superman should open a martial arts academy and teach supers how to be even more super by doing stuff like judo throws that can topple buildings.

[Robanker]

I like Jon and Conner. Why can't a parent also be a relatable person. I like to see a diversity of characters. Teenagers, single twentysomethings, married with kids thirtysomethings...a variety of characters allows for more story potential.

I'm speaking with respect to DC editorial, not posters here, but from reading their comments for years-on-end and seeing how the books unfold, there really does seem to be a disdain for functional relationships with parents or significant others. Take of that what you will, but it's weird how much they hate the idea of marriage being in any way positive or parents being cool.

[witchboy]

I'm speaking with respect to DC editorial, not posters here, but from reading their comments for years-on-end and seeing how the books unfold, there really does seem to be a disdain for functional relationships with parents or significant others. Take of that what you will, but it's weird how much they hate the idea of marriage being in any way positive or parents being cool.

Oh, I completely agree with you. The whole no marriage mandate was asinine.
Of course we need some characters to be single and fancy free, but if they all are, it can be too samey-samey. I'm sure the whole Satanic annulment with Spider-Man influenced some of that.
Just one more reason I'm glad Didio is gone, although I know there are other people still there I'm sure with the same attitude.

[Mark Trail]

The best version of Lex Luthor hands down was in Eliot S Maggie’s first Superman novel.

[Flash Gordon]

I don't know what that means, change with the times?? What's so great about the times? A time where using drugs is romanticized and criminals are seen as heroes!!

That's a ludicrous statement.

[lotchj]

I'm speaking with respect to DC editorial, not posters here, but from reading their comments for years-on-end and seeing how the books unfold, there really does seem to be a disdain for functional relationships with parents or significant others. Take of that what you will, but it's weird how much they hate the idea of marriage being in any way positive or parents being cool.

That's not surprising at all!! The writers seem to take great pleasure in destroying a relationship be it with a wife, a girlfriend or a child!!!!

[witchboy]

The best version of Lex Luthor hands down was in Eliot S Maggie’s first Superman novel.

I haven't read the book in years, but I plan to get to it when I catch up on my pre-Crisis reading - I'm working on it. There's lovely characterization in the two novels for Lex, a real feel for his genius, and that he's a little more complex and not beyond redemption.
Some of the details really stuck with me - like how Lex could escape from prison using just a notebook and ink pen, but he doesn't because if he did the next time he was locked up they wouldn't give him pen and paper again.

[lotchj]

Oh, I completely agree with you. The whole no marriage mandate was asinine.
Of course we need some characters to be single and fancy free, but if they all are, it can be too samey-samey. I'm sure the whole Satanic annulment with Spider-Man influenced some of that.
Just one more reason I'm glad Didio is gone, although I know there are other people still there I'm sure with the same attitude.

What they did with spider-man back in the 90's, with him and Mary Jane as least i think it was the 90's?? To save his aunt, he and Mary Jane made a deal with a demon!! Wiping out their marriage from their minds!! That really turned me off!! I stopped buying comics for close to ten years!! I thought it was cruel!! Same thing with planet hulk, as least i think that was the name of the title of that arc?? Cruel!! Killing his wife and unborn child!! Those stories left me with a very bad taste in my mouth for comics!! Comics were about cruelty!!

[marhawkman]

What they did with spider-man back in the 90's, with him and Mary Jane as least i think it was the 90's!! To save his aunt, he and Mary Jane made a deal with a demon!! Wiping out their marriage from their minds!! That really turned me off!! I stopped buying comics for ten years!! I thought it was cruel. Same thing with planet hulk!! Cruel!! Killing his wife and unborn child!! Those stories left me with a very bad taste in my mouth for comics!! Comics were about cruelty!!

The erasure of Pete & MJ's marriage was incredibly stupid. If May knew what he'd done she'd have told him off for it.

Hulk and Caera? I saw that coming a long ways away. There had to be a reason for Hulk to return to Earth. Editorial was guaranteed to end the story at some point. The only real question was how. I have to say that the angle of adding yet another item to the list of Tony Stark and Red Richards's crimes worked... as did the reveal that it was also somehow a betrayal by one of Hulk's Warbound was twisting the dagger in a way that was just horrible... And a whole lot of characters died, or got brutalized, but as a story it worked..... except that it is the sort of story you can't just magic reboot button out of existence.

[Flash Gordon]

That's not surprising at all!! The writers seem to take great pleasure in destroying a relationship be it with a wife, a girlfriend or a child!!!!

Yeah, there's a real failure to show working relationships and marriages in mainstream American superhero comics. A lot of that comes from a lack of diversity in life experience, and perspectives.

Either it's saccharine pap like SUPERMAN REBIRTH, or it's forced drama for the sake of drama.

Any writer who tries something new, has it undone almost immediately by the next team.

[Sacred Knight]

The all-out marriage ban was stupid, like most everything it should be a character-by-character basis. But I still think in regards to that, Superman as a character works better unmarried. But I'd also agree whether married or unmarried, comics aren't exactly a source that displays relationships in the most realistic or healthy manner.

[Flash Gordon]

The all-out marriage ban was stupid, like most everything it should be a character-by-character basis. But I still think in regards to that, Superman as a character works better unmarried. But I'd also agree whether married or unmarried, comics aren't exactly a source that displays relationships in the most realistic or healthy manner.

I agree, 100%

[Mark Trail]

I haven't read the book in years, but I plan to get to it when I catch up on my pre-Crisis reading - I'm working on it. There's lovely characterization in the two novels for Lex, a real feel for his genius, and that he's a little more complex and not beyond redemption.
Some of the details really stuck with me - like how Lex could escape from prison using just a notebook and ink pen, but he doesn't because if he did the next time he was locked up they wouldn't give him pen and paper again.

The beauty of that book was that it really considered the line between genius and insanity. It touched upon the “beautiful mind” concept. It tried to make sense of why someone might have a breakdown over losing their hair and, beyond that, how a genius could become a criminal. It also predicted some sort of World Wide Web and how a genius might surf it to find trends that could predict the future.

[witchboy]

The beauty of that book was that it really considered the line between genius and insanity. It touched upon the “beautiful mind” concept. It tried to make sense of why someone might have a breakdown over losing their hair and, beyond that, how a genius could become a criminal. It also predicted some sort of World Wide Web and how a genius might surf it to find trends that could predict the future.

That just makes me think of how often while reading Silver Age comics I'm baffled that criminals would create amazing new science, robots, etc to rob a bank instead of ...patenting their inventions and make a fortune legally.
Lex's issues are much bigger than money, but he does occasionally rob banks and such back then, which I always think should be beneath his dignity. I just figure he needs seed money to get his next big invention off the ground.

[marhawkman]

Yeah, there's a real failure to show working relationships and marriages in mainstream American superhero comics. A lot of that comes from a lack of diversity in life experience, and perspectives.

Either it's saccharine pap like SUPERMAN REBIRTH, or it's drama for dramas sake.

Any writer who tries something new, has it undone almost immediately by the next team.

One rather sarcastic take I've seen was that a lot of writers just don't know what a happy marriage looks like.