Controversial Superman Opinions

[SiegePerilous02]

Kind of the pot calling the kettle black.

Is it? I don't know if they have ever done what they describe others as doing aside from some weird missteps with Wonder Woman

[Agent Z]

Is it? I don't know if they have ever done what they describe others as doing aside from some weird missteps with Wonder Woman

Their changes to Niles Caulder in Doom Patrol also come to mind, retconning him from a decent mentor to being the one who caused the accidents that created the Doom Patrol. Morrison is the last person to be criticizing others for giving children's entertainment characters feet of clay and this isn't the first time they've said something hypocritical. I'm reminded of that time they criticized Alan Moore for using rape in his stories forgetting that they had done the same thing.

[SiegePerilous02]

Their changes to Niles Caulder in Doom Patrol also come to mind, retconning him from a decent mentor to being the one who caused the accidents that created the Doom Patrol. Morrison is the last person to be criticizing others for giving children's entertainment characters feet of clay and this isn't the first time they've said something hypocritical. I'm reminded of that time they criticized Alan Moore for using rape in his stories forgetting that they had done the same thing.

There is Niles. Overall though I think their superhero work tends to skew more towards the idealistic than the cynical depending on the characters they are working on. Their work on Superman, Green Lantern, JLA, Seven Soldiers reflect this. Even their Batman is more optimistic than most runs. You can make superheroes fallible while still avoiding making them easily corruptible or dangerous in a real world sense, which I think is more what they are saying here.

And I think Arnold Drake, Niles actual creator, approved of their Doom Patrol run. So that one doesn't seem that bad

[TheRay]

If there are those who really need, then I would like to see an explanation for why Superman wears the uniform that he wears in canon.

[Robanker]

Every month we don't have a time displaced Jon Kent teaming up with his dad when he first arrives in Metropolis full of T-Shirt/Golden Age piss and vinegar is a month we're robbed.

It would be great to see Jon wrestle with his dad being a lot more hands-on in his early days and a good reminder that missions change over time, as well as a juxtaposition of how his dad was a lot more of a bully in his youth than he is. It would really serve to contrast the two while giving Jon some much-needed introspection and a much more needed bout of personal time with the genuine article he so dearly misses.


But I love stories where the current incarnation gets to meet the legacy they're emulating. Tim or Damian meeting a child Dick Grayson as Robin has always been my jam.

Make it the suit from "Superman and the Authority" and you have yourself a deal, sir.

Note that I don't need Authority to be the next movie, I just want that suit in live action!

I'll settle for an episode of Superman & Lois where a time displaced or parallel Clark shows up.

Or just something he wears on an expedition to space.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I'm fine with "Clark being who I am, Superman is what I do" sentiment but that's just the Marvel fan in me.

[PCN24454]

I'm fine with "Clark being who I am, Superman is what I do" sentiment but that's just the Marvel fan in me.

It would honestly be weird if he considered himself to be Kryptonian socially when he’s typically portrayed as being too young to remember anything about Krypton

[Stanlos]

I'm fine with "Clark being who I am, Superman is what I do" sentiment but that's just the Marvel fan in me.

I think that is easier for writers because it gives them a focus for his daily state of being

[marhawkman]

It would honestly be weird if he considered himself to be Kryptonian socially when he’s typically portrayed as being too young to remember anything about Krypton

Yeah, this comes up a a major plot point almost every time anyone talks to him about Krypton.

[Jim Kelly]

Yeah, this comes up a a major plot point almost every time anyone talks to him about Krypton.

It's fiction, so anything is possible. It depends what the writers and editor think makes the best story.

Superman was supposed to have a super-brain and it makes sense that his brain retains everything from when he was a child on Krypton. In fact, as a baby he should be even more intelligent than what he's shown to be. If birds and turtles and salmon can recall stuff from when they were just born, then it's not impossible that higher lifeforms can do the same.

If you as editor/writer don't want that and you want Clark to know nothing about his roots then fine--that's the story to tell.

But I think of all the children that have been taken away from their native culture and raised without knowing their roots and the language of their people and how they suffered because of that. That's not right. And if Jonathan and Martha are moral people then I think they would do everything to help their son discover where he came from and encourage him to embrace that culture in addition to their own culture. That's the kind of story I would want to tell because it has real life application and is important to us in the here and now.

Since Kal-El arrived in a highly advanced piece of technology that is probably a thousand years ahead of anything on Earth, then it should be possible to access memory files of Krypton on board that spaceship. It seems wrong that Clark or his parents would wait until he's a teen or older before trying to download that information. I like how in the Donner movie, the Jor-El A.I. is already instructing him en route to Earth. The big boo-boo is that later Clark hasn't retained any of that instruction--so what was the point?

Thus, even if you discount his super-brain, there are other ways for Clark at a young age to have learned everything he needs to know about Krypton. Personally I like the idea of a robot super-teacher who guides him as a boy and trains him in Kryptonian science, culture, martial arts and philosophy.

[PCN24454]

I feel like that job would fall to Kara or any of her counterparts since she naturally lived on the planet.

Jonathan and Martha would have even less reason to know anything about Superman’s native culture, so there’s not much point in giving them the responsibility.

[Robanker]

It's fiction, so anything is possible. It depends what the writers and editor think makes the best story.

Superman was supposed to have a super-brain and it makes sense that his brain retains everything from when he was a child on Krypton. In fact, as a baby he should be even more intelligent than what he's shown to be. If birds and turtles and salmon can recall stuff from when they were just born, then it's not impossible that higher lifeforms can do the same.

If you as editor/writer don't want that and you want Clark to know nothing about his roots then fine--that's the story to tell.

But I think of all the children that have been taken away from their native culture and raised without knowing their roots and the language of their people and how they suffered because of that. That's not right. And if Jonathan and Martha are moral people then I think they would do everything to help their son discover where he came from and encourage him to embrace that culture in addition to their own culture. That's the kind of story I would want to tell because it has real life application and is important to us in the here and now.

Since Kal-El arrived in a highly advanced piece of technology that is probably a thousand years ahead of anything on Earth, then it should be possible to access memory files of Krypton on board that spaceship. It seems wrong that Clark or his parents would wait until he's a teen or older before trying to download that information. I like how in the Donner movie, the Jor-El A.I. is already instructing him en route to Earth. The big boo-boo is that later Clark hasn't retained any of that instruction--so what was the point?

Thus, even if you discount his super-brain, there are other ways for Clark at a young age to have learned everything he needs to know about Krypton. Personally I like the idea of a robot super-teacher who guides him as a boy and trains him in Kryptonian science, culture, martial arts and philosophy.

This is a really well thought-out post and I wish I could do more than simply quote it. Well-done.

[marhawkman]

It's fiction, so anything is possible. It depends what the writers and editor think makes the best story.

Superman was supposed to have a super-brain and it makes sense that his brain retains everything from when he was a child on Krypton. In fact, as a baby he should be even more intelligent than what he's shown to be. If birds and turtles and salmon can recall stuff from when they were just born, then it's not impossible that higher lifeforms can do the same.

If you as editor/writer don't want that and you want Clark to know nothing about his roots then fine--that's the story to tell.

But I think of all the children that have been taken away from their native culture and raised without knowing their roots and the language of their people and how they suffered because of that. That's not right. And if Jonathan and Martha are moral people then I think they would do everything to help their son discover where he came from and encourage him to embrace that culture in addition to their own culture. That's the kind of story I would want to tell because it has real life application and is important to us in the here and now.

Since Kal-El arrived in a highly advanced piece of technology that is probably a thousand years ahead of anything on Earth, then it should be possible to access memory files of Krypton on board that spaceship. It seems wrong that Clark or his parents would wait until he's a teen or older before trying to download that information. I like how in the Donner movie, the Jor-El A.I. is already instructing him en route to Earth. The big boo-boo is that later Clark hasn't retained any of that instruction--so what was the point?

Thus, even if you discount his super-brain, there are other ways for Clark at a young age to have learned everything he needs to know about Krypton. Personally I like the idea of a robot super-teacher who guides him as a boy and trains him in Kryptonian science, culture, martial arts and philosophy.

Well, as an old saying goes "When I was a child, I thought as a child..." Kal-El's personal, direct knowledge of Krypton is only what an infant would know. Even Kryptonians don't start writing and speaking and programming computers as babies. Sure, he knows more about Krypton than a Human would in his position, but he needs more than just his baby memories to build something like a Phantom Zone portal generator. As a child he didn't understand everything he saw, and he didn't even see most of what the world of Krypton had to offer.

Which is something that's been handled loads of ways, my favorite is for young Kal-El to read a digital data archive left by Jor-El in the space ship.

[PCN24454]

I think that Superman (and other Kryptonians) should have to eat and sleep. They should also need helmets to breathe and speak in space.

[rpmaluki]

It would honestly be weird if he considered himself to be Kryptonian socially when he’s typically portrayed as being too young to remember anything about Krypton

He has a device that terraforms a slab of rock and ice into Krypton on earth, that also teaches him about Krypton, how then can it not teach him to speak his native language?