Controversial Superman Opinions

[Agent Z]

Susan was pretty rough.

For whatever faults Silver Age DC had, Wonder Woman was actually treated surprisingly well in the early JL stories. At the very least she's more consistently competent and treated with respect than Invisible Girl

Sue's codename is enough of a clue by itself. She was called a girl despite being the adult sister of a teenage boy.

[SiegePerilous02]

Sue's codename is enough of a clue by itself. She was called a girl despite being the adult sister of a teenage boy.

I can't believe it took until the 80s to fix that, and we had to get through John Byrne's weird "Malice" thing first.

[PCN24454]

...

Personally, I think it's stupid that the dichotomy exists in the first place. Whatever name he goes by, he's always been one person.

[SiegePerilous02]

Personally, I think it's stupid that the dichotomy exists in the first place. Whatever name he goes by, he's always been one person.

Nobody is ever really "one person." We all have different "modes" or "masks" we put on depending on which situation we find ourselves in, whether a professional work setting or among friends and family, or to our close romantic partners, and then there's our truest selves when we are alone with our own thoughts.

Superman, as always, takes that aspect of everyday life and heightens it to crazy otherworldly levels. Which is what makes him interesting as a character.

[Agent Z]

I can't believe it took until the 80s to fix that, and we had to get through John Byrne's weird "Malice" thing first.

Even the Tim Story movies acknowledged how demeaning that name was.

[Ascended]

Personally, I think it's stupid that the dichotomy exists in the first place. Whatever name he goes by, he's always been one person.

On top of what Siege said about us wearing different "hats" based on the situation and Clark just cranking that concept up to 11, I'll add that many of the comics themselves prove the duality in the character.

The duality is there (to various degrees, depending on the era and writer), and has been there since *at least* the Silver Age. One doesn't have to like that, or consider it the best narrative approach. But even Maggin talked about the duality of Superman. Hell, he took it to further than most. I don't fully subscribe to all the particulars of his view, but if Maggin, one of the greatest Super writers of all time, says it? It's true.

[SiegePerilous02]

On top of what Siege said about us wearing different "hats" based on the situation and Clark just cranking that concept up to 11, I'll add that many of the comics themselves prove the duality in the character.

The duality is there (to various degrees, depending on the era and writer), and has been there since *at least* the Silver Age. One doesn't have to like that, or consider it the best narrative approach. But even Maggin talked about the duality of Superman. Hell, he took it to further than most. I don't fully subscribe to all the particulars of his view, but if Maggin, one of the greatest Super writers of all time, says it? It's true.

Yep. If Maggin said it, it's law. Those are the rules.

[Jon Clark]

Personally, I think it's stupid that the dichotomy exists in the first place. Whatever name he goes by, he's always been one person.

It's been there since the beginning and was one of the core concepts. Clark gets rejected by Lois who in turn moons over Superman. Clark stepping into a phone booth and emerging as Superman. None of that works if Clark and Superman are the same person.

[Johnny Thunders!]

I wonder, does Superman dream about being human or does he dream about being Superman unbound by human problems?

[Alan2099]

I wonder, does Superman dream about being human or does he dream about being Superman unbound by human problems?

Well, there's always this moment ...

[Jon Clark]

I wonder, does Superman dream about being human or does he dream about being Superman unbound by human problems?

Superman tends to dream about things other than his power level except for recurring nightmares where his powers aren't enough to solve a problem. So not a lot of dreams about being just Clark (except in Smallville) or about being Superman without human problems.

[JAK]

Well, there's always this moment ...

Some real deep-cut references in there, that's awesome!

[Johnny Thunders!]

My question is not that great, I guess I was thinking of Samaritan and how he dreams of just flying and the Black Mercy where Kal is basically a regular person. I’m sure his dreams are less self centered. I think that Sandman panel is so good.

[Stanlos]

I am curious as to how the board and how TPTB at DC see Krypton sizewise in comparison to earth. I recall reading differing accounts of the why for Supes powers which indicated that Krypton was a much denser and larger planet with a stronger gravitational pull, making Supes kind of John Carter in reverse if that is held as the origin of his powers.

I also wonder which explanation is favored by fans here.

The other thing I thought about, sadly, is that I don't think a human would be very similar or compatible to an organism from such different habitat making the Lois pairing likely barren.

This led me to further ask how DID Jon come to be?

[witchboy]

That makes me think, I've seen an early origin for the Golden Age Superman had Kryptonians having Golden Age era super powers while they were living on Krypton.