I really don't like Superman as a Father

[My Two Cents]

I am enjoying both Superman and Action Comics now.

[adrikito]

I know alot of people do, butI just can't get behind it because it makes Superman "too grounded" for me, I want something like Morrison, completely out of reach and unbelievable. Super with Lois together as Husband and Wife having a child and raising him is just...boring. Boring as in so "Safety Gloves" in removing any ideas of stakes, ambiguity, drama, and tension for a man that is the ultimate hero of the world chronicling his adventures against the worst opposition of evil forces. So far, nothing of Superdad is interestingly put on the line or holds intriguing twists.

Superdad is the most boring, all perfect, impossibly kind parent of the character I've ever seen and Jon is the kind of kid I want to wedgie because he's too sweet and sickingly cardboard good like his dad.

Superman works as a mission like Batman who despite his pure white idealism and godlike power had a sotra greek element to him in that his stories were able to disconnect from our lives and enrich our imaginations all the while providing a human belief to aspire while fighting a endless solitary battle of attrition.

Batman I feel is responsible for everything Modern superhero stories stand for, even being a fathet himself batman still goes beyond his obligations of being a parent for the mission hes commited to, we see him mold many robins and his own son take up his mission
And it stays interesting since Batman unlike Superdad isn't the best parent nor daimen is raised to be a copy paste of his father with the normal advantages of a ideal life, the stories with the bat family connect with everything in the batman world. Superman plays with multiple concepts with multiple plot narratives trying to treat the Superman world like the Real World and Clark Kent and Superman as a dad going to work rather than being both. Like it's having to become a feel good story than pure fun.

So yeah.

I am Shocked.... My opinion is very similar to yours, for that I returned with Batman... The Batmfamily is a great family, with his own problems.. It's realistic.

I enjoyed the character in N52.. Superman lived for what was originally created, with Some bad sagas as Truth but I could not consider him boring..

Now superman is overly perfect and his kid overly nice.. Too perfect to enjoy this.. I suppose that someone have to be a great fan of post-crisis superman to love this .

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

Couldn't disagree with he OP more. Superman feels natural as a father. He was pretty much the "dad" of the DCU for years (not to mention that he and Lois had been married for years, so a baby was the logical next step). He was the guy everyone looked up to. And, I'm sorry, but that was something that was sorely missing in the New 52. New 52 Superman no longer felt like that guy people aspired to be like, the one who was a symbol of hope for the rest of the heroes. Anyway, I'm glad to finally have that guy back.

Also, Superman's family isn't "perfect." They act just like a typical family.

And anyway, its proving to be more popular than the direction of New 52 Superman. So, its probably here to stay.

[manduck37]

I also strongly disagree with the OP. Fatherhood suits Superman just fine. It's actually added a lot to his adventures. Superman still has crazy sci-fi adventures where insane things happen (Dinosaur Island, battling the Eradicator in Batman's secret base on the Moon). Though now we have another layer to add to those adventures. His supporting cast has grown, which was sorely needed. They simply took everything great about Superman and built more on top it. Superman was always a father figure in the DCU. He's the guy the other heroes looked up to. Giving him a family didn't take anything away from him.

Also, the idea that he puts his family before the rest of the world is completely false. In all books. Even in JLA, he specifically walked away from Lois and Jon on the farm to help the League stop an invasion. He's done nothing but put the world first, just like he always has. He's even teaching Jon the same lessons.

This is all the classic Superman stories with a natural progression and actually moving forward with the mythos. Plus, the books haven't been this great in years. Even the great Grant Morrison said that Superman does ordinary things on an extraordinary scale. He doesn't just walk his dog. He walks his dog around Saturn. So even Morrison, who writes the craziest Superman stories acknowledges that there is a grounded element to Superman that belongs in the stories. Just exaggerate those elements like everything else.

[Kuwagaton]

I think it's fair enough, just a little disappointing. The biggest thing I see with those outside the more dedicated Superman readership, whether he's a young bachelor or not, is that he's boring and too perfect. And then when the story makes it clear that that's not the case, like him being curt with Cobb out of his emotional distress, it's just written off as bad characterization. That one action is extrapolated into an example of being self centered and decidedly less humanitarian in the long term. It's a lose-lose. I think to come to understand the character like most people don't and then make the same judgments is unfortunate. But I completely understand that at this point, some people are impossible to win over with developments like the current ones.

[RECKLESSbat]

To me it just doesn't make sense how a human could get impregnated by a kryptonian, Lois and Superman aren't even of related species, they aren't even on the same evolutionary tree for gods sake... makes zero sense how she got pregnant, even if superman and Lois found a way to basically force the pregnancy to happen the child would be ridden with genetic defects. That is really disturbing and yucky!

I have also always liked the fact that there are no women that Superman can have biological children with, I don't like the fact that Jon is Supermans biological son, I really wanted him to go with the adoption route, for example him taking in a human baby with a special meta-gene just like how the Kents took him in or something similar.

[Jon Clark]

To me it just doesn't make sense how a human could get impregnated by a kryptonian, Lois and Superman aren't even of related species, they aren't even on the same evolutionary tree for gods sake... makes zero sense how she got pregnant, even if superman and Lois found a way to basically force the pregnancy to happen the child would be ridden with genetic defects. That is really disturbing and yucky!

I have also always liked the fact that there are no women that Superman can have biological children with, I don't like the fact that Jon is Supermans biological son, I really wanted him to go with the adoption route, for example him taking in a human baby with a special meta-gene just like how the Kents took him in or something similar.

You have an alien who can easily pass as a human being but somehow cross-breeding is where you pull in real-world science?

And while I don't object to the idea of Superman adopting, I prefer a natural child only because it keeps the power set the same (strength. invulnerability, speed, flight, etc)

[FishyZombie]

To me it just doesn't make sense how a human could get impregnated by a kryptonian, Lois and Superman aren't even of related species, they aren't even on the same evolutionary tree for gods sake... makes zero sense how she got pregnant, even if superman and Lois found a way to basically force the pregnancy to happen the child would be ridden with genetic defects. That is really disturbing and yucky!

I have also always liked the fact that there are no women that Superman can have biological children with, I don't like the fact that Jon is Supermans biological son, I really wanted him to go with the adoption route, for example him taking in a human baby with a special meta-gene just like how the Kents took him in or something similar.

Personally the way I see it, it makes sense that if Jor-El wanted the krytonian race to live on through Kal-El, he'd send him somewhere populated by a genetically compatible species, so it doesn't really bother me.

[DragonPiece]

I like it, but at the same time, I do wonder the status quo will still be like this 5 years from now.

[Maxi]

I understand what you mean and I agree on parts. But it's great to try something new once in a while and it's working for me.

[BrianWilly]

Sigh. Speaking of adoptions, I really hope Chris Kent might eventually make an appearance again!

[RECKLESSbat]

You have an alien who can easily pass as a human being but somehow cross-breeding is where you pull in real-world science?

And while I don't object to the idea of Superman adopting, I prefer a natural child only because it keeps the power set the same (strength. invulnerability, speed, flight, etc)

How does having an alien who can pass off as human make interbreeding somehow okay in the DC universe? Granted, the DC universe is fictional and real-world science doesn't apply to it but genetic defect/incompatibility still exist there, superman being an alien doesn't mean that he somehow gets a free pass on both of them, the least the writers could do is explain how it was possible even if it only makes sense in a comic book kind of way, but no... we don't even get that. Another problem I have with this whole Jon thing is that Lois and Superman essentially CROSSBRED a HUMAN with another species thus creating a human-hybrid, that is wrong no matter how you try to justify it and this being a comic book doesn't somehow make it okay, it was out of character for someone like Superman to go through with something like this with all the biological ramifications that such pregnancy could result in. I mean this is up there with inbreeding... if not worse, I don't see how people can be so nonchalant about it.
Now don't get me wrong, I still think Lois and Clark should be couple... as long as they can't have biological children together that is!

As for the child not having the same power set as superman, I see that as a plus more than anything really, the child being adopted and having different abilities than superman has a lot more long-term potential and much more to be explored as opposed to him being just a miniature version of superman, but then again, that's just my opinion.

[Patrick Gerard]

How does having an alien who can pass off as human make interbreeding somehow okay in the DC universe? Granted, the DC universe is fictional and real-world science doesn't apply to it but genetic defect/incompatibility still exist there, superman being an alien doesn't mean that he somehow gets a free pass on both of them, the least the writers could do is explain how it was possible even if it only makes sense in a comic book kind of way, but no... we don't even get that. Another problem I have with this whole Jon thing is that Lois and Superman essentially CROSSBRED a HUMAN with another species thus creating a human-hybrid, that is wrong no matter how you try to justify it and this being a comic book doesn't somehow make it okay, it was out of character for someone like Superman to go through with something like this with all the biological ramifications that such pregnancy could result in. I mean this is up there with inbreeding... if not worse, I don't see how people can be so nonchalant about it.
Now don't get me wrong, I still think Lois and Clark should be couple... as long as they can't have biological children together that is!

As for the child not having the same power set as superman, I see that as a plus more than anything really, the child being adopted and having different abilities than superman has a lot more long-term potential and much more to be explored as opposed to him being just a miniature version of superman, but then again, that's just my opinion.

What's morally wrong about species hybrids? Do you hate mules?

[SplinteringHeart]

I hated the idea at first because of how it affected the situation of New52 Superman, but I'm past that now, just looking forward to Reborn for some possible explanations, plotholes to be addressed....I like Superdad, and Jon, as they've been portrayed, Tomasi/Gleason are doing a good job so far....like others I think it a natural step for Superman to be a father, and in a better way than Batman, without a scowl on his face...and think of it this way, he's meant to be with Lois (even though I personally prefer WW), and he's married to her, she's his family and a child goes naturally with that, and remember, until recently (New 52), when Martha and Jonathan are understood to be dead, he always did have Ma and Pa Kent...Lois and Jon are just the new dynamic of family in place of this....

Having said that, I've noticed what others have, that there's a fair bit of Superman portrayed currently, because of this dynamic, as someone who prioritises two people in the world above all others, although we expect him to be an inspiration and protector of everyone equally....look at this week‘s #15 of Justice League, Supes threatens Batman who stands between him and Lois and Jon....and this after supposedly starting to learn to trust "Bruce" recently....

Jon

[13th Superman]

I'm ok with Clark as a father as I was perfectly fine with him adopting Chris. It felt natural like things had come full circle. The addition of Jon felt like such a cut and paste job. One I'm still trying to get over. Don't get me wrong, he's not a bad kid but what he represents still bothers me. I'm having a wait and see approach until reborn and rebirth are over. As for Clark's priorities, I've noticed what some have said. There's nothing wrong thinking about his family. Not unlike a cop, soldier, or fire fighter. It's just that when we inevitably get average writers who take over in the future I fear that they'll have him moping about them constantly.