Favorite Superfriend?

[Kuwagaton]

So all this talk about the eclipse coincidentally dovetails with my current reading.



Brainiac used the light show from Krypton's explosion reaching earth to overload Superman, and the only thing that could stop his panic from wrecking the satellite was Hawkman with a sweet izuna drop.



He's a good friend like that. Superman is the oldest hero so naturally has some of the best relationships in his community. Some of his super friends are literally Superfriends like Katar. While he is largely similar to pre crisis Batman in effect, Katar is close to Kal El in background. Alien lore and disintegration beams are his wheelhouse. When the two get together, you know things are gonna get trippy.



Not to mention when Shayera gets in the mix. Thankfully by her appearance in DC Comics Presents #74, DCP being a title completely dedicated to Superman team ups, she was correctly labeled Hawkwoman.

Who is your pick for the best friend of Superman among heroes?

[Darkseid Is]

I like he and Batman's relationship in JLA. I understand after Byrne's Man of Steel it changed Supes and Batman from being besties to butting heads. In Morrison's JLA you could really see the respect for each other they had even if they didn't agree on absolutely everything.

[Jon-El]

I remember that issue with Brainiac. My favorite friend for Superman is Batman because they were always portrayed that way when I was growing up. It just seemed right. There's a scene I remember World's Finest 285 where they're just chilling Wayne Manor having coffee and talking about how they both had lost their families. That's Superman & Batman to me. Bruce dozes off and Superman politely flies off.

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When they ended their friendship in the early 80's, it felt edgy but it also felt wrong. Now they hated working together. Just weird.

I've always liked when all the characters had a certain admiration for Superman. Even someone like Green Arrow would trust him to do what's right. As far as close friends, Hawkman works. Wonder Woman. I always thought he should be tight with Aquaman for some reason. Super Friends probably. Flash & Green Lantern he might have lunch with but I never thought of him having much of a bond with them.

[Kuwagaton]

I wonder if sholly fisch read "Krypton dies again. "

The pre crisis relationship with Batman always baffled me, I guess from growing up with Bruce secluded and stern. They would trade things of value with each other and make small talk on cases, but that was about it, which made sense to me. Pre crisis they were sometimes just really good friends in a way that couldn't fit the Bruce I knew. In WF #302 they stop and chat in a little bar because they had to take their moments together as they could get them. That's neat though that intensity could easily get awkward.

[stargazer01]

Bruce and Diana

[The World]

Honestly I'm not sure why they didn't do the "wary allies" things with Hawkman and Superman instead of Supes and Bats. Would have kept Hawkman somewhat relevant and stopped the WF from slowly becoming radioactive as a concept.

[Adekis]

Honestly I'm not sure why they didn't do the "wary allies" things with Hawkman and Superman instead of Supes and Bats. Would have kept Hawkman somewhat relevant and stopped the WF from slowly becoming radioactive as a concept.

That's a pretty good idea. If they'd done that I might actually have some idea of who Hawkman is besides "shirtless flying Conan who gets into political squabbles with Green Arrow".

Speaking of whom, in Smallville Clark was best buddies with Oliver Queen. In practice, this was because Oliver was a stand-in for Bruce, but I was and still am extremely invested in the idea of a Golden Age style super-lefty, and since Ollie's probably best known for his leftist politics, I thought that he and Superman should be great friends due to their shared ideals. Instead, I've noticed that DC seems dead set against allowing a politically and socially conscious Superman to coexist with a similar Green Arrow. Post-Flashpoint, you had a socially conscious Superman, but a fairly apolitical Green Arrow. Post-Rebirth, we've got a fairly apolitical Superman and a socially conscious Green Arrow. Granted, they still get along, they always have, but I feel like the relationship I think would be obvious isn't allowed to exist, probably because DC's afraid to politicize Superman too much.

Additionally, we've got Diana and Dick. I have a mental image of Diana and Kal doing a fist-bump hard enough to create a small shockwave that I just love. Dick is the second Nightwing, after Superman himself, and they've known each other for a long-ass time, so I just dig the idea that Kal is like some kind of surrogate older brother to Dick.

[Kuwagaton]

Batman was clearly intended to be the best of them. He had several long running series as a permanent co-star. In Public Enemies they even fought everyone else together.

It's disappointing that two of my favorites, Hawkman and Captain Atom, got huge opportunities for the DC limelight alongside Superman and those chances were squandered. Both had bizarre characters in Public Enemies, with Atom stuck with the "good soldier " archetype from JLU. I never read too much satellite era but I'm not sure how Hawkman got stuck repping bipartisan politics. It's like making Red Tornado Mormon to give him dynamic chemistry with Zatanna and her witchcraft.

Speaking of Ollie though, I thought it was a cool idea to use him and Ray Palmer as back up characters, so that their adventures could occasionally fold in to the main story with Superman.