Comic Book Superstars, the best of the best, the ones you love the most. Each week I am going to post a comic book superstar to talk about. Talk about your likes and dislikes. Talk about up coming movies. Talk about anything you want to, as long as it has something to do with the superstar posted. Today let's talk about the man that started it all, Superman. He has been around for 74 years now, wow! I can remember hearing about when he first started (I'm old but not old enough to have first hand memories of his first appearance) he was an hit. He didn't fly back then, but he sure could jump. Man would I like to find a box in the attic that has a mint condition issue of the first appearance of Superman. Of course I don't think I would have it for very long, what can I say money is tight these days, I could only hope the person that boxed it up had two issues of it. Anyway, what do you have to say about Superman?
P.S. This is the new Saturday afternoon post.
He in pretty good shape for being 74, but when your a kryptonian im sure the body handles time like the body handles a bullet. I usually like that darker anti hero characters but every once and a while I like the all american true blue types. Superman is about as good and honest as they come I think. I love all of his powers but that whole krytonite weakness can be a pain in the backside sometimes. Especially when its suppose to be a big secret yet everyone seems to know about it.
Supes is a GREAT background character, but not a lot of fun to read or write about… On the other hand, Captain America has never had the same degree of influence on the Marvel Universe as Supes has on the DCU…
That was one of the things Busiek pointed out in JLA/Avengers, that accounts for much of the difference between the two Universes.
Ah, Superman. He’s not one of my top favorites, but in my mind he is the epitome of what a super hero should be. Larger than life, ultimate good guy, and more powerful than anything else in the universe. Just the sight of him inspires hope, you know he will get you out of whatever danger you’re in. Yeah that makes him a little hard to write for, but if these guys were real, i’d feel a lot safer knowing he’s out there than Batman, Wolverine, or even the entire Green Lantern Corps (though having four or five GLs on Earth would be comforting, too). And you do have to give credit to the man for starting the whole superhero thing in first place.
i am looking forward to The Man of Steel. It’ll be cool to see what Christopher Nolan can do with Big Blue, and i’d really like to some good DC movies about more than Batman.
i guess that’s my two bits. He’s got his ups and downs. But overall, i like Superman.
The way I see it, I’d want to hang out with Plastic Man, train with Batman and have a Green Lantern ring. But who would I want hauling my fat out of the fire?
Superman.
I know there are a lot of people out there who think that he’s just a big blue Boy Scout, who’s over the hill.
Wrong. Guy like this is immortal (or close to it at least)
A lot of people think he’s “overpowered” and that nothing ever presents a real threat for him.
Wrong again.
A good writer understands the beautiful paradox that is Kal-El. This guy could literally wipe out the entire planet if he felt so inclined, but his nature will not allow him to. He is above us mere humans in almost every way, but he chooses not to be.
He is more than just a strong guy who flies and punches stuff, he is a symbol of hope and an inspiration to many.
If you haven’t read these already, I recommend the following stories:
“Red Son” by Mark Millar- bringing up the nature vs nurture debate.
“Superman: Grounded” by J Michael Straczynski and Chris Roberson- The Man of Steel takes a walk around America and asks himself “Does the world REALLY need Superman?”
“JLA: The Nail” by Alan Davis- A Superman-less Superman story, where we see just how important this guy is.
There are a lot of other great stories out there, if you know where to look.
That said, I’ve never liked Superman better than when he’s teamed up with Batman….
I’ve just not been that big a Superman fan. I’ve never collected his titles. I’ve watched a few TV shows, but nothing I’ve really been into. I’ve watched the movies, and while some of them have been very good (I do admit to loving Superman 2), lately they’ve been crud (I’m hoping for a big turn-around with the upcoming Man of Steel). It’s just…Superman is an excellent role-model, but often not as interesting a dramatic character. If he has one real fault, it’s that he seems way too perfect.
Cavalry and Nate both got it right when they described the sort of character Superman is. He is both larger than life and nebbishy. He stands out so greatly, yet does all he can otherwise just to fade in and not be noticed.
He is an alien, but he shows, from the heart, the best of what we could aspire to be.
I liked Superman for being an idealized, good old-fashioned guy. Plus, without him, we might not have Batman or Spider-Man. Though I was never a regular reader of Superman comics, he’s too iconic not to know what’s going on in his world.
Will say that Superman Returns was just garbage. Hopefully, Christopher Nolan can restore the franchise’s name. I enjoy the serials from the 1940s and 1950s.
One thing that I have always wondered was what drove the decision to have Superman go from “able to leap tall buildings in a single bound” to being able to fly. As for being over-powered, yes. As for having a ridiculous weakness, that was also introduced in the radio series. Otherwise, Superman would run unopposed, thus boring. Or, all his enemies would need to be as powerful as him. Which means the earth would be destroyed before the end of the first season.
When I was five years old I saw my very first hero movie.Yup,Superman.This movie made me feel like I could take over the planet with my magnificent strengh and power!I wanted to be him!I remember the way movies used to be….People cheering after every amazing scene,clapping at the end of the movie as if the movie could hear them.It was just plain exciting and exhilarating as I was leaving the theater,looking up at the stars and thinking anything is possible.He IS a hero of hope,and Triumph.I as an adult can pull superman apart by thinking about physics,logic and what not,but that’s what superhero’s are about.Anyway I think in contrast his powers were so great only BECAUSE Kryptonite could take it ALL away in a matter of minutes.As an adult I like Marvel heros due the fact their powers can usually be scientifically feasable.But as a kid nothin’ beats a man made of steel with laser beam eyes!!!
One thing I loved about comic books when I was a collector was all the amazing powers the characters had. I have a bad habit of picking movies apart because of thing that are just wrong, like military members not wearing the uniform right or saluting wrong and other things. But the only things I pick at with Comic book based movies is how they missed up the character and have things wrong. But I never pick at the powers (unless they have them wrong) because it goes by to when I first started reading comic, I loved what the heroes did. It was not until they started missing up the comics in the 90’s that I ever really pick at them. I think super heroes are our way of day dreaming out loud, we would all love to do the things they do. I’d love to be able to fly like Superman, when I was a teen I would of given anything to have his x-ray vision. Superman is great but not for everyone. Anyone who has ever read a comic can find a character in them that they would love to be.
When they started making cartoons it was easier and faster to animate flying than jumping around a lot.
I couldnt stand superman until I say HMB. He’s such a Mary Sue. But then I watched Holy Musical B@man, and now he’s like, my ultimate fav.
Also, did his x-ray vison use real x-rays?
did he give people cancer with it?
That makes sense, actually. Similar reason that Star Trek used teleportation rather than build sets for shuttle launch bays and landing sequences. Sometimes, I can’t help but notice when props and sets are re-used in different movies and television shows. This is very noticeable in the early days.
Now that studios have $$$ to fabricate new costumes and CGI everything, you don’t have that “recycling.” Which is a shame. I find that it stimulates my brain and adds to the entertainment experience.
It’s like the first time you hear a new song. You like it so much that you start to pick apart the elements. One time you listen to the lyrics; another, the harmony; another, the bass line; etc. You can do the same with favorite movies and television.
I can say that much of my love of the character dates to one source: Christopehr Reeve. The Salkind films imagined and redefined the character so vividly that I never forgot, even on general principles, but also, brought his personality so close to my own, in some geeky ways, that I actually was able to see a little of myself in him. I can’t say that about a lot of more “fashionable” heroes, like Batman or Wolverine, but deep down, I really think that I *get* Superman.
And that soundtrack from John Williams just ROCKS!
Hollywood from my understanding has a deal with the armed forces that their uniforms and proceedures cant be followed exactly in real life because it would go against militray laws about impresonating an officer. Thats why you may notice some issues sometimes with certain military movies or shows. Now if its something like star ship troopers then you can do whatever you want because its a fictional army. Side note the battle armor used in star ship troopers was also used by the space power rangers. I hate it when movies dont follow the tradional comic though. Especially being a Deadpool fan when they did that in Wolverine origins, no chimichanga for you director!
Bitten by a radioactive spider and getting powers instead of cancer?
Seems legit to me…
add AllStar Superman to that list.
it irks me when people bitch about supes being too powerful. then in the same breath exclaim how “THE BAT WUD TOTES BEAT SUPERMAN RU DUMB?”
I agree. Let me start out that I am a fan of comics in general. Even if I don’t read a particular series or character, I do respect good writing. Though I am a fan of X-Men and other Marvel properties, at the end of the day I am a Superman fanboy. I find it rather funny though when you come across anyone who wants to bash Superman saying that “he’s too powerful” or something to that effect. I will typically ask them if they are a Thor fan and they will usually go off on how awesome Thor it. At that point i like to point out to them that Thor IS a god and as such actually should have absolutely no limits or weaknesses and thus a truly over powered and broken character where as Superman is mortal with well defined weaknesses. Most are dumbfounded. It’s quite amusing.
He is the only character’s death that made front page news and made the nation take notice. Captain America was killed and it had a 5sec blip on the evening news.
Some of my favorite stories are “The Death of Superman”, The Return of Superman”, “For Tomorrow”,” “Batman/Superman Vol 2.” and “New Krypton”. Pretty much any story where he goes up against Darkseid is worth reading.
I haven’t seen most of the material, but it’s pretty obvious that different authors have brought different good and bad points to his lore set. As silly as it was, I noticed that the Reeve and Pryor movie brought something to the lore that had been missing for a while. The storyteller who adds his own flavor that isn’t just starry-eyed or inaccurate in only certain predictable ways; the HUMAN that doesn’t want his own selfish plans messed up, but really doesn’t mind being rescued when it becomes apparent that his plans failed out of his own wacky idiocy.
I don’t think Thor is technically a god, as I understood it the Marvel Asgardians are powerful beings that the Norse based their mythology wrong (though I’m not a big Thor fan, so I could be wrong)
Even so, the actual Norse Gods had their limitations as they all were killed during Ragnarok. I’ve always thought Thor looked like a Swedish supermodel anyways. A god of thunder needs an awesome beard to match.
Superman had a beard for a while too. It was friggin’ awesome…