Yesterday's Hero

The Man of Steel in the Age of Adamantium

It took me a long time to really get into Superman, and even now, after reading seminal Superman stories like Kingdom Come, Superman for All Seasons, etc., it takes a very well written and very specific tale for me to truly appreciate him. Writer's like Geoff John's, Jeph Loeb, and Mark Waid have a unique ability to craft specific stories that flavor Superman in such a way that he is palatable (to me at least). However, generally Superman is a fictional character that has too many fictional attributes, and very few that can be related to by his contemporary readers. This fact has slowly pushed him from being the premiere DC Superhero, to a piece of furniture that is ever present in the DC Universe, but functionally inert.

I have often heard that it is very easy to write Batman. That seems logical because he has a clear purpose and well defined character, as well as a motivation that many writers can personally identify with and subsequently draw from their own similar experiences (i.e. everyone understands grief on some level). Similarly, characters like Wolverine, Green Arrow, Spider-Man, Magneto, etc., also have very clear and defined characters. This fact makes them very easy to write, but also very easy to read because they are consistent and relateable.

Superman on the other hand has become a bit of a paradox. Most writers focus too much on the powers, the villain, and the loopholes (i.e. Kryptonite, Magic, Doomsday) and not on the man. Congruently, some writers (I think) assume that if they feature a scene of Superman crying, mission accomplished, they have humanized him. And thus we have stories that either feature a sobbing man of steel, or a cartoon character that is never physically nor emotionally at risk. This lack of risk and humanization makes him stale to many readers, myself included.

Which begs the question what can be added, subtracted, or changed that would make the world's premiere superhero interesting? And would fans accept these changes?

DC has tried updating Superman's costume, origins, and powers once or twice before with less than stellar results. This is because, many fans (myself included) have a love affair with the nostalgic iconic perfect anachronism that Superman has become. However, these same qualities that we believe he NEEDS to possess have become the albatross around his neck. The fact of the matter is, no one wants to read about the perfect gentleman whose power is unquantifiable, and although for nostalgia's sake we don't want to see him changed we also don't want to read about the character that we insist needs to exist.

To Be Continued...