Comment on Somebody Save Me by Harseik
And yet people (mostly Batman Fanboys), give Superman a hard time. I love this picture so much.
Superman is hard to understand and too incredibly complex for a lot of comic book goers. 85 years does that to a character. I need to come to terms with that. Let's just be happy that we can come together and enthuse about the Man of Steel over the web. <3
I think that some of the problem lies within the fact that while Superman stories have the potential to be immensely powerful and creative, he can also be incredibly hard to write properly.
A lot of Superman's early conception had to do with just throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks. He's had some very muddled storylines in the past, with wildly varying power levels (There have been incarnations of Supes that could sneeze galaxies out of existence and project little mini-Supermans from his finger. No, seriously) and some seriously questionable character moments and decisions that sometimes writers have a hard time figuring out how to bring something new to the table while still staying true to the core of the character.
Personally, I find my favorite Superman stories that either deal with issues surrounding his power and how it affects him/others, show him facing a threat of such a level that even he feels powerless and vunerable (a la Darkseid or Doomsday) or else show him out maneuvered and outplayed to the point that it's difficult for him to fight back without coming off as the bad guy.
Show me a Superman struggling to become a hero in a world that isn't ready for him, and having to fight to gain the trust of the people. Show me his blunders in a way that portrays that he's only trying to help, but due to a poor grasp of the situation or rash decisions or plain old inexperience inadvertently makes the situation worse for others. Let me enjoy watching him grow and learn to pick himself back up after he falls as-one deed at a time-he wins the favor of people over until he becomes a hero, someone that, while by no means perfect, is an example for others to aspire to, a living legend, a hero.
Or else show me a Superman with a raging inner conflict over the best means of keeping the world safe, a Superman that has to make hard decisions regarding the value of a single life over the safety of millions, or that of the freedom of individuals and not imposing his own will on them vs the danger and madness that unchecked people can bring. Do you become the tyrant you fought to oppose and impose order or let humanity barrel down the path to its own destruction?
Give me a Superman fighting a threat that even he doesn't think he can beat. Let me see that oft unfelt feeling of helplessness and impotence while his loved ones are in peril.
Hell, give me a Superman that wearies of his powers, tired of the fact that he can never be everywhere, never save everybody, is never quite fast enough. A Superman tired of watching his friends and allies fall victim to the perilous situations they put themselves in, or else whom he simply outlives by dint of his nigh immortality-a Superman experiencing an existential crisis, unsure that he wants to be anyone's hero anymore, but is nonetheless called back into the lifestyle when someone he cannot afford to see harmed is threatened, or else when he can no longer ignore a world that needs him to be their champion.
He's such a multilayered character, but it seems like few writers know how to use him to his full potential.
A lot of Superman's early conception had to do with just throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks. He's had some very muddled storylines in the past, with wildly varying power levels (There have been incarnations of Supes that could sneeze galaxies out of existence and project little mini-Supermans from his finger. No, seriously) and some seriously questionable character moments and decisions that sometimes writers have a hard time figuring out how to bring something new to the table while still staying true to the core of the character.
Personally, I find my favorite Superman stories that either deal with issues surrounding his power and how it affects him/others, show him facing a threat of such a level that even he feels powerless and vunerable (a la Darkseid or Doomsday) or else show him out maneuvered and outplayed to the point that it's difficult for him to fight back without coming off as the bad guy.
Show me a Superman struggling to become a hero in a world that isn't ready for him, and having to fight to gain the trust of the people. Show me his blunders in a way that portrays that he's only trying to help, but due to a poor grasp of the situation or rash decisions or plain old inexperience inadvertently makes the situation worse for others. Let me enjoy watching him grow and learn to pick himself back up after he falls as-one deed at a time-he wins the favor of people over until he becomes a hero, someone that, while by no means perfect, is an example for others to aspire to, a living legend, a hero.
Or else show me a Superman with a raging inner conflict over the best means of keeping the world safe, a Superman that has to make hard decisions regarding the value of a single life over the safety of millions, or that of the freedom of individuals and not imposing his own will on them vs the danger and madness that unchecked people can bring. Do you become the tyrant you fought to oppose and impose order or let humanity barrel down the path to its own destruction?
Give me a Superman fighting a threat that even he doesn't think he can beat. Let me see that oft unfelt feeling of helplessness and impotence while his loved ones are in peril.
Hell, give me a Superman that wearies of his powers, tired of the fact that he can never be everywhere, never save everybody, is never quite fast enough. A Superman tired of watching his friends and allies fall victim to the perilous situations they put themselves in, or else whom he simply outlives by dint of his nigh immortality-a Superman experiencing an existential crisis, unsure that he wants to be anyone's hero anymore, but is nonetheless called back into the lifestyle when someone he cannot afford to see harmed is threatened, or else when he can no longer ignore a world that needs him to be their champion.
He's such a multilayered character, but it seems like few writers know how to use him to his full potential.