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Stephen Churay
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 March 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 8369
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| Posted: 07 December 2012 at 3:55pm | IP Logged | 1
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I've said this before...
So many modern writers are constantly trying to make Superman
relevant to today's world. So much so that it's what they right there
stories about, which in an of itself is boring to me. Or, they up date his
look or attempt to give his personality more dimension.
Why is any of that necessary? Why can't you just make
Superman...SUPER!? When reading this character, I don't really want
to read about Superman's internal philosophical issues about who he
is, why he's here and what is his place in our society. Emo-Superman
is not my friend. I just want to see him save people from a burning
building , or stop a giant robot from destroying Metropolis or thwart Lex
Luthor's latest scheme.
If you put the "action" back in ACTION COMICS he's no longer boring.
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Wallace Sellars
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 17852
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| Posted: 07 December 2012 at 3:56pm | IP Logged | 2
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Count me among those who say that the Man of Steel is only as boring as
(bad) writers make him. The original Captain Marvel is another hero is
considered an uninteresting "boy scout" by lots of comic book readers. I
wholeheartedly disagree with that sentiment!
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Jesus Garcia
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 10 April 2007
Location: Canada
Posts: 2414
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| Posted: 07 December 2012 at 4:15pm | IP Logged | 3
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My belief is that we live in a disillusioned era, with people obsessed with materialism, running around like rats to make payments, being continously disappointed by so-called public heroes with clay feet (presidents getting blow jobs on the oval office, or sport heroes taking drugs, cheating on their spouses or releasing homemade pornos), artists and actors selling out to the biggest bidder with their performances used to sell beer, perfume, or cars.
This is what western societies -- specifically American -- societies swim in 7-24-365.
Given the CONSTANT barrage of this garbage, is it any wonder that to the modern audience, larger than life characters must of necessity be quirky or edgy, or have a dark side?
The normal westerner is obsessed with materialism, neurotic, morally ambighous, hooked on immediate gratification of pleasure, infomation, or personal contact with his/her fellow.
And GLORIES IN IT, get it?
We ARE BAD AND WE KNOW IT AND WE DO NOT CARE!
So, yeah, given this as a premise, a rational, pure-minded, selfless, confident, dedicated, standup kind of guy like Superman is boring.
Because, rather than striking a chord with us and making us aspire to better things ...
... wait for it ....
Superman makes us look bad!!!!
Edited by Jesus Garcia on 07 December 2012 at 4:19pm
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Peter Martin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 16543
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| Posted: 07 December 2012 at 4:22pm | IP Logged | 4
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Superman is just as much as Swan as Boring, for my money.
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Kip Lewis
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 March 2011
Posts: 2877
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| Posted: 07 December 2012 at 5:00pm | IP Logged | 5
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I think there are two issues here. Is Superman boring because of his
moral center or because of his powers? (Or both?)
When I was a teen, I grew to hate Superman and loved to see him
humbled. But it had nothing to do with him being a boy scout. I just
found the infinitely powerful Superman boring. He had a billion
powers and yet Lex Luthor was his greatest enemy?
I have said it before, Byrne made like Superman again. He gave him
foes and stories that were challenges, real challenges. He didn't have
to write Superman down to tell a story. He also eliminated the infinite
range of powers.
Now for people who find his moral center boring, I have to ask, do
they find Captain America boring? Spider-man? Those two have the
same moral center. If you don't find either one of them boring, then
it isn't that.
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Steve Musgrave
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 31 July 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 19
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| Posted: 07 December 2012 at 5:07pm | IP Logged | 6
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I agree with Steven Myers. It's not that he's moral. It's that he's hard to relate to. I prefer heroes with feet of clay not feet of steel - Spider-Man, The Thing, Hellboy etc. The blue-collar heroes. Don't get me wrong, I could read or watch Superman smash giant robots or space monsters all day long...but at the end of the day, I wouldn't want to have a beer with him.
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Eric Smearman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 02 September 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 5880
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| Posted: 07 December 2012 at 5:12pm | IP Logged | 7
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Phil Jimenez's assessment sums it up beautifully.
And I believe that those who find Superman boring don't feel the same
about Captain America because Cap isn't super-powerful as well as
the stalwart Good Guy.
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Richard White
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 August 2009
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1058
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| Posted: 07 December 2012 at 5:34pm | IP Logged | 8
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I really mean this in a genuine sense and I'm not trying to be inflammatory but if you think you like superheroes but you don't like Superman...fuck off!
(Thanks Richard Dawkins)
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James Elliott
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 November 2010
Location: United States
Posts: 481
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| Posted: 07 December 2012 at 5:40pm | IP Logged | 9
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I thought this made some good points about Superman.
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Marc M. Woolman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 April 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 2092
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| Posted: 07 December 2012 at 6:05pm | IP Logged | 10
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Superman has the potential to be exciting, but in general DC always reverts to the "Superman's the most powerful/can defeat anybody easily " mode and that IS boring.Throw in old-fashioned 50's trappings, the Fedora Hat, the chronically out of style glasses, etc and that doesn't help.
DC should play Superman using the Stan Lee/Marvel template: There should be several other well established heroes in the DC universe that could defeat Superman and when they get into a brawl it goes down as an unanswered draw. Every time a Captain Marvel, Green Lantern, or Martian Manhunter shows up it should be fun guessing who might win, instead of of an automatic "Superman would". Even the Flash with his greater speed and vibrational intangibility trick should give Superman a run for his money. He also needs some real nasty, probably-more-powerful-than he-is, villains. Bizarro, and some grade-Z Hulk rip-off don't cut it.
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Robbie Parry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 June 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 12185
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| Posted: 07 December 2012 at 6:24pm | IP Logged | 11
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He also needs some real nasty, probably-more-powerful-than he-is, villains. Bizarro, and some grade-Z Hulk rip-off don't cut it.
***
I've thought something similar in the past.
There's nothing particularly wrong with most of Superman's rogues gallery, in my opinion, but his rogues gallery as a whole isn't as impressive as Batman or Spider-Man's. I don't know why, I can't put my finger on it.
I guess it just feels like every one of Batman and Spider-Man's foes could, on any given night, defeat the heroes, whereas once you get past Luthor, Brainiac, Metallo and others, there's a lot of Superman villains who, whilst impressive, don't really come across as potential winners in a battle.
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Andrew W. Farago
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 July 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 4075
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| Posted: 07 December 2012 at 6:36pm | IP Logged | 12
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I interviewed Kyle Baker a while back, and he had some fun observations about Superman. He basically said, "If I were Superman, I'd join the Lakers and make millions of dollars. Superman doesn't do that, because he's better than us."
He's a good guy, and 101 times out of 100, he'll do the right thing. (Minus the occasional mind-control story.) What's so funny about Truth, Justice and The American Way?
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