Why Have There Been no Great Superman Comic Books?
Superman is everywhere. The DC character that started the powered superhero genre has had his own comic for nearly seven decades. Most of that time, Superman has appeared regularly in a half-dozen comics a month. The Superman franchise has spawned at least three major television series. Superman had a successful movie run. He has been in countless successful cartoon series over the years.
So why are the Superman comic stories never that compelling?
1. Superman is too perfect. Great characters require flaws. Human frailties are what draw us to a character. Characters battling through their human failings creates a compelling story. As Joseph Campbell once put it, we respect people for their perfections; we love them for their imperfections.
Superman is not human enough. First of all, Superman has every power in the book. He can fly. Bullets don’t hurt him. He’s brilliant. He’s a talented writer. Superman is everything everyone wants to be. On top of that, he’s a squeaky clean boy scout. Superman reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry cannot stand dating the woman who helps out the poor and gives her time to charity. As Jerry puts it, “She’s too…good.”
2. Superman is for novices. John Byrne’s run on Superman was great and changed the post-Crisis Man of Steel. But for the most part, DC has tended to give Superman over to writers as apprentice work. Writing Superman is a way to show the bosses you can manage a storyline responsibly. The new guys don’t have the clout to take chances. The bosses don’t want them to take chances. So the new guys end up writing about the next appearance of the Toy Man.
Let me refer to the Alan Moore run on Supreme. Supreme had been a total disaster as a comic. He was Rob Liefeld’s rip-off of Superman. But Moore came in and made Supreme into a highly entertaining book. Moore’s take on the subject was one long running nod to the Superman mythos. In doing so, Moore showed how great writing could make the Superman titles interesting and fun to read. It made me pine for the days when Superman had super-dogs and cities in bottles and phantom zone adventures.
3.The readers won’t allow it. Interestingly, readers get irate when writers try to change up Superman. A writer tries to bring Superman into the 21st century by giving him some flaws and he is hit with a barrage of fan mail. If Superman indicates he’s losing faith, readers say, “That isn’t the Superman I know and love.” Since you cannot offend the customer base, the writers behind Superman shy away from major departures.
The Blue Superman/Red Superman stuff was silly. Superman with the hair wasn’t what I would consider inspired. So maybe I’m one of those readers, who want our Superman to set the standard of superheroics, but are more interested in the little guys. In the end, we know if all the lesser beings screw things up, Superman will be there to make it alright.
