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Well, I'm eager to hear what Heylel has to say, but in the meantime I'll give it a shot. This is sort of tough for me to explain because I wasn't much of a fan of Superman in the comics (remember though, my "comic time" was before a lot of you were born) because I was always a Marvel guy. X-Men, Wolverine, etc. were huge in my day, although I always fucking hated Wolverine in comics (love him in the movies though). Back when I was reading as a kid there were times when they drastically raised Superman's power levels too, like the scene people often show where he is pulling a line of planets with a chain. So it was pretty easy to just ignore him and say he was boring. Which he was a lot of the time, don't get me wrong.
Along with that, there are a bunch of things I couldn't stand about him, kryptonite being the most obvious. One minute he's crippled from a little rock, the next he's lifting a mountain of it (well, that's the movie, but you get the point). They invented all kinds of different colors of kryptonite to make him do whatever they wanted. Make him powerless? One color. Need him to fall in love with some evil chick? Invent another color. Make him batshit crazy and destroy everything? Pick another color. It was downright ridiculous, and I don't think anyone really likes that aspect. And you'd think that either every single criminal would pick up a chunk of kryptonite to carry around, or some of the other heroes would help a brother out and scoop that shit up to get it off the street.
There are other things to complain about, like the insanity of all his powers (being able to hear everything on the planet at once? give me a break) but it is when I started truly thinking about him compared to other heroes that it started to sink in. The Batman quote is really the perfect summation, but I'll try to go beyond that. It might not make sense to anyone but me, but I'll try.
We can all pretty much understand Wolverine though, right? Who hasn't wanted to wreck some motherfuckers at various times? Even Spider-Man (the comic version, not the movies), I can understand showing off for the girl I like at school, jumping off buildings because I know I can web my way to safety, cracking jokes at common thugs, etc. Shit, even Thor. Similar to Superman in many respects, but he lets his temper get the better of him all the time, destroys stuff he shouldn't, even gets humiliated or tricked at times. We can all relate, because that's what one of us might do if given those powers.
I'm going to speak in generalities now; I'm sure there are instances that will contradict what I say, but given the number of years he's been written, and the number of different people writing him, there is bound to be pretty much everything somewhere in there. I certainly haven't read all of the stuff he's been in, but I'm talking about the "mythos" of Superman so to speak, and not specific examples.
Superman doesn't do those things I mentioned above, like lose his temper, use his powers to impress his girlfriend, etc. (again, in general, yeah obviously he's given Lois/Lana/whomever rides, but it isn't quite the same). He's that inner "good person" that most of us hope they would be if given that sort of power, but absolutely none of us could be. I'm talking about your normal everyday decent person, not your criminal, sociopath, Tyen, etc. Clearly there are some people that would crave that sort of power to do nothing but selfish acts regardless of the harm to others. But your normal person that wouldn't go on a rape spree even if they could get away with it, that's who I'm talking about. They'd still give in somehow, no matter how small. Superman doesn't give in, and even more, he constantly worries that he will. But when it is time to act, he acts with utter certainty that he is doing the right thing. When he refuses to kill someone, no matter how much harm or pain they have caused him or others, he knows with absolute certainty that he is doing the right thing. He knows that if he gave in and just killed Lex Luthor, no matter how much future suffering he might avert by doing so, he'll have forever lost a part of what makes him truly "super." So it is not even an option for him.
But very, very rarely, as someone mentioned above, there are those times when you see that he's considering it. You see that he's just been holding back this whole time because he fears what havoc he would wreak if he didn't restrain himself. Sort of like in that classic scene where Iron Man pisses off Thor and Thor finally lets lose and cracks Iron Man's armor. It's like, you've finally stepped up to the big leagues, and you have no idea the size of the puddle of shit you're about to step into. Except that, in my mind at least (I know I'll get arguments about power levels), Superman's next level would be up around extinction level event size, not just fuck up Iron Man level. Superman unleashed would crush Iron Man like a coke can and think nothing of it. Those are the times when Superman is truly awesome, even though you know he's not going to do it. They tried to give us a little dose of that in some of the movies, like turning back time or lifting a mountain of kryptonite. They don't come across very well on screen though. But when you can sense that he's on the edge of really cutting loose...and then he still reigns it in...that's when you truly understand Superman. He could literally crack the earth if people pissed him off enough. He could knock it from its orbit and kill everyone. Hell, he could fly at super-speed and just smash every single motherfucker on the planet if he were feeling particularly vindictive.
But he doesn't. He doesn't even think about it. Ever. He thinks about how he has to lead by example, always, never slipping even once. If some criminal is shooting him with kryptonite bullets, Superman doesn't simply fly out of range and incinerate him with his heat vision. If anything he'd destroy the gun and then capture the guy, even though blanketing the area in rays of laser death would be much easier. Because there is always a way for him to win without resorting to those tactics. He would hate himself if he ever stooped to something like that. Like I said, he could just kill Lex Luthor because he knows he is just going to escape and come up with more evil plans, but there is always that tiny, tiny hope that this time Lex has learned his lesson, and what right does Superman have to take that choice away from Lex?
Some people compare him to Jesus, and I get that, but for me it isn't even remotely the same thing. The whole "do what is right, no matter how easy the other paths are" is a pretty common element in a lot of heroic figures, not just Jesus. Unless you buy into the whole smiting from heaven stuff, Jesus wasn't constantly making the choice not to kill people, or not to break into banks and steal all the money and build himself a Super-Mansion of gold staffed with hot bitches and servants that feared for their very lives. Superman can do all that stuff, easily. Superman could go on TV like Zod did and tell everyone in the world they now have to worship him as their King, and there wouldn't be anything anyone could do. But he never, ever does it. Or even thinks it for that matter.
I will also admit that I have a further interest in that I've had an idea for a novel in my head for decades now that centers around someone very like Superman in a lot of ways, and that constant struggle to limit yourself is a central theme that I keep having difficulties dealing with. I try to picture myself with that power. I can't do it, because I know I'd stray. If you could hear every single cry for help, maybe not in the world but let's say just 100 miles, could you do what he does? Could you speed here and there, tirelessly, never taking a moment for yourself to catch your favorite TV show, watch your football team (in person of course), or even spend time with loved ones? Not to mention having to hide the fact that you even have loved ones for fear that someone would find out and threaten to harm them. And when they inevitably do threaten them, how do you not simply obliterate them with your super-speed or heat vision to make sure your loved ones are safe?
I couldn't do all of those things, and I don't think any living human ever could. Put yourself in that position and truly think about it. What would you do if you knew hundreds of people needed your help right now? Or if you knew that some guy had a gun to your mom's head and was going to kill her unless you ate a kryptonite bullet. Could you avoid smashing him into bloody chunks at the speed of light? Whatever the scenario, somewhere all of us would falter. Yet Superman doesn't falter, ever, and thus we have a model to strive after, even though we know we can never attain it.
Hopefully that makes a little bit of sense, but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't impress anyone but me one bit. Still, it is how I view Superman, and why he's pretty much my "favorite" superhero even though I typically enjoy reading and watching others far more. No one really ever does him right, so he'll never be as popular on the big screen or 99% of comics, even to me, as someone like Iron Man might be.
Finally, in case you've never seen this, you should watch this fantastic trailer for the DC game that came out awhile ago. This is about the closest representation of "pissed off" Superman I've ever seen, and it is on the verge of being awesome if his part had been extended longer. I get chills just watching it. I'd give my left nut to see 3 hours of this.
Along with that, there are a bunch of things I couldn't stand about him, kryptonite being the most obvious. One minute he's crippled from a little rock, the next he's lifting a mountain of it (well, that's the movie, but you get the point). They invented all kinds of different colors of kryptonite to make him do whatever they wanted. Make him powerless? One color. Need him to fall in love with some evil chick? Invent another color. Make him batshit crazy and destroy everything? Pick another color. It was downright ridiculous, and I don't think anyone really likes that aspect. And you'd think that either every single criminal would pick up a chunk of kryptonite to carry around, or some of the other heroes would help a brother out and scoop that shit up to get it off the street.
There are other things to complain about, like the insanity of all his powers (being able to hear everything on the planet at once? give me a break) but it is when I started truly thinking about him compared to other heroes that it started to sink in. The Batman quote is really the perfect summation, but I'll try to go beyond that. It might not make sense to anyone but me, but I'll try.
We can all pretty much understand Wolverine though, right? Who hasn't wanted to wreck some motherfuckers at various times? Even Spider-Man (the comic version, not the movies), I can understand showing off for the girl I like at school, jumping off buildings because I know I can web my way to safety, cracking jokes at common thugs, etc. Shit, even Thor. Similar to Superman in many respects, but he lets his temper get the better of him all the time, destroys stuff he shouldn't, even gets humiliated or tricked at times. We can all relate, because that's what one of us might do if given those powers.
I'm going to speak in generalities now; I'm sure there are instances that will contradict what I say, but given the number of years he's been written, and the number of different people writing him, there is bound to be pretty much everything somewhere in there. I certainly haven't read all of the stuff he's been in, but I'm talking about the "mythos" of Superman so to speak, and not specific examples.
Superman doesn't do those things I mentioned above, like lose his temper, use his powers to impress his girlfriend, etc. (again, in general, yeah obviously he's given Lois/Lana/whomever rides, but it isn't quite the same). He's that inner "good person" that most of us hope they would be if given that sort of power, but absolutely none of us could be. I'm talking about your normal everyday decent person, not your criminal, sociopath, Tyen, etc. Clearly there are some people that would crave that sort of power to do nothing but selfish acts regardless of the harm to others. But your normal person that wouldn't go on a rape spree even if they could get away with it, that's who I'm talking about. They'd still give in somehow, no matter how small. Superman doesn't give in, and even more, he constantly worries that he will. But when it is time to act, he acts with utter certainty that he is doing the right thing. When he refuses to kill someone, no matter how much harm or pain they have caused him or others, he knows with absolute certainty that he is doing the right thing. He knows that if he gave in and just killed Lex Luthor, no matter how much future suffering he might avert by doing so, he'll have forever lost a part of what makes him truly "super." So it is not even an option for him.
But very, very rarely, as someone mentioned above, there are those times when you see that he's considering it. You see that he's just been holding back this whole time because he fears what havoc he would wreak if he didn't restrain himself. Sort of like in that classic scene where Iron Man pisses off Thor and Thor finally lets lose and cracks Iron Man's armor. It's like, you've finally stepped up to the big leagues, and you have no idea the size of the puddle of shit you're about to step into. Except that, in my mind at least (I know I'll get arguments about power levels), Superman's next level would be up around extinction level event size, not just fuck up Iron Man level. Superman unleashed would crush Iron Man like a coke can and think nothing of it. Those are the times when Superman is truly awesome, even though you know he's not going to do it. They tried to give us a little dose of that in some of the movies, like turning back time or lifting a mountain of kryptonite. They don't come across very well on screen though. But when you can sense that he's on the edge of really cutting loose...and then he still reigns it in...that's when you truly understand Superman. He could literally crack the earth if people pissed him off enough. He could knock it from its orbit and kill everyone. Hell, he could fly at super-speed and just smash every single motherfucker on the planet if he were feeling particularly vindictive.
But he doesn't. He doesn't even think about it. Ever. He thinks about how he has to lead by example, always, never slipping even once. If some criminal is shooting him with kryptonite bullets, Superman doesn't simply fly out of range and incinerate him with his heat vision. If anything he'd destroy the gun and then capture the guy, even though blanketing the area in rays of laser death would be much easier. Because there is always a way for him to win without resorting to those tactics. He would hate himself if he ever stooped to something like that. Like I said, he could just kill Lex Luthor because he knows he is just going to escape and come up with more evil plans, but there is always that tiny, tiny hope that this time Lex has learned his lesson, and what right does Superman have to take that choice away from Lex?
Some people compare him to Jesus, and I get that, but for me it isn't even remotely the same thing. The whole "do what is right, no matter how easy the other paths are" is a pretty common element in a lot of heroic figures, not just Jesus. Unless you buy into the whole smiting from heaven stuff, Jesus wasn't constantly making the choice not to kill people, or not to break into banks and steal all the money and build himself a Super-Mansion of gold staffed with hot bitches and servants that feared for their very lives. Superman can do all that stuff, easily. Superman could go on TV like Zod did and tell everyone in the world they now have to worship him as their King, and there wouldn't be anything anyone could do. But he never, ever does it. Or even thinks it for that matter.
I will also admit that I have a further interest in that I've had an idea for a novel in my head for decades now that centers around someone very like Superman in a lot of ways, and that constant struggle to limit yourself is a central theme that I keep having difficulties dealing with. I try to picture myself with that power. I can't do it, because I know I'd stray. If you could hear every single cry for help, maybe not in the world but let's say just 100 miles, could you do what he does? Could you speed here and there, tirelessly, never taking a moment for yourself to catch your favorite TV show, watch your football team (in person of course), or even spend time with loved ones? Not to mention having to hide the fact that you even have loved ones for fear that someone would find out and threaten to harm them. And when they inevitably do threaten them, how do you not simply obliterate them with your super-speed or heat vision to make sure your loved ones are safe?
I couldn't do all of those things, and I don't think any living human ever could. Put yourself in that position and truly think about it. What would you do if you knew hundreds of people needed your help right now? Or if you knew that some guy had a gun to your mom's head and was going to kill her unless you ate a kryptonite bullet. Could you avoid smashing him into bloody chunks at the speed of light? Whatever the scenario, somewhere all of us would falter. Yet Superman doesn't falter, ever, and thus we have a model to strive after, even though we know we can never attain it.
Hopefully that makes a little bit of sense, but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't impress anyone but me one bit. Still, it is how I view Superman, and why he's pretty much my "favorite" superhero even though I typically enjoy reading and watching others far more. No one really ever does him right, so he'll never be as popular on the big screen or 99% of comics, even to me, as someone like Iron Man might be.
Finally, in case you've never seen this, you should watch this fantastic trailer for the DC game that came out awhile ago. This is about the closest representation of "pissed off" Superman I've ever seen, and it is on the verge of being awesome if his part had been extended longer. I get chills just watching it. I'd give my left nut to see 3 hours of this.
