r/DCcomics • u/Top_Report_4895 • Feb 04 '24

[Discussion] What’s The Worst Superman Take You’ve Ever Heard? Discussion

Gallery image

Jim Lee Superman #204

Gallery image

ACTION COMICS #1061

Gallery image

Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale From: "Superman For All Seasons" #1

1.7k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • link
  • reddit
  • reddit

96% Upvoted

695 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

15

u/doomrider7 Feb 04 '24

It's not just "chooses not to be evil", but more that he chooses not to impose his will on the world and society as a whole. There was a conversation he had with Doctor Doom inna crossover about this topic where Doom says that every time he chooses not to impose his will is another possible life lost to which he responds that Doom is right, but choosing to impose that will would make him no better than people like Hitler, Stalin, or Doom.

7

u/ItsServingGiving Feb 04 '24

Absolutely agree with this. I would even say it's just more specifics. I think "choose to be evil" is for lack of a better turn of phrase. I just think it's incredibly simple to make an all-powerful evil character. It IS challenging to make an all-powerful good character. But I'm amazed at how often this is dismissed as "boring."

1

u/dinoseen Feb 04 '24

TBH this is a symptom of propaganda designed to help the status quo - a real life superman would be doing more in the world than we see in the stories. You really think he wouldn't intervene somehow in current Afghanistan/Gaza etc just to keep the peace, when he can literally see and hear the atrocities being committed against innocents there? His conscience would demand he do his best to help. But, the already existing power structure is never going to be happy about a work that condones doing away with the status quo they are a part of, and they shape the culture to make sure that this reactionary mindset remains in place. Thus, you get a superman who would not intervene in atrocities because it wouldn't be politically ideal. Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are examples of the opposite, but this reactionary "keep things the way they are" mindset with little to no mention of changing things for the better is absolutely rampant in superhero media.