The Problem with Superman

Favorite adopted crew, Lee Daniels, pops in for another guest post. This time to share his thoughts on what’s wrong with Superman.

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He’s not Invincible.

If you didn’t know, there’s a new Superman film coming out in a few weeks’ time called Man of Steel, this one is written by David S. Goyer (Dark Knight Trilogy) & Directed by Zack Snyder (300 & Watchmen) and has a pretty decent cast, so let’s hope it’s great because let’s face it, no-one wants to sit through another Superman Returns.

There’s also the new Superman 52 that was part of DC’s reinvention of their entire comic book series, which has not been good. The overall 52 launch itself has been great with Batman written by Scott Snyder as its stand out series. If you haven’t read then Batman 52, go do it, I’ll wait…..done? Good, wasn’t it? So why am I talking about Batman, because Scott Snyder is going to be the new, new, new, new writer of Superman 52, yeh it’s had a few different writers and artists and it’s made it kind of a mess.

With luck the Snyders (no relation) will save Superman.

So what’s with my comment earlier, ‘He’s not Invincible’. For starters I’m not talking about the can’t be killed definition of invincible, I’m talking about Robert Kirkmans comic book series called Invincible.

Invincible is the story of Mark Grayson, the teenaged son of Nolan Grayson aka Omni-Man, an extra-terrestrial superhero of the Viltrumite race and his Earthling Mother Debbie. As you may have guessed by the name Mark Grayson (Invincible) is, well, Invincible. At least to a degree, he can still get his ass kicked and look pretty battered and maybe even die if someone much stronger than him came along but it would take some doing and there has been a few times he’s come pretty close.

Superman on the other hand has a weakness in Kryptonite. Other than that he could get a planet dropped on him and he’d be all ‘yeh, I’m good…ooh is a hair out place?’ or Doomsday turns up and kills him. There, that right there is you problem! Superman is invincible or vulnerable when it suits the sales of the comic.

Why should I care about Superman if the Superman character has no actual defining weakness except kryptonite? With Invincible you know where you stand, okay you don’t know if he can be killed but when he’s being savagely beaten by his enemies you do get a feeling that there’s a big chance that something will happen that will change everything, like get put into a coma or lose a limb.

I’m really hoping with the new Superman film and comic that things can change for the better and that I can feel for Superman again, that I can be on the edge of my seat when he’s in a fight or doing everything in my power to not flip to the next page to see if he’s okay.

I want my Superman a little less super and a little more Invincible.

Tags: Action, Comics, FanGirl Squee, Geekery, Guest Post, Henry Cavill, Lee, Movies, Superman, Zack Snyder