5 Things DC Fans Don’t Want to Admit About Superman Comics

Calling Superman an iconic hero is something of an understatement. He was the first superhero and helped make DC Comics into the most powerful comic publisher, until the rise of Marvel in the Silver Age. Since his debut in 1938, the Man of Steel has been publishing some of the most beloved comics of all time, and that’s before we even get to all of the stories told about him outside of that medium. While the readership has changed a lot over the decades, from the younger readers of the past to the older readers of the present day, fans still love the Metropolis Marvel’s adventures, and he’s still starring in some of the best stories out there.

There are lots of things about the history of the Superman comics that have become holy writ among the fans. A lot of these make sense, but let’s be real — some of these ideas aren’t correct. There are some thing that DC fans just don’t want to admit about the character, and these five are some of the most controversial.

5) Evil Superman Can be Good

There are many different Supermen out there, allowing the character to be used in a variety of stories. In recent years, one particular version of the character has become rather overused and maligned: the evil Superman. Evil versions of Superman have allowed writers to take a look at the character in new ways, and there have been some stories that used the idea well, like Superman: Red Son. However, the overuse of the trope in stories like Injustice and how popular they’ve become have turned fans off. While it can get annoying to see evil Supermen every time you turn around, there are ways to make this versions work; Overman and Ultraman, evil multiversal Supermen, have starred in numerous great tales and that’s before we got to how cool Bizarro or the Cyborg Superman are. An evil Superman can allow readers to look at the character’s mythos in different ways. It can get overused, but there are ways to use it to tell a story worth reading.

4) The Weaker Superman Villains Are Better

Superman faces the biggest threats in comics, and most of his most well-known villains fit this description. Villainous powerhouses like Mongul, Cyborg Superman, General Zod and the Phantom Zone Kryptonians, Doomsday, Bizarro, Brainiac, Parasite, Mr. Mxyzptlk, and Lex Luthor get all of the spotlight nowadays, but that leaves behind the best Superman villains: the weak ones. There’s something about second string villains like Prankster, Toyman, Silver Banshee, Livewire, Terra-Man, and the others that we don’t get to see so much anymore. These villains have to try harder to beat the Man of Steel, which make their stories better. Superman stories where he’s constantly fighting people are great, but it’s also great to see him use his other abilities. The weaker villains challenge him in different ways than just being able to punch him and hurt him, and that can be lead to some awesome stories. Superman is more than an action hero, and it’s about time we started seeing different sides of him again.

3) The Tomasi/Gleason Rebirth Run Wasn’t as Amazing as People Say It Is

The Rebirth era of DC is one of the publisher’s biggest missed opportunities ever. It was created in response to fans’ disdain for the New 52 status quo, but the publisher wasn’t ready to pull the trigger on doing away with that version of their multiverse completely. However, we did get back the pre-Flashpoint Superman and that made a lot of people happy. Pete Tomasi and Patrick Gleason’s (with fill-in artist Doug Mahnke) Superman has become a beloved part of the character’s history, but it’s time to admit that it’s not all that great. The biggest problem with it is that it was basically the John Byrne All-American version of Superman, one who was a bit too jingoistic and not enough immigrant. It was a good run, but it’s not this flawless example of the best Superman ever. The book got worse as it went on (in direct contrast to the Rebirth Action Comics run of Dan Jurgens, which kept getting better) and there were always more problems with it than fans wanted to admit.

2) Superman and Lex Luthor Are Better Allies than Enemies

Lex Luthor and Superman have what is basically the greatest rivalry in comics. Lex Luthor has been trying to kill him and take over the world for decades, and the villain has morphed and changed with the times. In recent years, something fairly interesting has happened. Superman and Lex became allies of a sort for a time and it was the best they’ve been in years. The rivalry of the past was always there; Superman was wary of him and he had his own plans. In a lot of ways, they were using each other to get what they wanted, and it was a nice change. I love Lex as a bad guy for Superman, but the way he interacts with Superman when they’re not fighting is so interesting. They fit so well as allies, and yet the differences between them make their interactions very entertaining and can take stories in new directions. Lex Luthor and Superman should be enemies, but it works better when they’re both ostensibly working together and having to deal with their years of problems than just them always wanting to destroy the other.

1) Older Jon Kent Is Better than Kid Jon Kent

Jon Kent was a breath of fresh air for the Superman comics. If there’s any superhero who should be a father, it’s Superman. Readers have gotten to see some touching stories between Jon and his father, as well as seeing how the son of Superman deals with the other heroes of the DC Universe, including Damian Wayne. SuperSons was an excellent comic showcasing his adventures away from his father and fans were looking forward to years of young Jon. However, in 2018, three years after his debut, he would be aged up to a teenager. Fans were outraged, and it’s one of the most hated DC decisions of recent years. However, Jon as a teenager is actually much better. As cool as the young Jon stories were, they were eventually just going to be repeating themselves over and over until it was decided that he should grow up. Aging the character up allowed him to enter a new part of life which made him a more interesting character to develop. Older Jon has so much more potential as a character and we honestly didn’t miss much that we hadn’t already seen with kid Jon.

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