Superman is DC’s greatest icon, the superhero that every superhero wants to be. Superman is often thought of as overpowered, and there’s a lot to this idea. Over the years, Superman has been shown throwing planets, flying so fast that he can travel through time, and has defeated gods themselves. There are lot of people who out there who think that Superman is boring because of his power levels. It can be hard to find a Superman enemy who can beat him in a straight up fight, and most people think that Superman is impossible to beat. Looking at his stories seemingly proves this, as Superman has triumphed against the kind of odds that no other hero could. However, Superman doesn’t actually always win, and it’s these stories where Superman shines the brightest.
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Superman being defeated has always been the best part of his stories. Look at all of the greatest Superman stories; they aren’t about Superman winning every fight he’s in, even if he does eventually triumph over his foes. They see Superman lose, and this is an important part of these tales. Superman as the all-powerful winner just isn’t all that interesting, and the best Superman stories prove this. Superman needs to lose in order for his triumphs to mean anything.
Superman Losing Is How to Make a Superman Story Great
“Death of Superman” was a turning point in Superman’s history. It wasn’t the first time that he died — there had been multiple “imaginary stories” (stories that didn’t count towards the continuity of the mainline Superman) in the Silver Age where Superman died. However, where “Death of Superman” shines is seeing Superman deal with a hopeless situation. Superman is completely physically outclassed by Doomsday throughout the story, and this made the drama of the tale that much better. “Death of Superman” showed us just how far Superman would go, and showed us that even in defeat, Superman can still win. However, “Death of Superman” isn’t the only Superman story where he loses. Look at “Warworld Saga”. The only reason that this story works so well is because Superman takes a pounding against Mongul at the beginning. Superman loses badly, and has to figure out a new way to win. Instead of winning with his powers, Superman had to use his example to inspire the Warzoons to fight against Mongul. The lose in the early issues of the story make it work so much better than it would have without it. There’s an idea that Superman doesn’t really lose all that much, but this idea is completely wrong.
All-Star Superman is the greatest Superman story, and Superman losing is a huge part of it. Superman is tricked into going to the sun by Lex Luthor; this loss defines the story. Superman is unable to figure out a way to save his life, and while he does survive, he has to leave the Earth and everyone he loves to save the day. Kingdom Come is defined by Superman losing, first losing his place as the head superhero of the metahuman community to Magog, then realizing that everything he had done since returning made the situation worse. Superman: Space Age sees Superman fail to save his universe from the Anti-Monitor and die. Loss is an important part of every great Superman story. Sure, it’s fun to see Superman stop a bank robbery or completely outclass a villain, but all of the great Superman stories involve the Man of Steel losing at some point, and having to figure out a new way to win. Superman stories where he always wins are boring. The greatest Superman stories are about threats testing the power and skill of Superman, and the only way to show that is to have Superman lose at some point in the story. Batman stories are all about Batman figuring out a way to win against the greatest odds, but Superman stories are all about Superman losing, and coming back to save the day against the greatest threats.
Superman Need to Lose
Superman is basically a god. His powers have been changed a lot over the years, both in levels and how they work, but he’s always been extremely powerful. Because of the nature of superhero stories, we know that the heroes are going to win in the end 99% of the time. Superman can seem greater than human at the best of times, so showing him as the all-powerful conqueror of evil all the time makes it impossible to relate to him. We can all be the kind of person Superman is, but we can’t always wins. That’s why Superman losing is to important to his best stories. We can relate to facing a situation where we’ve lost or that the odds are stacked against us. It humanizes Superman when he loses.
It’s awesome when Superman flies in and saves the day, but those moments mean more when he’s lost. When readers see Superman lose, it shows the stakes of the threat and that the perfect hero isn’t always perfect. His enemies can figure out ways to beat him, and he has to dig deep to find the power to triumph. Loss tests Superman, and seeing him pass those tests after failing makes everything so much better.
Do you think Superman needs to lose at times? Sound off in the comments below.
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Image courtesy of Lucasfilm.
