Who is really the most powerful DC superhero?
- Thread starter Mr Silver
- Start date
uh, not really. the Bruce Timm Superman was always getting kicked around, KOed by electric manhole covers, coughing at exhaust fumes...i don't think they every really did Superman justice in that continuity. though, that is a great battle you posted.
Obviously.
Well, you'll note I specified Justice League, not the entire DCAU continuity. I totally agree that particularly in Superman: TAS, Supes was considerably less powerful. That's because the TV show began airing a few years after Crisis On Infinite Earths. At that point, Superman in comics was being intentionally written as much closer to his 1938 origins in terms of power. Superman: TAS was reflecting this change.
However, by Justice League Unlimited, Superman in the comics had gradually gained back his god-like powers, so JLU mirrored that. At the very end (the Darkseid fight is the next-to-last big "fight" in the final episode of the series) we had a Superman that actually resonates in a way that the character should.
His problem is that he must exercise an extraordinary level of self-control. Even the super-villains he fights -- none of them really match him in sheer power. He could kill Luthor any time he liked, instantly and painlessly, from a hundred miles away.
And that's just with a glance.
Superman is damned close to a god. The amazing thing isn't the villains he fights or the super-feats he achieves. The amazing thing is that he hasn't set himself up as dictator of the planet.
There wouldn't be a damned thing we could do about it if he tried.
Add to this that he spends half his time pretending really hard that he's human. Yet every moment he's with Lois Lane, he has to take care not to kill her. If he becomes passionate in a kiss, he could accidentally cave in her skull.
To me, this resonates. The most powerful man in the world is trapped by his own desires to live a normal life. He is always and constantly repressing every single physical impulse he must naturally have.
Praise Ghu's holy purple fingers that he was found on a Kansas farm rather than some dictator's back yard.
To me, that one fight from Justice League was the absolute pinnacle use of Superman in a couple of decades. It states Superman's problem; his realization that he can "take the gloves off;" and when he does ... well again, you have to be amazed at this guy's self-control on every level.
To do better than that one fight, you have to back to some of Alan Moore's stories. "Whatever Happened To the Man of Tomorrow?". As my comics retailer at the time wisely observed:
"Alan Moore could write a story about a pile of shit and make it interesting."
Dakota Smith
COIE was printed in the mid 80's with S: TAS well over a decade later in the mid to late 90's. Superman had already regained most of his godlike power levels.
"What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?" (Action Comics #775) in March 2001 was also a very good examination of the idea.
Superman takes on "the Elite," an "Authority" style group of grim/gritty/realistic vigilantes. Once he realizes he can take the gloves off, the ease at which he ends up dispatching them is pretty awe-inspiring.
Superman: Red Son is brilliant for more than one reason.
In the crapy future this game is about avoiding its Batman, he survives a hit from a missle launcher, well more or less and has become a badass cyborg. Superman for all his power on the other hand gets run through with a kryptonite spear.
Reminds of a Silver Age story that showed Krypton's past was very much like Earths. Superman winds up in Krypton's "1960s", complete with analogs to Perry, Jimmy and Lois!
Great Krypton's ghost!
The funny thing about worshipping Rao is that they're basically worshipping the very thing that kept them down. Message?
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