Personal Thoughts on Superman

As a kid, I loved everything Superman: Fleischer cartoons, the George Reeves series, all four of the Christopher Reeves movies, Supergirl, Superboy, the 80's CBS cartoon, Lois & Clark, etc. Well, I can't say I was into the comics. Up until some time between 8th and 9th grade, I was strictly a Marvel reader. It was pretty cool having these different versions of Superman while growing up and each one was undeniably Superman but I don't think that I ever thought of just one of these as being the definitive Superman. The Fleischer version would probably be the closest to my ideal though.

I have been enjoying the current Johns/Frank run on Action Comics, and while I don't think it's either creator's best work, it's still been good stuff. One thing that has been making me a little uneasy for a while though was the merging of the Movie Superman with the comics. I was a little peeved when I noticed Clark Kent becoming a fumbler and socially inept. Now, I can understand toning him down a little from the smalltown overachiever of the Byrne comics but what we have here is almost a caricature in my eyes. It's also one of the reasons I don't enjoy the old movies quite as much anymore. To see one my least favorite aspects of any version of Superman become comic book canon is a turn-off.

The recent death of Jonathon Kent has been pretty tough for me to accept as well. The movie was the only place where this event felt natural to me. When it happened on the Smallville show, I was a little upset, due to Pa Kent being my favorite character on that show, but this time around I'm just disappointed. I probably feel this way due to being a big fan of superhero support systems. As much as these guys might be on their own when they're facing the big villain, it feels good to know that there's someone in their corner who they can talk to and who may have a slight understanding of what they're going through while also offering advice. This just feels like an unnecessarily "permanent" change that might be good for a story but changes the overall mood. I can't imagine a story of loss or guilt that would result from a dead Pa Kent that wouldn't be possible with an incapacitated or comatose one. I guess that's why I could never make it as a writer.