Is Superman Boring?
A reminder of Superman’s powers -Flight -Super speed -Ability to reverse time -Impervious skin -Energy provided by the sun -Heat vision -Infallible moral compass (Boy Scout) -Can survive a nuclear blast -His one weakness – kryptonite – has been written out of the stories -Others?
Some ideas… do you agree? “Having a godlike figure defending the city from everyday crime is about as exciting as watching me use my "god-like" RAID weapon to kill my bathroom cockroaches.” – Some guy on Reddit “I think Superman is probably the worst concept for a superhero ever and definitely the least interesting…” – Some other guy on Reddit ”It becomes increasingly more and more difficult to become engaged in him as a character when you know that he will never lose a battle or never even come close to losing.” - Some other guy on another site “Superman's creators have always had to make him supremely boring as a character. His morality is as inhuman as he is: He saves cats out of trees, he never kills criminals, he informs citizens of the appropriate safety precautions, he warns women against smoking…And even if he loses, he just turns back time…It has about as much narrative tension as throwing a ball against a wall and having it come back to you.” – Stephen Marche
Can a Superman story have plot twists or surprises?
Take a minute to think. how Can writers can make superman stories complex, relevant and interesting?
The thing about really great Superman stories is that they aren't about [superpowers]. A lot of bad writers have written a lot of bad Superman stories. This is because Superman is basically God. He can be slowed down, but he can't be stopped. A good Superman story is always about internal struggle about important moral choices, about doing what's right, even if it's difficult. -Paul Constant
Put this into your own words “The thing about really great Superman stories is that they aren't about [superpowers]. A lot of bad writers have written a lot of bad Superman stories. This is because Superman is basically God. He can be slowed down, but he can't be stopped. A good Superman story is always about internal struggle about important moral choices, about doing what's right, even if it's difficult.” Put this into your own words
Read through “3 Reasons It’s So Hard to Make Superman Interesting,” annotating as you go What are the author’s main arguments about how Superman stories should be written? Read chapt. 4 of Kingdom Come. With your group, evaluate whether or not the Superman of Kingdom Come is the one-dimensional character from the past, or is he truly a complex character? Collect evidence from both the article and the book