Superman does have real enemies
Lyndsey Hicks Mosley, editor-in-chief
For many years in my life, I have been a comic book fan. I like to think of myself as objective and impartial when it comes to my likes and dislikes, with the love I have for the paper fantasies of ink, crime fighting and justice split evenly between DC and Marvel. But there comes a time when you have to choose your favorites. The Caped Crusader is easily on my list of favorite characters, and the X-Men are tops any day of the week and twice on Sunday. But, so help me, if I had kryptonite I’d wipe Superman and his ilk off the face of comicdom.
I know it’s not popular not to have even the smallest modicum of respect for the Man of Steel. Heck, I can even think of a few people who’d revoke my comic knowledge badge of authority for making such a statement. But the entire time that I’ve known of the son of Krypton, I never have been able to get behind him as a viable candidate in the race for my comic character love.
What bothers me the most about Superman is this notion that he is literally unstoppable. I think about it this way: If you have Superman around, why would you need anyone else? Superman obviously has all of the bases covered.
Outside of the basic question of neediness regarding him, I have always had too many questions about his day-to-day interactions with the rest of his universe. Where does he sleep and does he even really have a need for sleeping, eating or other human functions? Are people really so dumb in the DC universe that they can’t tell Clark Kent is Superman? For Lois Lane to have been such an intrepid, hard-nosed reporter, she sure isn’t too bright if she can’t tell that the man she kisses who saves her life on a routine basis is the same man that she works with everyday and all he’s done is change his hairstyle and throw on a pair of glasses. The same goes for the rest of the universe, barring Ma and Pa Kent.
And then we get to the sorry excuse for a villain that is Lex Luthor. The question that I’ve been begging to ask for the majority of my comic-loving life is this: Why doesn’t Superman just kill Luthor? He’s done enough to be impeached as president of the United States, he’s maimed and stolen more times than anyone can count in his existence. He’s outright tried to kill Superman numerous times. What else does Superman need to pull off the prime directive in regard to Luthor? Maybe malevolent Joker-level shenanigans (Editor’s note: This is opposed to prankster Joker shenanigans. There is a difference), because I can’t understand why he’s allowed to keep running amok in Metropolis and getting away with the things he does.
I believe Kal-El is a little too nice sometimes. With my tolerance at an all-time low for stupid superheroes that lack logic behind their actions, Superman’s about to get the short end of the kryptonite.
Lyndsey Hicks Mosley is editor-in-chief of Gaming Insurrection. She can be reached by email at gicomics@gaminginsurrection.com
