“The first ever Superman story was published by Jerry Siegel (Writer) and Joe Shuster (Artist) in Action Comics #1 on April 18th, 1938. Both Jerry and Joe met in high school in Cleveland, Ohio, and became great friends because of their shared passion for science fiction. Ever since then, Superman has become a household name throughout American society because of what he represents thanks to Jerry and Joe’s creative vision (Cosmic TimeLord).” Although Superman is popularized because of his massive arsenal of superpowers, people tend to categorize him as a character that isn’t relatable. 

    “There’s this personal notion that Superman is a boring comic book character, and not to mention, he’s someone that isn’t relatable to the readers. There have been various films, comics, and animations depicting Superman as this overpowered godlike being who can beat the living soul out of his enemies (Marche, Why Superman Sucks).”  To illustrate this point, I’ll include a list of Superman’s powers that have grown throughout the years with each new writer adding their own enhancement to the Man of Steel. According to Book Riot, “Superman’s powers scale from flight, super strength, invulnerability, super speed, x-ray/heat vision, telescopic/ microscopic vision, super hearing, freeze/super breath, solar flare, time travel, super intelligence, super ventriloquism, face changing, turning diamonds into coal, and super disco (Plummer).” Not that many superheroes have a large arsenal of superpowers, which is why people think Superman is this godlike being that doesn’t offer a compelling story. However, that is far from the truth, in which many comic book readers fail to understand what this character ultimately represents. He’s the symbol of being the best version of ourselves if you dive deeper into the stories that showcase his humanity as a superhero. 

       One of the most famous Superman stories to ever be told is All-Star Superman written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quitely. The reason why I place this as a popular story among the comic book community is that there’s one key element that helped save a woman’s life on Reddit from committing suicide because of these three panels shown below. That key element is giving up hope to those who need it the most in a broken world. There’s another example from a Reddit user by the name of [deleted] stating, “I was on the verge of suicide last year in February 2021 and I did see that comic still of the girl that was gonna jump off the building that he stopped. A month later the Syndercut came out and I used it and the soundtrack to be my cornerstone of rebuilding who I newly became (What doese superman as a charachter mean to you?).”

    Superman may have all of the incredible superpowers in the world, yet his presence as a fictional character can make a significant difference in a person’s life. I can personally say that Superman is a father figure and a real friend who made a difference in my life by how much he cares about people and what they go through. Going back to the earliest example why some people don’t like his character for being boring and overpowered fail to understand how empathetic the Man of Steel is. For him to go out of his way to save a girl from suicide, and to comfort her says a lot about an alien who is more human than those who are selfish and cruel in the real world. This is what makes Superman genuinely good through the hope and optimism that he gives to people, especially to us readers.  

    To further prove that Superman isn’t just a bland godlike character, he does the unthinkable by helping out another woman who’s on the verge of jumping off a building. In the story of Superman: Grounded written by J. Michael Straczynski & Chris Roberson and drawn by Eddy Barrows, “Superman notices that there’s a crowd of people and cops staring above at a woman who’s about to jump off a building. The cops urge Superman to get her down, however, the Man of Steel tells them that he’ll talk to her. As he flies up, the woman is deeply broken by how she lost her job, mother, and everything else. She then tells Superman that there’s no point in going on in life since her vision is clouded by pain, loss, sadness, grief, and hopelessness. Superman relates to her that his whole planet of Krypton was destroyed along with his parents, yet he also points out that a good friend of his committed suicide because she had a terminal illness and couldn’t see a better day up ahead. Superman then asks her if she can’t see a better day up ahead then she can choose to jump, however, if she can believe there’s hope for a better tomorrow then she should take his hand (ComicBook Geek, “Take my hand” superman comic dub) .”

      Superman proves once again how empathetic and understanding he is towards those he believes in. His story can inspire us to be a helping hand when a person goes through trials and tribulations as we’ve seen in both All-Star Superman and Grounded. These situations didn’t require Superman to use his powers but his understanding of human beings to empathize with their personal struggles. This is what a real superhero looks like, and how these kinds of individuals exist in our everyday lives. This could be your parents, God, Jesus Christ, your friends, family members, mentors, teachers, nurses, etc. We represent Superman to some degree by using our own gifts and talents to help those around us. 

      “The Man of Steel is relatable to any human being when a girl by the name of Jamie (a terminally ill cancer patient) dies in Superman’s arms, which breaks his heart and puts him in a state of anger and grief. This event takes place in Superman Vol 2 #188 written by Chuck Austen and drawn by Tom Derenick. To continue back into the story, Superman is going through Metropolis fighting criminals aggressively while making jokes, which is way out of his character to begin with. Lois notices that Superman isn’t himself, and she later finds out that Jamie died at the hospital, which drove him on the path of anger. Superman comes across a supervillain by the name of Trainwreck and beats him down mercilessly. Superman, on the verge of killing Trainwreck, gets stopped by Lois and tells him that she knows Jamie died and how it affected him. Superman, about to deliver the killing blow, stops and tells Lois that Jamie didn’t deserve to die whereas evil people like Trainwreck get to live. Superman explains how Jamie’s body was discovered in a cardboard box at an overpass. Superman then asks Lois why good people who are full of hope and joy get to suffer and die as he’s completely heartbroken by this fact of life (GothamPaladin).” 

         Superman: Up In The Sky written by Tom King and drawn by Andy Kubert illustrates the epitome of Superman’s genuineness of being a real superhero. To keep it short, “Superman embarks on a long quest to find a missing orphan girl by the name of Alice who’s abducted by aliens. Superman has moments where he’s questioning himself if Alice is worth saving while he leaves the Earth defenseless. However, Superman doesn’t budge and continues to find Alice no matter what it takes because to him she’s worth saving. Alice is being told by an alien that she’s worthless, and no one would go out of their way to save her far off in the galaxy. Her faith in Superman casts away the naysayers inflicting words as she waits patiently for her superhero to come. Needless to say, Superman came to rescue her after going through various trials, which illustrates the lengths the Man of Steel is willing to go to save someone’s life no matter how far off in the galaxy that person may be (Michael The Comic Nerd).” 

         The legacy of Superman is filled with love, hope, inspiration, sadness, joy, optimism, trials and tribulations, and being the best version of ourselves as people. These stories remind the readers that Superman is just as human as all of us. He feels sadness and happiness, yet his moral compass of doing the right thing is something that keeps him going. His story has been around for over 85 years, and it continues to inspire people of all ages to be something bigger and better for the greater good of humankind. There are more examples of Superman being relatable, yet it would take more time to provide a significant amount of evidence to prove his case of being genuinely awesome as a character. Christopher Reeves as a film actor felt more like Superman in how he portrayed the character compared to any other actor who played the Man of Steel. He understood the essence of what Superman represents, and how his portrayal of the character is inspiring in itself. 

                                                                       

 

* All credit goes to DC Comics, INC. and Warner Bros. Discovery. This article is for educational purposes only. I don’t own any of the images.

Sources

 “All-Star Superman.” Wikipedia, 20 July 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-Star_Superman. 

  ComicBook Geek, The Russian. “‘Take My Hand’ Superman Comic Dub.” YouTube, 13   Oct. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyGEe5ZGgks. 

  Database, Contributors to DC. “Superman: Up in the Sky Vol 1.” DC Database, dc.fandom.com/wiki/Superman:_Up_in_the_Sky_Vol_1. Accessed 28 July 2023. 

 GothamPaladin. “A Child Spends Her Final Moments with Superman.” YouTube, 23 June 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=riG9IkLMUAI&t=3s. 

Marche, Stephen. “Why Superman Sucks.” Esquire, 13 June 2013, www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a23052/why-superman-sucks/. 

Michael The Comic Nerd. “Superman up in the Sky: What Inspires the Inspiration?” YouTube, 11 Mar. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsruD5qsg5w&t=1930s. 

Plummer, Jessica. “What Are Superman’s Powers?” BOOK RIOT, 26 Nov. 2019, bookriot.com/supermans-powers/. 

“Superman.” Wikipedia, 19 July 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman. 

“Superman: Grounded.” Wikipedia, 11 May 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman:_Grounded. 

“Superman Vol 2 188.” DC Database, dc.fandom.com/wiki/Superman_Vol_2_188. Accessed 28 July 2023. 

TimeLord, Cosmic. “A Brief History of Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster.” YouTube, 12 July 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=evf5rHlXpkw.  

“Why Superman Is My Hero.” Reddit, www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/gksba/why_superman_is_my_hero/.  Accessed 28 July 2023. 

“What Doese Superman as a Charachter Mean to You? .” Reddit, www.reddit.com/r/superman/comments/sdd6lf/what_doese_superman_as_a_charachter_mean_to_you_i/.  Accessed 28 July 2023.