Since I talked about the Dark Knight last time, I feel it is appropriate to talk about the Red and Blue Boy Scout, Superman. Superman, alter Ego Clark Kent, made his first appearance in Action comics #1 in 1938. He is considered the first American comic hero, and has appeared in games, shows, movies newspapers and even radio shows since his first appearance.

Superman is certainly an interesting character, considering he is almost a god in terms of human standards, but chooses to act as a man. This has led to a lot of readers to dislike the character, since they consider him to be so completely over powered, and therefore lacks a really interesting character. Because Superman knows that he could probably kill anybody whenever he wants, he acts in a very Boy Scout fashion.

Ian Gordon suggests that the many incarnations of Superman across media use nostalgia to link the character to an ideology of the American Way. He defines this ideology as a means of associating individualism, consumerism, and democracy and as something that took shape around WWII and underpinned the war effort. Superman, he notes was very much part of that effort

Of course, Superman is not that original in terms of his story and abilities. The John Carter of Mars series is almost identical. John Carter comes from Earth, ends up on Mars and is more powerful than the inhabitant of the red planet. Superman, in a similar fashion is an alien from Krypton who is significantly more powerful than any human, and saves the population from various threats. The creators of Superman, John Siegel and Joe Shuster, claim that other characters like Popeye, Zorro and Robin Hood influenced the character. Superman’s story also mimics Moses’ story, a baby found by a new family who raised him as their own, and he ultimately became a hero. Also, interestingly enough, Superman’s Kryptonian name “Kal-El” resembles the Hebrew “קל-אל, or “voice of God”.

In terms of the hero’s journey, Superman is very predictable and not new. He follows the steps in a rather predictable fashion, so the more interesting part of the character is how he has influenced pop-culture and the implications of the character.

According to Gerald Clarke, Superman represents man in the 20^th and 21^st century. “Only the man with superpowers can survive and prosper.” Andrew Arnold, writing in the early 21st century, has noted Superman’s partial role in exploring assimilation, the character’s alien status allowing the reader to explore attempts to fit in on a somewhat superficial level.

Superman has an unoriginal origin story, a rather boring character, but is sill considered by many to be the best hero of all time. On the flip side, many readers view him as a boring hero who is too over powered to have any real character. In the end, it’s really up to you who he best of the best is.