...Just been re-reading the start of JLA Vol 1 again and the scene where Superman introduces himself to GL with a massive hammer blow which takes out GL and almost Batman with it-- and it occurred to me that Superman didn't always hit first before asking questions. This new Superman doesn't seem to mess about! (see also this months Superman/Wonder woman). Do you think he is over-aggressive at times compared with the old school boy scout Superman or are you happy with his current persona? Its another reason why I think perhaps New 52 Superman would make a scarier opponent for, say, the current Hulk, than the more passive earlier era Superman...

I like how the Batman/Superman comic comments on his aggressive behavior.

That's a younger Superman from five years ago.

It just depends on the writer.

I actually like it quite a bit in JL. I'm not really sure how it's handled in Action Comics or Superman though since I only read AC volume 1 and didn't care for anything other than the first two issues.

My only problem with Superman in the New 52 is that he doesn't come off as the leader of the JL.

Because he isn't really. Its a democracy and Batman is kind of the President.

Although Arthur challenges him a bit, because he is a natural leader haha :P

You're right. I just guess it's more that I can't imagine this Superman taking charge at any moment even if everyone was relying on him. Aquaman, Batman, and Wonder woman seem better suited.

When he visited Red hood and the outlaws he seemed very aggressive.

Actually he just tries to talk to them. They were the aggressors, mainly because Starfire was being somewhat racist (or maybe you could called it speciesist.... you know what, I'm gonna stick with racist). They attacked him, he basically says "you guys sure you wanna do this?" and they keep attacking him. He then put them on their asses and, IMO, rightly so.

However he definitely is being written as more willing to fight than he previously was. Especially jeans & t-shirt Superman. BUT in saying that he's younger. Even the "current" Superman is only about 27/28. Pre-52 Supe's was in his late 30's. That's a lot more experience and wisdom under your belt.

OK in JL #1 he was still very young. Remember that is 5 years before the current time-line - so basically he was barely out of his jeans & t-shirt phase, which all happened in the first year - or "year one" at any rate. So he was still that brash "hit first/ask questions later" guy from Action Comics, as also shown in Batman/Superman.

As for Superman/Wonder Woman - he was protecting his gal and standing up for himself to a complete douche bag. He responded in a way that is the only way Apollo and the gods would actually respect. Made perfect sense.

Over-all though they've taken him back a bit to what he was like in the Golden Age version - a lot more no-nonsense, I'll let my fists do the talking, which I don't mind personally.

It's just JL now.

Anyway, yeah he seems more aggressive in the new 52. But sometimes it's not that bad, sometimes i like to see him hit before being hit.

Those guys were asking for it, he actually came to them peacefully, until they started shooting him.

He needs to understand that no means no.

Im happy with it, because 1) may as well make real changes if youre going to do a reboot and 2) its actually explained, because this Superman's parents died while he was a teen.

To be fair, everything "alien" that he had previously encountered had been an enemy. Plus He brought that suspiciously evil looking Bat dude with him.

@wishiwassuperman: Superman outclassed everybody there. The girl that was with Jason even called him out on being the bigger person. He's a god, they clearly couldn't harm him, so why retaliate.

I disagree and found her admonishment of him ridiculous. He gave them fair warning and they decided they wanted to go toe-to-toe. If I pick a fight with someone and insist on trying to hit them, despite them giving me a warning they can easily put me on my ass - they are well within their rights to put me on my ass when I don't rethink my strategy and proceed with attacking them. If someone decides they don't want to listen and just want to duke it out - anyone in that position will do what they need to in order to get said person to back down and listen.

He told arsenal to use all his arrows at once. He warned them about the pointless attempts to attack him, even as a group. He even made a not-very-subtle threat that while he didn't want to hurt them, he would if he had to. Several times over he advised them of the error of their ways, and only actually launched a single attack, specifically with the purpose of only knocking them over to give them an idea of how powerful he is. He wasn't retaliating - he was trying to get them to rethink their approach and back down/stop, since they were being the aggressors.

Sure, he's as powerful as a god - it'd be like my 9 year old daughter trying to fight me. If she did, I'd tell her to stop being silly, but if she kept on hitting me, I'd restrain her and tell her to stop. He didn't do any different - save for instead of trying to grab on hold of all of them at once (which he wouldn't be able to do), he gave them a very gentle blast of heat vision to knock them over, and he threw Starfire specifically because she tried to confront him physically, keeping in mind she is a super-powered alien as well - maybe not at his level, but it wasn't gonna to do her any serious damage if any at all. The difference between them and my daughter is - she's a kid. They're all also grown adults, or at least really late-teens (I'm not well versed enough to know how old they are supposed to be exactly - but logically they're not that much younger than Superman himself). This means unlike my daughter - they're more than mature enough to be held responsible for their actions - and should be mature enough to not even attack him without provocation.

Point is - yeah, Pre-52 Supe's probably would have handled that a little differently (if he found himself in that situation, which he wouldn't have because in pre-52 if Superman had shown up they would have had them all fold instantly and be happy to talk to him, but for some reason in N52, no one is willing to just talk to Superman and all want to show how strong they are instead and that they can fight him and beat him up, blah. blah, blah - same thing happened in Unchained) - but N52 Supe's wasn't being the kind of douche bag aggressor he's being painted as at all and IMO handled the situation fine and was well within his rights to lay the smack down on Red Hood and his friends - they had it coming.

I think he is fine for the world of new 52.

Overall, he comes across to me as cocky and superior, more Namor than classic Superman. With new 52, I feel this Superman is divorced from truth, justice and the American way in favor of his way cause he is who he is- an alien superior to the mortals he chooses to live amongst and help. I do miss the humble, noble vibe which seemed to be a more subtle example of the best of humanity which in turn made characters want to follow Superman's lead.

@sinisteri: you do get some of the humble superman again in batman/superman where new 52 guy meet there earth 2 mature counterpart it was kinda funny earth 2 guy were treating the new 52 guy like kids

I hate this edgy Superman. It just screams "look, look! Am I cool now?" Superman didn't need to be fixed or retooled. He is supposed to be a better than all of this. Better than everyone. It doesn't make him bland. It makes him actually interesting. We already have enough Batman type characters. Superman is supposed to be brimming with confidence. How can he, when he is depicted as an overcompensating brute. The fight with Billy in "Trinity war" is good example. Billy who is just a boy gets in a fight, that is completely Superman's fault. He could of just stop Billy, by holding him back. Then calmed him down with words, like the old Superman would do. But what does he do? Plows fist first in to billy and says. "You don't want to fight, billy." It so bad I nearly drop the book.

It's the impression I seem to get. A little too quick to act, and he always seems stoic and serious - not too warm or friendly. One could argue this is a younger Superman, unlike the mature pre-52 Supes, but ehh...it's unsettling. Doesn't feel like the character.

I actually like being somewhat reckless, but not to the degree that Morrison wrote him as in early Action. The other writers have done a fairly good job of making not making him unlikable (thought Lobdell occasionally makes him boring).

Point taken, I guess the start of JL Vol 1 surprises me with Superman's ferocity, I mean assuming this was the first time they'd met, how did he know that piledriving into GL wouldn't have killed him and Batman would have been dead if he hadn't been behind GL shield. Just seemed more reckless than the Superman I used to know. Would Superman really risk smacking someone without first testing their durability and strength? What happened to holding back?! Having said that he comes across a bit more humble in Unchained...maybe it is just the writer, but generally this New 52 Superman doesn't seem to mess about...

I like the new 52 supes. When he first should up he was very aggressive. Now he is similar to pre 52 supes but is much younger and is still pretty aggrevise witch is awesome.

@wishiwassuperman: Good point. Now what about the first time he met Batman and GL?

@patrat18: ok, like I said when JL1 is set is during year 1,at a time when the hero's weren't considered heros(especially Batman). The basic set up is that he's never interacted with any other hero's at that point and in his own city he's not considered a hero by a lot of people either. He's also about 22, not much experience as yet, and these two people show up in Metropolis with one of these devices in their possession, that someone had used just a bit earlier to try and blow up a building (as revealed in issue 2). He makes an assumption that their connected to it and is basically using a display of force to show them they should give in. He's also pretty angry and if we consider his very "punch first ask questions later" approach in the early days of Action and Batman/Superman (thus was when they first met, but their memories were wiped, so neither knew that coming into JL1) it's consistent with the character for when the story is set. I'm not denying he's less mature than pre-52 Superman, but that for me is All it is, maturity, and he's already changed between Jl1 and current issues, and i'm sure he will continue to mature as well.

I like his current persona, it makes him more badass. I was tired of the fucking too goody two shoes superman. I like this one a lot better

There's always that one guy that starts cursing when ever superman's mentioned, looks like I found him

@sinisteri: Depends who writes him I guess, he does have a bit of the truth justice & the American way. I'd post a pic of it, but it's from Lobdels run & well...Lobdel.

He's basically a jock who can't seem to assess the situation without punching it. But hey New52 fans love subpar quality writing thats why we have a female version of Kratos Wonder Woman and a Biff Tannen Superman.

When was Superman the leader of the League? Sure he's had stints as their chairman, but so have many other heroes. I believe the Flash was the League's leader in the original Silver Age stories. And in the Death of Superman, when he's addressing a high school and someone calls him the leader of the Justice League, he disagrees, saying it's a total team effort.

On another note, no I do not think Superman should be this reckless.

Yes. Read Action Comics #28. Released just last week. It was amazing! But yeah, New Supes is definitely much more young and impulsive. He even says "Bruce would tell me to wait. Watch... "to hell with that." *goes immediately to shooting lasers out of his eyes before he knows the situation* Almost started a World War over some "damn monkeys." At the end, after he "liberates" the albino-colored monkeys that were living underground in the planet's core their whole lives they immediately have a hostile reaction to the sunlight. Oops.

I agree with both of these. Very well worded. Esp. Johnni - Superman isn't supposed to be someone who's like the rest of us, he's supposed to be what we ASPIRE to be. Sure, that may not be realistic (having these parents who were simple but at the same time "enlightened" (no racism, etc etc))...but it's still nice to dream. To be someone who NEVER would give into something that easier (rage, revenge, etc) - but deep down you know isn't right. That's part of his appeal.