The change of heart of a Superman Hater

Yes, my behavior has been rather childish and pathetic in the past. I've always hated Superman and the sad part about it was there was no legitimate reason why I hated him.

I always tried to justified my hate for Superman by claiming he was arrogant and overpowered but in reality he wasn't even as close to being arrogant as I believed and even if he was arrogant, who in the hell wouldn't be with all that power. As for my past claim of him being overpowered, that did nothing but reveal to me how much of a hypocrite I really am cause a character I adore(Flash) was equally as overpowered, some may say even more overpowered.

My next excuse I used to justify my hate for Superman was that he was the face of DC and they let the plot of the story give him advantages against stronger opponents. While this is somewhat true, is this not also true for every iconic hero in every comic?

I realized my pathetic behavior a month ago and decided to try and change. I started off small by saying I'll watch Smallville, yeah, I know this isn't the real Superman but you have to understand that my hatred was so strong that I had no choice but to start off lightly. As I watched till season 10 I started to open up to the idea of liking Superman.....but it was not enough, my hatred was so strong that I needed something else and that's when the idea of watching Man of Steel came to mind.

As sad as it is, Man of Steel is what made me accept Superman. I unintentionally found myself cheering for him as I watched him in tight spots and wished he would pull out some of his ridiculous comic feats that his fanboys constantly brought up in debates. For once I wished for a more powerful Superman, the current Superman. I started to respect his determination, his will power, and I felt saddened by the struggles he faced growing up as an outcast. Superman embodies the good in people, he is the will of many people when they say things like "If only I could" and "I wish I had that extra drive," things that are said in dire situations, situation of life and death....It was then I finally understood why many people liked Superman and it also became the reason why I finally like Superman.

I'm sorry for the long rant but I had to confess my sins in order to move on lol. I'll start to read Superman comics and I'd appreciate it is some people gave me some suggestions of what to read. Thanks.

@unbreakable_fs4: Read Superman Unchained if you are looking for a good ongoing series. But if you are looking for collections then I highly recommend

1. Superman Birthright- this is a Great Modern superman origin story and The Man Of Steel movie borrows a lot of ideas from this book

2.Superman:Red Son- this is an elseworlds tale about a Superman that lands in the Soviet Union instead of America. Its an interesting concept that is very well executed

3. All-Star Superman-This is essential reading for any Superman fan. it shows Superman the way we've always known him, but does it in a way that is so fresh and exciting that it makes it one of the best Stories ever told in Graphic Literature.

there are other great Superman graphic novels out there, but these are the ones I recommend most to new readers.

@eternal19: Thanks for the reply and suggestions. I'll be sure to read all four.

Beautiful post.

Superman: Secret Origins is my favourite origin story.

Red Son and Kingdom Come are two of my favourite elseworld stories, along with Justice.

All-Star Superman really does show you a lot of Superman's heart.

The Death of Superman followed up with Hunter/Prey is a good leap into current Superman storytelling.

Superman/Batman make for some fun reads pretty often.

Infinite Crisis juxtaposes old timey Supes and Modern Supes.

My favourite ongoing is the Superman self-titled, however as much as it pains me to say, Perez's run was just awful.

@deaditegonzo: Thanks for the suggestions, I'll definitely read them. Once again, thanks