For a guy who places tons of strict moral and ethical restraints on himself, Superman has killed a lot of people. Whether it be non-canon (which, for obvious reasons, doesn't count) or official parts of the character's canon storyline, such as John Byrne's controversial Superman #22 or in the more recent Justice League #22... weird. Anyway, it seems many creators are very interested in the idea of Superman compromising his moral code, but why? Seriously, why are so many people intent on making Superman kill someone? Do they all work for Manchester Black? What's the deal? Is it simply because morality and integrity are boring and grimdark bloodvengeance is cool? I certainly hope not. But Superman carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, a burden which even he barely seems strong enough for. Billions of lives are in his hands, and every day, he has to keep them safe while simultaneously setting an example for everyone. Never mind the super, that's one hell of a burden for a man. Surely, with all that responsibility on his mind, he could sometimes be forced into a corner, with the whole world in the balance, and have no choice but to end the threat permanently, right? It's certainly possible. Man of Steel was able to sell me on the idea of a young, inexperienced Superman who hasn't yet become an example for the world seeing no other option than to kill a genocidal maniac who was probably going to take his own life after he killed all seven billion of us. Sure, I saw it as something of a contradiction to his character arc in the movie, and I wish they hadn't done it, but it was a pill I could swallow, unlike other circumstances. But I'm not asking if it's possible. I'm asking why some of us NEED it to be possible. For answers (potentially biased and fanboy-centric answers, mind you) let's look at the greatest hypocrisy employed by the real-life Superman Revenge Squad: Batman.

Everybody loves Batman. Some people hate Superman. Why not just make Superman more like Batman? Because, strawman, they're complete opposites, and making one into the other because of his popularity is stupid. People are so intent on making Superman into Batman that this is a thing: [link]

But let's take a serious, objective look at the one true parallel between Superman and Batman, which leads me to seeing such hypocrisy: they don't kill. For different reasons, born from different circumstances, they have both sworn never to take a life. If you were to put a Batman fan and a Superman fan in the same room and ask them if their respective heroes would ever kill someone, you would get about the same answer from both of them: "Hell no!"

Or a punch. They could also punch you.

So, that is something they both share, a fundamental moral pledge to never kill another person. The difference? People never mess with Batman for it. Oh, sure, there's plenty of non-canon Elseworlds stories that delve into it, but no writer would ever dream of compromising something so fundamental and essential to Batman's character! That would be violating everything he stands for! Batman says he doesn't kill and he means it! That's final!

So... the violent, dark vigilante is allowed to keep his one rule, but the beacon of hope, truth, and morality needs to break it every couple years or we'll all stop reading his comics?

Listen up, writers, editors, and haters of all kinds! Listen to an entitled nerd with a deviantART journal and a handful of followers who might skim it! Making a character darker doesn't always make them more interesting! Brad Meltzer tried it with Doctor Light by making him a sadistic rapist, and fans started to hate him so much that they, well, had Superman kill him. Superman draws his powers from the sun. If you make him dark, you take away his strength (that's like, a metaphor, or something). I'm fine with Superman going up against dark circumstances, even being pushed to the edge and seeing something dark inside himself that he can never let out, but when you do let it out, you're telling every Superman fan that he is nothing special and they're stupid to look up to him or admire him in any way. And I'm not just talking about killing anymore, I'm taking on the whole cynical, angsty, whiny, modern, streamlined, dark, gritty, edgy, in-your-face, coattails-of-the-Dark-Knight Superman so many creators have tried to push on us and appease the Superman haters by waving him around and screaming, "SEE?! WE GOT RID OF ALL THAT STUPID, JUVENILE STUFF THAT MADE HIS FANS LIKE HIM! DO YOU LIKE HIM NOW?!" I don't need to see Superman lose control any more than I need to see Batman lose control. I don't need him to be darker, I don't need him to kill. Just because dark sells Batman comics doesn't mean it sells Superman comics. Just honor the fundamental core of a character. Batman would never kill, he doesn't. Superman would never kill, eeeeeh, we can let one or two slide. Batman is dark, he's dark. Superman is a light in the darkness, blow that sh!t out before we lose any more readers!

If killing people makes him dark and dark is interesting to everyone, then fine, I'm wrong and I'll go back to my corner without any more resistance. Obviously, dark works for Batman, so I guess, by making Superman kill, you're just trying to make him more like... Batman? Okay, now I'm really confused.

(This blog post originally appeared on my deviantART account: http://dalekrider123.deviantart.com/ )