Hello fellow viners, and presumably Superman fans. Before anyone gets aggravated that I might be attacking their favourite character, please relax, I’m not here to perform a character assassination on Clark. I just thought some of you may be interested to gain some insight into why some people are not fans of Superman, maybe generate some discussion, you may even be able to change my opinion.

At one point I did invest a significant amount of time trying to get to know him better, attempted to try and see him in the same way many of you must see him. I read what I gathered are his classics: All Star Superman, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, Kingdom Come, Birthright, What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice and The American Way, Man of Steel, Red Son, For The Man Who Has Everything, Secret Origin. While I find the stories to be excellent, Superman himself just doesn’t do it for me.

I will state this off the bat. I don’t dislike Superman. He has cool powers, he’s a nice guy and a great hero. But I’m completely indifferent to him. And I think that’s worse. At least if there’s a character I strongly dislike, there is something about them that can evoke that reaction in me. With Superman I just don’t care, I find him boring.

I’ll give a few bullets to try and explain why, but I expect I will end up writing an essay, you are warned.

Please note I’m basing this all on Pre New 52 perceptions, I have not read New52 Superman solos except Unchained. I know he seems a little more arrogant and brash with a bit of attitude in New52, so please challenge me on these points if he is no longer like this.

Not relatable

I know many of you like to point out that the story of an outsider, trying to find out who he is and how he fits in is a very relatable story.

But I don’t see him that way. I don’t see him as an outsider. He’s been raised on Earth all his life, with loving parents, a typical, happy upbringing with some great friends. Given that he could accomplish pretty much anything another human might dream of doing with relatively little effort, I just don’t buy into being able to relate to his supposed struggle.

American Way

There’s nothing wrong with being patriotic, but he (or he used to) specifically fights for the American Way. Without hating on the old US of A, but given there are quite a few things about the American Way that I find disagreeable, it’s another reason I can’t get on board with him. It doesn’t interest me in the slightest. I think this might be a reason why a lot of non-US comic fans are not fans of Superman (although a lot of Superman fans are not from the US too)

Always do the right thing

Again, I know things may be different now (I think in Batman/Superman he even stated he’s not a boyscout), but given his reputation for always doing what’s just and right no matter what the situation, that just simply bores me. If I knew someone like that in real life I’d find them seriously irritating. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with morals, but his are a little too much for me. I find that there’s an air of being perfect about Superman, and perfect is boring to me.

Religion

There’s no denying there’s a religious element to Superman and his story is comparable with Jesus Christ, he is also quite often referred to as a God. Given my own personal beliefs, I dislike the idea of there being an all-powerful, mighty being who loves and protects humanity, while being worshipped by his followers. Not only does it bore me, but I disagree with it. I know you’ll say people don’t worship Superman as a religion in comics, but in my opinion the element of it is still there (or certainly it used to be the case in the comics) given the people of DC’s Universe admiration and love for him all over the world and people always crying out for his help.

I agree with Lex

No, not that Superman should die! (does he even think that anymore?) I just find it boring that people should look to Superman for hope, help and inspiration. This seriously bores me. I agree with Lex that it holds humanity back. I’m not saying Superman should stop helping people! I just don’t like the fact so many civilians in the DC Universe will continuously look to Superman as their source of inspiration or to be the answer to their problems, which also ties in with my problem about the religious aspect. I can’t care about someone when apparently they seem to be carrying all the answers to humanity’s problems.

Anyway, I hope I haven’t offended anyone if they took the time to read all that, hope you found some of it interesting as to why I don’t like Superman, and hopefully can generate some discussion.

Give me your favorite superhero and I can make this same argument for them up to the religion aspect. In that regard, Superman only gets all Jesus Christ-y in movies thanks to Dick Donner.

He doesn't usually get all Jesus-y regularly.

In fact, everyone seems to love Spider-Man, why don't I assume he's your favorite character. Everyone attacks Superman for all the things Spider-Man is.

1.) Spider-Man is raised by a loving Aunt and Uncle all his life. Sure, he loses his parents, but so does Clark. Sure, Spider-Man loses his Uncle, but the only time Ma and Pa lived into Clark's 20s was in the Post-Crisis continuity.

In the Golden Age, Ma and Pa die. Silver Age, Ma and Pa die and Pa give Clark the "with great power comes great responsibility" line before Spider-Man high jacked it. In the N52, they're dead too.

You say Clatk has plenty of friends, but Clark only had Pete and Lana...or Harry and Gwen for Peter.

2.) You got me there, I've never thought Superman should take on the title of "fighting for the American way" when he fights for a better tomorrow. I know that enough people say that he fights for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but just saying that he fights for the most basic human rights work the same. I am also aware that the "American way" is just a catch tagline, but still... I'm glad DC distanced Superman from that. By the way, Spider-Man fights for the same principles.

3.) Every superhero does the right thing, especially Spider-Man. I've never understood what the fuss was about. I know that some writers like to get preachy with Superman, but I hate that too. Thankfully the N52 Superman isn't always on his high horse on things. You should read Pak's Action Comics to see a Superman written right.

4.) We already covered this.

5.) if you agree with Lex, you agree with The Green Goblin...you agree with 90% of all super-villains.

@jujutrain91: that is beauty of Superman...you don't need to relate to him. You can find angle to relate to him but for me you can just not relate to him. For me Superman is just like normal person try to do nice things. I mean...Superman cannot go to different places and save all people at same time. Superman cannot save everyone on this planet. If Superman thinks the best way to keep the world peace and makes world better place is that he should destroy all weapons in the world, but he don't do that. Also, just imagine how sad it is that you want to restore bottle city of Kandor because until now Superman don't have the answer to solve the problem.

This may rustle a few jimmies.

I don't like Supes that much either. But he does have some of the best battles in all of entertainment.

I'm just going to post this Geoff Johns quote and be on my way:

“Everyone’s like, ‘He’s so powerful, I can’t relate to him.’ Are you kidding me? He’s the most relatable character ever. He grew up on a farm, he doesn’t have a lot of friends, feels isolated, he can’t tell everybody what his secrets are. He’s a great character. He feels overlooked — who hasn’t felt overlooked, or wanted to connect with people? All social media is, is people wanting to connect with other people. That’s all it is. Because people long to connect with other people. And Superman is the embodiment of that. He’s more relevant now than ever.”

@jujutrain91:

1. Well, that's one way to look at the outsider angle. That said, that isn't how I see it personally. Superman isn't just an outsider because he isn't actually from Earth, he's an outsider because he will never actually fit in on earth. Sure, he could easily get rich and famous and anything a regular Joe would want, but he has an upbringing that makes him feel like that just isn't enough. He can do SOmuch more than any human could and yet they're what he really wants to be around. You'd feel a little lonely too.
2. I'm sorry but, what? The American way doesn't mean to act for America, like a government drone, you act like you think America should. Example: America's corrupt, you fight America to make it right. So, this is kind of silly to me. He's doing what he thinks is right, standing up for his values trying to show people the way he thinks is right.
3. There really isn't much I could say here. Clark has made mistakes before and they've haunted him. He isn't perfect; he's trying to be.
4. and 5. Sure, I guess that's a genuine critique. I don't necessarily agree with it, at all, but the only thing I could say is... people will always cry out for help, people will always look for some answer when they're down on their luck, and that's one reason Superman is there for. Another thing is, Super villains are a real problem in the DC universe and without Kal, a ton of people would be dead.

1.) Superman wasn't made to be relatable. He was made to be an ally to those who had none, he was the champion of the underdogs.

2.) The American way he referse to is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He's not stating that to be patriotic. It goes along the lines of truth and justice.

3.) A person who doesn't waver in what they believe, even at impossible odds, isn't boring. At all.If you do find people like that and think of them as irritating, then God help you.

4.) His life actually seams to be along the lines of Moses, at least in the beginning. He also did have followers, they even made a religion of him if I recall correctly. The thing is is that he is very much human. He was weirded out when he found out of said religion.

5.) Lex just says that as an excuse to do the horrible things that he does. Superman encourages people to follow his example and do the right thing.

It's okay. You can be wrong, I won't judge you

I can respect your opinion for not liking the character. It is satisfying to see someone who actually has a well thought out idea vs the forum superman hate bandwagoning like: "He's too op" or "He's too perfect" or "He has a dumb weakness."

Lol.

I think most of the reasons why you do not like Superman are reasons that I do like him. I like the idealism of the character. He is what we should be, not who we are. We should always do the right thing. We should fight for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Whenever you do these things for altruistic reasons, of course there will be comparisons to Christ, the only person in history without sin.

I think you are wrong in the 1,2,3 section.

Anyway I would recommend you this blog by @lvenger and me. It would certaintly create some interesting debate.

Also I really don't get that 4th section(ok I partly do). Superman isn't worshipped and in a world of mythical beings, he certaintly isn't all powerful. And even in our history, who didn't love a hero? There is a reason they are called Super-heroes. The god part is giving him another aspect(that I do like, the god that tries to be human) but it isn't really the core of his character.

As for the last section, thats what makes the Lex-Superman dynamic so great, that neither of them are wrong. But I will say this, since Superman came, millitaries have invented some very powerful weaponry :P

Interesting post.

I won't debate anything with you as this is your own personal opinion, but I disagree with some of your points so will elaborate on why I like superman.

Not relatable: I agree, he mostly had a happy life, and him being the last of his race sucks but wasn't overly traumatic as he didn't experience it directly. I don't really know what it means when people talk about relateability however. I can relate to him as a human who just tries to do the right thing. I don't need anything more than that to enjoy his stories.

American Way: Well, he renounced his citezenship a while back, but that probably didn't happen N52. I don't really have a problem with this because I think Superman always tries to do the right thing. In recent decades, this really hasn't been the case for the US but it used to be. It's not really an issue for me as I see Superman who happens to be American setting an example for the goverment, and it being up to them if they follow it. Given the numerous goverment agencies trying to destroy him and such, it seems pretty clear to me Clark is distanced from the US goverment.

Religion: I don't really see Superman's story having religious elements. People like to say it does, but it's pretty thin. On top of that I'm an atheist, so all stories are equally fictional to me...Superman's just happen to be entertaining and have nice art.

Lex is wrong: Lex's main point is that Superman is holding back humanity from realizing it's true potential. He may have a point in that, but that has nothing to do with people looking to up to Clark. Clark always tries to do the right thing and people see that. Why wouldn't people be inspired by someone like Clark?

Blah blah blah nothing I haven't heard before

Go and actually pick up a decent Superman comic and educate yourself my friend

As others have said I don't agree with you and down right wrong in regards to some of them (Luthor being right because there are several examples of humanity getting better and stronger from Superman's help and the American Way though for Bryne's Superman did have a lot of that it's been changed for quite awhile).

And here you have it, Superman being "relatable" or not have very little impact on the stories themselves. He can be unrelatable and still have plenty of great stories. And you know that having a good story is what really counts at the end of the day.

You can name tons of characters who are human and how they struggle (Nightwing, Cyclops, Rogue, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Iron Fist, Robin, Black Panther, Green Arrow etc...) but how many good stories do they really have?

I can't think of top 10 Nightwing or Hawkeye great stories off the top of my head.

Nope.

At least your reasons are better than “he’s boring and OP”.

Oh well, to each his own; I find points 1, 2, 3 and 5 to be very debatable, while point 4 doesn’t make any sense for me at all.

1. He's more relatable now in the New 52 than ever before. He lost his adopted parents early on, and also he doesn't have the knowledge that came from Jor-El guidence. If anything he's more lost than ever. When his adopted parents died shortly afterwards he left smallville and left Lana and Pete behind. And from what I've seen Lana and Pete were pretty much the only two people he'd a real friendship. Him and Lois are friends but that's it, he shuts her out of his world has she does the same with him. She has her sights on Superman, but he knows that at the end of the day Superman is just a title, not who he really his. Right now the closest thing he has for a family is Kara, his cousin, and if you'd seen how she has treated him since arriving on Earth you'd say "Damn! He'd be better off alone". If you can't relate with this, then you have a block of ice where your heart should be.

2. The american way is pretty much nonexistante. He never says it anymore. He's just a guy trying to do right while stumbling in the dark. He doesn't have all the answers, hell, he's one of the characters that has more questions about himself and the world around him, than any other. And if anything now he's more of a worldwide Superman. He knows Superman is needed everywhere and not just in the good old US of A.

3. Yeah, this point he still sucks at it. With his moral code, creating more problems than solving them. He's too much of a black and white kind of character, and in many ways I'd like him to be more like Batman. Not paranoid has Batman but also not so naive has he's been acting so far.

4. Religion! Man... why do people still play that card on Superman alone. Look at John Constantine, Batman, Aquaman, Dr. Fate, Wonder Woman, Deadman, all the different lantern corps, Swamp Thing, Shazam, and so on and so on.... Superman is the least religion attached character of them all. Superman never ever says "Follow my example." , "Strive to be like me". No. Superman does what he does, but he doesn't expect and he doesn't want people to worship him. People do that themselves. He's no Jesus, no Moses, no Zeus, no Amon-Ra. He's just a person born normal on his world and turn into a godlike being on Earth. He's one of the most down to earth characters in DC. It's people like Lex Luthor, Lois Lane and others that see him has a god, not he.

5. Lex... If there's one thing a true fan of Superman knows is that Lex is always wrong. He's the most selfcentered person in the planet. He'd killed his own mother if she got in his way. And blaming Superman is all that Lex is good at "I want to save mankind! Cure all diseases! Feed the hungry. Make the world a better place. But I can't. Why!? Superman doesn't let me." He's always like this. Superman this, Superman that, he blames Superman because people sit on their asses and expect Superman to do everything for them. Now, who's fault his that!? Superman? No! People are to blame. The same people that in our world sit on their asses and expect polititians to solve their problems, instead of standing up and do something for a change.

You might not relate to Superman or care, it's in your right. Believe me, a lot of times DC writers test my patience, with their stupid logics and lameass stories. Just the way they treat Superman a lot of times leaves me wanting... Wanting to punch their faces.

I don't blame the character. Superman has a lot of potential. I blame the teams at DC Comics for doing a poor to almost tragic work with Superman.

Superman is too old fashioned and square for most people nowadays. That's the reason, not most of the stuff you posted. That's why they made him behave like a roidraging jock at the start of the New 52. Being angry, cruel and horny is more of an attractive power fantasy than being kind, merciful and compassionate.

Lol tl;dr

I'm not that big of a superman fan either bro so more power to you.

The best part of this thread is how people tell the OP he's wrong because Superman is relatable but that he's also wrong because Superman is not suppose to be relatable. You just can't win ha ha.

This post should have ended this thread.

I agree with this entire forum superman blows. Jk people who say that are just mad that superman isn't thor. But people have opinions.

Cause his fans are dicks

@allstarsuperman: coming from guy calling himself "allstarsuperman" is a little bit strange

I wanna make an thread called "No one cares why you don't like Superman/Batman/Who ever".

so OP doesn't like hope and morals?

mmkay

truth

No one cares why you don't like Superman/Batman/Who ever

Pretty generic reasons to hate big blue but to each their own. Personally i don't have any problem with his personality, powers, origin or anything else. I can't find the quote but Zack Synder said that hating or disliking superman for being nice is arguably the stupidest thing ever. It basically means that being or trying to be as good as possible is boring. And i don't quite get the religion aspect; Superman was created by two Jewish teenagers who wanted inspiration so they took it from the bible. I understand that today being religious means your either crazy or insane but the inspiration was good and we got a fantastic character from it.

The Superman character is a lesson in obsolescence.

@deathpoolthet1000@vivide@comicstooge

Considering the OP quite clearly states he doesn't dislike Superman, but is actually indifferent to him and is not a fan because of this, your replies are quite bizarre. Either you didn't read the post or you can't read properly.

The large majority of responses on this thread are quite astonishing in their attack on the OP. The OP did not once insult or disrespect Superman, in fact they stated Superman is a great hero and has great stories, while also presenting fair and reasoned arguments why they were disinterested in the character. The OP is perfectly polite as well, there is no hint of trying to windup Superman fans, and clearly is wanting to share their opinions and generate some discussion/debate around the character - isn't that what this site is about in the first place? Apparently not.

Based on a lot of the responses, I'd have to agree with your statement @allstarsuperman (although a few people have actually responded by adding to the discussion as intended, but not many).

Why bother coming to a forum where people are fans of a character to tell them why you aren't a fan? We don't care. We like the character.

Because it is not a Superman fan forum, it is a Superman forum, it is there for the purpose of discussing topics on Superman, whatever they may be. Granted, the people who spend most of their time on the Superman forum are likely to be Superman fans, it still doesn't make it a Superman fan forum.

And why bother??? Because it's a freaking forum, it's here for the purpose of discussion.

@thebhramabull: If you want us to 'add' more hate points then people won't do that, also this topic has been done before.

All of this is, generally stuff I've heard before, minus the religion stuff. (Which I completely disagree with, even though we both seem to have similar ideals like that.)

What irks me is that people can't enjoy a character who "does the right thing" anymore. Why does everybody have to struggle with being good, just because we live in a craptastic world, ya know? Is being a good person that foreign to people? Really!?

@thebhramabull: This topic has been discussed hundreds if not thousands of times on the site. This guys thread adds nothing.

It's like if he goes on to write a 'Why I hate Batman' thread. The thread is a complete waste of space

Yeah, and all his sections are the main cliches but at least it is better than most threads that their main reason is "OP tOo StRong!!! BoyScout" :P

Seconded.

I'm not a Superman fan either, the only way I find him interesting is when he's smashing buildings.

Congratulations, you are DC's target audience currently :P