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On Superman Being Broken?

Some people believe that Superman is broken. I for one am not sure that he is broken, but I believe the character is in need of a tune-up. If I have one problem with Superman, it's that he has become a god - an all powerful god.

If you want Superman to be relevant, you have to scale back his powers. You have to weaken Superman. The closest thing to this I've seen is in Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman and in Bryan Singer's underrated Superman Returns.

The only time this alien from another world's stories become emotionally resonant are when Superman is in mortal or moral danger.

Now I admit there are somethings you cannot do to Superman, the character:

Superman cannot be corrupted. He has to remain the moral center of the DC universe. He has to be better than any man or super-powered man alive.

Superman's true character and strength is not that he is all powerful, but that he is powerful enough to be the man of last resort to save us all by doing the right thing.

If I wrote Superman, I'd make him suffer.

Yes, not only would I make Superman weaker so that his enemies could deal him horrible blows and make him bleed Kryptonian blood, but I would make the character suffer as the same people he has chosen to protect suffer. And don't get me wrong: I would not make Superman weaker than anyone else in the DC universe, but I would make him have to struggle a lot more, both physically and morally and ethically, to be the best of the DC universe.

And in making Superman suffer, he has to be challenged on all fronts. He has to be attacked physically. He has to be put in positions where he can't save everyone. He has to have his love of all life challenged. He has to be placed in moral "gray" zones where he has to choose to do the right thing because that's who he is. And he has to be made to suffer as we suffer: Heartache, physical pain, attachment, loss, paranoia ((the hunted, distrusted alien) this worked for the X-Files and even Batman in Nolan's Dark Knight)), fear of never being good enough, etc.

So, DC, or Bryan Singer: Let me write Superman for you, please.

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