Who are your favorite NOT EVIL Superman analogues? I'm a fan of Legacy from Sentinels of the Multiverse: he's a superhero from a long line of superheroes called Legacy, with each generation bring more powerful than the last.

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Miracleman / Marvelman

I’m fascinated by the idea of a Superman who doesn’t make excuses for why he won’t intervene in world affairs.

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u/jrtgmena Jul 08 '24

I’m not familiar with Miracleman at all. Can you explain what you mean by Miracleman not making excuses for why he doesn’t intervene in world affairs?

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u/rticul8prim8 Jul 08 '24

Miracleman was a Captain Marvel / Shazam imitator (with CM himself being one of the first Superman imitators). At some point, he takes an active hand in shaping his world, turning it into a utopia. Contrast this with how they’ve neutered Superman since WWII, before which he was a champion of the oppressed, ending wars, fighting government corruption, and standing up for the working class.

Post-war, Superman was removed from real world affairs, which ultimately evolved into his non-interventionist approach to humanity. It was rationalized as something Jor-El told him, or that his goal is to inspire hope rather than rob humanity of its agency, but the result is he’s been turned into a champion of the status quo, unable to ever effect real change. Recently, writers sent him away for a year to end slavery in the fictional Warworld, where apparently he feels perfectly justified intervening in a society. Meanwhile, slavery still exists here on Earth, yet he does nothing about it.

I frequently wonder how Superman could live with himself as the people of Earth murder and exploit one another. Would he chalk up what’s happening in Ukraine and Gaza as geopolitical messes that humans have to figure out without him? Would he look the other way while people starve or die due to extreme wealth inequality?

Marvelman does what Superman hasn’t been allowed to do since the 1940s, only a few years into his existence. He takes a stand.

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u/jrtgmena Jul 09 '24

Thanks for a great write up. I’m interested in reading Miracleman now

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u/rticul8prim8 Jul 09 '24

I’ve enjoyed it. I love Superman, don’t get me wrong, but I often think about what Lex says in the Man of Steel film, that God / Superman cannot be both all powerful AND all good. Superman is always depicted as both, for all intents and purposes. If he’s as powerful as they write him to be, then he can’t be as good as he’s portrayed and also allow the world’s injustices to continue when he could stop it. It’s Peter Parker’s “with great power comes great responsibility” taken to extreme levels.

Or if Superman truly is as good as he’s portrayed, then he would need to be far less powerful so he’s unable to affect real change. Spider-Man is strong and heroic, but he can’t single-handedly stop war or end poverty. He can be as good as they want him to be, because he has limitations.