I like Byrne’s Man of Steel, the original miniseries, not the ongoing series. I’ve not read any of the ongoing series. Don’t want to mislead you! (And I mostly like it because it was the basis for the excellent BBC radio drama 
)
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My two cents: I think most people don’t understand what Superman is supposed to be about.
Many try to put him in the same box as most other superheroes. Like, you can put Batman in death traps and put him in mortal peril, but that’s much harder with someone as powerful as Supes. Or, it’s easy to relate to Peter Parker and Matt Murdock as they struggle through their personal lives like we struggle through ours, but, again, Superman is so powerful that trying to give him that kind of human relatability just comes off as disingenuous. However, focusing on those things misses the point entirely.
Superman, as the first comic book superhero, is the ultimate ego fantasy (or the SUPER ego fantasy, if you will). The reason Superman is so powerful is to remove the human limitations that prevent most people from living up to their highest ideals. Because not much can really hurt him, because he is not hindered by everyday concerns, and because his powers allow him to make his intentions manifest in reality in ways that we can only dream of is why he is SUPERman and not MANman. It’s like, you go through life seeing things that aren’t fair and should be changed, but… you can’t do anything about them. Superman can. That’s what made him the defender of the weak.
So, if you ask me, the focus shouldn’t be on how do we put Superman in danger or how do we make him relatable like Peter Parker. The focus should be on how we balance these greater ideals that Superman represents with the harsh realities of the world we live in. To me, that’s the story and that’s always been the story.
I think the second aspect that has made Superman a tough sell in modern times is that he, wrongly, became associated with 1980’s performative patriotism. That’s something that held Captain America back, as well. Superman was never meant to represent American nationalism. He was meant to represent American idealism. As @abelundercity.81180 pointed out, when Superman debuted the United States was still going through the Great Depression. America had failed many of its citizens during that time period, and Siegel and Shuster were reacting to the disparity and injustice that preyed on the vulnerable during the Depression. Superman actively sought to correct the corruption and greed within the country. He was not waving the flag and pontificating about America’s perfection. Kal was actively doing things to correct what the country had become so it could better live up to its own ideals. To me, that is Superman’s connection to the United States and not the hollow flag waving that he, unfortunately became associated with.
There is definitely a way to do Superman well and to do it in a way that connects with the younger generations (I have great hops for Jon Kent in that regard). I just think that people misunderstand the myth and focus on the wrong things.
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The ongoing had its headscratching moments, but it also had the best Lex Luthor moment ever, when he was told that Superman is Clark Kent.
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I got what you meant, but still, you like something from Byrne’s Superman, so you get Cool Points and the biggest Sprite you can imagine for that.
SN: You should read the rest of Byrne’s Superman when time allows. The Man of Steel was good, but the whole shebang gets even better in the pages of Superman, Action Comics and (much later) The Adventures of Superman.
Right? “I have no place in my organization for people who cannot see the obvious!”
Should you want to read it for yourself @millernumber1, that moment is in this issue:
It was admittedly pretty ballsy to have Lex learn who Superman was so early on in the series…even if Lex did blow off the facts, as he’s wont to do when they aren’t what he wants them to be.
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I’ll have to keep that in mind next time I’m in the mood for some Superman reading! What’s the best place to start right after The Man of Steel miniseries?
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Your choice, as Byrne’s run splintered into two books, Action Comics and Superman.
If you like team-up tales more than solo adventures, start here (@CassTheStreet You might like this one, too):
If you like solo stuff more, then start here:
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Thanks! I could just try a few issues of each and see which one grabs me more!
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Sounds like a plan, Stan. 
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Superman is just a symbol of hope in the world. He’s a being that everyone looks up to. Why?
Because he’s an absolute great person
He will do whatever it takes to save people
He does not kill his enemies and has a moral code
And he is willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good
These 2 tracks are the epitome of Superman as a whole
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I am thankful for this whole thread. For me, there are many reasons why we need Superman. He wasn’t always my favorite character reading comics as a kid, but the older I get the more I appreciate him and his eight decades of stories. In the end, the fact that despite juggling planets and (hopefully) liberating Warworlds, he always puts his compassion and sense of hope first. He is the definition of a hero.
To paraphrase a comic book writer I once heard at a convention panel, the that we would feel seeing any super-hero in person is that same awe that other superheroes would feel when they saw Superman.
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This is a great thread, I love it! I feel like people who don’t really appreciate Superman just aren’t familiar with him, and just think he’s just a guy with a ton of powers, when actually he’d be a hero without any powers at all. That’s why I like him so much!
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I definitely think Superman would be a hero even if he didn’t have his powers. My brother is fond of pointing out that in Superman II, Clark Kent makes it back to the Fortress of Solitude and he does it without any powers whatsoever. Quite simply, he realized that with General Zod terrorizing Metropolis, he had to do something about it.
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Agreed, especially for part 2, as its one of my favorites from the movie and the soundtrack.
“Fly, son. Its time.”
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Ikr! Junkie XL is the goat
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The world deserves anti-heroes like Black Adam because some problems require champions who are willing to kill to save others. It’s a dilemma as when is it enough to keep peace to the world.
So the world needs a hero who people can aspire to be or look up to like Superman.
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