Reasons Superman Is, In Fact, The Most Compelling Superhero Ever Created

There’s this pervasive notion that Superman is the most uninteresting character in comic books. The argument is that because of his near invulnerability and innate goodness, there’s just nothing interesting about him. That's why it's impossible to make a good Superman movie. To counter: was it uninteresting when Superman ripped a dude’s arm off?

In reality, there are a multitude of interesting things about Superman. How could there not be? The guy has been around for 80 years! As such, Superman transcends comics. He is an integral part of American cultural history. After all, are comic books not the American mythology? Supes is the top of the heap. He is Zeus. He is Odin. He is the alpha. Simply put, Superman is the best.

Not only will this list offer you reasons Superman is not boring, but it will teach you a thing or two you almost certainly did not know about the Man of Steel. In fact, given his rich history, there's a pretty convincing case for why Superman is the greatest hero of all time.

In 2012, The Curse of Superman straight-up attacked the corporatization of Superman. It was critical of the mechanism by which his stories had become diluted for the sake of broad appeal and increased sales. The villain of the story is essentially an evil corporation that monetized the very idea of Superman. This story really highlights the diversity of Superman. He's become so many things to so many people, writers and artists can use him to tell any kind of story they want. Even ones about the dangers of capitalism.   

Writers Grant Morrisson and Gene Ha didn't lay the blame solely at the feet of the industry, but on the fans as well – basically blaming all parties for draining the substance from the character for the sake of colorful action and hollow battles. So, really, shame on all of us. We killed Superman. How do we sleep at night?!

Given that he's been around longer than all other heroes, Superman's mythos is the most expansive. Not only does his longevity deserve credit, but his very origin among the stars has become the basis for the rich tapestry that is Superman's universe. Krypton, for example, in many ways reflects (and is inspired by) our own ancient mythology. Their sun is called Rao and worshipped as a god, derived from the Egyptian god of the sun Ra. Though it's clearly derivative, mythology tends to be that way in our world as well –virtually every Roman god was based on a pre-existing Greek deity. The point is, the mythology is no less rich for that.

Beyond gods, Superman's orbit includes fascinating, multi-layered characters like Supergirl, General Zod, and Lex Luthor. The web of lore woven around the focal point of Superman is both expansive and dynamic.

In 1996, DC created a free comic book for war-torn countries known to struggle with active land mines. It was called Superman: Deadly Legacy, and tried to educate children on how to spot (and stay away from) mined areas. See, Superman is such a powerful symbol, so culturally pervasive that he can carry out real world change. If even one Bosnian child was saved by the Man of Steel, he would have saved more lives in our world than 99% of comic book characters. That kind of influence over flesh-and-blood human beings alone makes Superman one of the most compelling comic book heroes of all time. 

In 1985, DC fans were given one of the best Superman stories of all time, called For the Man Who Has Everything. In this standalone tale, Superman finds himself under the influence of an alien plant, the Black Mercy, which causes the Man of Steel to hallucinate, giving him the illusion of what his heart truly desires most: a normal life on Krypton. His deepest desire is not to be a savior, but to live as a normal Kryptonian with a family.

Superman, however, is so innately heroic he's able to pull himself out of the trance, recognizing his responsibility to humanity and walking away from the dream life he so desperately longs for. It's insanely tragic. Only Superman's shoulders can bear this megalithic burden. His first priority is duty, not desire. He's basically a Bizarro Kardashian. 

Superman's inherent goodness is a recurring theme in all of his tales. While it is often attributed to his upbringing, there's one particular story that proves his purity comes from within, and that's Superman: Speeding Bullets. 

Speeding Bullets is an Elseworlds tale, in which Kal-El's origin was re-imagined to mimic Bruce Wayne's. His ship was found by the Waynes, and they raised him as their own. However, they still lost their lives to Joe Chill, an event that awakened Kal-El's powers and inspired him to take up the mantle of Batman. Yet he was not plagued by darkness like Bruce Wayne. Instead, he became a symbol of hope and light, proving that Superman is inherently a bastion of purity, no matter the circumstances of his upbringing.

Kal-El is a man of science, and as such, he collects and protects rare and important artifacts and animals. He's like Indiana Jones, but good at his job. Some of his trophies include weapons used against him and his fellow League members by villains, like Brainiac's shrinking gun, and he also houses extraterrestrial beings in need of conservation. 

He has a zoo containing alien animals saved from the Preserver's ship (basically the Collector of the DC Universe), and he dedicates a lot of his time and resources to keeping them happy and healthy. Superman is a very intelligent and thoughtful person, and his menagerie is a reflection of that.

Since the introduction of Kryptonite many decades ago to offset Superman's invulnerability, various types of the Kryptonian rock have made their way into the canon. Perhaps the most preposterous was Pink Kryptonite introduced in the (thankfully) alternate timeline of Supergirl (Vol. 4) No. 79. Pink Kryptonite turned Superman gay, evidenced by his subsequent flirtation with Jimmy Olsen. That's just objectively pretty interesting. The symbol of American masculinity forced to confront the fact that sexuality is a spectrum? Fascinating. 

The Flash styles himself "the fastest man alive," and to defend his title he and Superman had a friendly competition. In The Race Between Superman and Flash: Superman #199, the heroes hold a race for charity (because Superman is awesome) that results in a tie. Now, there are some shenanigans during the race, so the integrity of the race could be questioned, but it does end in a tie. 

As it serves as the only direct comparisons of their speeds, we must accept the results as they are. Even if you feel like one of them should have won. And the current state of affairs are an unmitigated disaster, due to that one not winning. And most people thought that that one should have probably won. Good thing nothing like that could ever happen in our universe. 

Superman is one of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe. As such, he could be a hero who revels in the masses fawning over him, but he does not want that and does not strive for that. What he wants to do is to inspire hope in humanity, show them that they have the inherent power and goodness to stand against evil. Super powers aren't required to be a hero. This ideal is perhaps best represented in 2001's What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way? Action Comics #775. It's just another example of the true heroism represented by Superman; a reminder that some old-fashioned values do still have... value.

This is a pretty wild and complex story, made all the more fascinating by the fact the original Superman creators were Jewish. In fact, Kal-El roughly translates from Hebrew as "Voice of God." In the '40s, there was a serialized radio program entitled The Adventures of Superman. The most notable of his adventures over the airwaves was the 16-part story called "Clan of the Fiery Cross" in which he took on the Klu Klux Klan. 

Real-life activist Stetson Kennedy infiltrated the KKK and passed information about them along to the producers of Superman's radio show, who in turn used their medium to make the public aware of the actual activities of the Klan. Historians believe it affected the Klan's recruitment, as Kennedy exposed how incompetent and childish the members of the Klan really were. Take that, evildoers!