HeroViews #3: Superman

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s your face! (Just joking, it’s Superman.) But seriously, I love this guy. He was pretty much the first superhero, which gives him a special place in our seriously nerdy hearts. He is pretty much invincible, with his only weakness being Kryptonite . . . which is found abnormally often, considering it is not native to Earth. He has recently lost some powers (specifically, hovering) that made him a little too OP. But now, comics!

ALL STAR SUPERMAN

This comic is about Superman surprising Lois Lane for her birthday. He develops a serum that gives her Superman’s powers for 24 hours. She becomes Superwoman and flies around with Superman, doing Superman-y things. At one point, they tangle with this pharaoh dude, of whose name I have no recollection. [Ed. Note – Ultra-Sphinx.] Superman solves this awesome riddle and all this other cool stuff. This comic is not groundbreaking or enlightening in any way; it’s simply entertaining.

SUPERMAN/BATMAN: PUBLIC ENEMIES

Oh! Hello again! You remember this one, hopefully. This comic has a great Batman element, but the Superman element is fantastic. He has always been the one in charge, but he concedes to Batman’s evidently superior intellect. It is amazing to see this realization in Superman as he admits that someone is better than him. As they charge through a series of corrupt Justice League members, notably Hawkman and Captain Marvel, they grow closer than they ever were before. The final battle is awesome. Just saying.

SUPERMAN: BRAINIAC

This just revolutionized Superman comics forever. Brainiac, from the planet Colu, has intelligence and mental capacity that cannot be imagined on Earth. He collects shrunken cities to study their cultural habits and languages. This separates people from their families and friends and devastates their communities. Superman sets out to stop this when he realizes that Brainiac has a new target: Metropolis. As you may have already concluded, this is a slight issue. After [CENSORED], Superman learns that not everything has a perfect clean-cut ending. This is really tough on him. I mean seriously, How would you like it if [CENSORED]. This comic is emotionally jarring. I actually almost cried. If you know me, you know that I don’t cry.

THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN

Oh man, this wrecked me. Seriously, this comic was harsh. Aidan Hood lent me this, so ask him where to get it. Superman finds an even match to his awesome power: DOOMSDAY. He is also from Krypton, so he and Superman have similar abilities. Back on Krypton, Doomsday was from a race of monsters that were known for killing people. When he got to earth, he began rampaging. Like, really rampaging. He took countless lives from areas surrounding Metropolis, devastating all who were in his path. This comic was really scary because Superman only managed to hurt him a couple minutes before his death. I don’t know how he managed it (that means I don’t remember), but Superman killed Doomsday before dying of exhaustion and blood loss. This is a seriously jarring comic, so watch out.