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I should finally write that essay on Superman & Batman's antithetical relationships to those in power.
The short version: Batman gets coffee with the Commissioner of Police every New Year's. The cops in Metropolis IMMEDIATELY formed a Superman Murder Department "Just In Case."
The short version: Batman gets coffee with the Commissioner of Police every New Year's. The cops in Metropolis IMMEDIATELY formed a Superman Murder Department "Just In Case."
Superman's relationships with established power structure, especially when compared to his pop culture reputation as a boy scout, and ESPECIALLY when paired with Batman's relationships to the same, is fascinating to me, and gets at something essential to the character.
People in power pretty consistently HATE Superman.
The MCPD have a department devoted to "If we need to kill Superman..."
There are how many giant "let's build a Doomsday" labs out there.
And then you've got military types like Eiling, and obvs big business types like Luthor.
The MCPD have a department devoted to "If we need to kill Superman..."
There are how many giant "let's build a Doomsday" labs out there.
And then you've got military types like Eiling, and obvs big business types like Luthor.
It's a long-running thread of the character which, in the spirit of 70+ years of stories, gets forgotten or miswritten at times (coughFrankMillercoughcough), but by and large, Superman is NOT loved by people in positions of power.
They almost ALWAYS perceive him as a threat.
They almost ALWAYS perceive him as a threat.
Compare that with Batman, for whom trust (or at least a willingness to work together) is considered part of what makes you a "Good Cop" in Gotham.
Cops, people in power, might not LIKE Batman, but, if you're not corrupt, you'll light the Bat-Signal when the Joker shows up.
Cops, people in power, might not LIKE Batman, but, if you're not corrupt, you'll light the Bat-Signal when the Joker shows up.
This, I'd argue, as it relates to Big Blue, goes back to his earliest appearances, and his role as a power fantasy for Siegel & Shuster, two working-class Jewish kids living in Cleveland in 1938.
Superman's first appearance is beating up a crooked landlord, after all.
Superman's first appearance is beating up a crooked landlord, after all.
Superman is, back to his earliest appearances, a power fantasy for people who have been failed by people in power. He is a man of the people, and with that comes an inherent distrust of the people who could provide help you and choose not to.
It's why I love him as a character.
It's why I love him as a character.
I tweeted this as a joke but it's true. Superman's lifeblood, his core appeal, his power fantasy, is the same of Dusty Rhodes, son of a plumber, the American Dream.
Ric Flair and Lex Luthor could both help people. They choose to fly jets instead. https://twitter.com/PartyOfOnePod/status/1311060526735208448
Ric Flair and Lex Luthor could both help people. They choose to fly jets instead. https://twitter.com/PartyOfOnePod/status/1311060526735208448
The idea of "I'm going to help people because I can, because I have gifts that could help people, and because there are people who COULD do this and choose not to," is the core appeal of Superman, and of Dusty Rhodes and it's most folk hero shit on the planet.
I love it so much.
I love it so much.
You also see this directly, and in a lot of ways more explicitly, in Spider-Man, who, I'd argue, despite the vast differences in character, is the purest ideological superhero successor to Superman for this exact reason.
Spider-Man is a menace.
Spider-Man is a menace.
And yet (and this is true for Spider-Man, Superman, and Dusty Rhodes), in every one of these cases, no matter how much people in power paint them w/distrust... ordinary people know what's up.
You ask someone on the street? Spidey, Supes, and Dusty are one of us. They're alright.
You ask someone on the street? Spidey, Supes, and Dusty are one of us. They're alright.
THAT'S the core appeal of "Anyone Can Wear the Mask" as a quote. It's saying "look, this guy can fly, this guy can wrestle 60 minutes in the ring, this guy spins webs... but any one of us could help people. It's that they choose to do so that matters." https://twitter.com/PartyOfOnePod/status/1345392011059339264
This is, quietly, my favorite part of Anyone Can Wear the Mask, is making all of this explicit in the text.
That you're doing this, not in service of corrupt institutions, but in spite of them. Because they're not helping people, you HAVE to. And that makes you enemies.
That you're doing this, not in service of corrupt institutions, but in spite of them. Because they're not helping people, you HAVE to. And that makes you enemies.
Anyway, there is my essay on Superman's relationship to people in power.
If you enjoyed it, you should check out the #TTRPG I wrote. I think it's a pretty good Superman story. https://jeffstormer.itch.io/mask
If you enjoyed it, you should check out the #TTRPG I wrote. I think it's a pretty good Superman story. https://jeffstormer.itch.io/mask
