Originally posted by ragesRemorseNo, that would be Superman. He pulls powers out of his ass for the plot, this was done most often by Pre-Crisis Supes.
Spiderman is as generic as they come too. Goku shares essentially the same persona as Superman. Your talking about powers coming out the bum, THATS GOKU.
Originally posted by apoc001
True, but before then there were tales of superpowered heroes, such as Heracles, Gilgamesh, and other mythological figures. Even the Shadow had super powers. So Superman may not be the original superhero, but he's the first super-powered hero to appear in comic books. That's something, I guess. He also defined the "truth, justice, and the American way" attitude of superheroes and set the pants-over-tights trend.
I always think of the Phantom when people say Superman was the FIRST comic super-hero. I guess the Phantom is just a human, more like a Batman, but there were definitely other comic characters with powers and/or secret identities before Superman - Mandrake, the Clock, Popeye etc.
And as you say, there were many super-powered characters going back in history - super-strong people, people with the power of flight, mental powers, invulnerable people etc., and their fictional adventures are still famous thousands of years later.
There are other aspects of Superman that didn't originate with him but which are now strongly associated with him (and even mistakenly thought to have originated with him).
In fact wasn't Superman's power of flight just copied from the Captain Marvel character?
Even Superman's name came from Shaw's "Man and Superman", in turn derived from Nietzsche's Ubermensch, and was a well-known term at the time Superman debuted.
But I guess the thing about Supes is he brought it all together for a modern audience, in a inspirational package, and at just the right time to strike a chord. He may not be as popular as he was (that last movie sure didn't help) but I can't imagine any other comic hero being as well-known or iconic.
Originally posted by basilisk
I always think of the Phantom when people say Superman was the FIRST comic super-hero.
And I always think of Superman when I picture a comic book superhero, period.
It's like if you look up superhero in the dictionary you'd see a picture of Superman flying with one arm extended.
Yeah why not make him god. He can pretty much do anything and yet people love him for that. What happened to the guys who didn't have it all and still came out on top. Superman with all his power, just seems cheap. Oh yes kryptonite can stop him but how often does someone have that in their pocket. It's like let make a superhero that its great at everything with no weakness except that thing that is hard to find and almost no one has, like whats the fun in that? If he is as great as everyone say he is why not just beat any enemy with a speedblitz of insane hv, i guess its to have womething to write about.
Supes is known every where, so for him to be consider as a symbol it means there are people out there (not just in America) but everywhere people like him. he is worshipped and for people to worship they really must like him, LOVE him. don't get me wrong spidey is cool but Supes is bigger and better and more liked.
you guys talk about polls and things like that but the olny people who do those polls are people who have acess to the internet or whatever and the only people who see it my be people who like spider man but what about the people who don't see it! and besides anybody can make up polls and the statictis for them on the spot! 🙄
Superman is iconic, he is Super!! But I don't think you can have an ultimate superhero! 😛
Originally posted by Lord Feron
Yeah why not make him god. He can pretty much do anything and yet people love him for that.
no, he can't.
What happened to the guys who didn't have it all and still came out on top. Superman with all his power, just seems cheap. Oh yes kryptonite can stop him but how often does someone have that in their pocket. It's like let make a superhero that its great at everything with no weakness except that thing that is hard to find and almost no one has, like whats the fun in that?
the last three issues of superman batman have been purely about superman trying to get rid of the world's stash of kryptonite, and realising that there is FAR more on the planet than even he could have guessed.
lex has a stockpile, metallo has like 5 different kinds in his body... and a FAT GUY IN A DINER had a kryptonite rifle...
as far as other weaknesses go:
Red sunlight.
Magic.
The people around him.
If he is as great as everyone say he is why not just beat any enemy with a speedblitz of insane hv, i guess its to have womething to write about.
its called drawing out the story, and its the same thing they do with plenty of other characters...
Re: Is Superman the ultimate Superhero?
Originally posted by FistOfThe North
I think he is..I Know he is.
Superman is against Jesus Christ.
Jesus had immortal power like Superman, but he lived, breathed, and ate like a man when he lived among us, he felt everything the way we did, but on top of that, he resisted temptation, the temptation to strike back when he was hit, the temptation to treat other's how they treated him.
Superman has shown us again and again that he has little patience for those criminals who persecute him, this is due to him living the way he does. As Clark Kent he can escape his greed and self ritousness, and living high and mighty, but can he? He has the power to make himself man, to banish himself from this Earth, or use his father's machines to make him mortal, but he doesn't.
Why? Here's the sad thing, because he believes that the world will never be safe without him, as if they will be 100% perfect with him... Here's some news Man of Steel, nothing is perfect, and things are more beautiful that way.
The greatest hero ever? More like the worst...
Re: Re: Is Superman the ultimate Superhero?
Originally posted by Combat_Guru
Superman is against Jesus Christ.Jesus had immortal power like Superman, but he lived, breathed, and ate like a man when he lived among us, he felt everything the way we did, but on top of that, he resisted temptation, the temptation to strike back when he was hit, the temptation to treat other's how they treated him.
Superman has shown us again and again that he has little patience for those criminals who persecute him, this is due to him living the way he does. As Clark Kent he can escape his greed and self ritousness, and living high and mighty, but can he? He has the power to make himself man, to banish himself from this Earth, or use his father's machines to make him mortal, but he doesn't.
Why? Here's the sad thing, because he believes that the world will never be safe without him, as if they will be 100% perfect with him... Here's some news Man of Steel, nothing is perfect, and things are more beautiful that way.
The greatest hero ever? More like the worst...
Originally posted by Mindship
When was the last time you heard..."This is a job for Thor/Batman/Spiderman/SilverSurfer/Flash/Hulk/Wolverine/Storm/
WonderWoman/GreenLantern/etc etc etc etc etc etc etc.....?"Nada zip zero goose eggs nyet lo etc etc etc etc
Only one name fits the bill...only one name ever will fit the bill.
Don't mess with the "S"
yeah I agree.supes has the best morals so yeah he is.