A poll for SUPERMAN fans

Cafe Society
1

No reason; I’m just killing time between meetings. Six questions, with multiple choice answers:

  1. How many characters in the DC Universe should know that Clark Kent is Superman? (Ignoring mystical and presumably omniscient characters like the Phantom Stranger)
    (a) Nobody but Superman himself.
    (b) Immedate family.
    © Immediate family, Batman, & Wonder Woman
    (d) Immediate family, Bats & Wondy, and any active Justice Leaguer
    (e) Immediate family Bats & Wondy, and any Justice Leaguer, active or otherwise
    (f) Everybody. Secret identities are incompatible with standing for truth & justice.

  2. What should Superman’s relationship with Lois be?
    (a) Married, as per the current status quo
    (b) Unmarried but dating pretty much exclusively, and she knows his secret
    © Unmarried but dating exclusively, and she doesn’t know the secret
    (d) Unmarried, attracted to one another, but not dating, as Martha & Jon’s boy has some serious intimacy issues
    (e) Wonder Woman is going to smack Lois into next week if she continues making goo-goo eyes at the Amazon’s boyfriend
    (f) Other

  3. One Sunday afternoon, every living Kryptonian decides to go slumming and travel by normal human means. An appropriate vehicle for this excursion is…
    (a) a unicyle. The whole “Last Son of Krypton” thing ain’t just marketing. If there is a Supergirl, she’s from Daxam or someplace like that.
    (b) a convertible two-seater. Krypto’s sitting in the passenger seat.
    © a tandem bicycle; Supergirl is Kal’s cousin, and Krypto can run alongside.
    (d) a cruise ship. There’s a whole lotta Kandorians, after all.

  4. What should Superman’s relationship with the Justice League be?
    (a) He knows them socially but isn’t really a member–more an ally. He’s Earth’s mightiest hero by a good long shot, and frankly doesn’t need help from mortals all that often. When the government is faced with a crisis, the question is “Do we ask for Superman OR the League?”
    (b) He’s a reserve member and is faintly resented by many of the others, as whenever he shows up with them in public, the media reports it as “Superman and the Justice League.”
    © He’s a frequent member and is liked by the others, but in no way central either in their eyes or the public’s.
    (d) Founding member, mainstay, and both de jure and de facto leader.
    (e) Other

  5. How many other characters should be on Superman’s power level?
    (a) A few of villains, but no regularly occurring hero. Though some heroes match or beat him in one specific aspect (Wondy’s almost as strong, Flash is a hair faster, Lantern & Manhunter are both more versatile) no ohter hero brings everything to the plate that he does.
    (b) Quite a few heroes. He’s not Superman because of his powers; it’s his spirit and persnoality.

  6. What should Superman’s memories of Krypton be?
    (a) What memories? He was born on Earth, as the spaceship that brought him here was carrying his incubation chamber.
    (b) A few, but only of his mother and father. He was about 3 years old when the planet exploded, and occasionally snippets of recollection resurface. The biggest one is of them putting him in the rocket and sending him off, and though he understands why intellectually, the little kid in him still feels like Hansel without Gretel.
    © Quite a few. He was about 3 when the planet exploded, and between his own powers and recovered kryptonian tech, he has reconstructed many more. Probably more than is healthy, in fact, as he is sometimes obssessed with preventing Earth from dooming itself the way his homeworld did.
    (d) Other.

2
  1. How many characters in the DC Universe should know that Clark Kent is Superman? (Ignoring mystical and presumably omniscient characters like the Phantom Stranger)
    (a) Nobody but Superman himself.

*What immediate family? I don’t think he should have any; he’ll always favor them over everyone else. Sorry, Superman but them’s the breaks. Either get off our planet or plan to be lonely. Harsh I know.
Oh, casual sex is fine, though, provided they know what’s up. *

  1. What should Superman’s relationship with Lois be?
    (e) Wonder Woman is going to smack Lois into next week if she continues making goo-goo eyes at the Amazon’s boyfriend

*And oh how I wish she would. That would be the best match, IMO. *

  1. One Sunday afternoon, every living Kryptonian decides to go slumming and travel by normal human means. An appropriate vehicle for this excursion is…
    (d) a cruise ship. There’s a whole lotta Kandorians, after all.

  2. What should Superman’s relationship with the Justice League be?
    (b) He’s a reserve member and is faintly resented by many of the others, as whenever he shows up with them in public, the media reports it as “Superman and the Justice League.”

  3. How many other characters should be on Superman’s power level?
    (a) A few of villains, but no regularly occurring hero. Though some heroes match or beat him in one specific aspect (Wondy’s almost as strong, Flash is a hair faster, Lantern & Manhunter are both more versatile) no ohter hero brings everything to the plate that he does.

  4. What should Superman’s memories of Krypton be?
    (a) What memories? He was born on Earth, as the spaceship that brought him here was carrying his incubation chamber.

3

You know, when I posted this, I knew that, if no one else responded, you would reply with a desire to see Lois gob-smacked. :slight_smile:

4
  1. How many characters in the DC Universe should know that Clark Kent is Superman? (Ignoring mystical and presumably omniscient characters like the Phantom Stranger)

©-(d)

While I like the idea of his inner circle being limited, I remember an exchange from DC Comics Presents #30 from the early eighties which featured Superman teaming up with Black Canary.

BC: …Superman, or should I call you Kal?
Superman: I’d rather it be Clark.

A casual throwaway bit, but it helped to humanize Superman quite nicely.

  1. What should Superman’s relationship with Lois be?
    (a)

The whole “Lois can’t figure it out” bit was exhausted decades ago.

  1. One Sunday afternoon, every living Kryptonian decides to go slumming and travel by normal human means. An appropriate vehicle for this excursion is…
    (b)

A man and his dog… who needs more?

  1. What should Superman’s relationship with the Justice League be?
    (a)

Though I really really really like the Bruce Timm cartoons, I got tired of Superman getting taken out in the first ten seconds by some kind of energy beam so Batman could eventually save the day, and all so Superman wouldn’t just wrap up the problem by himself.

  1. How many other characters should be on Superman’s power level?

(a)

And in fact, I’d like to see stories where characters that are considered big fish in their small ponds get eaten by the super-whale when he comes to town. Bane charges at Batman, but Superman casually steps between then and smacks down Bane in about a microsecond, that sort of thing.

  1. What should Superman’s memories of Krypton be?

    ©

I liked many of the “World of Krypton” stories.

5

Hee. I didn’t realize my hate of Lois was so well-known.

6

  1. C. Batman and WW know his sekret identity, no one else.

  2. D. Superman doesn’t “date”, for chrissakes.

  3. A. What part of “last son of Krypton” didn’t you understand?

  4. B. Superman is part of the Justice League, that’s canon, but if he’s always around what the heck is everyone else supposed to do? This Tom the Dancing Bug illustrates the problem perfectly: http://archive.salon.com/comics/boll/2004/03/04/boll/index1.html

  5. A. Superman is Earth’s mightiest mortal. A top notch green lantern or J’onn might give him some trouble, but nobody can go toe-to-toe with Superman.

  6. A/B. He wasn’t “born” on Earth, but he wasn’t three years old either. He was a baby, not a toddler. He has no memories of Krypton, barring time travel and suchlike.

7
  1. How many characters in the DC Universe should know that Clark Kent is Superman?

© Immediate family, Batman, & Wonder Woman
If you didn’t grow up with Superman, you know nothing, unless he revealed things to you back when there were only 3 supertypes. Lana Lang, however, should know.

  1. What should Superman’s relationship with Lois be?
    (d) Unmarried, attracted to one another, but not dating, as Martha & Jon’s boy has some serious intimacy issues
    (e) Wonder Woman is going to smack Lois into next week if she continues making goo-goo eyes at the Amazon’s boyfriend

Either of these. Supes would be waaaay more interesting if he were dating. And Lois is a pain in the butt. What does he see in her?

  1. One Sunday afternoon, every living Kryptonian decides to go slumming and travel by normal human means. An appropriate vehicle for this excursion is…

    (d) a cruise ship. There’s a whole lotta Kandorians, after all.
    A tiny cruise ship. How 'bout a row boat. Supes, krypto, Superman’s hot cousin and a bottle of Kandorians. They are still in the bottle.

  2. What should Superman’s relationship with the Justice League be?
    (a) He knows them socially but isn’t really a member–more an ally.

Superman is too overpowered to be in the JL.

  1. How many other characters should be on Superman’s power level?
    (a) A few of villains, but no regularly occurring hero.

  2. What should Superman’s memories of Krypton be?
    (a) What memories? He was born on Earth, as the spaceship that brought him here was carrying his incubation chamber.

More poignant, wondering what Krypton was REALLY like.
Wow, I just realized how old-school I am.

8

1: B. Well, Batman’s probably figured it out, too, but he shouldn’t know.
2: A. They’ve been a couple for ages; it wouldn’t make sense for them not to be married by now. And it’d be dishonest of Clark to marry her without letting her know.
3: A, or maybe B. If you really want to have Kandor, say it was Krypton’s first colony on their moon.
4: C. He already has plenty of de facto power; he doesn’t need an official position, too.
5: B, but that doesn’t mean I want to see other metahumans inflated to his level: Rather, I’d like to see his power toned down to be consistent with others. Omnipotence is boring.
6: B. Enough for nostalgia, but not so much that it’s actually a major part of his life experiences to date.

9

I’d take any of these options, as long as the story is top-notch and the art is excellent. I don’t get hung up on these things.

10

I guess I’m a superman fan, but I’m more familiar with the TV incarnations than the comics.

  1. © Immediate family, Batman, & Wonder Woman
    Neither too small nor too large, that seems to make sense.

  2. (a) Married, as per the current status quo

  3. (d) a cruise ship. There’s a whole lotta Kandorians, after all.

  4. © He’s a frequent member and is liked by the others, but in no way central either in their eyes or the public’s.

  5. (b) Quite a few heroes. He’s not Superman because of his powers; it’s his spirit and persnoality.

  6. (b) or © are both okay.

11
  1. How many characters in the DC Universe should know that Clark Kent is Superman?

© Immediate family, Batman, & Wonder Woman

  1. What should Superman’s relationship with Lois be?
    (a) Married, as per the current status quo
  2. One Sunday afternoon, every living Kryptonian decides to go slumming and travel by normal human means. An appropriate vehicle for this excursion is…

(b) a convertible two-seater. Krypto’s sitting in the passenger seat.

  1. What should Superman’s relationship with the Justice League be?

(d) Founding member, mainstay, and both de jure and de facto leader.
5. How many other characters should be on Superman’s power level?

(b) Quite a few heroes. He’s not Superman because of his powers; it’s his spirit and persnoality.

  1. What should Superman’s memories of Krypton be?

(b) A few, but only of his mother and father. He was about 3 years old when the planet exploded, and occasionally snippets of recollection resurface. The biggest one is of them putting him in the rocket and sending him off, and though he understands why intellectually, the little kid in him still feels like Hansel without Gretel.

Here’s my take: Superman’s alone, sole survivor of his planet. Raised with good solid Middle-American values, he’s found love and happiness with a big-city girl.

12

  1. (d) Immediate family, Bats & Wondy, and any active Justice Leaguer

  2. (d) Unmarried, attracted to one another, but not dating, as Martha & Jon’s boy has some serious intimacy issues (Man of Steel, Woman of Tissue and all that)

  3. (d) a cruise ship. There’s a whole lotta Kandorians, after all.

  4. (a) He knows them socially but isn’t really a member–more an ally. He’s Earth’s mightiest hero by a good long shot, and frankly doesn’t need help from mortals all that often. When the government is faced with a crisis, the question is “Do we ask for Superman OR the League?”

  5. (a) A few of villains, but no regularly occurring hero. Though some heroes match or beat him in one specific aspect (Wondy’s almost as strong, Flash is a hair faster, Lantern & Manhunter are both more versatile) no ohter hero brings everything to the plate that he does.

  6. (b) A few, but only of his mother and father. He was about 3 years old when the planet exploded, and occasionally snippets of recollection resurface. The biggest one is of them putting him in the rocket and sending him off, and though he understands why intellectually, the little kid in him still feels like Hansel without Gretel.

13
  1. How many characters in the DC Universe should know that Clark Kent is Superman? (Ignoring mystical and presumably omniscient characters like the Phantom Stranger)
    © Immediate family, Batman, & Wonder Woman
  • Batman SHOULD, but not because Superman told him. He should be able to figure it out on his own before Superman Tells him. Because honestly… GLASSES? BATMAN Should see through that crap.

  1. What should Superman’s relationship with Lois be?
    (a) Married, as per the current status quo

  2. One Sunday afternoon, every living Kryptonian decides to go slumming and travel by normal human means. An appropriate vehicle for this excursion is…
    © a tandem bicycle; Supergirl is Kal’s cousin, and Krypto can run alongside.

  3. What should Superman’s relationship with the Justice League be?
    (d) Founding member, mainstay, and both de jure and de facto leader.

  4. How many other characters should be on Superman’s power level?
    (a) A few of villains, but no regularly occurring hero. Though some heroes match or beat him in one specific aspect (Wondy’s almost as strong, Flash is a hair faster, Lantern & Manhunter are both more versatile) no ohter hero brings everything to the plate that he does.
    -Batman should be the only Superhero that could beat Superman, anyone else who’s a hero should lose or just barely tie.

  5. What should Superman’s memories of Krypton be?
    (b) A few, but only of his mother and father. He was about 3 years old when the planet exploded, and occasionally snippets of recollection resurface. The biggest one is of them putting him in the rocket and sending him off, and though he understands why intellectually, the little kid in him still feels like Hansel without Gretel.

14

Yup. Strap Kandor to the bike rack. Upright, please.

And Batman is the guy who plans ahead for the day he might have to take out the big bad alien, so when the time comes, he’s ready. Sneaky bastard.

15

I agree with you, but I have a question anyway: Why Wonder Woman?

My reasoning is that, of all the heroes, she truly is his best friend. He doesn’t entirely trust Batman, and, anyway, Bruce is very hard to be friends with; and the other heroes tend to be too intimidated by him (with the possible exceptions of Alan Scott & Jay Garrick, but I’d like them shipped off to Valhalla anyway). Diana, on the other hand, gets him in a way nobody else does.

Of course, I don’t see him having very many friends anyway. Diana, Lois, and Lana are about it.

Since I’m again between meetings, here’s a couple more questions:

  1. What should Superman’s stance on killing be?
    (a) He won’t kill any sentient being, not even to save the world. There’s always a better way.
    (b) He refuses to kill muggers and such, because, hey, he would have no legal recourse if he did. But he’s not an idiot; if he has to choose between killing a rogue Daxamite and seeing an innocent get toasted, out comes the lead.
    © In a Punisher-Superman teamup, Frank Castle at one point says, “Way to go, dude!”

  2. How much kryptonite is there on Earth, and where is it?
    (a) About one pound’s worth. It used to be in Metallo’s chest, but then Lex Luthor took it, and eventually Supes took most of that from Lex. He split it into chunks and gave half to Batman in case of mind-control.
    (b) Same as A, except he gave half to Wonder Woman, because, really, who trusts Batman?
    © They sometimes sell kryptonite jewelry at the Smallville state fair.
    (d) other.

  3. Speaking of Lex, what’s the deal between the two of them?
    (a) Mutual, pure, visceral hate on both sides. When they see one another it’s an immediate throw-down.
    (b) Mutual, pure, visceral hate, but only on Lex’s side. Clark remembers what it was like when they were kids and were best friends, and misses him. I mean, Lex is, after all, the only guy friend he’s ever had.
    © Detached adversity. Lex doesn’t hate Superman as a person; he sees superheroes in general and Kal in particular as an obstacle to the evolution of the human race. But he’s not going to be behind any plans that would endanger the Earth, because, well, that’s where Lex keeps his stuff, after all.
    (d) Other.

16

[quote=“Skald_the_Rhymer, post:1, topic:494979”]

No reason; I’m just killing time between meetings. Six questions, with multiple choice answers:

  1. How many characters in the DC Universe should know that Clark Kent is Superman? (Ignoring mystical and presumably omniscient characters like the Phantom Stranger)

    © Immediate family, Batman, & Wonder Woman

  2. What should Superman’s relationship with Lois be?
    (d) Unmarried, attracted to one another, but not dating, as Martha & Jon’s boy has some serious intimacy issues

  3. One Sunday afternoon, every living Kryptonian decides to go slumming and travel by normal human means. An appropriate vehicle for this excursion is…
    (a) a unicyle. The whole “Last Son of Krypton” thing ain’t just marketing. If there is a Supergirl, she’s from Daxam or someplace like that.

  4. What should Superman’s relationship with the Justice League be?

    (b) He’s a reserve member and is faintly resented by many of the others, as whenever he shows up with them in public, the media reports it as “Superman and the Justice League.”

  5. How many other characters should be on Superman’s power level?
    (b) Quite a few heroes. He’s not Superman because of his powers; it’s his spirit and persnoality.

  6. What should Superman’s memories of Krypton be?
    (a) What memories? He was born on Earth, as the spaceship that brought him here was carrying his incubation chamber.

17
  1. How many characters in the DC Universe should know that Clark Kent is Superman? (Ignoring mystical and presumably omniscient characters like the Phantom Stranger)
    (e) Immediate family Bats & Wondy, and any Justice Leaguer, active or otherwise

This - or, rather, anyone he’s served on the League with - the League need to trust each other, and that means knowing who each other are. This is ignoring that most versions of the League (and most other teams) eventually drift into being ‘family’ before too long.

  1. What should Superman’s relationship with Lois be?
    (a) Married, as per the current status quo

Retconning the marriage out would be a step backwards for both characters (YOU HEAR THAT, QUESADA?), and divorcing them would hard (though not impossible) to do within the bounds of the characters characters, and even if done well just won’t be as interesting as their marriage is.

  1. One Sunday afternoon, every living Kryptonian decides to go slumming and travel by normal human means. An appropriate vehicle for this excursion is…
    (d) a cruise ship. There’s a whole lotta Kandorians, after all.

‘Last Son of Krypton’ has been true for less than half the lifespan of the character…acting like it’s the core of him, or changing it makes him ‘less special’ is silly.

In any case, New Krypton is a good story.

  1. What should Superman’s relationship with the Justice League be?
    (e) Other

Founding member, and barring other responsibilities - or major conflict leading the League to refuse him membership - regular member, but not always the leader, or one third of the leader (the Trinity), though all situations are, of course possible.

  1. How many other characters should be on Superman’s power level?
    (b) Quite a few heroes. He’s not Superman because of his powers; it’s his spirit and persnoality.

Yo.

Or, rather, a variant on this - I see no particular upper or lower bound on the number, because of the second half of the sentence.

At the very least there need to be at least two heroes on par with him - Wonder Woman and Green Lantern (in practice, this ups it to a rather large number, since there are a whole lot of active Lanterns), but the presence of others of that level is not a problem.

  1. What should Superman’s memories of Krypton be?
    (d) Other.

Anywhere from ‘none’ to ‘vague infant memories of his family, the kinds of things a toddler would encounter, and the basics of the Kryptonian language’ - anything deeper than that should be learnt as an adult, when he’s able to research it himself.

He was, at most, 3 years old when sent to Earth - while he can be portrayed as having more extensive memories of that age than a normal person would because of his powers, but let’s not get silly about it.

18

Can you define “par”?

Though Superman is more powerful because he’s faster and more versatile, I’ve always thought that, if he were foolish enough to fight Wondy hand-to-hand – no flight, no heat vision, no lasso or other magic weapons – she’d win. It wouldn’t be a spanking, and she’d be hurting at the end of it, but she’s enormously more skilled in melee fighting.

19

I mean only power level - Wondie would punch his clock due to better skills, though their powers are on the same general level (though not identical on their shared powers). A fight between Superman and a Green Lantern would depend on too many variables (including WHICH Lantern) to call in the generic.

Going on…

  1. What should Superman’s stance on killing be?
    (b) He refuses to kill muggers and such, because, hey, he would have no legal recourse if he did. But he’s not an idiot; if he has to choose between killing a rogue Daxamite and seeing an innocent get toasted, out comes the lead.

He’ll always put an innocent above a psycho - especially since psychos who he’d be dealing with are a danger to a LOT more than one innocent at a time - BUT, only when all other possibilities have been exhausted (and with his powers, and the friends and allies he can call on, there are a LOT of non-lethal possibilities), and even then it’s not something he should do lightly.

  1. How much kryptonite is there on Earth, and where is it?
    (d) other.

An unknown amount - enough that there’s always some around when the writer wants to do a story with it, but relatively rare.

  1. Speaking of Lex, what’s the deal between the two of them?
    (d) Other.

One sided hate. I have no particular preference about Clark and Lex having been friends, but even without that (and even if they are, there’s no way Lex would have been his only real friend), real, sustained hate is not an emotion Clark is capable of harbouring. But Lex is pure hate, this ‘superheroes are holding us down’ stuff is simply his rationalization to make him the hero of his story.

20

  1. How many characters in the DC Universe should know that Clark Kent is Superman? (Ignoring mystical and presumably omniscient characters like the Phantom Stranger)
    (e)

  2. What should Superman’s relationship with Lois be?
    (a)

  3. One Sunday afternoon, every living Kryptonian decides to go slumming and travel by normal human means. An appropriate vehicle for this excursion is…
    (a)

  4. What should Superman’s relationship with the Justice League be?
    (d)

  5. How many other characters should be on Superman’s power level?
    (a)

  6. What should Superman’s memories of Krypton be?
    (a)