Lex Luthor was right, wasn't he? Superman really is evil.

Cafe Society
1

I don’t work for a comics shop and I only have a finite amount of spending cash per week, so I don’t claim to understand the apparently self-perpetuating Infinite Identity Countdown to World War 52 One Crisis Later that has hopelessly ensnarled every single DC title. However, I did notice that Earth-3 is evidently back in play. These days it seems that the Crime Syndicate’s home dimension (or, no; it’s the Crime Society, isn’t it? Wow, that’s not confusing at all. Anyway, Earth-3) features a Joker-analogue, the Jokester, and (logically enough) he is a vigilante hero there. This piqued my interest because offhand I don’t recall any previous Joker-incarnation who wasn’t a criminal sociopath to some degree. Given that every other universe familiar with the Joker is likely to regard him unkindly, I would hazard a guess that the Jokester isn’t likely to survive for very long in the current state of reality flux. At the very least he’s eventually going to run up against his prototype, and that surely won’t end well for him.

All of this is by way of introduction to my main point, however, which is this: it occurs to me that Earth-1’s Superman might well share the Jokester’s rather awkward situation. Most of the DC Earths boast a Superman-analogue of one sort or another, and the majority come across as either actively evil or else so thunderously incompetent that they might as well be. Most of these other Earths would probably consider the existence of a decent, genuinely heroic Superman as Earth-1’s signature oddity.

So far, the current DC multiverse has provided us with:

Earth-2: Golden Age Superman (easily manipulated into starting a war)

Earth-3: Crime Society Ultraman (evil)

Earth-4: Captain Atom (evil)

Earth-9: Tangent Superman (to be featured in the upcoming book Superman’s Reign. Yes, that doesn’t sound evil at all)

Earth-10: Nazi Superman (possibly evil)

Earth-15: Super-Zod (apparently not evil, but unable to save his Utopian reality from destruction, so chalk him up under “incompetent”)

Earth-22: Kingdom Come Superman (incompetent)

Earth-30: Commie Superman (establishes global totalitarian Stalinist regime)

Earth-31: probably Frank Miller’s Superman (incompetent)

Earth-40: Golden Age Super-Zod (evil)

Earth-50: several analogues, some of which are apparently not walking disasters; though the closest parallel seems to be Planetary Clark Kent (incompetent)

Antimatter Universe: THREE! Crime Syndicate Ultraman (evil), Cyborg Superman (evil), Superboy-Prime (evil)

That be a lot of evil Supermans. And even the non-evil ones often manage to facilitate evil through their inaction, slow-wittedness and/or easily manipulated nature. Frankly, the only thing keeping evil Supermen from totally dominating the multiverse is the fact that they are very nearly as incompetent as the non-evil ones.

The bottom line is this: Earth-1’s Superman is the anomaly. He’s practically the only one that a person in need can look to for reliable help. Objectively, it appears that Lex Luthor is correct in his overall assessment of Superman. When one considers the total multiverse, the odds seem to lean toward any given Earth’s incarnation of Superman being evil, or at the very least screwing up royally at the worst possible time. If Lex ever suspects himself of being the bad guy, all he has to do is look at the alternate realities that each new Crisis reveals. The transparently evil Sinestro Corps from the Antimatter Universe of Evil boasts two Supermen in its roster; how many Luthors made the cut?

Batman knows the score too. There’s a reason why the Earth-1 Batman is so twitchy; why he seems to spend more time plotting the deaths of his allies than fighting villains. Every day he’s waiting for the other shoe to drop-- waiting for his Earth’s Superman to go the way of all the rest. You never see any viruses specifically tailored to kill Luthor in the Batcave. Even Batman’s evil counterpart Owlman has a healthier relationship with Ultraman, because Owlman knows that Ultraman is evil already.

Superman probably freaks Batman out for another reason: Earth-1’s Superman stands out among his other incarnations in that he is uniquely decent and effective. But if Batman has spent any time learning about those other Earths, he has surely noticed one other constant: the Batmen of other Earths are all surprisingly decent and effective. (The Crime Syndicate’s Owlman might be exempt from this effect because he’s from the Mirror Universe, and possibly also because he’s not truly a version of Bruce Wayne, but his brother.)

Batman’s keen mind will have no doubt picked up on this pattern, and so he wonders… “If Superman is a malignant spaz on every other Earth, but a genuine hero on this one… and the Batman is a stalwart, moral character on every other Earth… what does that suggest about me? Am I the one that’s the idiot? Dear god, my arch-enemy is a clown! And he won’t even stay locked up! What the hell have I been doing with my life?” Fortunately he probably knows some Tibetan mental discipline to keep himself from losing too much sleep over it.

In summary: if you suddenly find yourself transported into a horribly dangerous situation on a random Earth of the DC multiverse, think twice before calling your neighborhood Superman for help. There’s about a 1-in-52 chance that he won’t make things even worse.

2

I didn’t read your whole post yet, but I completely agree with your title. Lex Luthor is absolutely correct and (IMNSHO) the hero of the story. Someday, somehow, he will purge our planet from that meddling alien.

(No. There is no sarcasm in the above. I never liked Superman. I have always wanted Lex to win.)

3

For the last 69 years or so the main comic has featured a decent, competent Superman. It isn’t suprising that when asked to come up with an alternate Superman the writers immediately think of an evil or incompetent one? Personally I’d like to see more of the Justice Lords.

4

Your agonizer, Mr. Terrifel. Your agonizer, please.

5

It’s not that Superman is evil, it’s that Superman is a dick.

6

I agree that the Batman of the main DC Universe is pretty much an idiot. He’s also, IMHO, guilty of thousands of negligent homicides because of his refusal to kill the Joker.

7

Look, I don’t know anything about “DC Earths” or “Superman-analogues.” All I know is, Superman never made any money saving the world from Solomon Grundy. And sometimes I despair the world will never see another man like him.

8

Is Captain Atom evil now? It figures – all I have to do is like a character and they get killed, depowered, or defamed. Bonus points if they were JLI members.

Don’t forget the Wildstorm Universe’s several Superman analogues: Majestic, Apollo, the High (specifically a Golden Age Superman analogue), and the baby killed by William Leather in Planetary #10, among others.

9

For some reason the baby one really pissed me off.

Atom’s become Monarch, like they originally intended before that Hawk and Dove crap, and now he’s making all the analogues fight each other to build an army, as I understand it. So Nazi Superman vs. Crime Syndicate Superman.

I’ll add one to your list. I just finished reading Gladiator by Philip Wylie, and while that analogue might not have been evil, he wouldn’t have been good as far as the Earth-1 Superman. Lex Luthor? Ol’ Hugo would pop his head like a zit and not cry too much.

10

Lex Luthor is the science award nerd in high school, envious that that dumb jock who captains the football team gets all the girls. What drives Luthor crazy is that Superman seems to be living proof that brute force IS what always wins.

11

I know this is a little bit of a hijack, but I’ve always felt it would be ridiculously easy for Lex Luther to kill Superman if he really wanted. Y’know how whenever Superman flies in to save a rape victim or helpless old shopkeeper or whatever, he makes a point of standing there like a smug bastard with his arms folded as the criminals bullets bounce off his monster pecs, right? Well, all Lex Luther has to do is get a nice big chunk of Kryptonite, fashion some bullets from it, give them to one of his top men, and have him stage a mugging or armed robbery or something. The victim would be all like “Superman, HEEEEELLP!!”, and Superman would fly in and stand in front of Luther’s guy with that trademark shiteating grin on his face, daring him to pop off a few rounds before he’s dragged off to jail. But instead of normal bullets, the guy would let rip with souped up Kryptonite bullets disguised to look like ordinary ammo. BLAM! One dead Superdick.

Can anyone see a flaw in that plan?

12

While Kryptonite weakens Superman, it doesn’t automatically translate into “Kryptonite bullets will penetrate Superman’s skin.” So the slugs would likely still bounce off him and, in his weakened state, Superman would still likely be able to move out of range.

13

It sounds like a potentially workable plan in theory. However, there are a lot of variables. Superman can generally sense the radiation of unshielded Kryptonite from a distance, so he might very well be able to detect such a trap beforehand. Also, Superman’s vulnerability to Kryptonite varies depending on how much solar energy he’s been absorbing. This effect was depicted in the recent film Superman Returns, when Superman was weakened enough by artificial Kryptonite for Luthor’s goons to beat the crap out of him, at which point Luthor was able to inflict a potentially fatal wound using a shiv made of meteoric Kryptonite. Later, however, Superman absorbed enough sunlight to heave an entire mountain’s-worth of artificial Kryptonite into orbit.

The real danger is the chance that Superman might be weakened enough from Kryptonite bullets to sustain a concussion when the goon invariably throws the empty gun at him. There’s a good reason why he always ducks.

14

Jesus in a cape. Is Jesus evil?

15

Staged crime to lure Superman.

With his super hearing can he detect if someone is lying?

16

He’d feel the kryptonite before the crook fired and dodge it, if he couldn’t melt the gun in the thug’s hand. Also, it’s been done. Someone drags him off to a hospital.

As for the OP, the number of people on New Earth that know about the existence of the current multiverse can be counted on one hand. And Luthor’s not one of them. Nor is Batman. Nor is Superman, for that matter.

Luthor’s problem with Superman is that Luthor is a bully. His superior intellect isolates him from humanity, and he’s used his advantages to do nothing but increase his status at the expense of others. Luthor simply cannot believe that someone similarly placed above the rest of the human species would act in an entirely altruistic manner.

But that’s exactly what Superman is all about.

17

To the best of my knowledge Supe’s super-senses have never functioned as a lie detector.

Marvel’s Daredevil, OTOH, has used his enhanced senses as a lie detector based on such factors as elevated heart rate equalling lying. On at least one occasion DD’s senses were fooled because of a pacemaker.

18

But they would still recall the previous multiverse, wouldn’t they? Then they’d recall that the Superman who suddenly appeared in Infinite Crisis and touched off a hugely destructive war was from the original Earth-Two? They might be aware that Superboy-Prime is the Superman-analogue from yet another dimension? Earth-Three’s Ultraman would be another evil Superman-analogue that they’d recall from Pre-Crisis continuity.

(And though the Cyborg Superman is technically more of an impersonator than an alternate, he fooled a lot of people into believing he was the real thing when he first appeared. And now he’s wearing a variant cape and shield motif again.)

Given all the damage known to have been caused by versions of Superman even in the current continuity, doesn’t it make sense for prudent citizens of Earth-1 to assume that the single remaining ‘good’ one is likely to do a 180 and join the others? The rule of thumb seems to be that if you dress like Superman, and have powers like Superman, sooner or later you’re going to be responsible for a massive amount of suffering. It may not have always been that way; but it certainly seems to be the way the wind is blowing these days.

How many wars and disasters have to be touched off by guys wearing red capes and S-shields before people start listening to what Luthor has been saying all along? Even if his allegations have no direct evidence to back them up, that still doesn’t mean he’s wrong! Even a stopped clock is right twice a day! Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you!

19

A is A.

Hurm.

20

From a reality standpoint, furryman nailed it. Writers tend to create bad Supermen because they’re contrasting these characters to the main Superman or because bad characters offer more dramatic or comedic possibilities.

And now let’s pretend Superman isn’t a fictional character.

I think that most Supermen are going to be bad for a combination of reasons. With his powers and alien origin, there’s no good reason for Superman to feel a connection with humanity. He could easily decide that the problems of mankind are no more his concern than the problems of chimpanzees or dolphins or termites. Or he could decide that he’s not going to bother with petty problems and tell us to only call him if a giant meteorite is going to blow up the planet and not bother him about bank robbers or terrorists.

Or maybe absolute power would corrupt him absolutely and he’d declare himself our God. Or maybe he’d figure with great powers comes great responsibility and he’d take over for our own good. Either way, freedom is history.

As for incompetence, why would a Superman bother learning? Everything comes easy to him. Most people become great by overcoming adversity - but he would never experience any obstacle that would slow him down for more than a second or two.