[Hodar]

Pretty bad when Superman is "uncool".

Not at all. Superman is a 'God'. Gravity has no effect upon him, he doesn't need air, he can run or fly at faster than light speed, time means nothing to him (he can reverse it if things don't go right). X-ray vision, heat vision, artic breath, or hot breath, bullet proof, never gets tired, and is never truly in danger himself. He has no weakness, except for some obscure element (Kriptonnite). Boring.....

Contrast that with the other comic heroes. They all have weaknesses, but bend the situation to meet their strengths. When I was a kid, I knew I had weaknesses, insecurities; but I also had strengths. If I could twist the situation to address my strengths, I felt better.

Who could possibly relate to Superman?

[weegee]

David Carradine delivers a monologue in Kill Bill Vol. 2 as to why he likes Superman over any other character.

He says that Peter Parker, Bruce Wayne, et al put on a costume to become a superhero.

Superman was born Superman. That S he wears comes from his home planet. His costume is that of a straight laced newspaper reporter. Clark Kent is how he sees humans and what he thinks he has to do to "blend in".

"Bill" uses this lecture to explain to the Bride why she can't hide from her past as a killer. She can't just seclude herself to living in a small town being a homebody. It is not who she is any more than Clark Kent is who Superman is.

[fr_freak]

Who could possibly relate to Superman?

I could. Sometimes I think we must have been seperated at birth because we have so much in common. Well, except for the super powers. And the good looks. And it's possible I don't look as good in tights. At least I'm not allergic to some little radioactive rocks, though. What a wuss. Of course, I am allergic to cat dander.

[TheBigB]

He has no weakness, except for some obscure element (Kriptonnite).

Superman is also vulnerable to magic, FYI.

[SoCal Pubbie]

The article seems to say that a popular comic superhero today requires some sort of weakness, a bit of self doubt, and a psychotic edge. To me, making Superman relevant is easy.

As we all know, Superman DOES have a weakness- Kryptonite. I would expand this by having an evil cabal who hires surplus scientific talent to create variations of "artificial Kryptonite". Additionally, DNA samples allow the bad guys to discover additional genetic weaknesses that could be used against him.

I would have Superman begin to question his allegiance to "the the American Way" What if he looks at problems in the country, and a physiologically clever villain starts to get him to doubt his mission on Earth?

Finally, I would have him feeling the pressure of always having to do the right thing instead of just enjoying his life. Perhaps he has discovered that some sort of celestial event involving the Earth led to his home Planet's destruction, so that the very place he protects was the ruin of the world he came from?

So, now we have a giant, all powerful force for good, formerly invincible who discovers that a small group has developed the means of his destruction where once his survival was never in question. He must now constantly scan the globe for clandestine activities in remote locations he is helpless to stop due to its strength sapping properties, so he must seek cooperation from other governments and groups, some who may actually wish for his demise. At the same time, he begins to doubt the rightness of his fight, so he considers giving it up. Worse, he become bitter toward the principles he protects, and questions his very existence.

I would bring in storylines from the world today, but mask them a bit to make them not so obvious. In short, I would make Superman a metaphor for our nation and the fight it is in today, both internally and externally.

[discostu]

Superman has a weakness: he's dumb as a box of rocks. My favorite stuff with Superman was always World's Finest, where he teamed up with Batman, Bats was the brains of the outfit and Supes was primarily there to punch the right thing at the right time.