Superman doesn’t kill. Any Superman fan knows this. It’s why Zac “I don’t know what a fantasy world is” Snyder having Superman kill Zod is so looked down upon.
Defenders of Man Of Steel will try to point to various times when Superman did kill his enemies, but of course the specifics will be lost in the discussion. “See, he killed Zod here and you didn’t complain.” The Mephisto is in the details and that’s where the defenders mess up.
Since I need to reset my schedule and choose something easy to make tonight’s post I’m grabbing a video from Variant Comics chronicling every time Superman has taken a villain’s life in the comics. Can I defend them all? Will I call many of them bad writing choices that should never be used as an example because bad writing does not defend bad writing? Are there some legitimate reasons and could the problem be in how the act was treated? Arris Quinones has the list, I have the comments. Let’s make this happen!
The Golden Age comics are a product of their time, before the comic companies realized kids were really into superheroes (something they’ve forgotten or don’t care about today) and pivoted from the more kill-willing pulp heroes that inspired the first superheroes. Once DC established no-kill rules for Superman and Batman there are reasons why. Superman is a god, if you ask certain critics. However, he was raised human by two of the kindest, most moral people on Earth. Also, early Golden Age Superman, like the story with the javelin-tossed torturer, didn’t give Superman the ability to fly, not to mention juggling planets. He was incredibly strong because his planet of origin had a stronger gravity and his baby body adjusted like any other Kryptonian. Once the “I don’t kill” rule is added, however, we can start questioning the body count.
I hate including the New 52 and DiDio’s Darker DC because this is what Dan DiDio wanted. Darker heroes, f kids, and out darking the 1990s. I’m not counting another villain using her powers to force him to kill, and even if I were he’s clearly upset by what he’s done. Also, why does DiDio hate Doctor Light so much? First his period includes a story where Light is forceably brainwashed after turning into Rapey McRapepants, and then when the continuity gets rebooted he still has to die. In a similar vein, supervillains rewriting history doesn’t count because Superman never develops a no-kill code because instead of the Kents he’s raised by supervillains. I never want to read that story. At least Injustice is about him abandoning his code because the writer joins the club who thinks Lois is the only reason he’s not evil or insane.
I need to see if Our Worlds At War includes any moment where Superman is feeling remorse for killing. That’s the thing about the pocket universe killing of Zod and crew. Like Imperiax and Doomsday there actually was no other option and Superman died himself fighting Doomsday…who ends up surviving because the writers couldn’t let go of him and came up with this cocamaney nonsense about his recovering from death thanks to experimentation. If Superman has no choice then the story should become about him hating what he had to do and questioning himself. The more you kill the easier it becomes and Superman doesn’t want to become that kind of person. That’s a bit problem with the Man Of Steel death. He’s forced to kill Zod because that was specifically what Snyder and David Groyer wanted to happen, and then instead of questioning his actions it’s some gag about him destroying a spy satellite set to track him in the most hilarious and “screw you, taxpayers” way possible. The tonal shift was bad.
Yes, there may be a time Superman has no choice, but the response should be one you’d expect, like eliminating his powers after killing Mxyzptlk after the imp went psychotic (that bad writing thing) and it wasn’t like he did it on purpose, though he says he did. The plan was the Phantom Zone, not the afterlife. That was on Mxy when he tried to go back home rather than go into the Zone and got split in half. Superman’s response was to renounce his powers. Frankly this is not the way I want the Superman of the continuity I grew up with or his cast to go out since what happened here didn’t matter as the Crisis reset the universe anyway, making killing Kara and Krypto meaningless and Jimmy and the others just cruel. I do not like this story, I don’t care how good it may be.
Superman is not Supergod. He’s Superman. He has a conscience, a respect for the sanctity of life, and does not want to become the Superman of the Injustice universe. Screw that version; Jonathan and Martha didn’t do their job right. A lapse of judgement killing the Joker for tricking him into killing Lois and their unborn child, which triggered the bombing of Metropolis, I could believe. The Superman I grew up enjoying wouldn’t be a fascist, wouldn’t be a murderer, and if he was forced to kill to protect others it would be heartbreaking for him and make him question if it was right to be Superman. I’d sooner believe he’d go into self-imposed exile until he was forced to come back to redeem himself by saving the world or the universe or something. Superman as the character evolved does not kill as a general rule. Seeing him kill is not a good story to me but if he has to he needs to react to his actions as Superman would. Otherwise you did it wrong!
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