I think the most interesting thing about Superman is Clark Kent. It creates neat situations when a god tries to act like a human and live amongst us. If they'd focus more on Kent instead of Superman, they'd have more compelling storylines.
I have to agree here. Some of the better parts of the old Superman television show starring George Reeves portrayed him as Clark Kent a lot more than modern media, probably because the special effects needed were much more of a challenge. All the time Clark Kent would have to think fast to cover up his strength and invulnerability. I recall one episode when some bad guy shot Clark in the chest at close range with Lois Lane in the room. So how to explain why he's not even bleeding? Thinking quickly, he dented a metal cigarette case with his thumb that he was carrying in his shirt pocket to make it look like it deflected the bullet.
Then again, it's been explained to me that the reason Spider-Man is better than Superman is because he's the opposite. Superman is a strong, brave, heroic character who has to pretend to be a mild-mannered doofus. Peter Parker is an actual mild-mannered doofus who has to pretend to be strong, brave, and heroic. That makes him more relatable to his mild-mannered doofus audience.
One thing I don't understand: Every discussion of Superman has someone dutifully chime in that they never liked him because he's too powerful. And yet he's still one of the best-selling comic book characters, even after nearly a century. There must be
something going on there.
As a child, I preferred Marvel over DC precisely because it was too hard for me to believe that Superman was ever in any real danger.
I can't speak for others, but I didn't read much Superman as a child, and less as I grew older.
That seems like an overly simplistic evaluation. The whole approach to characters is different in Marvel vs DC. Bruce Wayne is interesting in that he illuminates the character of Batman and helps you understand him better. Clark Kent is the same way. Yes, it's fun to see Superman try to pretend to be a mere mortal, but Clark Kent genuinely searches for the truth, and that helps you understand Superman's whole "Truth, justice and the American way" shtick a little better.
By contrast, you care about Spider-Man because you know it affects Peter Parker. You care about the battle Spider-Man is in because if the battle is particularly heated and that hidden camera gets destroyed, Peter Parker is going to have trouble paying the rent. Again.
The fact that the superpowers are (certain exceptions noted) generally weaker in the Marvel universe is certainly what caused the person that I was as a child to switch to Marvel, but that's hardly all of it.
Oh, and another reason that Spider-Man is so popular: the teenage Peter Parker was basically a teen sidekick without a superhero. Also, in my personal opinion, a big part of the appeal of Spider-Man is that Peter Parker is basically a much more intelligent adult version of Charlie Brown. Did Lucy pull the football again? I feel so bad for Charlie Brown. I want to keep reading and find out what happens to him next. That sort of thing.
Anyway[ent]hellip[/ent]
DC characters are like gods in a pantheon. Each represents an idealization of something. That's not good or bad, it is what it is. Marvel characters in general (certain exceptions noted) have more character flaws, and
that is probably what people are talking about when they say Marvel characters are more relatable. When people say Marvel characters seem more relatable, it's about a bunch of different things: weaker powers, the fact that the story focuses on the alter ego as much or more than the superhero, but especially the character flaws.
On the other hand, DC characters make better and easier metaphors for storytellers. Batman is people's anxieties about organized crime. Batman is the lust for vengeance we feel when we are wronged. Want to tell a story that talks about the vengeful aspect of justice or about organized crime in general? Batman works for that in ways that no Marvel character does. Superman is truth, justice and the American way, as well as an idealization of the immigrant-made-good story. Wonder Woman is female empowerment and compassion. So on and so forth.
The X-Men work better as a metaphor for bigotry than anything in the DC universe, but in general, DC has the better metaphors.
Marvel characters feel like they could be us because they're a bunch of screw-ups who got stuck with (or were guilted into) being superheroes. DC characters might be perfect idealizations of various concepts, but that makes it harder to imagine being them, or even knowing someone like that.
