Thursday, June 13, 2013
The Superman problem is well-known: if he is as powerful as all that, where's the dramatic tension? Over the years Kal-El has become more and more powerful, and the problem becomes more and more pronounced. It can be dealt with by giving him friends who are vulnerable: the complicated solution to this is for Superman to have a secret identity, and then hilarious complications ensue. He can be given vunerabilities: Kryptonite was introduced in 1943, five years after the Man of Steel made his first appearance, and it has proved to be a pretty good McGuffin over the years. The Last Son of Krypton is also vulnerable to magic. That's Mr. Mxyzptlk's dodge, although I personally think that magic is made up. The only other thing left is stronger bad guys, and for my money the best of the lot has to be Brainiac. He's wicked evil, and way smart, and he has a unique look as well. I mean, a pink polo shirt, Speedo and boots! C'mon! Only an android could pull that off. Lex Luthor gets all the attention, but Brainiac rocks.
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