Warning! Spoilers for Superman & The Authority #1 ahead!
As one of the world’s most recognizable icons, plenty of opinions on Superman, and despite his legacy, people can be quite harsh on Kal-El of Krypton. Super or not, Clark Kent is still just a man, but he doesn’t do what he does for the praise. After all, saving the world is a thankless task.
Superman & The Authority #1 by Grant Morrison and Mikel Janin gives the Last Son of Krypton the opportunity to speak to all of his critics and haters in the form of one character: Manchester Black. Black has long been one of Superman’s most outspoken foes, and in the miniseries’ debut issue, Manchester is not just voicing his own criticisms, but those of real-life critics as well. Fortunately, Superman knows just how to handle critics like Black.
After arresting Manchester Black and bringing him to the Fortress of Solitude, Superman reveals that his powers aren’t quite what they used to be. Closer to the end of his superhero career than the beginning, Clark reaches out to Black in the hopes of reinvigorating humanity’s spirit of collective action. But along the way, Manchester has plenty of things to say to the Man of Steel, and few of them are kind. He criticizes the Man of Steel for mocking humanity with his “chiseled, airbrushed perfection” and even claims humanity has supposedly wised up to Superman’s role as a “a dodgy reactionary who can’t be trusted.” Superman takes the criticisms in stride, never wavering from his hope that Black will him, even agreeing with Black that he and the Justice League never did enough by saying, “We’d made it about us – our needs, our special enemies, our deaths and rebirths, our crises.” But when Black tells Superman he’d be smart to get revenge on the world that rejected him for being himself, Clark simply replies, “Why would I do that?”
Superman has often been criticized for being a boring character, either because he’s too powerful or he’s too good. While the character’s power levels are no longer an issue by the events of Superman & the Authority, Clark’s morality clearly hasn’t wavered. This older Clark isn’t the same beloved powerhouse that he was in his prime, but goodness is still an essential part of his character that he refuses to lose even after Black points out how great it feels to get even with one’s enemies. In response, Superman says he likes to do things differently. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be working to reform Black in the first place.
There are also plenty of people who find Superman to be too reactionary to the point that they consider him ineffectual. In their eyes, he doesn’t go far enough, merely maintaining the status quo as opposed to trying to create a better world. And within the context of the story, Superman actually agrees with them. He knows he and his fellow heroes didn’t do enough. That’s why he’s willing to employ some unconventional methods by forming a new version of the Authority to make a better world while he still can.
Superman is the world’s greatest superhero – and one of its most popular – for a reason. Regardless of the haters in the real world and in the DC Universe, the character has left a legacy of heroism that’s lasted for more than 80 years with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. He may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but one thing is for sure: Superman will do what he does best and block out the haters just by continuing to be himself.
