10 Comics Superheroes With The Best Motivations

6. Superman

Superman Action Comics Bendis
DC Comics

To the cynic, Superman is an uninteresting figure with no flaws to speak of. He has the perfect secret identity, the perfect hero persona, and the perfect set of powers. How could that - so the old argument goes - be any interesting?

The fact of the matter is that the Man of Steel is one of the most inspiring DC characters ever conceived. Kal-El falls to Earth as the sole survivor of an alien race, is raised by a pair of humble farmers and somehow, within him, always manages to do right by his adoptive planet. He doesn't use his godlike gifts to wreak terror on those who threaten him, nor does he interfere for partisan benefit. The Last Son of Krypton is above it all, and is a living testament to the idea that, no matter where you come from, everyone has the capacity to do good.

But that isn't to say that Clark Kent is flawless either. Judging when is right to intervene when he has the power to feasibly stop anything he wanted to isn't easy, and it might even be true that the Man of Steel's occasional naivety has led him astray on more than one occasion.

Be that as it may, it only adds to Superman's appeal. He wants to save the Earth on its own terms, and in championing truth and justice, DC have one of the most fantastic heroes in the medium.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.