10 Perplexing Comic Book Questions Solved By The Internet

4. Why Doesn't Superman Do Some Actual Good?

Superman's the best, isn't he? What a guy. The last son of Krypton decided to forgo all hope of returning to his home planet and threw himself wholeheartedly into embracing the Earth as his true place of origin, dedicating his life to protecting all those who live on it. Luckily our yellow sun endowed him with the power to do that, what with the flying and the heat vision and the being able to lift heavy objects. For over 75 years the Man Of Steel has made it his mission to keep humanity safe, helping defend the Earth from the threat alien invaders, Brainiacs, huge robots, and Lex Luthor. See? The best. Thing is, whilst he's definitely good at using his powers for fighting, couldn't they be put to better use? Couldn't he affect a more lasting, permanent improvement to people's lives?

Asked one Redditor, with his abilities, why doesn't he take a few weeks to coat the Earth with useful canals and mountain tunnels as well as maybe boring out deep wells for arid areas? The more downbeat answers pointed to a comic strip about Utilitarian Superman, who provides free clean energy until he dies of old age; another noted the canon Superman story about how he failed to stop the Ethiopian famine. Yeesh. Maybe it's just as simple as one other user puts it, which is that "he wants man to do those feats on their own. He wants a strong humanity, not a dependant humanity." Which makes sense, but also, can't he pick up the sounds of starving children with his super hearing? Doesn't that torment him? What the heck, Superman.