10 Stupid Arguments About Superman That Don't Make Sense

5. He's Just An Imperialist American Weapon

The Dark Knight Returns is not a very subtle comic. In it, Frank Miller made text a subtext that had been discussed between superhero fans and critics for decades: Superman's Truth, Justice and the American Way values meant he was nothing more than a jingoistic stooge, a super-powered weapon for the US that got deployed as a propaganda weapon during WWII. In Miller's hands, that meant that Ronald Reagan was literally using Superman as his personal superhero bodyguard/peacekeeper. Again, that characterisation has been carried over for decades by creators influenced by Miller. And again, it's a stupid argument that doesn't make any sense at all - for one thing, everyone remembers that Superman's an alien, right? He has adopted Earth, and the United States more particularly, as his home. He isn't really American, and having him be a weapon for the country is boring. It's way more interesting when, say, Lex Luthor gets elected president and he has trouble liaising with him. Or when he renounces his citizenship, as he did in Action Comics #900. Superman routinely saves the planet, not just America. And he does it for humanity, not just Americans.