It would Butter_fly, I know it. Because that’s one of the most iconic pictures of Superman in existence, and I’ve seen it as a tattoo at least a dozen times, and it ALWAYS looks great.
It’s just like the almost identical pic of Batman, or the picture of Captain America giving his “No, you move” speech at the end of Civil War.
Love. Peace. Metallica.
It’s just like the almost identical pic of Batman, or the picture of Captain America giving his “No, you move” speech at the end of Civil War.
Love. Peace. Metallica.
Exactly, this picture I see is becoming more and more popular and is done by one of my favorite artists in Jim Lee. This is the cover to Superman #204 and is a storyline out of continuity that involves a more grittier Superman. In fact, this story was the inspiration for me for a more mean looking Superman as the tattoo.
As far as the Batman reference KnightHawk was referring to, here’s that pic. 
Pretty badass.
As far as iconic, I’m seriously thinking about this image being worked into my sleeve somehow. I instantly fell in love with it. Thinking about the Gray and Black and his suite with the S shield in color.
I love the black and gray one. I’m a big fan of b&g tattoos with just a little color for emphasis on a certain part.
I’m also a big fan of grittier superman. It makes him more real. A guy with a cape who has every super power you can think of AND he’s a genuinely nice, well-balanced guy who just wants to help humanity….. C’mon, that guy doesn’t exist! But you take all that and make him a bit of an a*hole, give him some mental issues… I can believe that a bit more.
The changes have made a huge improvement!
I’m not a great fan of the Jim Lee Superman pose butterfly posted. There’s a been a great tendency amongst Superman artists over the last decade to render him with an overly muscled physique, something I never thought rang true about the character.
For my money, the best Superman artist of late is Gary Frank who deliberately hearkens back to Christopher Reeve in face and physique. His Superman just rings true for me.
That’s actually my feeling on it as well. Superman is supposed to be hiding as Clark Kent, a farmboy and a reporter. It’s not exactly plausible that nobody would notice Clark Kent bulging like he was about to explode.
(And yes, therein I forego the other obvious questions like “How can people not see the face behind the glasses?” ;))
There have been some amusing attempts in the comics over the years to explain it. From using his superspeed to vibrate his features to prevent anyone getting a good look at his face, to using sub-conscious super-hypnotism (focused by the Kryptonian lenses in his glasses) to prevent people recognising him (no seriously).
Best explanation though – watch Christopher Reeve in Superman II. There’s a moment when he’s about to tell Lois his identity and he takes off his glasses and straightens up. The difference is remarkable. After watching that it’s not so hard to believe that no-one realised they’re the same man.
Huh.. I don’t remember that. Neat.. I’ll have to try to watch that again. I DID try re-watching the superman movies a couple of years back, but I just couldn’t do it.
They Do Not Age Well :S All the effects work and bad acting made me cringe so badly I had to stop watching.
I think you’re missing the point of Superman. He’s supposed to represent the best in each of us, the strength of an individual to do good for the larger society, the power of American ideals and basic human decency to put right the wrong and bring hope to the hopeless. Superman’s very purpose is to rise above the girt and grime of the world, and selflessly do good. To have all the power, and to still do what’s right, decent, and human, no matter what, is the very essence of Superman.
Basically, he’s superhero Jesus.
Batman, he’s the flipside to superman. He’s the man down in the grime and mud of the world, doing his best to do good despite his own demons and flaws. He’s the cynic to Superman’s idealism. He’s human and flawed, not a nearly perfect Christ figure, which is why I’ve always liked him more.
But the idealism Superman represents has its place, and the DCU, and for that matter, our own culture, would be a darker place, even if only just a little bit, for its absence.
If you want to see what an asshole superman looks like, there’s dozens of dickwad Superman expies out there, and none of them are half as interesting as the original. For example, check out Corefire from “Soon I’ll be invincible”, or Apollo from the Authority (though it is nice to see an LGBT character presented positively and not as a salacious ploy, like the new lesbian Batwoman). There’s also that new asshole in the DCU, Superman Prime. Or check out Superman: Red Son.
Or your could refer to when Superman died. He and Batman were killed off by Bane and Doomsday for a specific purpose: to show all the people complaining about their no kill rule, their age, and their basic lack of being GRIM DARK 90’s Antiheros what it would look like if Batman and Superman were those things.
The Azreal Batman who replaced him during this time killed his enemies, and showed positively what most people already knew–the only thing that separates Batman from a supervillain is his iron clad rules of conduct. Without them, he’s just a crazy bastard in a cave getting ready to go out on his nightly killing spree.
Superman’s death brought us Steel, Superboy, the Cyborg Superman, and the Eradicator. While three out of four went on to be players in the DCU (and in the Cyborg’s case, in the Marvel Universe too for a time), they showed exactly why Superman just isn’t half as inspiring, and frankly, heroic if he isn’t the Christ figure he is now.
A superman who larks Clark’s basic decency, who’s gritty, wears cool sunglasses, and kills, like the Eradicator, is a villain, not heroic. Who can fight that? Who can contain him? Without that sense of responsibility, and being a tad bit mentally unstable, he’s a threat to everyone around him.
I’m not saying your opinion is wrong, so much as I disagree with it. Superman is at his best when he’s being the ideal we all need to live up to–Batman is at his best when he’s human, gritty, and kind of a prick, but still managing to save the day, usually more effectively than his superpowered companions.
Love. Peace. Metallica.
Other good examples include J. Michael Straczynski’s udpating of Marvel’s Superman analog Hyperion in Supreme Power (which went badly off the rains once JMS left the title unfortunately) and Mark Waid’s Superman gone bad story Irredeemable.
Going back a bit further, Superman: Speeding Bullets, was an interesting elseworlds tale exploring what might have happened if Thomas and Martha Wayne had found and raised a young Kal-El.
Btw – I do love randomly encountering other comic geeks in forums like this 😀
lol. Given that the Batman analog is called Nighthawk, I’d have expected you to remember that one 😉
I see what you mean, KnightHawk. Maybe I am missing the point a little. But I think the problem I have with Superman is that he is so infallable.
He never questions his morality. He is never tempted to do something selfish. He’s like a computer programmed to do what’s right all the time. He just does it. There’s no internal struggle. It doesn’t make for a complex, multi-faceted character. And when you couple that with the fact that he’s nearly invincible…
Yeah, I know. That’s the point right? But as a character, I find him pretty boring. This is why he needs such a strong archnemesis.
It’s a world of absolutes. Superman is wholly good and Lex Luthor is pretty much just evil. All comics deal with the struggle between good and evil. In Superman comics, the fight is external.
That’s why I like Batman a lot better. He’s got to fight the demons inside himself as well. He’s complex. He’s just like the rest of us.
Don’t get me wrong- I don’t dislike Superman. When you step back and look at the big picture, it’s good shit. I just think Superman himself is much more interesting when he’s not so perfect.
Now keep in mind I’ve never read the comics… so I’m sure all you comic book geeks will prove me wrong. 😉
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