DanSlott

Dan Slott · @DanSlott

31st Jan 2016 from TwitLonger

Gonna leave this here so I don't have to keep re-typing it.

There's a difference in some of the early stories when they were still finding Superman's character. Did he kill back then? Yes. Was he brought to an orphanage? Yep. Could he fly? Nope. Just leaped around a bit. Things were altered and changed around a lot in the very early years.
What emerged was a character that even Siegel and Shuster would tell you DIDN'T kill.

Are there alt-timelines and Elseworlds where he's killed? Yes. Most of those are statements about WHY Superman shouldn't kill.

In the 75+ year history of the character have there been stories where Superman's taken a life? Yes. There are thousands of Superman stories. Those are rare exceptions. And most Superman creators do not look on them fondly, have ignored them, written around them, or tried to undo them.

Killing would be easy for Superman. Superman's better than that. He finds a way. It's as much a part of who he is-- and his character-- as flying, the "S" on his chest, and even Clark Kent. Can you tell stories about a Superman who kills? Yes. They're called Elseworlds.

I'm not saying this to trash Superman.
I'm saying this to stand up for him.
There are many super heroes out there. They have all kinds of codes. Some kill, others try not to-- and can fail. Some don't.
While there may be many of those other guys,
there is only ONE Superman.
And his standards are higher than any other hero.
He's not just the most powerful,
he's also the most restrained, the most compassionate, the most hopeful, and the most human.
Superman doesn't kill because to Superman there isn't a no-win scenario.
More than any super hero who has every existed and who ever will, Superman finds a way.

EVEN if you took all his super powers away,
he would STILL find a way
because THAT is more about who he is than super-strenght, speed, or flight.
THAT is the kind of hero he is.

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